Black Dog by Caitlin Kittredge

Hellhound Chronicles, Book 1

Synopsis: Ava has spent the last hundred years as a hellhound, the indentured servant of a reaper who hunts errant souls and sends them to Hell. When a human necromancer convinces her to steal her reaper’s scythe, Ava incurs the wrath of the demon Lilith, her reaper’s boss.

As punishment for her transgression, Lilith orders Ava to track down the last soul in her reaper’s ledger . . . or die trying.

But after a hundred years of servitude, it’s time for payback. And Hell hath no fury like an avenging Ava . .

Review: I really like the Black London series by the same author and I was curious to try a new story by her hand. I must say it had it all, demons, fallen angels, necromancers, reapers and even hellhounds. Oh yes a story full of characters and ideas to discover.

Ava is spending her death serving a man she does not love and she is sent on many dangerous missions to recover the souls of those with whom he has a contract. But then her last mission will change everything. Launched in the footsteps of Leo, a Russian necromancer, she will have to make a decision. Allying with Leo and try to kill Gari, her reaper or fight against her attacker and possibly die at the same time. Giving prominence to her desire for freedom, the young woman will give it all out and kill Gari. Yet freedom is far from there when Lilith, a powerful demon appears before her and leaves her no choice but to go in search of a very important man who seems determined to stay hidden far from the underworld. Their meeting could upset everything in which Ava thought and force her to act for the good of all.

I was very curious to find out what exactly was going on with Ava. I must say that the young woman will have plenty to do between what is happening. Besides, I had a little trouble to really hang up to the whole story as the pace was too fast. We can well understand the desire for freedom of the young woman, her desire for vengeance, her fear of death and her desire to find someone who could love her or at least appreciate her. Her life and death are far from easy but I was fascinated to learn more about her condition as a hellhound. Leo, the necromancer is also quite intriguing. I was curious to understand if we could finally trust him or not. He is a dark and mysterious man who is not necessarily nice and good but who nevertheless will help and support Ava in her efforts. Besides that he has a big problem with his father and we learn more about it all along the chapters. But they are not alone, as we also have the man that Ava is looking for and, it was quite hard to understand exactly what he wanted from the young woman and what he knew about her.

It was a good book though as I said everything is a little fast but it was certainly very interesting to see the characters and their stories. I’m curious to see what the author will present in the next book anyway!

3-5 

mellianefini

28 thoughts on “Black Dog by Caitlin Kittredge

  1. I have not had the chance to try out Black London series yet, so I’ve been eyeing this and it sounds like it’s off to a pretty good start. I love that it’s filled with a ton of supernatural characters! Bring on the necromancers, reapers and and hellhounds. 🙂

  2. Oooo that cover is gorgeously creepy, I love it! I’ve heard great things about this author but have not had the pleasure of reading anything by her yet. Since this is the first book in a new series, it seems like a great place to start! Glad you enjoyed it for the most part:)

  3. I heard about this book somewhere. Reapers and demons and necromancers oh my! (sorry couldn’t resist) I love all of those sorts of characters!

    I understand, sometimes books that are too fast paced can be just as bad as those that are too slow.

  4. At a Surrey Writers’ Conference several years ago, I sat at a lunch table that had Caitlin Kittredge. I can’t say I actually had a conversation with her, but she had copies of the cover for her first book, and there was a lot of excitement.

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