THE 13TH HEX
JORDAN L. HAWK (Hexworld #0.5)
Widdershins Press LLC (non-affiliate Amazon link)
99¢ Kindle edition, available now
Rating: 3.5* of five
The Publisher Says: Romance. Magic. Murder.
Dominic Kopecky dreamed of becoming a member of New York’s Metropolitan Witch Police—a dream dashed when he failed the test for magical aptitude. Now he spends his days drawing the hexes the MWP relies on for their investigations.
But when a murder by patent hex brings crow familiar Rook to his desk, Dominic can’t resist the chance to experience magic. And as the heat grows between Dominic and Rook, so does the danger. Because the case has been declared closed—and someone is willing to kill to keep it that way.
The 13th Hex is the prequel short story to the all-new Hexworld series. If you like shifters, magic, and romance, you’ll love Jordan L. Hawk’s world of witch policemen and the familiars they bond with.
My Review: Three w-bombs in under 40pp means one entire star off.
A perfectly fine story. I like Rook a lot, but am less enamored of Dominic Kopecky.
Dominic pulled Rook closer. “Of course I do. You’re everything I ever dreamed of, Rook.”
He tenderly cupped Rook’s smooth jaw in one hand. “You’re beautiful and clever, and I would have wanted you even if you weren’t a familiar. But you are, and you’ve given me magic.”
It just feels...opportunistic? like an emotional manipulation? I'm putting that aside for now, more data needed, and the books are mostly out.
I just wanted a toe-dip into the world of the series before committing myself to it. This short tale was enough to allow me to get the sense of what Author Hawk was planning...a New York City imbued with magical energy that expresses itself via pseudoscientific means...to see if this could keep my soap-opera lovin' story-slurpin' soul from parching into dust. I mean, Whyborne & Griffin is now complete on my reader radar! I need sudsy sweet seriesness! Now I'll get my Hawk fix here.
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JORDAN L. HAWK (Hexworld #1)
Widdershins Press LLC (non-affiliate Amazon link)
99¢ Kindle edition, available for a limited time!
Rating: 4.75* of five
WINNER OF THE 2016 RAINBOW AWARD: GAY PARANORMAL ROMANCE!
The Publisher Says: Will a dark history doom their future together?
New York copper Tom Halloran is a man with a past. If anyone finds out he once ran with the notorious O’Connell tunnel gang, he’ll spend the rest of his life doing hard time behind bars. But Tom’s secret is threatened when a horrible murder on his beat seems to have been caused by the same ancient magic that killed his gang.
Cat shifter Cicero is determined to investigate the disappearance of one friend and the death of another, even though no one else believes the cases are connected. When the trail of his investigation crosses Tom’s, the very bohemian Cicero instinctively recognizes the uncultured Irish patrolman as his witch. Though they’re completely unsuited to one another, Cicero has no choice but to work alongside Tom…all the while fighting against the passion growing within.
Tom knows that taking Cicero as his familiar would only lead to discovery and disaster. Yet as the heat between them builds, Tom’s need for the other man threatens to overcome every rational argument against becoming involved.
But when their investigation uncovers a conspiracy that threatens all of New York, Tom must make the hardest decision of his life: to live a lie and gain his heart’s desire, or to confess the truth and sacrifice it all.
My Review: Tom the Hexbreaker = Yes. Big, solid, muscular boys are always welcome in my world, fictional or factual.
Cicero the Familiar = ...
...
...he's a C-A-T and I ***HATE*** those creatures. The make me sneeze. They have TOXIC SPIT faGawdsake. Their dander, designed by them in conjunction with their lord and master Satan, is so shaped that it causes acute irritation in human mucus membranes.
Cicero closed the door soundlessly behind him and shifted into cat form. Instantly, the room brightened; he could make out every detail of the worn fabric, the flaking paint on the hobby horse, the silk flowers twined around the swings. The smell of mice tantalized, mingled with the scents of the various people who had traipsed through. Sloane, Kearney, others he didn’t recognize.
And I still gave the book almost 5 stars. (The passage above is one of the main reasons I did...Author Hawk brings me into a cat's world in a way I haven't thought of before.) That, laddies and gentlewomen, is still nothing short of astounding. I have lived in or near Manhattan since the 1980s, and visited the city fairly often after my first taste of it in my long-ago childhood (before they started digging the basement of the long-gone Twin Towers, that's how long ago it was). This is my home, this is the place I want to be. So yes, I'm inclined to give stories set here a big head start into my good graces.
