The skinwalkers are nigh-indestructable creatures and as such, aren’t easily defeated, which paves the way for ingenuity on both the part of Granuaile and Atticus.

This humor balances the high stakes involved when the protagonist might just be a lynch-pin for Armageddon, or rather, Ragnarok.

Their banter, as well as the back-and-forth between Atticus and Coyote made for some good laughs, as did Atticus’s inner dialogue as he told the story to the reader. The human-dog relationship is captured very well here and is almost a wish-fulfillment as the ultimate dog-owner relationship. My favorite element of the novel however, was the banter between Oberon and Atticus. I wouldn’t be surprised, if Hearne is able to keep the series going long enough, that we get some Granuaile-focused stories or even novels. More of her past is revealed and even though Atticus is her sensei, she manages to match wits with him through most of the novel. One of the strongest developments of the series in Tricked is the greater focus on Granuaile, Atticus’s protégé. Clearly, Atticus and company have their hands quite full. Atticus came to the attention of these skinwalkers thanks to Hel, the Norse god of the underworld and Loki’s offspring. Of course more complications ensue over the course of the novel as a pair of skinwalkers, some of the nastier monsters of Coyote’s people. It isn’t anything big for our favorite Druid, he just convince the Colorado earth elemental to make a gold mine for Coyote’s people. Once Atticus gets on with his new life, it isn’t long before the Native American trickster deity Coyote comes calling on the favor Atticus owes him for ‘killing’ him. In order to hide from the Norse deities, Atticus elaborately fakes his own death in front of them as well as thunder gods from other pantheons. As a result of the world-shattering events at the conclusion of Hammered one might even say events with Ragnarok-like implications, the third volume of Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles, Atticus, Oberon, and Granuaile are on the run with new identities.

Tricked by kevin hearne