Review: Trapped by Kevin Hearne

Title: Trapped

Author: Kevin Hearne

Series: Iron Druid Chronicles, book 5

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Del Rey

Source: Review copy from publisher

Format: E-book

“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.”

Trapped is the fifth book in the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne.

Trapped starts 12 years later after the events in Tricked where Atticus faked his death to stop the many enemies he had looking for him. Atticus needed that time to finish Granuaile druid training. Granuaile has completed her training; the last thing Atticus needs to do to make her a druid is to bind her to the earth. But this is easier said than done, especially when Perun one of the thunder gods shows up with Loki on his tail. To escape Loki’s wrath Atticus escapes with Granuaile, Oberon and Perun to Tír na nÓg when they receive Brighit summons. After some dealings with Brighit and others of the Tuatha Dé Danann they are informed that Atticus must bind Granuaile in the Old World. The only problem is that it looks as if people are realizing he faked his death and his enemies are willing to do anything to get him, even blocking the portals and forcing to go where he doesn’t want to go. The only portal open is the one next to the Mount Olympus where Bacchus resides. Atticus knows this is a trap but without any other option they leave to Olympus to start Granuaile binding, a binding that takes three months to finish and involves the slowing process of tattooing Granuaile from toe to head… Yes, a lot of skin contact will be involved in this binding.

But as I said before things are never easy for Atticus, many attempts to his(their) life(lives) will interrupt the process, not only Bacchus wants to get his hands on him, but now the vampires, the Norse, the Greek and the Roman Pantheons know he is alive and they also want a piece of him. If that wasn’t enough for Atticus to deal with, the Dark Elves want him too; it looks as if they got tired of him blaming everything on them.

Since the moment I met them in Hounded I fell in love with Atticus and Oberon, soon after I met Granuaile and knew she was the perfect match for Atticus. I’ve been waiting for a long time to finally see them come together, I understood Atticus misgivings about starting a relationship with her while he was training her, but now that she is ready to become a druid things are going to change for them. If I’m honest mainly for that reason I was dying to get my hands on this book. I had very big expectations about seeing how they relationship has developed during the 12 years of training and how were they going to jump from trainer/trainee to “that” moment. Expectations that I’m happy to say were gladly met. Ok, I’m going ahead of myself… Let me go back and start from the beginning. Atticus knows he has made many mistakes in the past, things he regrets, he also knows he needs to do something to make things better. He just wants to make sure Granuaile is safe before embarking in more adventures, he knows after she is bound to the earth she will have some extra strengths, strengths that she is going to need to survive.

That’s one of the many things I like about him, he is honest and he knows and recognizes when he was mistaken, He can be ruthless when he needs to be while being caring and protective of those he loves and cares about. He is loyal to his friends and also has a great sense of humor.

Granuaile, I liked her since the beginning but the more I know her the more I love her. She is smart, strong, and witty, she is not a damsel in distress, she doesn’t need anybody to protect her, she can kickass all in her own. Now she is ready to be a druid, the perfect match for Atticus, and yes, she couldn’t be more perfect for him.

Oberon, OMG I love him!! I think I have said this before but here it comes once again, he is the perfect sidekick. I love the way he thinks and his internal dialogues are to die for. I also love his relationship with Atticus; in a way they balance each other perfectly. I also love how he has developed a relationship with Granuaile and how he accepts her and loves her as he does Atticus. They made a beautiful “druid” family together.

Apart from Granuaile’s binding to Gaia there are a lot of things going on in this book, sometimes I thought there were too many, especially the interruptions while Atticus was trying to bind Granuaile.

Atticus needs to pay for what he did (previous books) and paying he is doing. He does some of that in this book and is pretty obvious what is coming is not going to be easy for him.

I really liked that even though sometimes things were not going how they were supposed to go Atticus and his gang always found something to light the mood and made things better.

Trapped is another exceptional addition to one of the best urban fantasy series in the market, one I can’t recommend you enough. If you haven’t read these books can I ask you what are you waiting for? I recommend reading these books in order.

My Verdcit: 4 ½ Paws

Other books in the series

Hounded
Hexed
Hammered
Tricked
Trapped
Hunted (June 2013)

Other reviews Goodreads

Visit Author’s Website