Tricked by Kevin Hearne

Tricked (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #4)

by Kevin Hearne

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In the fourth novel of the Iron Druid Chronicles, two-thousand-year-old Druid Atticus O’Sullivan must pay his debts to cunning trickster god Coyote, a task that includes battling undead creatures of the night as well as a relentless hound of Hel and the goddess of death who commands it.

“[Kevin] Hearne is a terrific storyteller with a great snarky wit. . . . Neil Gaiman’s American Gods meets Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden.”—SFFWorld

Cutting a deal with a trickster god rarely goes well for any human brave or foolish enough to try it, but Atticus doesn’t feel like he has a choice. With members of the Norse pantheon out for his blood, he can’t train his apprentice in peace, so he asks Coyote to help him fake his own death. The cost, however, might wind up being every bit as high as if he’d made no deal at all.

There are things hiding in the Arizona desert that don’t want any company, and Coyote makes sure they know Atticus has arrived. And then there's the hound of Hel, Garm, who’s terribly difficult to shake and not at all convinced that Atticus is dead.

Being tricked by a trickster is par for the course. But it’s the betrayal from someone he thought was a friend that shakes Atticus to the core and places his life in jeopardy. The real trick, he discovers, might be surviving his own faked death.

Includes Kevin Hearne’s novella “Two Ravens and One Crow” 

Don’t miss any of The Iron Druid Chronicles:

HOUNDED | HEXED | HAMMERED | TRICKED | TRAPPED | HUNTED | SHATTERED | STAKED | SCOURGED | BESIEGED

Reviewed by MurderByDeath on

3.5 of 5 stars

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This series is great fun, but I probably liked this one the least.  I think.

While I generally love most stories that interweave Native American myths into the plot, I don't like the ones that rely on the protagonist being manipulated into corners by others.  Which means Coyote is probably never going to be my favourite NA god (although I do like the Coyote in Briggs' Mercy Thompson series).  I also didn't enjoy reading about the betrayal of Atticus by someone he considered if not a friend, certainly an ally.

I'd give a lot for Granuaile to stop calling Atticus sensei; I can't take her, as a character, nor her respect for Atticus seriously because of that stupid moniker.

What I did love where the scenes involving the Blessing Way and the very small moments when they discussed the Witchery Way and the Four Worlds of the Navajo Nation.

It was an entertaining read, with a conclusion that could have served as the end of the series.  It isn't but the next book happens 12 years later, which makes this a good place to pause in the series and take a break. 

N.B. I listened to this on audio and the narrator Christopher Ragland does a great job with Atticus and Granuaile; even Coyote's voice is acceptable although I could find fault with his slow good ol' boy interpretation.  But I hate his Oberon.  I cringe every single time I hear that slurry voice he uses for the majestic wolfhound; he makes Oberon sound like he has partial facial paralysis.  But being outside the US, I'm stuck with Ragland's narration or none at all.  It could have been worse though; in Hammered I had to listen to him make Leif the vampire sound like a Clint Eastwood with laryngitis. 

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  • Started reading
  • 29 August, 2016: Finished reading
  • 29 August, 2016: Reviewed
  • Started reading
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  • 29 August, 2016: Reviewed