4.5 Hoots
I was really intrigued by the premise of this book and I was not disappointed. This was a fun mix of Greek mythology and a murder mystery. The Greek gods are walking among us as regular people (some fairing better than others) and others are still trying to hold onto pieces of them that made them a God. Here you find Selene DiSilva, aka Artemis, working as a private investigator who protects abused woman and children. While out on a walk in central park she stumbled upon the body of a young woman who was dressed in ancient Greek style and who had her reproductive organs cut out. When she touched the victims head she saw a vision on the attack and vowed to avenge the woman’s murder.
This is what set the stage for the rest of the book. The person who killed this woman started killing other women as well in a type of reenactment of ancient cult practices called the Elysium Mysteries and with every death Selene begins to get some of her goddess power back. Now, I don’t want to spoil the rest of the story but it really takes some crazy twist and turns. And to make it even more fun you get to meet some other Greek Gods throughout the story and their personalities and how they are fairing with modern times really just adds another element to the story.
What I enjoyed the most was the way the Greek myths were woven in with our current world. The book was filled with real places in New York, so that made it seem more realistic instead of making it seem like a generic city. I also enjoyed seeing how the Greek Gods and how they were surviving in the modern world. For example Dionysus (god of winemaking) Survived as a Grad student who was still strong because alcohol and partying is still a huge thing in college parties. He was able to live it up. The Goddess Leto (Artemis and Apollo) on the other hand was fading away because she was no longer being worshipped. Plus, there were tons of clues to help keep you interested in this murderer, but enough misdirection to keep it interesting until the big reveal.
The only thing I did not find as enjoyable was the internal struggle of Selene, Aka Artemis, to acknowledge her feelings for Theo (a professor who was friends with the first victim). I feel like this portion of the story was really dragged out a bit. Yes I get it that she was supposed to be the chased virgin goddess but I really didn’t need it pointed out as much as it was. At times it just seemed to overshadow everything. Overall, the story was a lot of fun. It was dark at times but not to the extent of being one of those super gritty crime dramas. The characters and locations were very realistic and engaging. And the best part was that I was still surprised by the big reveal of who the bad guy was….This is a big deal because I usually can figure out stuff like that right away. I look forward to reading the rest of the series in the future.
The Owl's Book Nest 