I borrowed a copy of The Immortals, by Jordanna Max Brodsky, from my local library.
Description from Goodreads:
Manhattan.
The city sleeps. Selene DiSilva walks her dog along the banks of the Hudson. She is alone-just the way she likes it. She doesn’t believe in friends, and she doesn’t speak to her family. Most of them are simply too dangerous.
Murders.
In the predawn calm, Selene finds the body of a young woman washed ashore, gruesomely mutilated and wreathed in laurel. Her ancient rage returns. And so does the memory of a promise she made long ago. To protect the innocent-and to punish those who stand in her way.
Gods.
With the NYPD out of its depth, Selene vows to hunt the killer on her own. But when classics professor Theo Schultz decodes the ancient myth behind the crime, the solitary Huntress finds herself working with a man who’s her opposite in every way. Together, they face a long-forgotten cult that lies behind a string of murders, and they’ll need help from the one source Selene distrusts most of all: the city’s other Immortals.
Review:
I thought that this was basically OK, nothing wrong with it, but I didn’t love it. Liked it ok, but not love.
It will help to brush up on your Greek mythology before reading it though, since there’s a lot of it packed into this particular book. I liked the idea of the gods living among us mortals. Though the idea that they’re fading as they’re not worshipped anymore isn’t a new one.
I liked the mystery, though I figured it out pretty quickly. I liked that the main characters are second string gods/goddesses. We’re not talking Zeus here, but Artemis, Apollo, and such. I liked the strong female characters and the geeky, academic “beta male” hero. Though his treatment of his ex didn’t really endear him to me.
The issue I had, was with the romance. It never felt right to me, and not just because Artemis is supposed to be virginal goddess. It just felt abrupt and shoehorned in. I mean, she only interacts peaceably with one man and he just happens to be the one. And in the end, I couldn’t visualize how a relationship was meant to work.
All in all, not bad, but maybe not for me.