Staked (Iron Druid Chronicles #8)

Description: When a druid has lived for two thousand years like Atticus, he's bound to run afoul of a few vampires. Make that legions of them. Even his former friend and legal counsel turned out to be a bloodsucking backstabber. Now the toothy troublemakers—led by power-mad pain-in-the-neck Theophilus—have become a huge problem requiring a solution. It's time to make a stand.
  As always, Atticus wouldn't mind a little backup. But his allies have problems of their own. Ornery archdruid Owen Kennedy is having a wee bit of troll trouble: Turns out when you stiff a troll, it's not water under the bridge. Meanwhile, Granuaile is desperate to free herself of the Norse god Loki's mark and elude his powers of divination—a quest that will bring her face-to-face with several Slavic nightmares.
  As Atticus globe trots to stop his nemesis Theophilus, the journey leads to Rome. What better place to end an immortal than the Eternal City? But poetic justice won't come without a price: In order to defeat Theophilus, Atticus may have to lose an old friend.

Review:I completed the Iron Druid Chronicles earlier this year and enjoyed the ride. I am, however, behind on reviewing the last few books in this series. Staked is another great installment of the Iron Druid Chronicles. The plot becomes complicated as Atticus has tunnel vision on exacting revenge, which has consequences for everyone that we have met throughout this series thus far. As with the previous book, Staked is told in three different points of views: Atticus, Granuaile, and Owen. Each of these druids have separate story lines where he/she go on their individual adventure, but they all converge in the end. I enjoyed the three different points of views as it does not interfere with what I expect from this series, which is a ton of action and humor.
    Atticus is back in Toronto, a place he swore he would never visit again, but he has a purpose which is to steal a list of all the vampires in the world. His trip has several unexpected surprises and I enjoyed revisiting some of the past characters such as The Hammers of God and The Dark Elves, not to mention an intense and bitter encounter with Leif. Granuaile is in Asgard with Oden, working on a way to remove Loki’s mark. I love that she is independent and given actual obstacle to overcome. Hearne does not make things easy for her and I really appreciated it. It always irks me when female characters are given simple tasks because they are "delicate" or can not handle it. Owen's relationship with Greta continues to grow and Greta convinces him to six young, diverse humans to become Druids.
  Emotions get the best of Atticus in this book and he really digs himself a huge hole. His actions will have huge consequences as we speed to the conclusion of this series. I was surprised by the characters that we lost in this book and I am sure Hearne is trying to prep his readers by what is about to happen in the finale.

Rating: 4 stars


Words of Caution: There is strong language and violence throughout the book. There are also sexual situations and crude humor in the book. Recommended for older teens and adults only.

If you like this book try: Besieged by Kevin Hearne (short stories in the Iron Druid Chronicles), Scourged by Kevin Hearne (Iron Druid Chronicles #9), The Age of Misrule trilogy by Mark Chadbourn