Daring You To Read...Unshapely Things by Mark Del Franco

When I first started reading urban fantasy, there was really only one series with a male protagonist: Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files (which I dared you to read in December). Now there are so many more wonderful male-led series and I wanted to draw your attention to one that doesn’t get nearly as much attention as it should: Mark Del Franco’s Connor Grey books.

In Mark Del Franco’s world, everyone knows about magic. Not everyone has it but folks are well aware of it ever since Convergence, when the Fey realms collided with the human one. Fey and humans interact but humans police humans and magical affairs are policed by the Guild.

Connor Grey is a druid. He used to be a big shot in the Guild (and kind of a jerk because of it) but then he had an accident involving a magical artifact, an elf, and an explosion, which left him with a strange mass in his head that keeps him from using his powers. The end result? Connor lost his job and most of his friends and allies, and now makes a living consulting for the (human) Boston P.D., working alongside his friend Detective Leo Murdock. All of his relationships are complicated, no one knows what’s going on with his brain, and he’s broke.

How can you resist a premise like that?

As the series develops, the books explore Connor’s magical difficulties, his past, his friendships, and his potential romances, all while building the overall series arc. Each book has a bigger, more challenging problem for Connor and Mark Del Franco does an amazing job of having Connor deal with the principle problem of each book while leaving some of the big questions unanswered. Lucky for us, all of those questions are apparently going to be answered in the most recent book, UNDONE DEEDS, which came out in January. (My copy is sitting in my TBR pile, waving for attention.) But before you can get there, you need to check out the first book in the series, UNSHAPELY THINGS:

In the alleys of the decrepit Boston neighborhood known as the Weird, fairy prostitutes are turning up dead. The crime scenes show signs of residual magic, but the Guild, which polices the fey, has more "important" crimes to investigate and dumps the case on human law enforcement.

Boston police call in Connor Grey, a druid and former hotshot Guild investigator-whose magical abilities were crippled after a run-in with a radical environmentalist elf. As Connor battles red tape and his own shortcomings, he realizes that the murders are not random, but part of an ancient magical ritual. And if Connor can't figure out the killer's M.O., the culmination of the spell might just bring about a worldwide cataclysm.

My thoughts

Read an excerpt

Puchase: Amazon | Book Depository

The rest of the series:

Click on the cover to find out what I thought
(except for UNDONE DEEDS, which I’m going to start reading soon)

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Want to participate in Daring You To Read? Here’s how:

- You choose a book you’ve read, loved and would dare your readers to read!

- The book you choose must be an older release (at least 6 months ago), because let’s be honest, we’re all quite aware of the latest releases.

- Write your own blog post, using the button and linking back to Tynga’s Reviews, inviting your readers to read your chosen book.

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- Browse other bloggers Dare and let them know if you’ve read their featured book, or plan on reading it.

- Super easy and an awesome way to discover that special book who might have slipped off your radar!

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Posted by jenn at 05:38

 Daring You to Read, Mark Del Franco, Penguin  5 People left their mark

Born and raised in the Toronto area, Jenn moved to St. John's, Newfoundland, eight years ago for school. She's still in school (thankfully on another degree!), now trapped in her dissertation. When she's not dissertating, which happens more often than it should, Jenn spends her time reading, watching movies, playing volleyball, travelling, and enjoying the local music scene. Her latest addictions: yoga and Almond Crunch cereal.