Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.
With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.
After defeating a hateful Irish god of love, taking on a coven of wicked witches, and losing his right ear to a demon I think it’s appropriate to say that Atticus O’Sullivan deserves a break. But not everyone gets what they deserve and unfortunately the last thing our witty protagonist catches in this second installment of the The Iron Druid Chronicles is a break. Before Atticus can sign a mutual non-aggression agreement with the local Tempe coven of Polish witches, he’s magically attacked by a new resident of witches who don’t like to share. Well those ladies picked the wrong Druid to piss off, ok he’s the only Druid but that’s be sides the point, the point being that Atticus may not like to pick fights but he sure as hell is going to finish them.
If I thought the first book in this series had action then Hexed definitely doubles the ante, not only does Atticus have badass witches to deal with but he also has a ravenous fallen angel buffeting at the local high school (a consequence of Hounded) and a troupe of Bacchants looking to have a good time, unfortunately these ladies’ parties tend to destroy lives. Not only this, but Atticus’ longtime acquaintance the Morrigan is back and although she’s technically not against Atticus she’s also not against dropping trouble at his door. You think with all this going on the book would feel a tad convoluted but the way Kevin Hearne lays out the plot and subplots I could easily keep track of each storyline and had the thought, while reading, that this series would make a fantastic graphic novel series with maybe two or three volumes per novel.
Getting back on track though, besides the action keeping the pace of this book quick and the story entertaining I have to say that the characters are my favourite part. Many old favourites return from Hounded like Granuaile (brilliant druid apprentice) and Oberon (hilarious Irish wolfhound). Along with a few new comers who make brief appearances like Coyote and others who might be coming back in later books to cause Atticus some unwanted trouble, think hunters of all things “evil”.
In conclusion, this book is just fun, the author obviously does his research and it pays off in the world building and his writing is laced with humour and the story is carried by great characters. If you’re looking for a book that is different from the usual stack of urban fantasies then give this series a shot.
