Black Dog Blues (Kai Graven Series) By Rhys Ford
Tags: Urban fantasy, fantasy, magic, Sidhe, adventure, drama, bounty hunter, new relationship, review, August, Ford, paranormal, action
Series: Book 1
Length: 227 pages
Rating: Good
Blurb: Ever since he’d been part of the pot in a high-stakes poker game, elfin outcast Kai Gracen figured he’d used up any good karma he had when Dempsey, a human Stalker, won the hand and took him in. Following the violent merge of Earth and Underhill, the human and elfin races were left with a messy, monster-ridden world and Stalkers were often the only cavalry willing to ride to someone’s rescue when something shadowy and dark moved into the neighbourhood.
There certainly were no shortage of monsters or people stupidly willing to become lunch for one.
It was a hard life but one Kai liked. And he was good at it. Killing monsters was easy. Especially since he was one himself.
After an accident retired Dempsey out, Kai set up permanent shop in San Diego, contracting out to the local SoCalGov depot. It was a decent life, filled with bounty, a few friends and most importantly, no other elfin around to remind him he wasn’t really human.
That was until a sidhe lord named Ryder arrives in San Diego and Kai is conscripted to do a job for Ryder’s fledgling Dawn Court. It was supposed to a simple run; head up the coast during dragon-mating season to retrieve a pregnant human woman seeking sanctuary with the new Court then back to San Diego. Easy, quick and best of all, profitable. But Ryder’s “simple” run leads to massive trouble and Kai ends up being caught in the middle of a deadly bloodline feud he has no hope of escaping.
No one ever got rich by being a Stalker. But then hardly any of them got old either. The way things were looking, it didn’t look like Kai was going to be the exception.
In thinking back on this book and its complexities one word comes to mind; wow. 'Black Dog Blues', contains a lot of place, setting, culture and slang. This is a whole new world the world that exists is one that is combined with the elfin world. Earth and Underhill, have come together and neither world will ever be the same again. While, they are no longer fighting, tensions between the two races is still high. Kai is an elfin child won by a rough human Stalker in a poker game. Despite the Stalker's gruff and violent ways, Kai turned out alright--mostly.
'Black Dog Blues', contains a number of different stories within its pages--though they are all interrelated. The first is Kai's story, who is he as an elfin among humans, what is his past? He knows but he doesn't share and perhaps some of it is blocked out. The second is the story of Ryder who has come to San Diego to start a new Dawn Court. Ryder believes that the elfin people won't service without working with humans, that both races need to learn to work and live together. However, there are other forces out there that don't want to see Ryder succeed.
This isn't your typical male/male romance story. 'Black Dog Blues', contains an underlying current between Ryder and Kai. But the tension isn't exclusively between these two, especially when Ryder's sister is in the mix. All in all it's an interesting mix of action, attraction, and secrets. I can't wait for more of this story.