Book Review: Of Blood & Honey

By Sandy Amazeen Jan 25, 2011, 22:19 GMT

Liam never knew who his father was. The town of Derry had always assumed that he was the bastard of a protestant - his mother never spoke of him, and Liam assumed he was dead. But when the war between the fallen and the fey began to heat up, Liam and his family are pulled into a conflict that they didn\'t know existed. A centuries old conflict between supernatural forces ...more

Set during the violence of 1970’s Ireland, Liam’s mother, Kathleen Kelly kept the identity of his father Bran, a closely guarded secret and for good reason. Bran was Fey and currently occupied with an on-going battle outside the human realm against The Fallen led by bloodthirsty Redcap. The battle occasionally spilled over on humanity and if The Fallen should win, the repercussions could be disastrous. Arrested in twice for watching demonstrations, Liam spent time in the horrors of Kesh and Malone, hellish prisons run by sadistic guards.

Mary Kate, a bright capable young woman waited over two years for Liam to finally get set free and shortly after his release, the two were married by Father Murray, the only person Kathleen ever fully confided in. The Catholic Church had a long history of promptly killing The Fallen, Fey and any other supernatural beings it could identify and Father Murray had been keeping discrete tabs on Liam. It was a role that led to bitter betrayal and attempted acts of atonement as the battles spread out over Ireland as Liam felt the effects of a lifetime spent being “protected”.

Leicht’s dark urban fantasy deals more with politics and betrayal then magic. Despite the best efforts of Liam’s parents and priest to protect him, it is those actions that set him up for a string of heartbreaks. The Fallen and Fey don’t get much development but that shortcoming is balanced by the relationships between Liam, Mary Kate and Father Murray. The action is gritty, realistic and complex enough to ring true as it concludes on a note of hope and a promise of more to come.