Review: A Ferry of Bones & Gold by Hailey Turner

Title: A Ferry of Bones & Gold

Series: Soulbound: Book One

Author: Hailey Turner

Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited

Length: 390 Pages

Category: Urban Fantasy

At a Glance: A Ferry of Bones & Gold is filled with the kind of fertile and clever magic that makes it a magical must-read experience. A book with this much dedication to craftsmanship and the level of commitment it takes to wow its readers at every turn deserves all the accolades sure to come its way.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: Patrick Collins is three years into a career as a special agent for the Supernatural Operations Agency when the gods come calling to collect a soul debt he owes them. An immortal has gone missing in New York City and bodies are showing up in the wake of demon-led ritual killings that Patrick recognizes all too easily from his nightmares.

Unable to walk away, Patrick finds himself once again facing off against mercenary magic users belonging to the Dominion Sect. Standing his ground alone has never been a winning option in Patrick’s experience, but it’s been years since he’s had a partner he could trust.

Looking for allies in all the wrong places, Patrick discovers the Dominion Sect’s next target is the same werewolf the Fates themselves have thrown into his path. Patrick has been inexplicably attracted to the man from their first meeting, but desire has no place in war. That doesn’t stop Patrick from wanting what he shouldn’t have. Jonothon de Vere is gorgeous, dangerous, and nothing but trouble—to the case, to the fight against every hell, and ultimately, to Patrick’s heart and soul.

In the end, all debts must be paid, and Patrick can only do what he does best—cheat death.

Review: To put none-too-fine a point on it, A Ferry of Bones & Gold is one of the best Spec Fic books I’ve read so far this year, or any other year for that matter. If you like Urban Fantasy at all, go buy this book now. If you’ve never read Urban Fantasy but love a richly detailed and brilliantly told story filled with all manner of mythological and supernatural beings, go buy this book now. Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series used to set the UF bar for me, but the Soulbound series might become my new measuring stick—it’s just. that. fabulous.

I’ve become pretty adept at knowing within the first few pages of a book whether or not I’m going to connect with an author’s writing style and narrative voice. Hailey Turner drew me in from the first sentence and held me rapt with every paragraph and page after. This author’s descriptive talent and bold imagery pours out of every page and into the mind’s eye, carrying readers along on former Combat Mage Patrick Collins’ mission to rescue an immortal—a powerful immortal—from an enemy with a deep, dark connection to Patrick’s past. I won’t divulge anything beyond this, though, because every nuance, every secret, every scrap of information that Turner metes out so expertly should be experienced at the moment you read it on the page.

Patrick is a fabulous antihero—imperfect, courageous, carrying a wound on his soul and indebted to someone quite unexpected for a decades-old favor granted to him which ended up saving his life even as that debt imperils him on a near constant basis. I loved Patrick so much, and thanks to Turner’s evocative writing, I could feel the fatigue pouring off him as much as I could sense his force of will and sheer determination to use every means available to save the city of New York and the man who appears to be his destiny, alpha werewolf Jonothan de Vere.

Jono isn’t a paranormal romance variety werewolf; he doesn’t shift into a larger, fluffier version of a dog; he’s much more carnal than canine, and Fate has her own plans for him. Because this is a Patrick point-of-view novel, we only learn as much about Jono as Patrick sees—or, as much as he wants and has time for us to see—which allows the alpha a mystique that I hope is further explored in the next book. I loved his smoldering sexiness and his protectiveness of Patrick as well as the role he played in what became the explosive climax of the story, a battle that was so beautifully choreographed I couldn’t read it fast enough. It’s adrenaline-fueled and action-packed, full of shocks and surprises and unexpected role players that kept me running in a dead heat with the characters to the finish line.

I could go on and on about how tightly this book is plotted and how fluid and fast paced its narrative is. There is a bounty of preternatural characters that elevated my awe of Hailey Turner’s imagination, and every single character introduced—there are a lot of them from Greek mythology, Norse mythology, fantasy and fairy tale—contributes in a significant way to the storyline. Her dialogue is sharp and smart and helps advance the reader’s knowledge of both the characters and what they’re up against at every turn. Even the title of the book and how it plays into Patrick’s journey is rich and evocative.

A Ferry of Bones & Gold is filled with the kind of fertile and clever magic that makes it a magical must-read experience. A book with this much dedication to craftsmanship and the level of commitment it takes to wow its readers page after page deserves all the accolades sure to come its way.

You can buy A Ferry of Bones & Gold here:
[zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B07H7NG1JQ?d” style=”blue” size=”large” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon/Kindle Unlimited [/zilla_button]