The Iron Hunt

The Iron Hunt by Marjorie M Liu

Hunter Kiss #1

Demon hunter Maxine Kiss wears her armor as tattoos, which unwind from her body to take on forms of their own at night. They stand between her and her enemies, just as Maxine stands between humanity and the demons breaking out from behind the prison veils. It is a life lacking in love, reveling in death, until one moment—and one man— changes everything. 

Meet Maxine Kiss, a kick ass demon hunter that is the last one left of her kind. By day her body is covered with impenetrable tattoos that make her literally invincible. At night those tattoos leave her body and become "The Boys," five little critters that devour demons for breakfast. They protect her just like they did her mother before her, and her mother's mother and so on back for ten thousand years. Someday, she will have a daughter and once she is trained, the boys will abandon Maxine for her daughter, guaranteeing Maxine's death. However, even though she has found someone

To say this book was confusing is an extreme understatement. For most of the book I really did not have a clue as to what was going on, and well, neither did Maxine. Every other character seemed to know some great secret about Maxine but refused to share. Zee, the only one of the boys who can carry on a conversation loves to speak in riddles. The "bad" guys reveal even less. Even the people who are supposed to be her friends are unnecessarily cryptic. I think this book is an amazing concept, but since the reader is kept in the dark for far too long it really loses a lot of its appeal.

Maxine is a really interesting character. Shes strong and definitely knows how to kick some butt. However, she is different from the rest of the women in her line before her in that she is able to show compassion to the demons. All of  her predecessors just killed without a second thought where as Maxine has a guilty conscience, especially due to Grant's abilities to change the demon's natures. Based on what was alluded to as far as Maxine's true purpose this might just be a good thing.

I didn't realize there was a prequel short story in the Wild Thing anthology. I really wish I would have read that first as it helps lay the ground work for Maxine and Grant's relationship as well as answers some things I was completely confused on in this book. I'm not writing the series off yet because even though I was thoroughly confused for most of this book, the premise is quite intriguing. I hope as the series continues more will be revealed about why Maxine is supposedly different than her predecessors as well as the answers to all of the secrets everyone has been keeping from her.

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The Iron Hunt (Hunter Kiss, Book 1)