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A review by avereads
Hounds of the Underworld by Dan Rabarts, Lee Murray
4.0
“Spread out before him in shades of blood and bone he can see the shape of human history to come. Gradual decay and violent collapse all rolled into one brutal augury which he, for all his cursed vision, is too blind to comprehend. Like rot and sand and despair, and this stink of death just a distraction. An afterthought.”
Pandora “Penny” struggling to keep her lab afloat, takes on a contract to use her lab to help the police solve a puzzling case, a locked empty room with a only a bowl and a strange amount of blood. Uncovering weird evidence, Penny takes to solving the case, alongside her brother and driver Matiu. But something about the case doesn’t feel right. Something more sinister is happening.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
Set in the near future (the 2040s), Hounds of the Underworld creates a unique story with the perfect blend of crime, horror, science fiction, and noir. I think my favourite thing about this novel is that it’s set in New Zealand and uses local terms and that there’s a glossary included at the back for all of them. I don’t think I’ve ever read a novel with this setting before so it was fun to read. The beginning starts off a bit slow but then REALLY picks up pace towards the middle. I don’t want to say to much in case I spoil the plot, but the part with the dogs gets pretty intense. I loved Penny as a character and thought she was really smart with her actions. My only issues with this book is that there is some unnecessary family drama I could have done without and I would have liked to see more information on the world in the 2040s, but the date is only ever mentioned in passing conversation. Overall, I really enjoyed it. This books raises a lot of questions and sets up a lot of excitement for the second book, which I’m excited to get to.
Pandora “Penny” struggling to keep her lab afloat, takes on a contract to use her lab to help the police solve a puzzling case, a locked empty room with a only a bowl and a strange amount of blood. Uncovering weird evidence, Penny takes to solving the case, alongside her brother and driver Matiu. But something about the case doesn’t feel right. Something more sinister is happening.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
Set in the near future (the 2040s), Hounds of the Underworld creates a unique story with the perfect blend of crime, horror, science fiction, and noir. I think my favourite thing about this novel is that it’s set in New Zealand and uses local terms and that there’s a glossary included at the back for all of them. I don’t think I’ve ever read a novel with this setting before so it was fun to read. The beginning starts off a bit slow but then REALLY picks up pace towards the middle. I don’t want to say to much in case I spoil the plot, but the part with the dogs gets pretty intense. I loved Penny as a character and thought she was really smart with her actions. My only issues with this book is that there is some unnecessary family drama I could have done without and I would have liked to see more information on the world in the 2040s, but the date is only ever mentioned in passing conversation. Overall, I really enjoyed it. This books raises a lot of questions and sets up a lot of excitement for the second book, which I’m excited to get to.