The Grendel Affair by Lisa ShearinMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
2020 Re-Read (Part of my Pandemic Read-a-thon)
I'm doing something that I don't usually do, I'm bumping my rating of this book up to 4 stars. Maybe it’s the times we are living in, but I really, really enjoyed this the second time around. This book has all the things that I enjoy in urban fantasy, namely bloodthirsty beasts, bad-ass heroes tracking them, a mystery to solve, plus a quirky main character who is willing to kick butt while making smart ass remarks. And it never hurts to have a Berserker Viking or two!
Yes, there is one small smooch for Makenna, close to the end of the novel. I'm really wondering if Shearin's original intention was to make these two into a couple and when she changed her mind? Oh to be able to ask these questions!
At any rate, this was great fun, punctuating a rather subdued real life right now. Someday the library will reopen, I'll be able to go back to the bookstore, birding will be an option, and the garden centre will be a destination. In the meanwhile, there are books.
****Wanda’s Summer Festival of Reading Fluff****
A very cute beginning to what promises to be a fun, fluffy series. Makenna Fraser is a likeable main character, learning her new job with Supernatural Protection & Investigations. She is a Seer, able to see through the glamours that supernatural beings can use to hide themselves from regular humans. It’s a rare skill and she hopes to make a place for herself in the company.
As the title implies, a descendent of the great Grendel (slain by Beowulf) is on the loose. Grendels are quite noise sensitive, explaining why the original Grendel attacked the hard-partying Danes that were his neighbours. SPI is based in New York City and it’s almost New Year’s Eve—so there’s lots of opportunity for loud humans to once again annoy the grendels.
I must say that I loved the Scandinavian team that came to help with the hunt—at least one of them a Berserker with a famous sword! I wasn’t quite as keen on the depictions of the grendels. Beowulf’s Grendel looks much different in my imagination than Lisa Shearin’s version, but I was able to set aside my version and enjoy hers for the purposes of the book.
Shearin has a good sense of humour and uses a few pop-culture references that even someone who is as out of touch as I am could still recognize & enjoy.
Real rating: 3.5 stars of summer entertainment
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