The Ledberg Runestone

The Jonah Heywood Chronicles #1

by Patrick Donovan

Magic: To some, it’s spectacle. To others, it’s proof that there’s more to life than meets the eye. To Jonah, it means one simple thing: money. A shaman for hire, Jonah knows how to tap into his powers as easily as he can turn on a light switch, but the real money is in putting on a show.

That is, until a mysterious woman makes him an offer he can’t afford to refuse: $20,000 all if he finds a little thing called the Ledberg runestone, legend of Norse mythology. With debt collectors like the Carver brothers breathing down his neck, the offer should be tempting, but when they threaten his father’s life, it becomes a mission Jonah must take.

As he starts to explore Asheville’s seedy magical underbelly, however, Jonah soon discovers he’s not alone on the hunt. Powerful forces want this stone. Will Jonah survive long enough to save his father, or will his meddling with the mystical finally get him killed?

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2018

About the author

Patrick Donovan is the author of the Demon Jack Urban Fantasy series and the upcoming Jonah Heywood Urban Fantasy Series. He currently lives in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina, where he divides his time between teaching, writing, and pretending to act like a responsible adult.

Reviews

[Kit (Metaphors and Moonlight) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out my interview with Patrick Donovan about The Ledberg Runestone @ Metaphors and Moonlight!

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4 Stars

Review:
*I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley. This has not influenced my review.*

I've been picky about what new snarky, action-packed type of urban fantasy books I'll read ever since I got kind of burnt out on those, but I'm glad I decided to try this one since it ended up being great, and now I have a new series to look forward to continuing!

Things I Liked:

- I knew from the very first page that this was gonna be my kinda book. The main character, Jonah, was a mess. He had a serious drinking problem. He conned people with fake seances and other similar services. He even stole things from the houses of the people who hired him. He was completely unlikeable, and yet, that was exactly what made him likeable because I happen to love seriously flawed characters when they're written well, which he was (his voice was well-written too). And then he'd go and do something nice or I'd find out about something good he did, and gah, I just couldn't help but root for the guy. I mean, I still didn't really like him as a person because he was still a jerk sometimes, but when he made bad decisions or reached for a bottle, more than anything, I felt sympathy for him, for the things that led to him being in such a bad place. And I felt terrible about all the beatings he got throughout the book because he definitely did not deserve that.

- Jonah's alcoholism was a topic that was handled well. It wasn't just glossed over; it caused him to make bad decisions, it took a toll on his body, and people were worried about him and wanted him to get help.

- Jonah's physical disability was handled well too. He had a bad leg from a broken femur and used a cane, and it obviously didn't stop him from doing things, but it was a part of him, sometimes causing him pain, sometimes causing him to have trouble balancing, sometimes making things more difficult, etc.

- In fact, all the serious things were handled well. There was something that happened about halfway through the book that was... really bad. Intense. I almost felt like crying while I was reading it because it was written in a way that made me feel the gravity of the situation and made me feel horrible for Jonah. And then when more bad things happened, they were given the gravity they deserved too.

- This book was also funny at times because Jonah was somewhat sarcastic and snarky. Sometimes it was mean, but sometimes it was just funny without being mean.

- There was a touching family element. Jonah's father was not perfect, but he loved Jonah and was worried about him and would do anything to help him. I actually shed a tear after the intense thing when things got all emotional during a father-son moment. I also teared up again when I read the very last line because of more father-son feels.

- I think this was the first time I had ever read about a main character who was a shaman, and I don't know much about shamans, so I can't say much about how that was portrayed, but I liked the explanations we got for the magical/spiritual things and thought it was all really interesting, especially the stuff about how belief and religion can create or alter or give power to things.

Things I Disliked:

- I was a little confused at the end. I'm not sure exactly what happened, and then Jonah had a conversation that supposedly revealed some things to him, but it just kinda lost me. I still don't understand what part all the characters played. Maybe this will be cleared up in the next book since there's clearly an overarching plot in addition to the individual book plot.

- Jonah sometimes made bad decisions due to his alcoholism and his life, and that I had no problem with, but his complete lack of plan sometimes didn't really make sense.

Other Things Worth Noting:

- This book had some pretty graphic violence.

- A potential future romance was hinted at since Jonah was interested in someone, but this book didn't have any romance.

So overall, this was a great start to a new urban fantasy series that managed to stand out in a genre that has felt repetitive to me lately, the protagonist was flawed but well-written, and the story was intense!

