The Iron Hunt (Hunter Kiss, #1)

Jun 14, 2011 Amy or "Ames" rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Not even my worst enemy

Shelves: hunters-warriors-assassins, angels-demons, urban-fantasy, read-in-2011, libricide, series-abandoned, 1st-in-series, to-donate

I HATE this book! Everything about it is terrible. I feel cheated of my time and robbed of my money.

The plot is a simple one. In fact this would've served better as a novella because 300 pages was too many for what little was in them.

For a supposedly lethal hunter and fierce protector of the world against monsters and demons imprisoned behind a veil, Maxine Kiss was a pansy-assed pussy. I'm sorry for my crass language but I'm so Mad. She asked everyone questions and whether they be friend or foe...more I HATE this book! Everything about it is terrible. I feel cheated of my time and robbed of my money.

The plot is a simple one. In fact this would've served better as a novella because 300 pages was too many for what little was in them.

For a supposedly lethal hunter and fierce protector of the world against monsters and demons imprisoned behind a veil, Maxine Kiss was a pansy-assed pussy. I'm sorry for my crass language but I'm so Mad. She asked everyone questions and whether they be friend or foe she never received a straight answer. Meaningless riddles are not an answer. She threatened but never followed through. ("You try anything, you even think about standing up, and I will have you shitting out of your dick so fast you'll beg me to rip it off." ~ Best threat) She just accepted these non-answers and moved on. To my frustrated consternation this happened repeatedly all the way through the book:

Maxine encountered someone, they talk some shit and do a lot of implying, she'd question them, they'd deflect or give some vague and incomprehensible response. Kick some ass, woman! Where's this fierce warrior that's supposed to "save the world"? Because frankly if you're our saviour, then kill me now. Pathetic.

And what the hell was she doing with someone like Grant? They live by such fundamentally different philosophies. Maxine kills the things that go bump in the night and Grant "saves" them. Slightly naive of him, if you ask me. Also, I'm not discriminating against the disabled here but if Maxine was going to settle down with anyone, shouldn't it be with someone who has the ability to run for his life? Otherwise, they're just cannon fodder. There's no way for him to keep up with her or effectively fight by her side. His flute would be no match for angry demon hordes.

I found none of the characters likeable, unless you count homeless teen Byron who was turned into a pitiable creature. Maxine was unkillable. It was absurdly cartoon-ish the way she was run over by a bus and got right back up again, completely unharmed. I wonder if she's hardy against poison and disease. Please, someone try it.

For someone slapped with a violently pro-active personna she did absolutely fuck all. All growl and no bite. The original premise was a good one but unfortunately it was poorly executed. By the end I still didn't fully understand what had changed from the beginning. It's taken me four excrutingly long months to finish this and that's with skimming.

On the 12th April I said:

"Iron Hunt sucks! I will congratulate anyone who managed to finish it. Those who gave this book 5 stars is not my friend. I've just offended 181 people but I don't care. I hate every character so far except maybe this homeless teenager who's probably just a flash in the pan. It's frustratingly slow and sparse on the background details. Good bits are few and far between. It's a challenge read so I have to finish. Stupid challenges."

I stick by this statement but to any future friends who may have rated this 5 stars, I'm sorry but we may just have to go our separate ways.(less)

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Jan 05, 2013 Kelly Maybedog Hawkins rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: what-modern-fantasy, what-female-protagonist, what-fae

Stilted writing. Writes without all words, expects you'll understand. Frequently, subjects not in sentences, verbs missing, commas instead of conjunctions, articles optional. Strange clauses strung together as one sentence, all in one, as one. Words. Phrases. Without grammar. Just a period. Sentence structure awkward, reading exhausting, what's happening unclear. Excerpt in book summary is an example. Not too bad, but whole book like that. But worse. Very confusing beginning, can't read more, to...more

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Jul 03, 2008 Julie (jjmachshev) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008-reads

Whew...OK. I just finished "The Iron Hunt" by Marjorie M. Liu and it's very different from her 'Dirk & Steele' series. This is truly an urban fantasy, and a damn good one. The mysteries and the mystical pull you in and you can't stop reading until you find the answers to all the questions.

Maxine is a Hunter. She hunts the demons that possess the bodies of humans. By day her demons are her protection--tattoos that cover her body and render her invulnerable. By night, her demons peel from her...more

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Dec 23, 2009 Barbara M. rated it 2 of 5 stars

2.5 Stars (almost 3)...it was just ok

I really can't complain about this book, but sheesh I'm having a hard time saying I liked it even just a little...Like always Marjorie's writing is flawless...But I just didn't connect to the characters or the storyline. "The Iron Hunt" did get an extra star b/c of the basic weirdness/originality of the story...this lady has quite the imagination.

