When my magic manifested at puberty, my parents sold me to the Illuminati. The Order of the Illuminati trained me as an assassin, spy, and thief. But when they sent me to steal a magical artifact that reveals Truth in all things, I discovered that I was working for the Dark and not the Light. The Illuminati trained me well, and paid the ultimate price for their deception.Thousands of miles away, … miles away, I landed a job in a quirky little bar. But the scattered remnants of the Order still strive for world domination, and no one leaves the Illuminati alive.
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Really enjoyed this whole series. Great urban fantasy read.
A kick-ass heroine with almost no people skills who is running from her past and embracing redemption in style. She’s learning how to embrace her inner hero, save the day and her friends, and learn how to be a friend and appreciate them. Great Book. I’m already reading the second one.
Erin was trained as a Hunter by Dark mages, known as the Illuminati from the time she was 14. After learning of their deception, she wiped most of them out and left to find a new life for herself, thousands of miles away. But there are still members of the Illuminati scattered around.
As she lands in a town, she takes a job at a bar/grill as a bartender. The bar is for supernaturals and Erin begins to know what friendship is in the mish mash band of people she meets. As much as Erin tries to keep things on the down low and secret, bad things seem to find her. This book has some good action scenes, some great secondary characters and Erin is a wise-cracking heroine and the book sets a great pace. It does not leave off on a cliffhanger, but does set up nicely for book two.
4.5 Stars
I had a good time reading this book. The main character is a strong woman making her way in the world. Love that. The writing quality is solid. I felt she focused a lot on world-building to the detriment of the action/plot, but that’s very common with first books in a series. I look forward to reading more in the series. I read this on Audible.com, and the narrator (Madeleine Dauer) was good, production quality high. Angel’s adjectives: evocative and imaginative
As I read this book, I couldn’t help wondering if it was loosely based on Annette Marie’s Guild Codex series (wonderful series, BTW) due to the broke girl accepting work at a supernatural bar. The story has lots of action and the characters are fairly well done. One little quirk bothers me. The lead character, Erin McLane, supposedly was trained from a young age by the Illuminati to be a Hunter. She was one of the best. Yet in the story, she sometimes comes across as a seasoned, well-trained fighter and sometimes comes across as something much less than that. Seems like an odd disconnect. Overall though, it’s an interesting read and there are things I really like about it. I’ve already gone on to the second book in the series.
Well written, with a powerful leading female character. Unique characters, each having their own interesting back story. A story that draws you into the action and makes you cheer when the rag tag bunch actually win the battle.
First in a series with intriguing, flawed characters who explore new personas while trying to navigate a murky world of good and evil.
Haha. This book was great. I loved how the main character could be serious yet totally sarcastic at the same time. The last thing she said at the end I found hilarious. I would recommend this book to anyone a fan of this genre.
An engrossing start to BR Kingsolver’s compelling new urban fantasy series featuring Erin, a young magical hunter hiding from the Illuminati that trained her to be an assassin. After being hired to tend bar, at Rosie O’Grady’s paranormal Bar and Grill, where everyone supernatural knows your name, she discovers the last thing she was looking for: a place to call home.
When the blinders came off, she ran. Abandoning everything she knew Erin went as far as she could to make a new life. No longer an assassin or backed by the powerful, all reaching Illuminati, Erin has to learn life skills and pay her way. Luckily she stumbles into Rosie O’Grady’s a special kind of pub. Learning that things which go bump in the night are not good is just one of the lessons she learns. Friendship though, friendship is the biggest of all.
When I saw that this book involved the Illuminati, my instant reaction was, Cool! I love stories revolving around the Illuminati, the Knights Templar, The Freemasons, all those clandestine groups that were so secretive and dangerous and ensconced in half-truths and half-falsehoods. What fun to come across a series that takes them into the area of the paranormal and supernatural! Joking with BR Kingsolver about my gushing over authors that I really love, and how his/her (are you him or her? Inquiring minds want to know!) series could fall into that group made it an absolute certainty that I would be reading all about Rosie O’Grady’s Paranormal Bar & Grill. So, I kept my word and read book one, Shadow Hunter, and here are my thoughts.
