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Hawthorn House #2
The Mortal Edge
When the dead refuse to stay buried, London trembles.
Rob Cromwell and Julian Blackwood thought they’d found their place in London’s supernatural shadow world. But when a ghost from Julian’s past returns with murder on his mind, their hard-won peace shatters like glass.
Mitch Longfield should be dead—Julian killed him four years ago. Yet here he stands, more dangerous than ever, weaving chaos magic and ready to burn London to ash to claim what he seeks.
As vampires clash in blood-soaked battles and werewolf dynasties sharpen their claws for war, Fiona Kendall discovers the Red Sisters aren't the benevolent teachers they claim to be. Trapped in a nightmare realm, she must embrace powers she barely understands—or become the key to unleashing an imprisoned horror upon the world.
From the vampire tunnels beneath the city to the ghostlit streets above, and secret bases hidden under Russell Square, the shadow war has begun. Ancient enemies are stirring. The dead are rising. And at the heart of it all lurks something that was chained away in the hope it would never return.
Some prisons were built to last forever. Tonight, the locks are breaking.
Perfect for fans of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London and Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, The Mortal Edge delivers pulse-pounding action, dark magic, and characters you'll fight alongside until the very last page.
Rob Cromwell and Julian Blackwood thought they’d found their place in London’s supernatural shadow world. But when a ghost from Julian’s past returns with murder on his mind, their hard-won peace shatters like glass.
Mitch Longfield should be dead—Julian killed him four years ago. Yet here he stands, more dangerous than ever, weaving chaos magic and ready to burn London to ash to claim what he seeks.
As vampires clash in blood-soaked battles and werewolf dynasties sharpen their claws for war, Fiona Kendall discovers the Red Sisters aren't the benevolent teachers they claim to be. Trapped in a nightmare realm, she must embrace powers she barely understands—or become the key to unleashing an imprisoned horror upon the world.
From the vampire tunnels beneath the city to the ghostlit streets above, and secret bases hidden under Russell Square, the shadow war has begun. Ancient enemies are stirring. The dead are rising. And at the heart of it all lurks something that was chained away in the hope it would never return.
Some prisons were built to last forever. Tonight, the locks are breaking.
Perfect for fans of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London and Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, The Mortal Edge delivers pulse-pounding action, dark magic, and characters you'll fight alongside until the very last page.
- GenresUrban Fantasy
Kindle Edition
First published April 27, 2018
37 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 13, 2018
Hawthorn House’s residents live exciting lives. When no one tries to kill them, they have to stop apocalypse. Usually, it’s the mix of the two.
Four years ago Julian Blackwood killed his best friend, Mitch Longfield. But now Mitch is back, and he wants revenge. London’s werewolves have an issue with Rob - he doesn’t smell right for a werewolf. Fiona has joined the Red Sisters to learn magic, but she’s wondering if they really want to teach her.
Don’t read this book if you didn’t read The Ghost Electricity. But if you did and enjoyed series’ opener, read it immediately. Especially when you fancy a rollicking urban fantasy adventure that upends many genre tropes in an audacious style. You‘ll find here all the goodies - werewolves, vampires, warlocks, automatons, sentient van and more. It‘s the book about the restorative power of friendship that happens in a darkly fascinating, and brutal world.
Characters shine and develop significantly. I need more Jessica and her automatons in my life - I hope she’ll get development in the threequel. She’s slowly transforming into plot device that saves the day and zaps everyone. Julian, Rob and Fiona experience dark moments - Cunningham’s offers a fresh and brutal vision of a supernatural world - werewolves’ cage fights, vampires hunt and corrupted magic. He sweetens it with an offbeat humor I enjoy.
I enjoyed the book a lot, but I need to mention two issues:
1. It needs another pass of proofreading. You’ll easily spot misspellings or repeated words.
2. It introduces a ton of new characters and this makes the story difficult to follow at times.
Apart from this, though, I highly recommend Hawthorn House series to Urban Fantasy fans bored with repetitive and formulaic plots. Cunningham’s imagination is full of surprises and his characters never stop to charm the reader.
Excellent read and now I’m impatiently awaiting next book in the series.
Four years ago Julian Blackwood killed his best friend, Mitch Longfield. But now Mitch is back, and he wants revenge. London’s werewolves have an issue with Rob - he doesn’t smell right for a werewolf. Fiona has joined the Red Sisters to learn magic, but she’s wondering if they really want to teach her.
Don’t read this book if you didn’t read The Ghost Electricity. But if you did and enjoyed series’ opener, read it immediately. Especially when you fancy a rollicking urban fantasy adventure that upends many genre tropes in an audacious style. You‘ll find here all the goodies - werewolves, vampires, warlocks, automatons, sentient van and more. It‘s the book about the restorative power of friendship that happens in a darkly fascinating, and brutal world.
Characters shine and develop significantly. I need more Jessica and her automatons in my life - I hope she’ll get development in the threequel. She’s slowly transforming into plot device that saves the day and zaps everyone. Julian, Rob and Fiona experience dark moments - Cunningham’s offers a fresh and brutal vision of a supernatural world - werewolves’ cage fights, vampires hunt and corrupted magic. He sweetens it with an offbeat humor I enjoy.
