Review: Demon Hunter (Viking Soul #1) by Rachel Medhurst

The sword will bring his death. His death will bring him peace.

After slaying almost two hundred demons, Trygger Odinson is struggling to track down the last five Fallen Ones. Just five more killings before he can die, and live with the gods. A goal he’ll be happy to achieve.

He’s well on his way to his goal, until Chloe comes along. Sent by the gods to help him, her fumbling ways do nothing but interfere with his mission. Her kindness digs at his hard exterior, attempting to soften him when he finally gets a lead on the Fallen One. What did she have to hide? And, why was there a cult suddenly threatening them? If he wasn’t careful, he would die before his mission was done… and be sent straight to Helheim.

Contains mature content. Previously released under the title Thunder Hunter

Read: 4^th – 8^th April 2018

So before I move on, what or who are Fallen Ones and Dark Crawlers?

Those Vikings souls who are deemed brave enough by the gods and have died in combat go to the god Odin in Valhalla to spend eternity with the gods but the dark souls (those belonging to the dishonourable dead, thieves, murderers and evil humans) are sent to the goddess Hel in Helheim but Freya kept some of the most powerful evil spirits in Fólkvangr to make a fearsome army. Two hundred of these souls escaped her meadow and sought refuge here on earth, these are the Fallen Ones that our hero, Trygger “Thunder Hunter” must find and kill.

Dark Crawlers are minions of the Fallen Ones. Lesser evil than their masters, their spirits somehow managed to stay on earth instead of being taken to Helheim. They jump from human to human, possessing them until the flesh decays to the point where the human body can no longer exist.

 So, what did I like about Demon Hunter?

I have read a couple of books by Rachel Medhurst before. I find her writing style easy to read, her plots well-paced and her characters engaging.

This story is written in the first person, from the point of view of our hero, Trygger. He’s the grandson of the Norse God of Thunder, Thor. I never felt lost in this story although there are a few story-lines running through the book.

I liked the way Demon Hunter begins.

The prologue tells us how Trygger was tasked with his mission from Freya; to kill the Fallen Ones who are living on earth. There are 200 of them that Trygger has to find and dispatch before he himself can die and his soul join the gods in Valhalla as a heroic warrior. Trygger is an immortal Viking warrior who has serious social issues. All he wants, is to complete his mission the way he wants to do it. He is stubborn and used to getting his own way. I’ve got to confess and say Trygger isn’t an alpha male that gets my girl parts all tingly but I still enjoyed the story.

Supporting Trygger we have Jack and Chloe.

Jack is his informant and the only person on earth he trusts and Chloe a descendant of Freya who the Goddess has put in his path to aid his mission but has secrets of her own.

Jack is definitely a man-whore but he’s also a lovable rogue too with a sense of humour that I appreciate. He made me smile a lot throughout the book. Although Chloe comes across as innocent, meek and mild, there is definitely more to her than meets the eye. She’s intelligent, resourceful, has a nice dry sense of humour and has gumption (those who have read my reviews before will know how much I love that in fictional female characters) and I liked it when her training was mentioned, showing that she put in the time and energy to improve.  

Keep an eye out for Rusty too, as he’s another character that stole my heart. He’s got hidden depths and has secrets that will hopefully be revealed in subsequent books.

I really liked that Demon Hunter kept me gripped. I found myself staying up into the wee hours just to find out what would happen next.

So, um, was there anything I disliked about it?

Ok, so here’s where I have to be honest. Although I did really enjoy this book there were few niggles with some of the scenes and characters that took the shine off for me.

So the main one is I’m not sure if I like our hero, Trygger. During this book he didn’t exhibit any of the traits (actions or thoughts) that I like in my broody kickass alpha-type heroes and although this book is written from his perspective (in the first person) the inner dialogue that we did get didn’t help me much to understand or like him better. However, I am hoping that as the series progresses, he will become my alpha wet dream hero. Lol!

I would also like to mention that there is no life-or-death cliffhanger at the end of this book. Woohoo! You know how I hate those! However, Demon Hunter is the first book in a new series. Therefore, we are left with more questions unanswered and mysteries unsolved than you can shake a sword at plus the other Fallen Ones still need dispatching.

So, basically what I’m saying is…

I really liked this book; it’s a great start to new urban fantasy series. I liked that Ms Medhurst used Norse mythology as a base for her tale, it’s got a good mix of personalities in our main cast of characters, the plot was nicely paced with a good balance of mystery and action that was not only intriguing but kept me guessing. I have already bought the next book and can’t wait to see what happens next.

Due to the nature of some of the scene and language used I’d recommend this book to adults who are not offended by content of this nature who are fans of urban fantasy action adventures with story-lines edging towards the darker side.

So, has my review of DEMON HUNTER (VIKING SOUL #1) encouraged you to find out more? Just click on any of the links to check out the book yourself.

Keep reading to find out more about this series and its author.

Viking Soul by Rachel Medhurst

Although the series is set in modern-day London, Rachel Medhurst has taken inspiration from Norse Mythology to create her paranormal world. We’re introduced to Norse Gods and Goddesses, Fallen Ones and Dark Crawlers. There are also different magic wielders including witches.

Books in the Series

• Demon Hunter (Viking Soul #1) (2016)
• Soul Seeker (Viking Soul #2) (2017)
• Dark Guardian (Viking Soul #3) (2017)

Buy Viking Soul series in print and eBook through the usual retailers, including:

Amazon UK ¦ Amazon US ¦ Book Depository

About Rachel Medhurst

Rachel grew up in South East England. She learnt at a young age that life can be hard work. She now believes that whatever happens to you, you can overcome it.

She writes to help others see that no matter where you come from, you can still achieve your dreams. As a teenager she would never have dreamed of becoming an author.

However, in her twenties, she realised that she was allowing her past to dictate her future. She decided to accept and forgive everything that had happened to her, everyone that had hurt or upset her and she even forgave herself for allowing life to bring her down.

In early 2014 after writing The Deadliners, Rachel decided to self publish. It was one of the best things she's ever done. Since then, she's released numerous series' and really enjoys writing full time.

Rachel will always remember where she came from, but only to see how far she has come.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read this review of Demon Hunter. I hope you’ll stay awhile and check out some of my other posts. Urban fantasy is a growing shelf in my archives.

Keep reading. 😉

Flora x