The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston

The Unleashing

By Shelly Laurenston

Kera is a former marine working as a waitress. She strikes up a friendship with a customer she refers to as “four bear claws and a black coffee” because that is about all he says. She feels a kinship because she assumes he is a vet, like her, with PTSD, possibly a brain injury, not to mention homeless. Then she is killed trying to save a girl from her crazy boyfriend in the back alley and her patron reveals who he really is.

Vig Rundstom is a viking from the Raven clan and the armorer for all the Clans. He appeals to the Norse goddess Skuld to resurrect Kera as she literally breathes for the last time.

When Kera is offered life by Skuld in exchange for her service, Kera says she won’t go unless she can take her dog, Brodie Hawaii, a pit bull she saved from a dog fighting ring.

“You do know,” the woman asked Kera, “that you’re standing in front of me with a knife sticking out of your chest? Right? I send you back now, like this, and it’s over. No second life. No feasting at Valhalla. No Ragnarok. You do understand that, right?”

Kera doesn’t care, she isn’t going anywhere without Brodie. Brodie is resurrected, in a body made whole again.

The other Crows are a motley crew of L.A. women from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and with a varied assortment of professions, from accountant to actress to tattoo artist. They actually have wings that retract into their backs, and their purpose is to kill, to mete out punishment. The Crows are one of the most feared clans because they come straight from their death, generally filled with rage, hatred and loyal only to each other and Skuld.

 “Unlike the other Nordic clans representing different gods, the Crows weren’t born into this life. They weren’t raised in the Old Way or the New Way. They didn’t worship the well-known gods like Odin or Thor or Freyja. None of them has last names like Magnusson or Bergstrom. Most Crows came to this life knowing so little about Vikings that they thought what they saw in movies was accurate. That Vikings wore those horned helmets and did nothing more than pillage the British.”

This creates a bit of a separation between the Crow Clan and the other eight Clans. The Crows become the obvious suspects when objects of power begin disappearing from the Clan strongholds. The danger is much more unexpected and far closer than they imagine. It will take the Crows and the Ravens, working together, to stop it.

This is an excellent urban fantasy filled with humor and romance. With some rather bloody battles, it is definitely not for the squeamish though.