Born of Hatred (The Hellequin Chronicles)

I enjoyed the first book in the series -- a quick and compelling read, even if it does veer too heavily into adolescent male fantasy ("I lost my memory, but apparently I'm a powerful, immortal sorcerer ninja who women find irresistible.") But this one lost me by falling for the worst trope of authors who want a go-to villain and lack imagination -- the psychotic serial killer-rapist.

Great book can't wait for the next one!!

I really like the world the author has created, but his ability to develop it and its characters is limited. I'm hoping that he develops his writing in succeeding volumes. In addition, the book is loaded with grammatical errors, typos, missing words, etc. It really needs a thorough editing.

Love this story line, not a big fan of the cross time jumps but they work in this case. The interpersonal relationships and character development are great. I love books where I get to laugh out loud. Some of the quips crack me up. I have read the first two books and will definitely recommend them to all my reader friends . Looking forward to reading the rest!

Let me put this out there. This series is underrated and needs a lot more attention. No other book except the Dresden Files uses magic like a spellslinging cowboy that I have read.

Steve McHugh does amazing things with Nathan Garret, the main character of this series. And in this book, we get to learn more about what has been going on. So we learn more about the world of the Hellequin and with this knowledge, comes exciting danger.

Garret is helping his long time werewolf friend look into a nasty werewolf rapist on behalf of Avalon, the governing body of the supernatural. What seems to be a simple recon turns into a twisting spiral of violence when the true enemy emerges and terrifies even Garret.

I don't want to give away too much. There is a lot of things to be seen and get enchanted with as this world continues to grow. Check it out and really enjoy yourself.

Excellent series with a different angle on the magic scene. Well written with a couple of proof reading slips. Highly recommended series!

A nice addition to the Hellequin Chronicles. We learn a lot more about Nate's backstory and get some insights into his potential for power.

Also, if Hellequin makes you think "Harlequin", this is not the book you're looking for.

WHAT I LIKED
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* Werewolves. I generally like toying with the hetero-normative expectations of werewolves, and I enjoyed McHugh's take on that.

* Humor. Characters have a quick-and-dark wit. Mostly snappy dialogue.

* History-Present-Repeat. McHugh does a good job of lacing together a historical plot and a current day plot with the ties that make them relevant to each other.

* Moves fast, plenty of action.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
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* A blunt plotline: the red herring was obviously a red herring, and the "couldn't possibly be me" suspect was obviously the big bad. I feel like McHugh has more finesse than what he used on that element of the story.

* Overpowered? Nate has a lot of power. Like an amazing lot of power. This is only book 2, and it's clear more power for him is still in store. Already, in this book, there are times where Nate doesn't, for some reason, use his powers in a way he's used them previously. If he *did* use them that way, the battle would be done. However, the story would also be less interesting. Still, as a reader, I found myself thinking "this makes no sense, we didn't he just do x?"

If you liked the first Hellequin novel, you'll probably enjoy this one.