There's little to no romance between the characters (As another reveiwer said "The description is very misleading...more

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Dec 01, 2008 Mary rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

The second paragraph of the jacket copy (I've included the complete copy at the bottom of this post for reference) is too vague and describes a very different type of plot. It's not inaccurate, but it's misleading. From its wording, I expected it to be a romance. It's not. It took quite a while before I could shake off the disconnect between the copy and the text, which meant I didn't get to enjoy this book as much as I could have.

***

By day, her tattoos are her armor. By night, they unwind from...more

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Jul 21, 2009 ✿Michelle✿ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: angels-demons-immortals

As suggested, I read the prequel to Iron Hunt in the anthology Wicked Things. The short story was good, held my interest, and had me looking forward to Iron Hunt. However, when I trying to read this novel, I found myself struggling to stay interested. There were also moments where I found myself confused as well. During the first 2/3 of the book, I kept going back and re-reading just to be sure I didn't miss anything. Also, new characters seem to be added at every turn, and when your already con...more

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May 14, 2010 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010, books-i-own-print, for-review-read

Maxine is the last in a long line of female warriors who have been protecting the world for centuries from demons. The demons have been held in a prison dimension for thousands of years but there have always been a few who manage to escape and walk among us by taking over human bodies. Maxine's family fight these demons (who they call zombies) and their powers are passed down from mother to daughter. Maxine is protected by 5 demons who she affectionatley calls "the boys" who are magically attach...more

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Jul 28, 2008 Brownbetty rated it 2 of 5 stars

At once a reasonably good book and somewhat disappointing. Maxine Kiss, (oh dear) is the latest in a long, lonely line of female demon hunters. Protected by a pact with a group of demons who live on her skin as tattoos, Maxine knows that one day she, like her mother, will be abandoned by the demons who protect her, in favour of her daughter. On that day she will inevitably die, suddenly and violently, when the demons she hunt get their retribution.

It sounds promising, and in so far as it goes, i...more

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Jan 31, 2012 Nenia Campbell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: x-2008s, x-series-bk-1

Are there any anime fans who read this series? Because the whole time I was reading Iron Hunt, it reminded me of Vampire Princess Miyu. The premises are strikingly similar -- demon (vampire) girl who kills/fights evil demons (vampires) who escape from the portal where they were sealed by her ancestors so many years ago. She also has a mysterious demon (vampire) guardian who at first tries to kill her, but then realizes -- as so many of the other characters do, as well -- that said demon (vampire...more Are there any anime fans who read this series? Because the whole time I was reading Iron Hunt, it reminded me of Vampire Princess Miyu. The premises are strikingly similar -- demon (vampire) girl who kills/fights evil demons (vampires) who escape from the portal where they were sealed by her ancestors so many years ago. She also has a mysterious demon (vampire) guardian who at first tries to kill her, but then realizes -- as so many of the other characters do, as well -- that said demon (vampire) is teh bomb and must be rewarded with the adulation and worship she so deserves.

I'm not kidding about the worship part, either. Maxine, the main character, is compared to Diana, Artemis, and Kali several times.

What I liked about this book:
World-building (☆☆☆): Not as complete as I'd like, but pretty original. I thought the book was going to be about the Fae (because, you know, iron... it's as anathema to faeries as silver is to werewolves), so I was surprised when I found out it was about demons and zombies (oh my!). Still, it was refreshing to see different creatures featured in a genre overrun with vampires.

The "boys" (☆☆☆☆): Maxine's pet demons are so adorable. They're not really demons so much as gargoyles. Picture the seven dwarves as gargoyles and that's pretty much what the boys are. It sounds like a pretty hideous combination, I know, but the end result is pretty darn cute.

What I didn't like about the book:
The plot (☆☆): As I said before, I'm a bit jaded because I've read SO MANY BOOKS in this genre that I am very difficult to impress. So that's not entirely the author's fault. I do feel that there was too much secrecy and whispering and dreams-that-might-not-be-dreams, and "shh! it's a secret!" moments in this book. It got annoying after a while, especially when I still didn't get the answers I wanted at the end of the book after skimming.

