Reviewed by Cheryl
TITLE: Unhallowed
SERIES: Rath and Rune #1
AUTHOR: Jordan L. Hawk
PUBLISHER: Widdershins Press
LENGTH: 279 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 17, 2020
BLURB:
Monsters. Murder. Librarians.
Librarian Sebastian Rath is the only one who believes his friend Kelly O’Neil disappeared due to foul play. But without any clues or outside assistance, there’s nothing he can do to prove it.
When bookbinder Vesper Rune is hired to fill the vacancy left by O’Neil, he receives an ominous letter warning him to leave. After he saves Sebastian from a pair of threatening men, the two decide to join forces and get to the truth about what happened to O’Neil.
But Vesper is hiding secrets of his own, ones he doesn’t dare let anyone learn. Secrets that grow ever more dangerous as his desire for Sebastian deepens.
Because Kelly O’Neil was murdered. And if Sebastian and Ves don’t act quickly enough, they’ll be the next to die.
REVIEW:
I have loved all of Jordan’s books since the first one I read, which was Hainted. I think I’ve probably read in twenty times in the meantime, and it remains my favourite. Since then, I have eaten up the Hexworld and Widdershins series and have never yet read one that disappointed me. This one is no exception.
I was sad when the first Widdershins series came to an end because the author set up such a rich and quirky world in which the characters moved. I was delighted to find out that there is another series set in the same environment. Of course, this series is a standalone, but for those who have read the previous series, it is even more delicious because there are nuances to the settings, history and characters (I’m so glad to see Irene again) that carry over from the first series.
The two new characters, Rath and Rune, are, at least at the moment, worthy successors to Whyborne and Griffin, and already fascinate me. I hope to see a lot more of Noct too who is one of my favourite subsidiary characters, even though he doesn’t play a very big role in this book.
This author is a master storyteller, his works rich with detail and subtlety. There are many layers to all his works and this one is no exception. You read into them what you want from a cracking good adventure, to an examination of the nature of man and the monsters they create. From the film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, we ask who is the monster and who is the man?
As with any book, this one is not perfect and there were a few little niggles but it was really nothing to deter from my enjoyment of the story, and are subjective in any event. I’m not going to sew seeds of doubt because you should definitely read this book, especially if you’ve read any other of Jordan’s work. It’s at least as good as any of the previous ones, if not better.
RATING: 
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