Book one was most definitely a “book one”. What this means for me is this; lots of background, some info-dump (though, thankfully not too much!), definite “getting to know” the group of characters that will make up the series going forward, and deciding whether the storyline is something that will interest me for more than one book.
I met Erin, the MC of the series. I met her peripheral characters as well, such as Blair, Trevor, Jolene, Lizzy, and of course Rosie owner Sam. I learned where Erin fit in with the Illuminati, I learned what groups of paranormals and supernaturals exist in this world. Basically, I got a lot of information, was able to integrate it into a few action scenes, and was given a taste of what to expect going forward with the series.
Did book one WoW me? No, but that’s perfectly all right because more often than not, book one in any new series (new to me, anyway) doesn’t WoW me. I reserve my enthusiasm for books two and so on. So, for book one, it was just fine. It wasn’t a Dune. It wasn’t a knock me off my feet first, but it wasn’t a book I’d say nope, not for me, either. As a matter of fact, I’m getting ready to move on to book two, Night Stalker. So, yes, this did interest me, it did give me characters I enjoyed, a world-building that has room to grow, and a storyline that wasn’t a cliffhanger, which means I can read book two at my leisure and not feel like I need to get to it immediately, which often just annoys me rather than entices me.
So, bottom line? I liked this book enough that I will definitely read the next one. And, BR Kingsolver, whoever you are, male or female, this also means we still have some playful banter to continue before I’m going to gush! So…next up? Night Stalker, here I come! And I do have a feeling there will be gushing in the future!
I’ve only recently discovered BR Kingsolver and found a new favorite. I’ve addictively read through all of her urban fantasies sci-fi series, as well as the only sci-fi story story of hers I could find (Border Patrol, in the Bellator collection). Here’s my review of all of them in one clump – the bottom line being that they are all easily 5 star books.
Rosie O’Grady’s Paranormal Bar and Grill Series
This was the first series by this author that I read, trying it in a whim as it was free on KU and looked like fun. Oh Dear Lord was it ever. Perfect world-building with Fae, elves, vampires, mages, et. al. Perfect backstory with the world’s best assassin (our lead) funding out that she’s been lied to most of her life by the Order of the Illuminati who are actually evil and not the force for good she thought, followed by her lopping off the top tier of the Order and ending up in hiding at the eponymous Rosie O’Grady’s Bar and Grill. That’s the short version. The long one is much more complex and the series itself is filled with great plot lines and a perfect story arc (though each book stands alone sequentially, ie, the work fine and end well so long as you read them in order. Addictive fun and a perfect series ender.
The Telepathic Clans Saga
This was my second Kingsolver series. It evolves around telepathic clans (no shocker there) filled with people with different sets of telepathic “Gifts” (like mind shielding) made up of a series of “Talents” (different ways to do it). There are initially 25 known Gifts. At the top are the Succubi, all female, who have a series of Gifts including the Succubus Gift (drain energy from sex, etc). Known as Druids in the Irish clans, these ladies are bad-a**. The lead here is a Druid named Brenna, but she’s so much more. While the average telepath has only a few gifts, abs the extraordinary ones have 12-15 (Druids all have a base set of 8), Brenna has all of the gifts, unheard of. Anyway, she gets into a series of adventures with action, infra and inter-clan politics, and do much more. Incredible stuff really, all set in a world very different (but equally imaginative) as the prior series I’d read, and filled with a growing cast of perfectly crafted supporting characters. Once again you can read each book sequentially stand-alone, and they end with a perfect series ender.
Chameleon Assassin
I had initially avoided this series because I tend not to like a post-apocalypse setting. In this case the apocalypse in question (atomic wars leading to massive population loss and mutations) was so far in the past that society has more or less recovered and has now passed the pre-war tech levels. Our hero here, Libby, is the coolest kick-a** dame in fiction. An assassin and thief, among other things, who has two primary mutations: she’s a chameleon (she can look like anyone or pretty much blend into the background) plus a sort of electrokenisis, and a pretty fantastic set of physical skills (don’t mess with her in a fight) and computer hacking talents. Add in another perfect supporting cast and, well, just wow. I adored this series.
Dark Streets
This is the last of the series that I read, currently on book 2 (and ending with a perfectly good “Happily Enough For Now” though I’m drooling for the next book). It’s set in a world that’s very similar to that of The Telepathic Clans (though there are some differences – Washington DC is nuked in this one) but society is different as the Magi, who beat back (to a draw) the demons who invaded once rifts between worlds opened, now pretty much rule everything. Our lead here is another kick-a** dame, a police detective who is a magitek (a rare form of magic that enables one to do magic with machinery – including computers), potential heir to one of the Ten (the ten most powerful Magi clans who basically rule the world) but also the granddaughter of the man who accidentally opened the rifts and let all the monsters, demons and fantasy beings in. The perspective is very different, part gritty detective tale, part politics and warfare on the global scale, pure urban fantasy. Fantastic stuff, really.
Border Patrol (in the Bellator collection)
This was the only pure sci-fi story I’ve read by BR Kingsolver and was frustratingly perfect. Military sci-fi, the heroine here is the commander of an assault troop unit, it was an absolute total blast (and I’ve been reading this stuff since Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers was first published, so I should know). Perfect characters and storyline. The frustration is that while it ends in a very satisfying manner, I’m massively frustrated that this was only a short story. I’m truly hoping the author turns it into the first book in a new series.
Frankly, I’m hoping that BR Kingsolver expands every series she’s written, even though most have ended with great HEAs. That’s the sign, I know, of works that are fantastic and easy to highly recommend.
A promising start to a series.
Erin has found out that the last decade of her life was a lie. She thought she was saving the world by killing evil people, but it turns out that the Illuminati she worked for had deceived her. A mage’s dying ‘gift’ frees here from the Illuminati and she sets out to start a new peaceful life.
Erin arrives in a new city and is attacked by vampire which she slays in self-defense. She finds work as a bartender in Rosie O’Grady’s Bar and Grill which is a safe haven for paranormals. When supernatural trouble begins around town, Erin is unwillingly sucked into it. Her old skills are soon needed to save her and her new friends.
Shadow Hunter is quick paced and has lots of interesting characters with a wide array of powers. There are a number of fun twists that keep the story entertaining and will have you flipping the pages anxious to see what happens next. It hooked me so much that I finished it in one sitting.
I had two issues with the book. The first was the beginning chapters were a trite info-dump, but once Erin starts her new life, things get much better with the story. The other issue was unrealistic trust that develops between her and the staff and patrons of the bar. They trust her and she trusts them way too quickly. For a girl who had been lied to for a good chunk of her life, this didn’t seem right. The supporting characters in the story also seem to defy reason by the huge amount goodwill they give to this new stranger among them.
Flaws aside, I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more of the series.
3.5 ‘s
Entertaining. An easy, quick read, with interesting characters, and a different world where magic is pretty normal. Nothing heavy here, light and enjoyable!
liked it. It was an interesting start. There was to much stuff going on. There are so many players it’s unreal. It was easy for me to keep them apart but because of the amount of active players there’s no way too really develop anyone or learn about them. Erin is a stone cold killer trying to start a new life but she’s so socially awkward it doesn’t really make sense. She’s been flirting, dancing, killing, traveling, etc and she doesn’t know about basic human interaction. She’s around a bunch of people whip want to help and are willing to put themselves out there but there’s no reasoning behind it except they like her. However, she’s basically rude and obnoxious to several of the people who are helping. Why are they so willing?
I liked the first book so much, I read the whole series, then the Dark Streets series, and am now on the Telepathic Clans series. I really enjoy this author’s writing.
I forgot how much I love urban fantasy (and I realized that some of my books have been sliding more into that genre lately), but this book reminded me of everything I love about this genre. The characters are great, the action sequences were fun, and the pace was quick. I love the main character’s evolution from an agent of death and fury to a naive single woman trying to navigate life on her own after working for the Illuminati is no longer an option for her.
Looking forward to the rest of the books in this series!