The pacing (☆): This is the first book in the series, but it reads like the second or third. A good book opens with a lot of questions. Some questions are answered in the first book, so the reader is satisfied, but there should still be multiple arcs that are left unanswered--at least, until they are approached at various points in the series. Iron Hunt raised a lot of questions but didn't answer many of them, and those that were addressed were only half-answered (like, what IS an avatar? how does it differ from demons? what the heck is Maxine supposed to be, for that matter?

If these things don't bother you, and you're looking for a fast-paced urban fantasy novel with lots of action but not a whole lot of romance, you'll probably like this book a lot. If you have extreme reservations about violence, or if you are looking for something highly intelligent or sweetly romantic, as I was hoping for, this is probably not the best choice.(less)

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Nov 16, 2011 Kristin (MyBookishWays Reviews) rated it 4 of 5 stars

You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2011/11/...

I read a Maxine Kiss short story quite a while back in an anthology and remember really enjoying it,so I wasn’t surprised at how engrossing The Iron Hunt is. Maxine is a Hunter,from a long line of Hunters,tasked with keeping demons in check. She’s settled into tenuous comfort with her boyfriend Grant,former priest and so much more,and enjoys helping out at the soup kitchen and shelter that he runs. He veneer of normality t...more You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2011/11/...

I read a Maxine Kiss short story quite a while back in an anthology and remember really enjoying it,so I wasn’t surprised at how engrossing The Iron Hunt is. Maxine is a Hunter,from a long line of Hunters,tasked with keeping demons in check. She’s settled into tenuous comfort with her boyfriend Grant,former priest and so much more,and enjoys helping out at the soup kitchen and shelter that he runs. He veneer of normality that Maxine has cloaked herself in is shattered when she is accused of the murder of a private investigator. Her name is on a piece of paper found in the dead man’s pocket,and Maxine has no idea who else could know of her identity. Her investigation will lead her to a man who may have much to do with her past and creatures that hint at the possibility of a coming apocalypse.

The Iron Hunt opens with this line “When I was eight,my mother lost me to zombies in a one-card draw.” Sucks you right in,yes? It certainly caught my attention,and I ended up staying glued to the pages. There’s trouble brewing beyond the veil,and things not of this world are pushing through to this reality. What begins with the murder of a private investigator turns into a search into Maxine’s soul,and her past. Maxine is a tough girl,make no mistake,and her tattoos are,um,unusual. During the day,they are her armor. When I say armor,Maxine can get hit by a car and she’ll be right as rain. That’s some serious armor. At night,the tattoos come off and coalesce into five seriously rough and tumble little demons. Zee seems like the alpha guy of the group,and the only one that Maxine actually speaks with. They’re a charming lot,and I found myself falling in love with them as the book goes on. I mean,these little guys can devour a baddie in seconds,like to cuddle teddy bears (well,pieces of teddy bears),eat tools and other various non-edibles (somehow the author makes this charming,seriously),and will do anything to keep Maxine safe. Ms. Liu’s writing is sharp and immediate,and the action hardly lets up. I also like her concept of zombies. We’re not talking the shambling undead here. “Zombie” is used to describe humans inhabited by demons. Maxine is convinced the lot of them are up to no good,but Grant is convinced they can change,and he just might have the ability to make that happen. In fact,there’s way more to Grant than meets the eye. This is just another one of the stunning discoveries Maxine will make during the story. She knew Grant had some magic,but just how much remains to be seen. Her devotion to him is unshakeable,however,and her strength,tempered with an aching vulnerability are part of what make Maxine a heroine to root for. The author has a wonderful way with words,and has created a world rich in mythology,ghosts,demons,and plenty of darkness (although there is light at the end.) Her imagery is immediate and the twists and turns don’t stop! I highly recommend this series to any urban fantasy fan,and can’t believe I had it sitting on my shelf for so long!(less)

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Aug 01, 2011 Madame X rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-urban-fantasy, romance-established-couple

The premise of THE IRON HUNT is great - ten thousand years ago a horde of demons was contained in a prison, and Wardens were created to police the earth and capture any escapees. But the Wardens were limited in number, and over the years escaped demons have killed every Warden but one: Maxine Kiss. What's worse, the prison itself is failing and Maxine has no hope of preventing the global annihilation that looms closer and closer on the horizon.

The supernatural twist is that Maxine has a motley...more The premise of THE IRON HUNT is great - ten thousand years ago a horde of demons was contained in a prison, and Wardens were created to police the earth and capture any escapees. But the Wardens were limited in number, and over the years escaped demons have killed every Warden but one: Maxine Kiss. What's worse, the prison itself is failing and Maxine has no hope of preventing the global annihilation that looms closer and closer on the horizon.

