Review & Giveaway: Soul Hunt by Margaret Ronald

Released Dec. 28 by Eos Books was Margaret Ronald's Soul Hunt, an urban fantasy set in an alternative version of Boston. Want to win a copy? Read on...

PLOT:   The hunter has become the hunted . . .Without even realizing what she was doing, Genevieve Scelan has made a bad bargain. The Red Sox fanatic and supernatural tracker known as "Hound" for her extraordinary power of scent wishes she could leave magic behind now that she’s eradicated the evil cabal that oppressed Boston’s undercurrent for centuries. But now her talent’s fading, the local adepts’ squabbles are turning ugly, and worse, she’s just discovered that she owes a very large debt to someone . . . or some thing. And in the undercurrent, debts are taken very seriously. Evie has until midwinter to pay up--or else. So when she gets a job that might save her (even if she’s breaking all her own rules to take it) she can’t pass it up. Now, with danger at her back and uncertain allies beside her, she’ll trace the very bones of Boston itself to protect both the city and the people she loves.

THE AUTHOR: Margaret Ronald learned to read on a blend of The Adventures of Tintin, Greek mythology, and Bloom County compilations. She's the author of two previous Evie Scelan novels, Spiral Hunt and Wild Hunt.

MY THOUGHTS: Have to admit I read this one without having read the previous two Evie Scelan books, but didn't find it difficult to follow. It's not a fast, easy read but I liked the humor of the kickass Evie, and Ronald reminded me of Simon R. Green, one of my all-time favorite authors, in adapting classical mythology into the whole premise. The Wild Hunt has been used often enough (by Green and by Jim Butcher, just to name a couple), but Evie has the hounds of the hunt inside her, which you gotta admit is kind of cool.

THE GIVEAWAY: I'm giving away a copy of Soul Hunt--just leave a comment and tell me what your first read of 2011 is going to be. I'm ignoring my alarmingly overloaded TBR pile and am re-reading Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series in advance of her new one coming in February.

As always, extra entry for comments, blog followers, followers on Twitter @Suzanne_Johnson, and an extra for Tweeting (or Retweeting) the contest. Drawing will take place on Saturday, January 8.