Hammered by Kevin Hearne

Hammered

Author: Kevin Hearne
Title: Hammered
Series: Iron Druid Chronicles 3
Genre: Paranormal
Pairing: M/F
Rating: Three Petals

On the Author's Website:
http://kevinhearne.com/books/hammered/

Summary:

Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully—he’s ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he’s asked his friend Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.

One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. Plus things are heating up in his home base  of Tempe, Arizona. There’s a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plane of Asgard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants for an epic showdown against vicious Valkyries, angry Norse gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself.

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Maggie's Rating: Three Petals

Maggie's Review:

Hammered continues exactly where Hexed, the previous book in the series, left off.  In Hexed, Atticus is dealing with the repercussions of killing a god.  In Hammered, Atticus is dealing with the repercussions of dealing with the repercussions.  To stop a horde of Bacchants he enlisted the help of a witch who demanded one of Idunn's golden apples of youth as payment.  To stop a sect of demon worshiping witches he enlisted the help of a vampire that demanded Atticus help kill Thor in payment.  Hammered begins with Atticus' struggle to procure a golden apple and figure out a plan to kill Thor. 
On the surface it sounds amazing, but the story honestly feels jumpy as Atticus rushes from trying to solve one problem and then another, and another, and another. 

The part of the story I liked the least was story time.  Everyone that has gathered to kill Thor sits around the fire to tell their story of what Thor has done to wrong them, at length.  It's tedious and makes the plot drag.  It felt like Hearne decided he needed to justify killing Thor, but throughout the series he had already outlined dozens of terrible things Thor has done.  The stories around the campfire were superfluous. 

Throughout the story it feels like Atticus must have a plan that he isn't telling the reader just yet.  For example, when Jesus comes to tell Atticus that killing Thor would end very badly for him, Atticus brushes him off and continues.  Even the story telling part, while boring, felt like it was part of some grand trick Atticus was trying to pull.  It kept me turning the pages to see what happens.  I won't say what the outcome was so I don't spoil it for you, but I wasn't particularly happy with it. 

Atticus did have his sense of humor and the fight scenes were well written, which is really what saved Hammered from falling to mediocrity.  They've been a mainstay throughout the series.  I am hoping the next book will improve. 


Maggie's Recommendation:

This book had flaws that made it drag in spots, but overall I still enjoyed it.  I do recommend it, but only because it's part of a larger series.