Recommended For:
Anyone who likes urban fantasy, seriously flawed characters, father-son relationships, and interesting supernatural stuff.

Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight

[Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley

I am always in two minds about these kinds of books before I start them. On the one hand I am always looking for another urban fantasy with a snarky male protagonist to fill the hole that the Cal Leandros series left in my heart [this isn't quite up there with that series but it is very enjoyable, and I would say that this book and also the Immortal Mercenary series by Connor Kressley are both a lot of fun and run in the same vein]. On the other hand, it's very easy to turn this type of character into a totally unrelatable jerk and most authors can't really find that balance. Luckily this book was one of the good ones!

I really liked Jonah, despite [or maybe actually because of] him being a total mess. But I liked that his bad decisions actually had some consequences and also he's got a really great POV. I liked that his alcoholism actually caused him problems and made him make bad decisions a lot of the time instead of the usual 'sexy drinking problem' trope. I also liked that his disability actually came up in the story rather than just 'oh I want him to have a cane that would be cool' but then write him where he never actually struggles physically with anything. This book actually tackled quite a few more serious topics in this vein and I appreciate that the author actually spent time to think them through, while still making the book very enjoyable and fun overall.

The actual plot was pretty interesting and flowed fairly well. There's some twists at the end and it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger so if that bothers you maybe wait until the next one comes out. It was definitely a fun short read though and I actually really think this length is a great length for urban fantasy books. I'll definitely be on the lookout for the sequel!

[All Things Urban Fantasy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.

Jonah Heywood is a drunk, a liar, and he probably owes you money. Although THE LEDBERG RUNESTONE introduces us to a familiar male urban fantasy character, the humour and the plotting keeps the novel fresh. When Jonah’s debtors come calling,, he has to work with an untrustworthy client to find a lost runestone.

Jonah is a shaman and spirit talker, which means he’s constantly making deals, gifting tributes, and giving bribes. The plot moves fast and the entire book just takes place over a couple of days. During that time Jonah is repeatedly beaten to a pulp, stalked by otherworldly characters, and still manages to find the time to steal magical artifacts.

My only issue with the novel is that it relies on the tired ‘his crush’s ex boyfriend is definitely evil and is a rapist’ trope. Melly is introduced as a sassy bartender but quickly devolves into a damsel in distress after two attempted rapes. She’s then forgotten in the back half of the novel when the ex boyfriend is dealt with. Since the plot moves so fast, it makes sense to ignore Melly and focus on the action, but it leaves the reader wondering why this minor plot was introduced at all. We already knew Cash was evil because he threatened Jonah’s father and beat Jonah to a pulp - attempted rape is unnecessary.

I appreciated that the author took Jonah’s addiction seriously, instead of treating it like a hard-boiled character trope. Like most addicts, Jonah doesn’t realize how bad his drinking actually is but everyone around him is begging him to get help. The novel also doesn’t pull its punches when it comes to fights and character deaths. There are consequences to every hit and to every new ally or enemy. THE LEDBERG RUNESTONE showcases a fun and intriguing new characters and sets up a fun magical world. Jonah has enough character flaws and backstory to fill more novels.

TW: Attempted rape, graphic violence

[Neil · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
The only good thing I can say about this was it was short.
There was no depth to the plot, characters or story.
Will certainly not bother with any more in this series.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, that was disappointing. At least it was a fast read, I guess. You can tell this book is self-published. It could really use an editor to polish the rough edges of the writing style, point out some plot holes, and tighten up what would make this universe have its own special niche in the urban fantasy genre. Right now it’s too cliche and reminiscent of too many other books. Periodically Donovan falls back into corny Dungeons and Dragons DM speak, rather than natural language, making everything too obviously forced/scripted. Several times it also looked like complete paragraphs were copied and pasted and used multiple times throughout the book. My biggest complaint was that magic added nothing to the story... all of this could have happened with regular weapons and detective work.

[Fangs for the Fantasy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonah Heywood is a shaman and a grifter, just scraping by -barely able to pay his ever spiralling booze bill

Which is a problem when you owe a large sum of money to a loan shark quite willing to break every bone in your body then move on to your family.

