I highly recommend reading Hounded by Kevin Hearne. The first chapter opens up with action and sets up the conflict and while it may have lagged just a little in the action after that for a bit, you get to catch your breath and have a look around at Atticus's world. The action does pick back up again after the reader is well grounded.

It was nice and VERY refreshing to read a male POV urban fantasy that wasn't overful of snark and profanity - yet retained that 'male not female' inner voice. I haven't read such a well done male main character since Harry Dresden, so high five to Kevin Hearne!

There were a couple of problems that I had with the book, which bumped it down from a 5 star rating for me.

1. Atticus is 2000 years old and doesn't feel the need to explain much about how he performs his magic. He just does it. Sometimes, as a reader, this pulled me out of the story because I didn't have any mental pictures from words to paint about how this happens. The action/fight scenes were really well done for me, but the magic, such as him placing a binding on himself or others, is glossed over too much. Those parts didn't feel real and as a result I rather felt more like I was jumping into book 2 of a series, rather than the first when the author is confident that the reader knows from book 1 what most of the magic is like and can give shorter, less elaborate descriptions of the magic performed. I have high hopes that book 2 will expand the readers knowledge of the magic in this world, since circumstances at the end of book 1 will set things up for this to happen. At least IMO. (view spoiler)[ He acquires an apprentice, thus we learn as the apprentice learns. (hide spoiler)]

2. Atticus is a man and he has man humor. Oberon is a dog and he has ... man humor. This is more of a personal gripe, as I put up with similar comments from Atticus and Oberon that I end up having to put up with from my husband. I suppose it's to be expected... he is a man, after all. But it did pull me out of the story a few times when instead of laughing I was all 'ewwwww, gross' and crinkling my nose at it as if I'd smelled something bad. So, fair warning: man humor.

All in all, a damn fine read. I look forward to more!