I'm also a history buff. In the post-book note left by Author Hawk, I was pleased but unsurprised to see they acknowledged Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World 1890-1940 as one of their sources. I got this book in the 1990s and have read and re-read it a few times as research and as pleasure reading. The gay male culture of New York has arguably always been the gold standard (pace you San Francisco queers) in this country. I was eager to learn about it then, and happy to see it used so very well in this series of books.
Most of my happy croons are reserved for the alternate history of this New York, part of a world where magic is real and imperfectly understood as well as unscrupulously used thus necessitating an entire branch of law enforcement dedicated to detecting and preventing malefactors from taking unfair advantage of its gifts.
Tom didn’t mean to stare, but he couldn’t help it. Of course, he’d been staring nonstop since he’d entered the Coven and asked to speak to someone about a dead man and a bad hex.
–and–
“I follow the pope in Belfast, if that’s what you mean."
–and–
The one with the shotgun pointed it at Tom. “I said hands up! Revolver on the floor, now!”
The world seemed to sharpen to unnatural clarity. The black bore of the gun trained on him. Cicero’s coat, bright against the washed out clothing of the anarchists. The smell of gunpowder from the barrels. The hum of hexes from the boxes and barrels, so many he could feel them vibrating in his teeth. Meant to keep the gunpowder and dynamite from exploding too early, or catching fire from open flames.
The plight of the unbonded familiar is a strong theme in this first novel of the series. It's clear that the familiars, those whose abilities create the magic channeled by witches, are the downtrodden second-class magical citizens. Cicero the cat-shifter is a survivor of an abusive unbonded past. It informs his every waking moment. It's also obvious that most witch/familiar bonds are same-sex; this makes the gayness quotient of the world quite high, an agreeable development from my PoV. That there is still homophobia out there is depressingly inevitable, human beings being what they are.
It wasn’t Rook’s fault he and Dominic {from The 13th Hex, above} were perfectly suited as lovers as well as friends.
It was the fairytale every familiar wanted to believe in, and the MWP did nothing to dissuade. One day, a familiar would be minding their own business, look up…and there would be their witch. Dashing, charming, strong, funny…whatever the familiar needed them to be.
The events of this book bring the politics of the creation of New York City from the independent cities of Brooklyn, Manhattan, the County of Queens, and the Bronx to bear on the lives of the characters, and in that teaches each of them what it means not to fit into any corner of society. There are competing factions attempting to redress the very real wrongs of the place and time, but in ways that wouldn't lead to a better world only a replacement of those at the top with themselves.
Tom knew how the world worked, knew money flowed mostly in one direction and to hell with the poor bastard who ended up with empty pockets at the end of the day. But there was wrong and then there was wrong, and this seemed terrible in a way he couldn’t articulate.
–and–
"Show the people that the real threat to their safety comes from a corrupt government enslaved to the whims of rich men who would work the rest of us to death for their profits.”
It seems revolutions never do what they are supposed to do.
But Tom and Cicero are there, ably assisted by Dominick and Rook from The 13th Hex and joined by the next book's MC Dr. Yates, to make sure the body count is kept to a minimum and the worst excesses of evil are prevented from making the city a shambles. This is what I like about Author Hawk's books: The stakes are high, the issues are drawn from reality, the resolutions are based in the logic of the world created and include the requisite Happily Ever After for the main characters.
In this series, the magical system is wonderfully presented, the alternate timeline is sketched in with intriguing spaces left to be filled by future events' historical roots, and PoV characters from previous books will appear in supporting roles. I very much like this method of world-building as it lets me feel I am discovering something instead of arriving at a destination in time, conclusions in hand, to watch events unfold.
The sexual reality of the setting is probably going to put hetero readers off their feed. If men sexin' up other men makes you squeamish, seek elsewhere for your entertainment reads. If it doesn't, then here's you a terrific new series to enjoy.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
JORDAN L. HAWK (Hexworld #2)
Widdershins Press LLC (non-affiliate Amazon link)
$4.99 Kindle edition, available now
Rating: 3.5* of five
The Publisher Says: A straight-laced policeman. A lighthearted thief. A murdered millionaire.
Fox shifter Malachi steals for one of the biggest crime rings in New York City. But when he witnesses the murder of a millionaire, the only person who can keep him safe is Dr. Owen Yates, forensic hexman for the Metropolitan Witch Police—and Malachi’s witch.