The supernatural twist is that Maxine has a motley crew of allies: little demons that accompany her like a ragtag army at night, but adhere to her skin during the day as tattoos and render her physically invulnerable. It's a pretty cool idea, and the dynamic between Maxine and her demon protectors is engaging.

There's a lot of good stuff going on with THE IRON HUNT - the problem is that Marjorie M. Liu's writing is somewhat overwrought. This is a sample of what I mean:

"Shadows shifted, stretching like mouths across the room, spreading and rising from the floor and walls in churning waves. Like oil running up walls, or the abyss of Oturu's cloak, full of pressed faces and twisted bodies. A breathing, aching darkness; a tsunami of soul cages; demons hurled and writhing. The apartment grew dark and closed, as suffocating as the Wasteland, and it was the wall of demons who made it so; entombing, consuming us."

It's beautiful, it's intense, it's vivid, and it's also constant. Every paragraph is stuffed to the gills with dramatic metaphors and dramatic imagery and dramatic tension. If she used this kind of language more infrequently, waiting for the right moment to pull out all the stops and wow us, I'd be a lot more impressed. Instead, I felt the writing actually interfered with my ability to follow the story and engage with the characters.

By the same token, I think that Liu made a mistake with THE IRON HUNT by turning the "mysterious" dial up to 11. Almost every character in the novel, other than Maxine, at some point taunts her with knowledge they cannot, or will not, share. Her little army of demons have made promises to keep quiet; her enemies have no interest in telling her what she doesn't know; while her more provisional allies seem to keep secrets just for the hell of it. A lot of the time the mystery is much bigger than the secret, which is easy to guess and fairly obvious; this has an unfortunate Wizard of Oz effect. In general, I feel like a little bit less mystery would have allowed for a lot more plot.

I'm on the fence about this book in the end. On the one hand, I really enjoy the premise and the characters. It's a smart book, and Liu is capable of really incredible writing. That's enough to make me curious about the series to come. On the other hand, if I get more of this overwrought language and atmosphere drenched in mysterious mystery this series will sink to the bottom of my list real fast.(less)

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Jul 02, 2011 Tori S rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

The premise is great - Maxine is a Hunter, a protector against demons. During the day, her tattoos make her invincible, a shield that neither bullets or even a fast moving bus can penetrate. But at night these tattoos leave her body and take their own form and work as her allies in her ongoing fight against the demons.

I found this first book a bit confusing. It felt like this book was a second or even the first in a second trilogy; so much has gone on before that I felt I was grasping a bit to d...more

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May 09, 2011 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-for-night-owl-romance

Review: The Iron Hunt is the first novel in Marjorie M Liu's new series called The Hunter Kiss. Maxine Kiss comes from a long line of demon hunters and the survival of the world depends on the training passed down to her. By day, her protection comes from the living tattoos and at night, they remove themselves from her body to become the little creatures and companions passed down from mother to daughter. These creatures are the only family she has left. The veil between demon and human realms i...more

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Mar 13, 2011 Rachel Fetters rated it 2 of 5 stars

I struggled with the rating of The Iron Hunt. The plot was fascinating, but it moved so fast and left out so much that I was not always able to follow it. I felt as if I was missing something, and kept having to go back to try and fill in the blanks, but when I went back there was nothing to fill in. I was not able to relate well to the main character Maxine Kiss. Maxine is a demon hunter, from a long line of women demon hunters. She has demon bodyguards that surround her. They cling to her skin...more I struggled with the rating of The Iron Hunt. The plot was fascinating, but it moved so fast and left out so much that I was not always able to follow it. I felt as if I was missing something, and kept having to go back to try and fill in the blanks, but when I went back there was nothing to fill in. I was not able to relate well to the main character Maxine Kiss. Maxine is a demon hunter, from a long line of women demon hunters. She has demon bodyguards that surround her. They cling to her skin in the form of tattoos during the day, and at night take there true demon form. The book takes some interesting twits and turns as Maxine tries to find answers to 1000 different questions as she tries to save the world from demons. I think I would have liked this book better if it was not in the first person. Maxine was not always as observant as I needed her to be, and I was starved for more details. Maxine was always out of the loop, and everyone around her knew the answers to her questions but just would not tell her. Then the book kept pointing out that she was feared by demons, but Maxine really just got her but kicked over and over again and needed the help of her friends to bail her out. Maxine's character seemed whiney and not as strong as I thought she should be. My favorite character in the book was one of her demon bodyguards Zee. Her demon bodyguards have been passed down from generation to generation in her family. There were a lot of other characters that were just tossed into the book with little or no character development. It reminded me of watching star trek, and you just knew that there was no reason to know the names of the people in red uniforms, because they were just going to die. The characters in this book were not developed well, so I always felt like they were just going to be killed in the next scene. I’m not sure if I would recommend this book, unless you are a die hard sci-fi fan. I have read other books by Marjorie M Liu, that I have liked much better. (less)

