Hexslayer (Hexworld #3), by Jordan L. Hawk
Horse shifter Nick has one rule: never trust a witch.
Nick has devoted his life to making his saloon a safe haven for the feral familiars of New York. So when a brutal killer slaughters a feral under his protection, Nick has no choice but to try and catch the murderer. Even if that means bonding with a handsome Irish witch.
Officer Jamie MacDougal came back from the war in Cuba missing part of a leg and most of his heart. After his former lover becomes one of the killer’s victims, Jamie will do anything to solve the case.
Nick comes to Jamie with a proposal: after making a temporary bond, they will work together to stop the murders. Once the killer is caught, they walk away and never see one another again.
It sounds simple enough. But the passion that flares between the two men won’t be so easily extinguished. And if Nick can’t learn to trust his witch, he stands to lose everything-including his life.
Rating: 4.75 out of 5
I loves me some Hexworld books! The narrative threads laid out in the earlier books start to come together here. Hawk is creating something big and complicated, conspiracies within conspiracies, but it all holds together quite well.
The author has done a great job of creating a cast of characters with very different personalities and relationships. All of the characters from past books show up here, and it’s great to see how everyone interacts. As for the main characters in this book, though: Jamie is a complex guy. He’s been willing to do what he was told all of his life, and he’s slowly learning that maybe that wasn’t always the best course to take. Grieving and unsure, he’s trying to figure out where he should go from here. I loved Nick’s personality, horse-like in his stubbornness and brusqueness, but with a compassionate streak that he doesn’t often show. (His mannerisms got to be a little over the top thus the small deduction in rating but that’s a minor quibble.) Jamie and Nick are a hell of a couple, and watching them come together even against Nick’s refusal to do so was fun to watch.
The overall story is a heck of a ride (so to speak). I’ve only been to Central Park a few times and I like how Hawk has captured the feel of the place, with its obscure buildings and features. I like that as a reader I was guessing culprits along the way and getting proved wrong again and again. That’s a hallmark of a great suspense story for me. This book does not end with a cliffhanger, but we are left knowing what will be coming up in the next book and who will be involved. All of that makes me happy. I will be pre-ordering Book #4 as soon as it’s available!