Review: Shadow Hunter, by BR Kingsolver
Rosie O'Grady's Paranormal Bar and Grill Book 1
A while back, I heard good things about an author named Kingsolver, who wrote YA novels.
When Shadow Hunter, by BR Kingsolver went on sale, I thought I’d try it.
Now I’m just hoping I got the right Kingsolver.
The Story
To begin with, our heroine was sold to the Illuminati, raised to be an assassin. When she realized that the illuminati were the bad guys, she left … just in time to avoid being blown up with the rest of the higher ups. Having moved to scenic westport and taken the name Erin McLane, Erin gets to work trying to put her past behind her, and adapting to be a functioning member of day-to-day society. She’s even taken a job at Rosie O’Grady’s Bar and Grill, where only the local supernatural population hang out.
Except the moment she gets off the bus, she has to kill a vampire. The city is bereft of a vampire in charge, so every vampire has gone off the leash to feed openly, littering the streets with one body too many. Werewolves are being slaughtered with ease. And the local cop is eyeing her a little too closely, and not in a romantic sense.
It seems like while the Illuminati have been decapitated, their agents on the ground have gone independent.
What follows is a nice, simple, straightforward procedural. Much of the book is exploration of the world, and Erin finding out what it’s like trying to be a real person in the day to day world. The threats are nice and low key. This isn’t the end of the world. No one is trying to take over the world. The fights are meat and potatoes punching and kicking, with the occasional enchanted baseball bat behind the bar.
And it’s so nice to have a civilian protagonist who’s first move in every situation is to call the police.
Also appreciated is when someone tries to slap a modified “chosen one” label on her, she laughs in his face, and it’s promptly never mentioned again. It’s a refreshing change. She doesn’t have combat magic, just something that’s a step above basic telekinesis.
All in all, it was an entertaining book.
The Characters
I’ll give Shadow Hunter this, it certainly knows how to speed run a background. Erin is entertaining. She doesn’t have Harry Dresden’s mouth, but she does have a solid sense of the absurd.
And most of the characters are interesting. I would like for them to give more page time to Liam, the autistic bartender. But everyone has fun little character moments along the way, like the cop who likes opera or the bar drunk is really good at security.
The World
The world feels very much like early Anita Blake (before it became porn). The magic systems explored aren’t overly elaborate, and quite basic. The vampires are powerful, but not superhuman. Everything has reasonable limits.
Though I admit, the cops felt very real. Especially when the paranormal crimes unit is stuck in a basement next to the loading dock.
Politics
None, really.
Although having our main character live in a world of magic, but says “X are mythological, like demons and angels” just felt stupid … until it turns out X exists, and is very much part of the novel. So… eh.
Content Warning
None, really.
Who is it for?
This is very much a basic Urban Fantasy procedural, with an attempt to be Spider Robinson’s Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon. It’s not quite as fluffy as a Lyndsay Sands “immortal” novel,1 but it’s no Harry Dresden either.
Why buy it
It’s a good way to kill a couple of hours. No, not my best endorsement. It’s one of those days where I want to rethink having a star rating on this platform. But it’s cotton candy. And sometimes, having junk food won’t kill you.
Yes. I’ve read those. Shut up.