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Mar 07, 2011 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-copy, urban-fantasy, series

Maxine Kiss is the last of her kind, a tattooed Warden protecting the world from demons who pass through the Veil from their prison and take over human hosts to become zombies. Her tattoos are her protection – during the day they form her armour against all threats, while at night they slip away from her and become ‘the boys’, small demons who are inextricably linked with the female line of Wardens.

In The Iron Hunt, Maxine discovers that the Veil is falling as she investigates the death of some...more Maxine Kiss is the last of her kind, a tattooed Warden protecting the world from demons who pass through the Veil from their prison and take over human hosts to become zombies. Her tattoos are her protection – during the day they form her armour against all threats, while at night they slip away from her and become ‘the boys’, small demons who are inextricably linked with the female line of Wardens.

In The Iron Hunt, Maxine discovers that the Veil is falling as she investigates the death of someone trying to trace her – someone who knew her real name, and not the many pseudonyms that she gives. The threat of demons and worse coming through the Veil forces Maxine to use awesome powers that she has little understanding of or control over, and the whole world is at stake.

Marjorie M. Liu has created a disturbing, compelling and unique vision of a world spiralling into darkness. The tattooed Wardens are mysterious, and the manner in which their demonic protection hides in the form of tattoos during the day was genuinely fascinating to me. I adored the five demons who protect Maxine – they are terrifying effective as they eat the souls of demons, all spikes and attitude, but are also enormously cute as they purr like dangerous cats when Maxine offers them Snickers bars!

Liu’s prose is also hypnotic and lyrical, with poetically beautiful passages such as the following: “The demon tilted his head, just so, and his body twisted, flowing like the skim of a shark through water. He danced when he moved; on the city street, wrapped in shadows: a kiss on the eyes, a devil’s ballet, and only his feet moved, only his cloak had arms; and his hair, rising and flowing as though lost in a storm.”

Unfortunately, for me, the excellent premise of the novel and the delicious prose were ill-matched by a plot that stumbled and lurched from one incident to another. Half the characters were introduced with absolutely no discernable reason – those that did have a reason for joining the party were sketched so briefly that I didn’t care about them.

The plot was confusing – I know some writers who effectively carry their readers through moments of confusion, but Liu was not able to achieve this. I found myself more frustrated than thrilled, which is a great shame to me since I did feel that there was the bones of an excellent urban fantasy tale here. Perhaps now the scene is set, Liu will push on in the second novel of the trilogy (Darkness Calls) and ensure the plot moves more smoothly. I am tentatively willing to pick it up and give it a go, but it is most certainly not going to be at the top of my reading list.

(less)

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Oct 24, 2010 Paula rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: series, urban-fantasy

Time to add another book to the 'wanted to like it, really' pile, courtesy of a good initial idea added to an incomprehensible (to me) plot, seasoned with a whole load of wtf-was-that?

Here's another first book in a new series and it starts out really well - our protagonist, Maxine Kiss (no, really), is the latest in a long line of female warriors whose job it is to slay demons and the like. Part of the heritage of these Hunters (with a capital H, naturally) is a snazzy set of tattoos which are a...more

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Oct 11, 2010 Kt from A Book Obsession.. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Meet Maxine Kiss, a kick ass demon hunter that is the last one left of her kind. By day her body is covered with impenetrable tattoos that make her literally invincible. At night those tattoos leave her body and become "The Boys," five little critters that devour demons for breakfast. They protect her just like they did her mother before her, and her mother's mother and so on back for ten thousand years. Someday, she will have a daughter and once she is trained, the boys will abandon Maxine for...more Meet Maxine Kiss, a kick ass demon hunter that is the last one left of her kind. By day her body is covered with impenetrable tattoos that make her literally invincible. At night those tattoos leave her body and become "The Boys," five little critters that devour demons for breakfast. They protect her just like they did her mother before her, and her mother's mother and so on back for ten thousand years. Someday, she will have a daughter and once she is trained, the boys will abandon Maxine for her daughter, guaranteeing Maxine's death. However, even though she has found someone

To say this book was confusing is an extreme understatement. For most of the book I really did not have a clue as to what was going on, and well, neither did Maxine. Every other character seemed to know some great secret about Maxine but refused to share. Zee, the only one of the boys who can carry on a conversation loves to speak in riddles. The "bad" guys reveal even less. Even the people who are supposed to be her friends are unnecessarily cryptic. I think this book is an amazing concept, but since the reader is kept in the dark for far too long it really loses a lot of its appeal.

Maxine is a really interesting character. Shes strong and definitely knows how to kick some butt. However, she is different from the rest of the women in her line before her in that she is able to show compassion to the demons. All of her predecessors just killed without a second thought where as Maxine has a guilty conscience, especially due to Grant's abilities to change the demon's natures. Based on what was alluded to as far as Maxine's true purpose this might just be a good thing.

I didn't realize there was a prequel short story in the Wild Thing anthology. I really wish I would have read that first as it helps lay the ground work for Maxine and Grant's relationship as well as answers some things I was completely confused on in this book. I'm not writing the series off yet because even though I was thoroughly confused for most of this book, the premise is quite intriguing. I hope as the series continues more will be revealed about why Maxine is supposedly different than her predecessors as well as the answers to all of the secrets everyone has been keeping from her.(less)

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Jul 22, 2010 Renee Sweet rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Iron Hunt is a continuation of the story begun in the novella HUNTER KISS, found in the short story anthology Wild Thing. You will need to read Hunter Kiss first in order to fully understand the events that take place in The Iron Hunt, but it's well worth it. Hunter Kiss is beautifully written and has one of my favorite opening lines of all time. In addition, the anthology contains a handful of other good stories worth reading (Maggie Shayne, Meljean Brook, Alyssa Day).

Having fallen in love...more

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Feb 24, 2010 Melissa Hayden rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-paranormal-fantasy

This book is a great beginning to a unique series idea. This book introduces you to all the characters and given what you need to love them, along with the fast pacing to keep you going. The book is VERY well written to make me love and hate the characters with Maxine as we go through the story. I loved how there are many different demons and creatures. By the end of the book, I felt I knew the characters well, but had many curiosities of them. My curiosities were not from a lack in the story, b...more This book is a great beginning to a unique series idea. This book introduces you to all the characters and given what you need to love them, along with the fast pacing to keep you going. The book is VERY well written to make me love and hate the characters with Maxine as we go through the story. I loved how there are many different demons and creatures. By the end of the book, I felt I knew the characters well, but had many curiosities of them. My curiosities were not from a lack in the story, but more of my thinking on the characters afterward. Where they are from and what they could truely be capable of.

There are things here that Marjorie lays out for you to foresee in the story, but there are so many unpredictable happenings, and appearances as well. You get pieces of the plot to puzzle together as the story goes and it keeps you wanting more. I didn't want to put the book down. Another great book where I tried to make stopping points but just could NOT find one, I had to keep reading to find out what happens and what creature am I going to meet next.

I do have to mention the '80s references ~ on the radio and tv reruns. The references are in no way over done. I enjoyed the subtlety of them, since I too am an '80s lover.

One of my favorite characters in the book were the tattoos. I loved the WHOLE idea with/of them. The way they live, protecting Maxine both day and night in different ways. The way they help guide Maxine even when they are sleeping. This is an amazing creation that I look forward to reading more of.

The only thing with this story was I felt, in the first fifty pages or so, I had missed some information. Maybe I missed a story that preceded this book or maybe this is information that is left open to be discussed in future books. Either way it did not hinder the book in any way and keeps a little mystery in the book and future installments for me.

In the end, I loved this books' plot and the characters. I would recommend this book to anyone loving paranormal books.(less)

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Sep 16, 2009 Debbie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-romance

When a demon possesses a human, Maxine Kiss calls them zombies. Maxine is a hunter that takes the demons out of the humans and with the help of her own little demons. Her love, Grant Cooperon has an interest in demons also, but he thinks his music can help the demons to make better choices and be better people. Together they are trying to deal with the information that the prison veil that has held the demons for so long is falling.

Book 1 ..... Very interesting story, really enjoyed the charact...more

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May 01, 2009 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars

"When I was eight, my mother lost me to zombies in a one-card draw."

