Wickedly Dangerous (Baba Yaga, #1)

by Deborah Blake

[kimbacaffeinate]

I had a good time listening to Wickedly Dangerous. From its suspenseful story to the humor, and magic, Blake drew me as the reader right into the story and introduced me to Barbara Yager and her dragon-turned-dog in her enchanted Airstream. Now if that sentence did not peak your interest keep reading.

You have probably heard of Baba Yaga—the archetypal wicked witch of Russian tales who lived in a log hut that walked about on chicken legs, rode through the forests in a giant mortar that she steered with a pestle, and ate small children if they didn’t behave. According to legend, Baba Yaga usually appeared as an ugly old crone, although she also wore other faces, and sometimes gave aid to a worthy seeker, if such a one could pass her tests. You probably think you know who Baba Yaga is. But you’d be wrong. Because I am Baba Yaga, and this is my story.

The story takes place in a small Upstate New York town where the local sheriff, Liam McClellan is frustrated by a string of missing children who seems to vanish without a trace. He epitomizes the all-American good guy and I immediately liked him. During routine sweeps of his county, he stumbles upon the Airstream and Baba Yaga. She is posing as a researcher with a doctorate who is collecting and studying plants in the area. She is also an herbalist. Her real reason for being there is that someone summoned her to find a missing child.

“Holy crap!” he said. “That’s a big dog.” “Yes,” said Baba. “But a small dragon.”

Blake’s Baba Yaga is not the old woman; from the tales I remember as a child. Blake has twisted the tale creating a unique heroine. She is still quite witchy and not to be messed with. Clad in biker jeans and tattoos, she loves to be barefoot and has a sweet tooth. When summoned she requires payment and yes sometimes it is in the form of a chicken, but usually it requires the requestor to give up something important. Liam does not know what to make of Barbara and her enormous dog, but soon the two are knee deep in the solving the case.

Three children are missing, someone is sabotaging Barbara’s remedies and there are those in the town that want Liam fired. Barbara senses an Otherworld presence and soon things get complicated for both of them. Blake writes an engaging, suspenseful tale with plenty of twists but she wove in humor and romance keeping the story light. We have a villain that you will love to hate and meet creatures from the Otherworld.

The small-town added depth with its nosey neighbors, politics and grieving parents. Of course, as the stranger in town, Barbara soon finds herself suspect number one with townsfolk and the fact that someone is trying to sabotage her only complicates matters. The romance was sweet, with touches of heat that consummated in a fade to black scenario.

While this book introduces the series, Blake did a wonderful job of slipping us right into an interesting case while fleshing out the world. We learn a great deal about Baba Yaga without information dumps. I loved some of her awkwardness when dealing directly with humans, but she has a quality about her that endeared her to me. I was completely enthralled by Baba Yaga, the three riders and her dragon companion. They guard the magical waters and doors to the Otherworld. The Fae populate the Otherworld and I loved Blake’s depiction of it, right down to its Queen.

Romy Nordlinger does a wonderful narrating and I loved the Russian accent. I will definitely be continuing this series on audio. The tale was twelve hours in length but it felt like four.

Audio provided by publisher This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer