Atticus O'Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn't care much for witches. Still, he's about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty — when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they're badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor's rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.

Atticus O'Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old — when in actuality, he's twenty-one old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he's hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power — plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish — to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

After twelve years of secret training, Atticus O'Sullivan is finally ready to bind his apprentice, Granuaile, to the earth and double the number of Druids in the world. But on the eve of the ritual, the world that thought he was dead abruptly discovers that he's still alive, and they would much rather he return to the grave.

 Having no other choice, Atticus, his trusted Irish wolfhound, Oberon, and Granuaile travel to the base of Mount Olympus, where the Roman god Bacchus is anxious to take his sworn revenge — but he'll have to get in line behind an ancient vampire, a band of dark elves, and an old god of mischief, who all seem to have KILL THE DRUID at the top of their to-do lists.

Druid Atticus O’Sullivan hasn’t stayed alive for more than two millennia without a fair bit of Celtic cunning. So when vengeful thunder gods come Norse by Southwest looking for payback, Atticus, with a little help from the Navajo trickster god Coyote, lets them think that they’ve chopped up his body in the Arizona desert.

But the mischievous Coyote is not above a little sleight of paw, and Atticus soon finds that he’s been duped into battling bloodthirsty desert shapeshifters called skinwalkers. Just when the Druid thinks he’s got a handle on all the duplicity, betrayal comes from an unlikely source. If Atticus survives this time, he vows he won’t be fooled again. Famous last words.

Review

"Hearne, a self-professed comic-book nerd, has turned his love of awesome dudes whacking mightily at evil villains into a superb urban fantasy debut. Staying alive for 2,000 years takes a great deal of cunning, and sexy super-druid Atticus O'Sullivan, currently holed up in the Arizona desert, has vexed a few VIPs along the way. High up on that list is Aenghus Óg, the Celtic god of love. It's not just that Aenghus wants his sword back—though it is a very nice magical sword—but that Atticus didn't exactly ask permission to take it. Atticus and his trusty sidekick, Irish wolfhound Oberon, make an eminently readable daring duo as they dodge Aenghus's minions and thwart his schemes with plenty of quips and zap-pow-bang fighting." --Publisher's Weekly, starred review

“A page-turning and often laugh-out-loud funny caper through a mix of the modern and the mythic.”—Ari Marmell, author of The Warlord’s Legacy

“Celtic mythology and an ancient Druid with modern attitude mix it up in the Arizona desert in this witty new fantasy series.”—Kelly Meding, author of Three Days to Dead

“Kevin Hearne breathes new life into old myths, creating a world both eerily familiar and startlingly original.”—Nicole Peeler, author of Tempest Rising

About the Author

Kevin Hearne is a native of Arizona and really appreciates whoever invented air-conditioning. He graduated from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and now teaches high school English. When he’s not grading essays or writing novels, he tends to his basil plants and paints landscapes with his daughter. He has been known to obsess over fonts, frolic unreservedly with dogs, and stop whatever he’s doing in the rare event of rain to commune with the precipitation. He enjoys hiking, the guilty pleasure of comic books, and living with his wife and daughter in a wee, snug cottage.

Review

“A page-turning and often laugh-out-loud-funny caper through a mix of the modern and the mythic.”—Ari Marmell, author of The Warlord’s Legacy

“Kevin Hearne breathes new life into old myths, creating a world both eerily familiar and startlingly original.”—Nicole Peeler, author of Tempest Rising

“A witty new fantasy series.”—Kelly Meding, author of Three Days to Dead

From the Paperback edition.

Product Description

BOOK 2 IN THE IRON DRUID CHRONICLES

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.

From the Paperback edition.

Review

"Hearne provides lots of zippy plotting and rocking action scenes...fans will be thrilled."--Publishers Weekly

“A page-turning and often laugh-out-loud funny caper through a mix of the modern and the mythic.”—Ari Marmell, author of The Warlord’s Legacy

“Celtic mythology and an ancient Druid with modern attitude mix it up in the Arizona desert in this witty new fantasy series.”—Kelly Meding, author of Three Days to Dead

“Kevin Hearne breathes new life into old myths, creating a world both eerily familiar and startlingly original.”—Nicole Peeler, author of Tempest Rising

From the Paperback edition.

Product Description

BONUS: This special eBook edition includes a bonus short story set in the world of the Iron Druid Chronicles: "A Test of Mettle."

Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully—he’s ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he’s asked his friend Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.

One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. But things are heating up in Atticus’s home base of Tempe, Arizona. There’s a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plain of Asgard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants for an epic showdown against vicious Valkyries, angry gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself.

For a two-thousand-year-old Druid, Atticus O’Sullivan is a pretty fast runner. Good thing, because he’s being chased by not one but two goddesses of the hunt—Artemis and Diana—for messing with one of their own. Dodging their slings and arrows, Atticus, Granuaile, and his wolfhound Oberon are making a mad dash across modern-day Europe to seek help from a friend of the Tuatha Dé Danann. His usual magical option of shifting planes is blocked, so instead of playing hide-and-seek, the game plan is . . . run like hell.

 Crashing the pantheon marathon is the Norse god Loki. Killing Atticus is the only loose end he needs to tie up before unleashing Ragnarok—AKA the Apocalypse. Atticus and Granuaile have to outfox the Olympians and contain the god of mischief if they want to go on living—and still have a world to live in.

Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully — he's ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he's asked his friend Atticus O'Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.

One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. But things are heating up in Atticus's home base of Tempe, Arizona. There's a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plain of Asgard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants for an epic showdown against vicious Valkyries, angry gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself.

A norvég mennydörgésisten rosszabb minden kötekedő rohadéknál – ő ugyanis életek ezreit tette tönkre, és ugyanennyi ártatlannal végzett. A viking vámpír, Leif Helgarson több évszázad után elérkezettnek látja az időt, hogy bosszút álljon rajta, de a norvég lidércnyomásba csak barátja, Atticus O'Sullivan, az utolsó druida segítségével juthat el. Atticus első számú túlélési stratégiája a következő volt: a lehető legnagyobb ívben kerüld el a villámokat dobáló ürgét!. De Atticus hazai pályáján sem túl rózsás a helyzet: vámpírháború közeleg, a magukat Isten Kalapácsainak nevező orosz démonvadászok pedig egyre többen lesznek. Atticus és Leif egy vérfarkas társaságában minden figyelmeztetés és várható következmény ellenére elindulnak Asgardba, a norvég panteon síkjára, ahol kommandójuk kiegészül egy varázslóval, egy orosz mennydörgésistennel és egy kínai vándorral. És megindul a felejthetetlen harc a valkűrök, a feldühödött istenek és a mennydörgésisten ellen.

„Kiderült, hogy ha megölsz egy istent, hirtelen megugrik a népszerűséged.”
„Kevin Hearne új lelket lehel az ősi mitológiába, és egy hátborzongatóan ismerős, mégis ijesztően eredeti világot alkot.”
Nicole Peeler, a Tempest Rising írója
Atticus O’Sullivant nem izgatják túlságosan a boszorkányok. Most mégis arra készül, hogy egy mindkét fél számára előnyős, kölcsönös megnemtámadási egyezményt írjon alá velük, amikor napjaink arizónai Tempéjének boszorkánynépessége hirtelen megnégyszereződik. Ám az új lányok nem csak gonoszak, de a második világháború alatt meglehetősen sötét szerepet töltöttek be a németek oldalán.
Miközben egy bukott angyal a helyi középiskola diákjaira vadászik, és a bakkhánsnők vegasi hordája a városba özönlik, hogy ott terjessze az őket jellemző halálos romlást, és egy veszélyesen szexi, kelta tűzistennő Atticus kegyeit keresi, hősünknek ki kell vennie részét a boszorkányüldözésből. De varázskardja, a szomszédjától kölcsönzött gránátvető, valamint vámpír ügyvédje segítségével Atticus készen áll rá, hogy megtisztítsa a várost, és megmutassa a boszorkányos fehérnépeknek, hogy rossz druidával kukoricáztak.
„Egy szellemes, új fantasysorozat.”
Kelly Meding, a Three Days to Dead írója

Atticus O’Sullivan, a druidák utolsó képviselője, békésen éldegél Arizonában, és egy ezoterikus könyvesboltot vezet. Szabadidejében pedig alakot vált, hogy ír farkaskutyájával vadászatra induljon. Szomszédjai és vásárlói abban a hiszemben élnek, hogy ez a helyes, tetovált, ír srác egy nappal sem több huszonegynél – pedig éppen huszonegy évszázada él a földön. Azt már ne is említsük, hogy energiáját a földből nyeri, éles nyelve van, és egy még élesebb varázskardja: Fragarach, a Válaszadó.
Csak az a probléma, hogy egy fölöttébb dühös kelta isten is szemet vetett kardjára, és évszázadok óta üldözi. Ez a kitartó istenség Atticus nyomára lelt, és barátunknak minden erejére – továbbá egy csábító halálistennő segítségére, vámpír- és vérfarkas ügyvédeinek falkájára, egy szexi csapos lányra (akinek fejét egy hindi boszorkány bérelte ki), és egy adag régimódi, ír szerencsére – szüksége lesz, hogy szétrúgjon néhány kelta ülepet, és megszabadítsa magát a gonosztól…