That's the first sentence of Marjorie M. Liu's The Iron Hunt, and it's just about perfect as opening lines go. It's the primary reason I bought the book. Not only does it draw the reader in, eager to find out how and why this happened, but I'm also pretty darn sure it's an Angela Carter reference. I love Angela Carter.

It would be misleading to suggest, though, that Marjorie M. Liu sounds like Angela Carter throughout The Iron...more "When I was eight, my mother lost me to zombies in a one-card draw."

That's the first sentence of Marjorie M. Liu's The Iron Hunt, and it's just about perfect as opening lines go. It's the primary reason I bought the book. Not only does it draw the reader in, eager to find out how and why this happened, but I'm also pretty darn sure it's an Angela Carter reference. I love Angela Carter.

It would be misleading to suggest, though, that Marjorie M. Liu sounds like Angela Carter throughout The Iron Hunt. Liu has a different style, one all her own. I loved it. Liu's style is unusual and won't be to everyone's taste. However, I found it visceral and poetic at the same time, and especially good when describing violence and magical visions. A couple of examples:

"I tried to hold her to me, but she slipped away, and zombies took her place. So many. Shoulders broad as mountains. Packed tight. Breath hot. Stinking with sweat and winter wool. I could not see faces for shadows, but the zombie in the suit leaned close. Crooked his finger like a hook."

"Waking dreams. Walking dreams. Swift dreams, black and white like old scratchy movies tinted and blurred with age. I dreamed in sparks and moments, and saw women in moonlight, pale as snow, hair as black as a raven's wing--steel in their hands, always, sword bound, hair bound, in sunlight, tattoo bound--and I flew with them, I ran, and their bodies merged into one, a woman large as thunder, with eyes like the starry night, and wolves at her back."

Another aspect of The Iron Hunt that worked well for me was the mythos. Liu blends the myths of many cultures into her story, mixing Sumerian, Asian, Celtic, and Greek in a way that never feels forced or awkward; instead it gives the reader the sense that all of these cosmologies are valuable but incomplete shards of one vast long-forgotten whole.

Liu's Seattle is painted in--I'd say vivid color, but this is Seattle, so it might be more accurate to say rainy grays. There is a real sense of place in The Iron Hunt.

A small gripe, and this may be a case where the cover-blurb writer sold the novel writer short: there isn't really a romantic subplot. The blurb gives the impression that this is a major focus of the story when, in fact, the heroine and the love interest are already involved and their relationship is written more as background than as plot. I gather that this romantic subplot was actually resolved in a previous short story by Liu. It's not so much that the novel *needs* a major romantic plot; it's just that it was weird to find the plot quite different from the blurb. The real plot has more to do with Maxine's discovery of new and frightening powers and her growing awareness of her mother and grandmother's history.

I highly recommend The Iron Hunt to anyone who likes urban fantasy, tough female characters, and unique prose. I will definitely be looking up more of Liu's work while I await further installments in the HUNTER KISS series.

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Feb 07, 2009 Rhianna rated it 1 of 5 stars

She is Earth's last protector. Hunter Maxine Kiss is the only thing standing between our world and the prison veils that keep demons from taking over our home. Passed down from mother-to-daughter for generations her own demons protect her body by day, resting as tattoos on her skin. At night her demons walk beside her, allies and parasites in their own right.

I wish I could offer more details on the plot. A better synopsis, but I spent most of the time I was working through this book back-tracki...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, fantasy

So all in all I liked this book. I think it would have been better had I read it instead of listened to it. The story line is very original, but there are so many details to follow and always new questions arising, while nothing really gets answered or explained. The characters were interesting, although I sometimes felt like Maxine was rather wishy-washy and hard to pin down. I didn't feel a genuine connection with most of the characters, in fact. The action was pretty good, creating interestin...more

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May 11, 2011 Pam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Loved this book - not sure why I waited so long to start this series.

The Iron Hunt is the first book in the Hunter's Kiss series. We are introduced to Maxine Kiss who is the last of the Hunters - those who protect against demons and the veil keeping them in prison.

She has tatoos covering her body which are actually demon hunters that come off at night to prowl and hunt. There are 5 of them - and the descriptions of them sound cute in a scary way. Hunter's lead a solitary life - not making friend...more

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Jan 29, 2010 Martina the Book Fairy rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Iron Hunt is an urban fantasy that takes place in Seattle, WA. Maxine Kiss is a demon Hunter, the last in existence. She's decorated by tattoos that by day are her armor, but by night peel off her flesh to become little demons who are her protectors and her only family. She calls them her "boys". Together they are the only thing standing between the good people of Earth and the demons breaking out of "the veil" a metaphysical prison they were put in thousands of years ago.

