Review: Incredibly Unique, Complex, & Awesome Story!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 23, 2012
After reading Demon Bait, the novella kicking off this series, I had to start this full-length Children of the Undying novel immediately. I knew I would like it, but had no idea how much. THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD, YOU GUYS!! The setting and feel for me is very Matrix-Meets-Firefly. It has the network with virtual realities similar to that of the Matrix, but the comradery and post-apocalyptic feel of Firefly, only with trucks and demons. But don't let me box Hammer Down in to anything in specific, because it is all super unique to itself. There is so much more to it, and so much happens.The hero, Zel, is very very (very very) alpha. He is the leader of the outcast underground city of Rochester and all that inhabit it. He is also a halfbreed, part demon, and all warrior. In Rochester, half-breeds are openly accepted, one of the only places they can live in peace. Lately, however, that peace has become challenged because people have simply forgotten what it was like a century ago. He and his side-kick techie come to the rescue of Devi while her crew and their trucks are enduring a very bloody demon attack, and they discover that there was a spy in their crew, unbeknownst to them.Devi is the master of her own journey, always traveling, finding comfort in her maps and home on the road in her trucks. She is fiercely loyal and protective of her crew so when their team of haulers end up holed up at Zel's outcast city of Rochester, she is terribly conflicted over the desire to take off, and the desire to stay. The sexual tension between Devi and Zel is smooookinggggg.She opened her mouth to give him a kind lie, to tell him he didn't matter in the least, not to her. "No. I wish I didn't give a damn about you.""You don't. You don't know me." He pressed closer, nothing but hard muscle and heat stretched out against her. "We both got it bad, sweetheart. If you want to take me for a ride and get it out of your system, I'm game."And that's just the beginning! There are challenges made (Zel fights for Devi's honor), demon daddy issues faced, and some crazy revelations uncovered. There are some very scary moments topside, and some fantastically violent and gorey battles. Fantastic pacing, and awesome secondary characters made Hammer Down thoroughly engrossing, as well. Devi's right-hand tech geek, Cache, is blind and her story made the book incredibly fascinating. Each secondary character had me connected and I felt very invested in the story at the end. The mythology and world building is top-notch and unlike anything I've read before. And it was hella complex, too. Additionally, a major tip of my hat to this incredible writing duo for addressing the importance of safe sex, even in a totally made up world with half-breeds and virtual realities. It's an important conversation to have in any reality, ya'll, and one responsibly had by Zel and Devi.I am so excited for this series, and cannot wait for the next book. This is not typically a genre I would go for, but I am hooked bought and sold.