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Life And Limb (Blood And Bone book 1) by Jennifer Roberson (book review).

When Gabe got out of prison, all he wanted was to ride his Harley, maybe find a few ladies and drink some whiskey. Instead, he finds himself summoned to a cowboy bar, where he definitely doesn’t fit in with the clientele, in the middle of Arizona where his grandpappy introduces him to Remi, who fits in from the top of his hat to the toes of his boots.

Gabe and Remi are humans imbued with heavenly essence, Grandpappy tells them they are brothers in spirit sent to Earth to fight demons and against the coming of Satan. With armaments supplied by a Celtic war goddess, and booze dispensed by an African orisha, Gabe and Remi are going to have to get acquainted real fast if they want to stay alive.

These two heroes are straight out of your romance novel bad boy dreams. Remi is a cowboy with a PhD and a former Rhodes scholar no less. Gabe is a leather-clad biker just out of prison for defending his brother, a former professor of folklore. Bad boys with hearts of gold that are fighting to save the world from evil. Sound familiar?

The TV show ‘Supernatural’ might be ending but Jennifer Roberson has got your back. ‘Life And Limb’ is the first book in her new series, ‘Blood And Bone’ and ticks all the boxes. A pair of good looking, bad(ish) boys that fight for the safety of humanity? Check. Enigmatic father figure that vanishes for long periods of time without explanation? Check. An unhealthy attachment to a vehicle? Check. This book even goes so far as to quote ‘Supernatural’ with the immortal words ‘driver picks the tunes, shotgun shuts his cakehole.’ A quote that I recognised, so I guess I’m more of a fan than I originally thought.

Despite being physically able, neither Gabe or Remi are mentally equipped to go demon slaying and cling to pop culture references in a desperate attempt to remain grounded with their world views being shredded. Roberson does not shy away from pop culture references or some serious scholarship, complete with ancient philosophical quotes and Latin liturgy, giving both main characters depth. Gabe and Remi are not just man candy throwing down some muscle against the forces of darkness. They struggle. Mostly with the idea that what they’ve only read about it suddenly all too real.

Like Neil Gaiman’s ‘American Gods’, this book has a host of deities running about from a variety of cultures, but the main factions are Heaven and Hell in the classic apocalyptic battle. The other deities choosing sides to be part of the action. This gives the book a global feel despite being very American West.

Light-hearted in spite of the coming apocalypse ‘Blood And Bone’ is a fun read that will appeal to urban fantasy fans that enjoyed ‘Supernatural’ and the ‘Sookie Stackhouse’ books.

LK Richardson

November 2019

(pub: DAW/Penguin, 2019. 352 page hardback. Price: $26.00 (US), $35.00 (CAN). ISBN: 978-0-75641-539-6)

check out website: www.dawbooks.com

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