So when a woman approaches him with a deal he knows he shouldn’t take, a job he should avoid and a magical artefact he knows he wants no part of; he has to say yes


Jonah Heywood is a character that makes a lot of terrible decisions and he’s pretty unique for that

At which I hear you all yell “but you complain constantly about characters making terrible decisions!!!” Which is true - but in those cases I’m complaining about a character making terrible decisions that no-one - least of all the author - is willing to acknowledge as such. This isn’t a protagonist leaping blindly through portals or conducting one person searches of all Siberia - and succeeding. This is a protagonist making bad decisions which are constantly acknowledged: in fact so much of the plot ran simply because Jonah makes bad decisions which constantly put him in bad situations and leave him with further few good options.

Jonah is an alcoholic. He is in debt and making terrible choices to get out of debt. He is traumatised and not dealing well - or at all - with his traumatic past. He is making the worst enemies in the worst ways and generally just about everything he does I want to yell “STOP! STOP!”. But this isn’t like so many books we’ve read because - because the book is written to EXPECT me to say “stop”. At no point am I expected to agree with Jonah’s choices. At very least every time near-constantly drunk Jonah gets behind the wheel of a car I cringe.

And there’s a really nice balance between Jonah doing terrible things because he has not real choice while at the same time Jonah simply not making good choices: largely because he is in utter denial of where he is (especially in relation to his alcoholism) and in utter denial of the fact He Needs Help. Jonah needs an intervention. Jonah needs a keeper.

I want to route for Jonah. But not for him to win but for him to LEARN. I don’t want or need him to be awesome - I need him to be better; I don’t want him to ascend to be the all powerful one, I want him to put his life together. I want him to sort himself out.

And this is interesting to me because in the opening lines of this book I was sure I knew what this story would be - from the starting in a bar, hard drinking, war wounded, cynical with a woman coming in - who even if she wasn’t DESCRIBED that way you mentally call “dame”. The hyper-powered, hard bitten noir-ish: the Harry Dresden, the Yancey Lazarus, the Remy Chandler (and I won’t lie, I LOVE that whole schtick. Yes yes I do) but then for it to surprise me by turning what I expected to be a hyper-powerful over-the-top character into, perhaps, what that cynic, hard-bitten character would ACTUALLY look like was really an interesting twist. And I found myself really loving that

Side note here: it feels almost like whoever edited this book skipped the first few pages. The writing is actually inexcusably terrible, it’s long winded, convoluted, the dialogue is comic when read aloud, it’s super repetitive (with different characters all quirking eyebrows at each other) and I wrote loads of notes about the abysmal text… but that fades really quickly. I’m not sure why the first few pages skipped editing but it’s worth it to hang on in there.

And Jonah isn’t hyper powerful either. He has magic - he’s a shaman who has some nifty tricks up his sleeve but he is far from dangerous and mighty and definitely not a heavy weight. His magic nicely fits into the world building which is really nicely hinted at in this book (i really love the depiction of spirits here) but there’s more a foundation for more to come. For a story all about a shaman stealing a magical artefact from an all-powerful voodoo Mambo at the behest of a near god it’s all quite mundane.

The plot itself is fun - not unique in and of itself: it’s a classic find the Maltese Falcon plot line. We have twists and an exceptional one at the end; but what holds it together is this unique character and the foundations it lays for something truly epic to come.

The biggest powerful force in this book is a Black woman and her family - she’s extremely powerful but also clearly good. And that is important for any practitioner of voodoo since it’s so often demonised in the media. She is compassionate, even in opposition to Jonah and while she doesn’t play a huge role; she clearly represents the road not taken: the Sensible Choice. Also I think she’s going to be a major element of this series far more so.


Read More

[Mora · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good:
This was a fast-paced, eventful book that satisfied my desire to read something light but entertaining, with a gruff but secretly-heart-of-gold protagonist surrounded by some interesting supporting characters. My interest is piqued, and I'll likely read more books in the series. It was also nice that in a genre flooded with misogynist asshole characters, we find one who has a gay best friend, respects women, and loves his father.

The okay:
This was not a terribly deep book in terms of plot. The whole thing was your typical MacGuffin -- completely irrelevant what the object at the center of everything was, the character was in the dark the whole time and just had vague feelings about it. Now, this is setting up for something bigger in future books, I'm sure, but as it stands, the entire first book was just setting the groundwork.

