2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 1 book toward her goal of 285 books.
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2023 Reading Challenge

2023 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 5 books toward her goal of 265 books.
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Book Review: Lord of the Hunt by David Craig

This is a very well-crafted series that takes some of the more common supernatural tropes and stands them on their heads in a brilliant and original way. In this second installment, the dynamic duo of Foley and Hunt find themselves further enmeshed in the nefarious world of the Sooty Feathers Club and its nemeses. (If you missed the first, you can read my review here – it is also excellent, and I definitely recommend reading these in order!)

Without spoilers, it’s tough to do this one justice, so forgive the shortish and not-that-specific review and do NOT mistake it for my not having anything to say. It’s rather the opposite, but saying any of it runs the risk of undermining the magic of the revelations and I wouldn’t do that for the world, as the teasing out of the truth is what makes these stories so incredible.

Craig is a dab hand at setting up expectations, only to knock them down like nine-pins – and he does so without ever generating an eye roll or sense of irritation. He doesn’t throw in red herrings to generate false senses of security or drive the tension up artificially; his misdirections and layered revelations are much more delicate and well-crafted than that and each one feels like an organic and utterly necessary part of the whole. You find yourself running in the wrong direction because the characters are heading that way, not because the author forced you to look over *here* whilst performing skulduggery over *there*… The books feel like they tell themselves, and I can’t even tell you how much talent and craftsmanship are involved in writing like that… Suffice to say I never managed it, which is why I write reviews and not books!

These aren’t easy or quick books to read. That is not at all to say that they are work to read – they are not. What they are is detailed sojourns into a wholly original world. Crafting that world, populating it with credible and enjoyable characters, and presenting its events in a roll-out that feels entirely organic is not a simple task. The read is not simple as a result – but it is entirely enjoyable and definitely worth the effort!

Thanks to the author and the amazing folks at Elsewhen Press for my obligation-free review copy.

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