Hounded - a review (and never judge a book by it's cover art)

First off a review of Hounded by Kevin Hearne (1st book in the Iron Druid series

Take a slice of Harry Dresden, add a pinch of Buffy/Angel, throw in some Sookie Stackhouse and you have a recipe for success.
Atticus, the 2100 year old druid (who only looks to be about 21 - don't worry, the explanation makes sense) runs a Pagan/Mysticism shop in Tempe, Arizona. He has a sword that Aenghus Og, of the Irish Pantheon wants - and he's coming to get it!
There are plenty of mystical and mythical creature in the pages of this book - Gods and Goddessess, witches, a Vampire and Werewolf legal team - and they all fit well within the story. There's always something going on but it doesn't feel rushed or overbusy. I am looking forward to reading more books in this series.

Oh, yes, and there is Oberon the Irish Wolfhound, Atticus' pet - possibly the greatest dog character ever written and an excellent comic foil at times.

NEVER judge a book by it's cover art

Up till the last few days I've never really given this old maxim much thought but then.............
Being a regular bookshop visitor I've seen the first three books in the Iron Druid series quite a few times but never bothered with them because I Really Do Not Like The Cover! If it hadn't been for accidentally reading a review of the books I may never have picked them up - and that would have been my loss. The guy on the front, who looked a bit surfer dude-ish (and no insult intended to surfer dudes!) just made me think it would be another book aimed at the twilight types (again, no insult intended, just not my "thing") so I ignored it and moved on to other things.

And this got me thinking of another plus thing for the Kindle/ e-reader, which is this;
When you pick up a book with an illustration of one of the main characters on the front, each time you see the cover a part of you may  unconciously think "this is what the lead guy or whoever looks like". Even though you may have your own idea of how they look a part of you will be guided by what the cover artist thinks they look like.
With Kindle/e-readers you only see the cover the once so the characters you see in your minds' eye as you read are more likely to be your own personal interpretation of the authors' vision.
And that for me is a massive plus point.

On a last point with Hounded (as mentioned above) the author has created, in Oberon the Irish Wolfhound one of the great animal characters in modern fiction. Kevin Hearne goes up there with Dean Koontz and Crystal Connor as one of the best authors of Dog characters around.