The Grendel Affair (SPI Files, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Oct 28, 2013 Christal rated it liked it

Shelves: pi-detective-cop, magical-or-paranormal, lesser-known-creatures, demons, female-lead, vampires, weres-and-shifters, zombies-and-ghouls, mind-bullets, urban-fantasy

3.5 stars

The Grendel Affair went up against Dirty Magic in the Genre Book Showdown at Badass Book Reviews!

The Grendel Affair's Mac was kind of difficult for me to connect with at first. Being a seer named Mac, it took me a beat to separate her from Karen Marie Moning's Mac in the Fever series. These characters are nothing alike and neither is the tone of the stories, but I couldn't get the comparison out of my head. Also, I was frustrated by the lack of training it seemed Mac had received and of 3.5 stars

The Grendel Affair went up against Dirty Magic in the Genre Book Showdown at Badass Book Reviews!

The Grendel Affair's Mac was kind of difficult for me to connect with at first. Being a seer named Mac, it took me a beat to separate her from Karen Marie Moning's Mac in the Fever series. These characters are nothing alike and neither is the tone of the stories, but I couldn't get the comparison out of my head. Also, I was frustrated by the lack of training it seemed Mac had received and often felt like she was being set up to fail. I get not wanting a valuable seer to be in danger, but it is obvious the job is dangerous - teach the girl a little self-defense! I did end up warming to Mac and enjoyed her irreverent sense of humor.

The Grendel Affair makes its romantic lead pretty clear, especially based on the ending. I loved how much of a badass Ian was, but I especially appreciated how he realized that Mac was more than capable of learning to take care of herself physically and that he trusted her to have his back. I think Ian is just unequivocally a good guy and I think he would be good for Mac.

The SPI Files definitely had some interesting secondary characters; I especially loved Mac's boss, an actual dragon lady! I hope we learn more about Mac's coworkers in future books because, as of now, only Yasha the werewolf felt like a developed character. Also, I loved that the villian of this book was Grendel! What other books have used Grendel as the villain and incorporated it believably into modern society? No seriously, let me know if there are others so I can read them too!

I felt like The Grendel Affair was lacking in the world building department just a little bit. I never got a real feel for Mac's background or why the SPI was created but the FBI/CIA doesn't know about them. Overall, it just didn't feel believable enough. This is only the first book in the series though, so I'm sure these holes will be filled in. Also, while The Grendel Affair had a fun story, it didn't feel as complex and immersive as Lisa Shearin's Raine Benares series. I do admit that things got a little convoluted when we started learning who was behind the Grendel attacks and it kind of bogged the story down.

Despite my compaints, The Grendel Affair left us with a possible romance and a definite new direction for main character Mac. I expect to see her kicking monster butt in the next book. While I didn't instantly connect with Mac and The Grendel Affair the same way I did with Raine Benares, I do see the promise of a really fun series in this book. I am very excited to see how SPI grows and develops in the future books and am eager to see Mac find her place there. I do recommend this book, especially for those looking for a lighter, funnier urban fantasy read. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 29, 2013 Thenia rated it liked it

Shelves: r-ab, magic, 2015, paranormal, series, vampires, shifters, reviewed

Makenna Fraser's first big case in SPI and one where her involvement is vital for its success.

She's still the newbie in the team but is slowly finding her place in the team, while trying to keep up with the badasses she has to work with.

She does pretty well all things considered, and there's training in her future that will hopefully make her better qualified to deal with the situations she has to face.

Enjoyable audiobook with some original ideas and a story that continues in the next book in th ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 03, 2014 Marsha rated it liked it

Okay, I've been thinking about this book and how I would like to review it. Some days I really enjoyed it, others I found myself reading just to finish it. I liked the concept, but I had a few problems with some of the repetition. It seemed like so often the author would say something and then three more sentences would follow saying the same thing, just in a different way. But, the thing that bugged me most during the whole book was Ian's change of attitude toward Mac. And the change in occupat ...more

Like · see review

Aug 30, 2015 Katyana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ass-kicking-women, uf, fantasy

This was a very fun first-in-series, that managed to avoid the piles of info-dumping that generally occur in first books... while still building a compelling world and scenario, as well as introducing fantastic new characters.

This author has definitely firmly landed on my must-buy list.

Like · see review

Oct 15, 2013 Beth rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal, military-spy, fantasy, mystery, humorous, urban-fantasy, favorites, 5-ebook-kindle, first-in-a-series, z-purchased-amazon

A fun new contemporary fantasy series by the author of the Raine Benares series. I'm looking forward to more books in this series.

For fans of Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher and Laura Anne Gilman. ...more

Like · see review