I enjoyed the book a lot, but I need to mention two issues:
1. It needs another pass of proofreading. You’ll easily spot misspellings or repeated words.
2. It introduces a ton of new characters and this makes the story difficult to follow at times.
Apart from this, though, I highly recommend Hawthorn House series to Urban Fantasy fans bored with repetitive and formulaic plots. Cunningham’s imagination is full of surprises and his characters never stop to charm the reader.
Excellent read and now I’m impatiently awaiting next book in the series.
May 13, 2018
Another excellent story from a gifted storyteller. Can't wait for book 3.
May 5, 2019
Intensive
Really, really good but there was so much in, and to, each POV segment that I had to take mini breaks instead of reading straight through. Once again, the characters are all that and more. The storyline keeps surprising. One ring the key to all???? Oh smirk! Alice? Forget Kansas. We're not even in Wonderland any more. Julian is just totally stylin'. And Jessica? Can she be any more funderful? Hmmmm.... Orson....
Really, really good but there was so much in, and to, each POV segment that I had to take mini breaks instead of reading straight through. Once again, the characters are all that and more. The storyline keeps surprising. One ring the key to all???? Oh smirk! Alice? Forget Kansas. We're not even in Wonderland any more. Julian is just totally stylin'. And Jessica? Can she be any more funderful? Hmmmm.... Orson....
July 26, 2018
Excellent follow up
I think just a touch better than book one, and I'd give that one 5 stars, too. I adore every one of these characters. I was truly scared for them at multiple points in the story, and I had to put the book down for a bit when one was captured, fearing she'd be sacrificed to plot. Many of the minor (and not so minor) bad guys are sympathetic, even--a feat I've rarely seen done as well as this.
Mr. Cunningham has joined my roster of a half dozen UF auto-buy authors alongside Ilona Andrews and Anne Bishop.
I think just a touch better than book one, and I'd give that one 5 stars, too. I adore every one of these characters. I was truly scared for them at multiple points in the story, and I had to put the book down for a bit when one was captured, fearing she'd be sacrificed to plot. Many of the minor (and not so minor) bad guys are sympathetic, even--a feat I've rarely seen done as well as this.
Mr. Cunningham has joined my roster of a half dozen UF auto-buy authors alongside Ilona Andrews and Anne Bishop.
August 3, 2021
Having loved the previous full-length novel and the two novellas in this series, I'm disappointed to say that I struggled with this book. It was bloated and unclear with far too many characters (confusingly 3 of the main characters had names beginning with J!). The propulsive action that worked so well in the previous stories was missing for large swathes of this one. But it did pick up in the second half once all the pieces were in place.
The writer did have an impressively frank mea culpa at the end of the book, admitting that the story got away from him somewhat and promising to be more concise in future installments so I will come back for the next volume. Cunningham has an impressive imagination and a real handle on how his mystical London works, I love how his world fits together. Lets hop he can get back to utilising it a bit better.
The writer did have an impressively frank mea culpa at the end of the book, admitting that the story got away from him somewhat and promising to be more concise in future installments so I will come back for the next volume. Cunningham has an impressive imagination and a real handle on how his mystical London works, I love how his world fits together. Lets hop he can get back to utilising it a bit better.
October 20, 2019
Love the complexity
I enjoyed all the different characters one meets throughout this book and love how the people of Hawthorn House and of course Alice gets together to kick some old evil' ass. Just hope that a new antagonist would come along soon. Fighting the same enemies over and over again does get old.
I enjoyed all the different characters one meets throughout this book and love how the people of Hawthorn House and of course Alice gets together to kick some old evil' ass. Just hope that a new antagonist would come along soon. Fighting the same enemies over and over again does get old.
April 11, 2020
The series grows
The more I read this series the more it gels into a detailed world. Good characterization. Some great tactics that pull together at the end. How the world works is slowly becoming clear.
The more I read this series the more it gels into a detailed world. Good characterization. Some great tactics that pull together at the end. How the world works is slowly becoming clear.
October 23, 2021
Second book from Hawthorne house, as Julian's past comes back to haunt him, Fiona tries to learn about her past and Rob tries to fit in. Good book, similar layout to the first with multiple threads, but works better, as now familiar with the characters.
December 5, 2021
Really good, and a bit longer and slightly more complex due to new characters that have popped up,
we get to see more of young Jessica in action being a bad ass, and big sister Fiona finding out more who she is, plus various enemies coming out of the woodwork and Alice really going to town.
we get to see more of young Jessica in action being a bad ass, and big sister Fiona finding out more who she is, plus various enemies coming out of the woodwork and Alice really going to town.
March 29, 2021
Even better than the first
Another great book in the series. The character progression is fun and the action is fast paced. I just hope book three keeps up the good work.
Another great book in the series. The character progression is fun and the action is fast paced. I just hope book three keeps up the good work.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews