Book Review: From Hell With Love

By Sandy Amazeen Jun 20, 2010, 1:53 GMT

It\'s no walk in the park for a Drood, a member of the family that has protected humanity from the things that go bump in the night for centuries. They aren\'t much liked by the creatures they kill, by ungrateful humans, or even by one another. Now their Matriarch is dead, and it\'s up to Eddie Drood, acting head of the family, to figure out whodunit. Unpopular opinion is ...more

Although paranormal investigator Eddie Drood was unofficial head of an ancient, extremely powerful extended family, he preferred working in the field to dealing with entangled politics. Eddie’s latest job seemed straightforward enough, go to an auction in Los Angles scheduled to take place at the grand opening of an ostentatious hotel and prevent Dr. Delirium from gaining possession of an artifact called the Apocalypse Door. It’s bad enough that Dr. Delirium got the artifact, even worse was the brutal murder of the Drood Matriarch followed by the attempt on Molly Metcalf’s life. As a witch and Eddie’s girlfriend, Molly was not exactly defenseless but the attack on her life left Eddie shaken, angry and determined to nail the real killer.

Just as the Drood family has operated behind the scenes keeping humanity safe from assorted evils for centuries, an equally shadowy family of Immortals has been just as busy orchestrating mayhem. As Eddie learns more about the Immortals, it becomes clear they have infiltrated the hallowed halls of his family with dire consequences. Family honor dictates Eddie’s quest for answers as he tracks Dr. Delirium, the Apocalypse Door and the face of a villain worse then anything he was prepared for. Fortunately, Eddie didn’t have to face gruesome family secrets and deadly robotic dogs on his own as Molly proved herself a formidable warrior.

Lightening fast and filled with battles, murder, backstabbing and plot twists galore, this rock’m sock’m urban fantasy has something for just about everyone. Occasionally dripping with sarcasm, the self-depreciating humor and cutting wit help flesh out the characters in Green’s fourth of the Secret Histories series. Fans of the series will cringe at yet another cliffhanging ending but that is very much in keeping with Green’s style.