The bad:
Here's the good news: the problem is very fixable. I would give this book 4 stars if the editing were better, but I was dragged out of my immersion enough times that by the end, I started to worry that details I was reading in the moment would be wiped out by future inconsistencies. For example, there was an entire page in which the character is negotiating something. It's tense, there's risk involved. The character then sets up a meeting time half an hour into the future, pulls into the meeting location immediately, walks inside, and finds the person he's meeting is already there? This could be explained with magic easily -- would even make the stakes higher to point out how weird that was. Instead, it feels like the author forgot what had just been established. This assumption is backed up by the fact that the main character sits down and immediately starts to negotiate again. "Are you dumb, Jonah?" I thought, "why are you negotiating a second time?" Except that it turned out he was negotiating the exact same thing as a page ago, except that this time it took two sentences.

At another point, the main character feels briefly guilty about a friend's death because he'd ignored so many calls from the person when the friend had been in trouble -- except there was never any mention of these calls before, despite the fact that we were "with" the character at the time.

Other times were smaller but glaring. The father will stand up and pace, and then two sentences later he stands up and paces. Etc, you get the idea. It's just enough that you start to doubt what you're reading. A good run-through with an editor would help immensely.

Overall, I think this book shows a lot of promise, and I really went back and forth on how many stars to give it. A re-release with a fix of the inconsistencies would do wonders for me.

[Bill Blume · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've said it before, but it's worth repeating. If you love Jim Butcher's “Harry Dresden” series, then you need to check out Patrick Donovan's books. His latest novel, The Ledberg Runestone, starts a new series about Jonah Heywood, a shaman in North Carolina who gets in way over his head.

Jonah is a two-legged train wreck. While at one time, he tried to use his magic to go after big bads in his home city of Asheville, a particularly bad episode has left him with a limp and when he's not conning people out of their money by performing exorcisms and other magical fakery, he's stilling from the homes of his victims. Topping that off, he's a raging alcoholic. For all of Jonah's loathsome qualities, it's difficult not to like him, because Patrick writes Jonah with such an honest and often irreverently funny voice, that his more noble qualities shine through.

Overall, the story contains a lot of great characters, and while they don't all get a lot of time to shine, there's certainly the promise they'll each have important roles to play in the future novels.

The story doesn't lean too heavily on the mystical elements of the world. Many of Jonah's problems are very much mundane, but not without high stakes. He's in debt to a pair of thugs who have the local cops in their back pocket. The magic gets a stronger focus in the latter third of the novel. Many of the best moments come from seeing all the magical things that are hidden within an otherwise modern, everyday setting.

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in a new series titled Jonah Heywood Chronicles. First off, this is the first book I have read by this author. I’m always looking for a good urban fantasy because that is by far my favorite genre to read. I read others, but UF is my favorite. I’m glad to say I think I’ve found another author to add to my arsenal of authors to read. This book was well-written and kept my interest from the beginning. I found Jonah to be very flawed, sometimes a little too flawed, but he tries to do his best. I do wish he had been a little more adept at his trade, but I think that’ll come with time and changes that need to be made through effort. Events in the story had me cringing for Jonah, and I really wanted to yell at him to quit making mistakes. So, yes, don’t expect a competent protagonist. Expect instead a wounded, suffering practitioner who is doing his best and has lots of potential. I can’t wait to see how Jonah is in the next book considering how the book ended and what happened. Can’t say much: spoilers! If you like light urban fantasy, give this one a try! Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley and Diversion Books for the e-book which I voluntarily reviewed.

[Alexa Hollow · Rating 1 out of 5]

This won't be an extended review, and it should be taken with a grain of salt. I'll admit up front the kind of thing Donovan is trying to accomplish here just isn't something I'm that interested in, so some of my opinion on this is the standard It's Not For Me problem.

I stumbled across this book while doing my own research on Norse myth, and as an Asheville native, I decided to give it a look. It's... well, it's definitely Dresden Files-esque. Most of my enjoyment was from things that weren't meant to be funny--I thought setting the book around Asheville was inherently fucking hilarious when I read it at 5 in the morning. Which isn't actually a strong mark in its favor. I was so baffled by the whole idea that I couldn't focus on the story itself.

Anyway, it's probably fine if you like this kind of thing, and may very well be worth a look if you still need an itch for urban fantasy detective stories scratched--even if it's very formulaic and probably nothing you haven't seen before. As for me, eh.

[Marissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Ledberg Runestone is the first installment of a new urban fantasy series featuring the shaman Jonah Heywood. At times, it did remind me of the Dresden Files. Jonah is a drunk who tends to get himself in situations that involve him undergoing bodily harm to the point of where he blacks out. He also owes some very dangerous people some money and is trying to fix this by getting himself involved with some other unsavory characters who hires him to locate a powerful missing artifact called the Ledberg runestone. The story was just okay. I found it be very repetitive - he drinks all the time and gets physically hurt and blacks out a number of times. There wasn't much character development when it came to Jonah. For me, there also wasn't much involved that hadn't already been done in other urban fantasy series.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first in a new series with a shaman, Jonah, as the main character. This is one that I probably would not have finished if I was reading but continued with the audio book. I did not like how often Jonah got beaten up and how unrealistic it was that he just continued to function after each beating. The story was interesting enough. There was a lot of backstory and world building in with the violence. A lot was left hanging but then this is the first in a new series so there will be other books to finish what was left over.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was first drawn to it because 1. It was fantasy - my preferred reading genre, and 2. It was set in Asheville, NC. I was born in Asheville, spent a significant portion of my growing-up years in Asheville, and currently reside about 10 miles outside Asheville. Yes, Jack-In-The-Woods really exists. It's a great little bar. I appreciated the fact that Jonah was all-too-human - making poor choices and having to deal with the consequences of those poor choices - something we all do.

More Jonah Heywood, please!

[Johanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keeps the protagonist likable even when he does stupid or obnoxious things. Acknowledges his physical disability (walks with a cane after a series of bad decisions in the past) and his issues with alcohol, and follows through on the consequences. Some good stuff around family relationships. Plot had a very pulp fiction noir feel and the ending felt a bit cheap. Sometimes felt the book was putting in action to fill up space rather than to progress character or plot.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just needed more to lots of parts. The Setting/City need more description to give it a a feel. The main character flaws need more backstory and negative consequences to make his acceptance of them believable. To many elements of the supernatural are mentioned and not given enough page time to add to anything. The book was very short there was indeed room for the more I was looking for.

[Logan Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was good, characters easy to imagine, plot tells enough to understand and confused and excited to figure things out at the same time. I liked the open ended ness at the end marking me excited to read the next one. I’m a little biased because the author is my favorite teacher.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5🌟 - It was a decent enough urban fantasy, not boring or completely unrealistic, but a bit predictable and the rest of the main cast of characters weren’t very well developed. However, while I will not be adding the series to my personal collection, I will be reading the rest of them.

[Marian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting world.

It is an interesting world going on here. I wasn't a big fan of the main character and, good grief, I'm not sure what it was keeping him alive through the damage he continually took.

[Joseph Dubey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this one. Didn't take me long to finish it.

[Jay Edgar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm always interested in books about magic but I tire pretty quickly of the noir, drunkard, injury upon injury tropes.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this novel quite a bit, although I’ll be the first to admit it was nothing at all like I was expecting. The MC, Jonah, is a mess. He’s an alcoholic, who generally makes bad decision after bad decision. He’s so jaded, and there was this almost noir feel to the novel, I was truly shocked when 35% in, I discovered he was only 23. I had been thinking he was in his late 30s or 40s, but that probably speaks to a personal bias more than to the novel itself. It did, however, bring some clarity to his failings in decision making. It also has very little magic. I read the synopsis, saw that he was a shaman, and just kind of assumed this was going to be an urban fantasy novel in the same vein as perhaps Dresden. It was 65% in before our hero did anything magical. And boy was there lots of opportunities for him to do something. Along with all his bad decisions, he basically goes from one ass whipping to another. But herein lies the rub, I have a feeling this novel is setting up a world and a main character that could potentially be truly fantastic. We aren’t meeting our main character in their 30s or 40s, where they have a delicious backstory to explain their behavior, we are instead meeting our character at the beginning of their story. Giving us, the reader, the opportunity to go along for the ride. Gifting us with observing the transition and transformation. We’ve witnessed rock bottom. It’s not something just hinted at, or alluded to, requiring us to guess and assume. We’ve already seen it for ourselves. I’ll admit, that it’s a lot of supposition on my part, but this author can write, and there were enough Easter eggs and hints of what was to come, I’m quite hopeful that I’m pegging this correctly. I know, I’m certainly on board for the next one.

