Hammered (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #3)

by Kevin Hearne

[EBookObsessed]

Hammered wasn't as good as the prior two novels, but it is important in that what happens here has a significant impact on the rest of the series.

SPOILER WARNING!! Some things to be discussed have to do with the prior novels.

As I mentioned previously, in this series everyone considers Thor a real asshat. In the prior novel, Atticus's friend, lawyer and vampire, Leif Helgerson, extracted a promise from Atticus to help Leif get to Asgard so he can kill Thor.

Before he does that, Atticus goes to Asgard to scout it out since no one has any type of handy map of Asgard hanging around. He also needs to provide the golden apple to Laksha as her payment for taking care of the Bacchans in the last story. Once he arrives, Atticus is forced to kill the Nörn, or Norse Fates. Not what Atticus was planning in his stealth attempt to check out Asgard, but if the Fates are dead, then there would be no one to foresee Atticus bringing Leif to Asgard and warn Thor. So maybe it was a win-win.

Yet when Atticus returns to Arizona to begin his journey with Leif, he gets a visit from Jesus, looking to grab that beer that Atticus mentioned to the Virgin Mary. Jesus seems to be well aware of Atticus's plans for Thor and tries to talk him out of it indicating it will bring a world of shit down on Atticus and this time, it doesn't look like the Druid will survive his actions.

I loved that Jesus was part of the story and when someone comes to attack Atticus, Jesus eventually steps in. But as you might imagine, even people who know about witches, werewolves and vampires, rolls their eyes after asking "who the hell are you" and getting the response of "I am Jesus."

No matter the warning, Atticus doesn't feel right about breaking his oath to Leif but maybe he can convince him to give up his plans. Their trip takes them from Arizona to Tír na nÓg and to Siberia. Upon their arrival in Russia they pick up some help in the form of others who have a bone to pick with Thor. The story slows down significantly as we hear the various stories of what Thor has done to the various men and their friends or family and why they are joining in the Thor-beat-down.

Jesus isn't the only God presence warning Atticus off this path, but he doesn't listen, intent now on bringing all these men to Asgard to allow them to kick Thor's ass. But things don't go so smoothly and things are set in motion that will effect the Norse's version of Armageddon known as Ragnarök, and does land Atticus in a world of shit. He now has to grab his apprentice and his dog and book it out of town ASAP.

As much as I enjoy the series and the storytelling, the whole travel from Arizona and the long stories of Thor-asshatery, while interesting, slowed down this story from the prior ones where death and destruction attacked Atticus relentlessly.

But just as I was giving it a "meh" in my head, it ends with an "Oh my God" moment that had me immediately downloading Book #4.

As part of the series, you need to read it. It is a pivotal story. When the action is happening, it does have plenty of excitement, you just need to be aware that this one isn't going to be all excitement.