Hound’s Bite (Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective Book 5)

SUSPENSE/THRILLER:  Ivy Granger and her fae friends return from Faerie but as they cross the portal, an evil force known as The Wild Hunt has followed them.  They must stop this evil before it devours the city of Harborsmouth and all those they love along with it.  The stakes rise higher as they suspect an ally has turned against them, and they need to rescue a kidnapped friend.  Ivy must put her skills to use and make tough choices if she is to save her friends and win the day.

This story has some light-hearted moments where the wit of certain characters made for great comic relief.  However, reading this book as a stand-alone is near impossible. The character development is presumably done in previous books.  "Hound's Bite" begins rehashing the characters and their relationships to one another from other books, which makes the reader feel instantly disconnected and removed from this installment. 

For the first third of the book there’s so much reiteration it becomes extremely tedious and distracting for one to engage in the current story’s plot.  Trying to sort out which backstory details are relevant also makes it impossible to follow the plot at hand or care about the character’s troubles.  Perhaps for fans who have previously read Ms. Steven’s other books in the series, this would be a more enjoyable read. 

Mary B Rose