I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Crittermom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ledberg Runestone will appeal to fans of the Dresden Files and other, similar urban fantasies. It features a ragtag ne'er do well shaman more used to pretending than to using actual magic. Past experience has taught Jonah that being a hero is not all it’s cracked up to be. But being in debt to the Carver brothers, Asheville’s version of the mafia, means that if he doesn’t come up with the cash he owes, he will be six feet under and his father will come tumbling after. Still, retrieving a runestone for 20,000 has too many risks. Jonah may be a drunken fool, but even he realizes that that much cash comes with strings attached. Reluctantly, Jonah begins his search for the runestone and finds himself drawing the attention of powerful players. Jonah doesn’t have a plan, but he does have ability and friends.

It’s difficult to dislike Jonah. Despite his alcoholism, his heart is in the right place. He wants to protect his father and his friends, but his blindness to his flaws is a major weakness. Like most alcoholics, Jonah is in denial about his problem and that problem leads him into a hell of a lot of trouble.

As a series debut, The Ledberg Runestone is a definite success. It has a well developed lead that despite his flaws is likable. It introduces a supernatural world that is complex and a little different from the norm. And the story creates interest as well as curiosity as to what will happen next. I definitely recommend The Ledberg Runestone to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy.

4 / 5

I received a copy of The Ledberg Runestone from the publisher and NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A debt that needs to be repaid ASAP. A messed up alcoholic with shamanic powers. And a plan that sounds just crazy enough, it might even work! What could possibly go wrong?

Jonah Heywood is not your typical shaman slash P.I. - he's a cripple with crude manners, first to run away to save his skin, and has a soft spot for the bottom of the nearest bottle. But he's also in debt. And to get out of it - and unscathed, seeing as the loan sharks are not exactly lenient and would like nothing more than to tear him limb from limb - he needs cash. Lots of it, and fast. So when an opportunity appears itself in the form of a job he knows is not safe to accept, he takes his chances only because there's nothing left to do. But things rarely go Jonah's way, and this time is no different...

This book left me in quite the dilemma, I must say. On one hand, the characters were all unique and quite easy to relate to. It didn't hurt that the dialogues between them were also witty and interesting.

Let's start with Jonah himself. He was a flawed man through and through. He was so addicted to booze, and everyone BUT him could see it, which is quite realistic. A person with an addiction usually never sees the problem themselves. It was also quite nice to see that the writer didn't feel the need to keep showing that addiction as something tiring, or forcing it down our throats - you know, every other scene and such. Jonah would reach for the bottle only when things would get rough, or when he was starting to get insecure and all that. Another thing I actually liked is that he wasn't weak. Far from it. When he finally decided to stand up to everyone trying to push him around, we got to see he had the power to do so to begin with, he just chose to ignore his self-worth and was scared of his own abilities, due to past traumas. This shows a man willing to lower himself to a point where everyone underestimates and insults him, as long as he doesn't get innocents killed again. He was trying to learn from his youthful mistakes, even if he went all wrong about doing it - it was still so humane of him to do so clumsily.

Aside from Jonah, I adored the scenes with his father. The old guy had no magic powers whatsoever, and was more badass than his own son in his prime! Respect!



Oh, and Sam! Sam was the kind of best friend I wish we all had. Sarcastic, considerate, and yet so subtle in his ways. He didn't try to filter his mouth when he was ripping a new one on his friend, but he was also trying to be accepting of his flaws and what he had gone through before all this fiasco in the current book. Not to mention that he was willing to risk his life to save Jonah - despite being a normal person himself.

The only problem with this book was the number of plot holes. There were many things that went unanswered, or that didn't make sense. Like, how did Sam get from laying asleep on Jonah's floor to rescuing him in the woods? In terms of time, the whole event happened quite fast for him to have managed that. The scene with the payment with Lysone - the whole thing with the price going up and then being the same confused the heck out of me. And what on Earth happened with that girl who kept warning Jonah not to give the runestone to Lysone, only for her to kill one of Mama Duvalier's daughters and then blame it on him?



Like I said, plot holes.

But the story was relatively easy to read through, and enjoyable. Lots of action, and dry humor, and suspense. And of course, magic! The kind we don't usually see in books - you know, the whole voodoo-style and the idea of using spirits from bottles (which I'm totally stealing for one of my D&D campaigns, Mr. Donovan, just so you know!). Simply refreshing. I wouldn't mind seeing more of Jonah and his peers, hopefully filling in the blanks I got from this book - and my, that plot twist with Kari and Lysone! You seriously don't know which one to trust and who is the Big Baddie after all!

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.***

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