Iron Hunt Review

Maxine Kiss is covered in full body tattoos that serve as her body armor during the day. When sundown comes, the tattoos peel away from her skin and come to life as five demons named Raw, Zee, Dek, Mal, and Aaz. The boys, as Maxine calls them, have been in her family for generations and move on to a new hunter when it is time. After losing her mother and having no other family to speak of, the boys is all Maxine has.

The prison veil that was built ten thousand years ago is starting to fail and the demons that were imprisoned there are coming through. Maxine is the last person alive to protect the world from these demons as all of the Wardens have now died. It is up to her to make sure the demons don’t destroy the world and that’s a lot of responsibility for one person to handle.

Along the way, Maxine comes across a dead private investigator who she believes was investigating her. This leads her to a chance meeting with a man named Jack, a homeless boy named Byron, a woman named Sarai and several demons who know more about Maxine then she does herself.

Maxine’s boyfriend Grant somehow helps her keep her sanity but he is only human and isn’t always available to help her. A man named The Tracker is introduced into the picture as is Blood Mama, a woman to be feared.

Will Maxine put together the pieces of her life and discover the truth about her past and her future? Will Maxine save the world from destruction and protect the innocent from demons?

IRON HUNT is the sequel to the short story Hunter Kiss in the anthology Wild Thing. I was aware of this beforehand so I did read the short story first. I would definitely recommend that readers read it so they aren’t lost for details when picking up IRON HUNT.

IRON HUNT is primarily an urban fantasy story, heavy on the fantasy aspects. There is lots of suspense and mystery but some readers may become frustrated with the elusive manner in which details are presented. Everything is a mystery to Maxine, so it is presented to the reader in the same manner. As she uncovers clues, so do we.

I found the story to be beautifully written and the imagery made the story come to life out of the pages of the book. Overall, IRON HUNT is a fascinating, highly imaginative, fantasy novel that I greatly enjoyed. I look forward to the next book in the Hunter Kiss Series and learning more about Maxine Kiss.