There were a few t...more

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May 06, 2012 Laura Herbertson rated it 2 of 5 stars

Just....yikes. Don't judge Liu on this book; the Dirk and Steele series was pretty entertaining. I think her skills took a vacation when she wrote The Iron Hunt.

There was so much backstory, I checked twice to make sure I wasn't reading book 2. Too many characters went undeveloped, including the protagonist, Maxine. The main character comes from a long line of women Hunters whose sole job is to protect humanity from the demons inside the prison veil. The job passes from mother to daughter....but...more

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Jul 04, 2011 Kim~Fantasy~ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ok I didn't get into this one like I did her Dirk & steele novels but I do like "the boys"! It took me alot longer to read this all the way trough compared to most bookslike 3 weeks! I was kind of bored and lost with it till about halfway into it, but it wasn't bad after that. I like the characters and I'm very curious to see how Tracker and Oturu play out in the second book! I thought it was wicked cool that Maxine got to go to the Labyrinth, and back in time. I think it was awesome that sh...more

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Dec 28, 2011 Chelsea rated it 1 of 5 stars

Whenever a book fails this completely too capture my interest I'm compelled to explain why. I want to say that I'm usually a fan of Liu's work--I enjoy the Dirk and Steele books very much. But this book was something I just couldn't get into.

The premise is pretty cleaver. Maxine Kiss is a demon hunter. The only family she has ever known are the tattoos on her body which come to life and help her fight at sunset. Maxine has a lover named Grant who actually intrigued me at first. He runs a homeles...more Whenever a book fails this completely too capture my interest I'm compelled to explain why. I want to say that I'm usually a fan of Liu's work--I enjoy the Dirk and Steele books very much. But this book was something I just couldn't get into.

The premise is pretty cleaver. Maxine Kiss is a demon hunter. The only family she has ever known are the tattoos on her body which come to life and help her fight at sunset. Maxine has a lover named Grant who actually intrigued me at first. He runs a homeless shelter, he used to be a priest, and he has the power to alter people's personalities through music. This all seems really fantastic. Oh, how I wanted to like this book.

This book almost read like a sequel to a book that never existed. It starts out with a prologue--Maxine is a child with her mom, and they go into a zombie bar and...weird stuff happens. I was still trying to wrap my mind around zombies and demons and how everything in this world works when the story picked up with Maxine as an adult. There is no pause to explain who she is or what she actually does. We meet Grant, who seems to have an elaborate back story that isn't told (at least not right away). There are also the residents of the homeless shelter and of course the tattoos to be introduced. It's a lot all at once. I understand wanting to jump right into plot and not get too bogged down in world building, but as a reader I require at least fragments of explanation that I can reasonably piece together. Say, what are demons in this universe, and what are zombies? Where does Maxine come from and how exactly does she go about her calling? Who is Grant, why are they together, where do his powers come from? I feel like this story needed a prequel or an origin story to answer the question of who are these people and why should I care. The style reflects this lack of useful information. There are a lot of abrupt statements and sentence fragments.

Fantasy readers are used to dealing with questions that go unanswered for most of the book, and yes part of the fun is figuring it all out. But this has it's limits. I didn't finish this book because I didn't feel attached to the characters at all. I don't plan on continuing with the series.
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Feb 13, 2010 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy

With apologies to those of you who enjoy this series (and some of you I know I share other books with) I have chosen not to complete this book. I like some Urban Fantasy very much, this one is placed in a world I don't care for. Unlike real life where if I'm not happy with my world, I can only continue functioning and try to change it, with a fictional fantasy world, if it's not what I'm looking for I can leave it for a "world" I like better.

I rate it 2 stars as I didn't care for it's setup, it'...more

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May 18, 2011 Denyse Loeb rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, though I will have to reread it to figure out some of the things that puzzled me. I enjoyed the main character and the idea of the demons that were protective tattoos by day and living creatures by night. However, it also felt like it was missing details, that it was overly rushed, and I initially had some trouble figuring out what was important. In fact, the ending is convoluted enough that I will have to reread it to figure out some of the pieces that are still mis...more

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The Iron Hunt (Hunter Kiss #1)

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