Owen is horrified to discover his familiar is an uneducated thief. Even worse, Malachi threatens to unleash Owen’s deepest desires…desires Owen can’t act upon, as he’s destined for an arranged marriage to secure the Yates family fortune.
Their agreement: Malachi will be Owen’s lover as well as his partner, until the day of the wedding. But as their hunt for the murderer carries them from teeming slums to Fifth Avenue mansions, Owens begins to realize Malachi commands his heart as well as his body.
With dark forces drawing ever closer around them, Owen must decide whether to bow to the demands of duty, or to risk everything for the man he loves.
Hexmaker is the second book in Jordan L. Hawk’s Hexworld series, following the adventures of witch policemen and the familiars they bond with. Download today to enter a world of magic, romance, and intrigue.
My Review: All good things must end. My unbroken streak of adoring Author Hawk's books has ended: I don't grok these characters. And then there's the overuse of the w-bomb: There are seven (7) of them in the book which is eight too many.
I didn't like Owen because he reminds me of Franklin Pangborn from old-timey post-Code movies. When they needed a gay man, they got Franklin Pangborn or someone like him to play a fussy, mousy, icky stereotype.
Owen straightened and clasped his hands behind him, as if preparing to deliver a lecture. The sight brought a grin to Mal’s face.
“The device is a remarkable feat of hexology and engineering,” Owen said. “Today, we’ve uncovered one of the lost secrets of the ancient world.”
Athene shot him an impatient look. “Get to the point, Dr. Yates.”
–and–
“Shut up, Owen,” Kirk said. “God, you’re tiresome. I can’t believe Father would so demean Edith as to hand her over to a prissy fussbudget like you.”
I just so completely agree with Kirk...And that meant I couldn't really get a grip on the stakes of the story. Wasn't much on Malachi, either, and their sex scenes...I can't believe I'm typing this...were dull, so I skimmed them. I mean, of course Owen was bottoming, he's such a squishbag I can't believe he could ever do anything else...and that's not Big Daddy's kink.
“All I ever wanted was you,” Mal said. “Just as you are.” And, to quote the late, great Rodney Dangerfield, "you don't want much, do you?"
A sad day for me.
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JORDAN L. HAWK (Hexworld #2.5)
Widdershins Press LLC (non-affiliate Amazon link)
99¢ Kindle edition, available now
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: A Hexworld Short Story
Roland knows he will never find love. Everyone views wolf familiars like himself as dangerous beasts, unable to rein in their savage impulses. He’s resigned himself to his fate—or so he thinks, until he meets the dashing Augustus Cao. His witch.
Gus is on the trail of a gang of thieves, and Roland holds an important clue. Even though they can never bond, Roland can’t pass up the opportunity to spend a night with his witch.
Can Roland conceal his secret, while helping Gus catch the thieves? Or will the handsome detective be the one to steal his heart?
My Review: Not a lot of room to maneuver in 56pp. A sweet Yuletide story, another facet of the Hexworld, and a half-hour spent quite pleasurably.
We're out in the Metropolitan Witch Police's purlieu this time, which is interesting; and the Hexworld's additions of prejudice to the already awful nineteenth century include ones against wolf shifters. Roland's family chucked him out when they discovered the dangerous animal in their midst.
Roland had known better than to get close to anyone. A decade of hiding had taught him that much. No one would ever see him as anything other than a dangerous beast.
He's made his peace with it, though of course he's very unhappy at Yuletide...who isn't whose people don't want them?...but as a successful writer of adventure stories he's made a good life and wants for little materially.
Now, eating at a Chinese restaurant, he meets his witch: An Irish-Chinese private detective whose present case is finding and stopping a gang of thieves using a dangerous, mesmerizing hex to in order to steal and kill. Roland saves Gus, whose sex appeal he's noticed immediately and whose existence as his witch is fizzing between them, from certain death, and tags along with him on the case. Truth is he's too afraid to share the truth of his animal nature, and of their magical connection, but just can't bring himself to let Gus face the very real danger he's in alone.
A successful resolution to the case, a Happily-Ever-After, and all in a corner of the Hexworld we barely slid into in Hexmaker. The dangerous-animal shifters aren't bad people; they're being true to their inner selves. They're no worse, no better, than anyone else!
The author, a trans person, knows how very deeply this resonates with all sorts of QUILTBAG people. They wrote this perfect summation of the happiness most all of us seek: "For once, the future didn’t matter; just this man and this moment."
Happy Yule, everyone.
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