[OTF]⇒ PDF The Hour of Dust and Ashes Kelly Gay Books

The Hour of Dust and Ashes Kelly Gay Books

Download As PDF : The Hour of Dust and Ashes Kelly Gay Books

The Hour of Dust and Ashes Kelly Gay Books

If you love Kate Daniels, you'll love Charlie Madigan. Both series have similarities that expand well past the fact that they are both set in a Magical Atlanta, and yet there is nothing derivitive about this creative and gritty dark blend of magicial police procedural and Urban Fantasy/SciFi blend. It goes from horror to humor to action with a hint of romance in minutes. All kinds of mythos are explored. These are the kinds of books that keep you up all night. There are commonalities; the female lead falls into the kick-ass and take names later category and the romance is on such a slow burn it has you going back again and again re-reading your favorite scenes just to see if there is more nuance there then you first imagined as it builds slowly over the series. Like Kate's world, Charlie's Magical Atlanta world building is layered and dense. Charlie is a total badass who has a kid she is trying to protect and who in essence is fighting magical criminals. And yet they are completely different series and much like Kate Daniels; this is, hands down one of my favorite, and this book was no mid series slump.

Charlie Madigan started out in book one a recently divorced single mom who is a police officer. She almost died before the book started only to be brought back with some new technology developed by the man who discovered gates between the two planes of existence, Charbydon (the reality to the mythical hell) and Elysia (Heaven). In this fictional world, good and bad characters exist in both worlds. Charbydon is dying, it is a world stuck in eternal darkness and more and more refugees from both planets are coming to our world via the portal at Atlanta.

Charlie's partner Hank is a Siren from Elysia. A gorgeous guy whose voice is so magical he must were a voice mod on his neck at all times to keep anyone who hears it from basically following him around like a puppy dog. I loved how in book one, Charlie and Hank were just police partners who worked together, gave each other shit, had each other's backs and tried to pretend they weren't attracted to each other.

Charlie had too much emotionally to work through over her ex husband Rex's infidelity and then later when she found out he'd made a deal with a Revenant, a magical spirit with no body who wanted a home, that if he was ever hurt so bad he could potentially die, the Revenant could take over. So Charlie found herself dealing with another betrayal by her husband who was now more or less dead or at least so far suppressed, a stranger was walking around in his body. A stranger who is actually a really nice guy who is willing to pretend to still be her husband for her kid's sake while she waits for the right time to tell her.

In book one Charlie and Hank were trying track down who was distributing ASH, an off world drug that was addicting and killing those who tried it. Their search took them from the political elite of all three worlds to the "Underground" of Atlanta, a shopping area that became the place where many Charbydon natives have moved. One of these, the leader of the Jinn, is a total gangster badass, who scares even our intrepid Charlie. Not enough to keep her from going to him and pushing his buttons of course in trying to find out his involvement in the drug distribution.

Alot was revealed about Charlie's brush with death that she was unaware of, her sister accidently became addicted to ASH and Charlie, in order to save her daughter's life, did something that brought about Charbydon's darkness, where it is now covering only the city of Atlanta like a perpetual night.

In Book Two THE DARKEST EDGE OF DAWN, Charlie and Hank were promoted to a private division of the ITF doing police work, focusing ONLY on the off-worlders who are causing problems. We were introduced to; the King of the Fae, a Dragon who lives in the cities park, and a secret as old as Solomon. Charlie began having to learn how to balance the now emerging magical two sides of her nature, and try to balance something as simple and yet as complicated as her home life. Her Fake husband moved home and is helping her raise her daughter (he's a hell of a cook, loves Broadway tunes and is a whiz at math homework), and the two of them ganged up on her and she now is having to deal with their new pet, a Hellhound her daughter can somehow communicate with. She is trying to find a way to save her sister from the addiction to Ash and also trying to figure out what is controlling her sister and apparently taking over her body, causing her to do things she would never do otherwise. Charlie and Hank also had to trying to track down and arrest a serial killer who was stalking her and find out who was killing all the Dryad's and why.

She also is realizing she is potentially in serious trouble, with her attraction to her partner. There is one scene that was so fraught with sexual tension and then turned so shockingly violent, I'll never look at tattooing the same way again.

So this brings me to book Three, "THE HOUR OF DUST AND ASHES." I wasn't sure how Gay could write something as good as the first two books but I was really satisfied with book three. I felt the character development was improving, and the story arc's were resolving nicely. In the first two books, Charlie had a tendency to be a bit abrasive and obtuse. In book three, she's slowed down a tiny bit from her frantic running around and mouthing off and acted more competently. There is still tension and nonstop action, but Charlie isn't quite flying off the handle with rage or being quite the smart mouth she was before which was kind of getting to me. I'm so happy to see character growth. Charlie is learning some self-discipline. She's always been a hot head, and Hank's been the civilizing force of the pair but now she's starting to recognize there are consequences for every action as she and in some cases all of Atlanta are having to learn to live with past actions she has taken.

In this book she learns some secrets about Hank that were startling and heartbreaking. Rex is coming to his own now that he's found out he was a Jinn Warrior in a past life. For some inexplicable reason the Ash victims are trying to kill themselves, including her sister Bryn and in an effort to save them all, she has to make a deal with the Sylphs. They can possibly help her figure out what is happening but in order to do so she has to agree to accept each one of their gifts, each of which nearly kills her. The storyline with her husband is finally, obviously yet sadly resolved, and she and Hank move things up from a slow burn to simmer. When these two finally get together it is going to be as satisfying as the wait for Curran and Kate.

The action finally moves off world (which I've been dying to see) where we get to go to and see it up close, (it was rather Dune-ish) which was super SCIFI and fun.

I fell in love with Hank long before Charlie could admit she had feelings for him. He's totally hot, sexy, funny, loyal, smart, and isn't all he-man all the time. By this book the sexual tension was enough to make your palms sweat. It was a very adult relationship, built slowly over time and I'm so grateful. I'm really tired of reading books where the main characters are grunting "MINE" within minutes of meeting and sniffing at each other.

This relationship is intelligently written and building slowly. We're getting to know these characters over a period of time, their ups and downs. Hank goes through a seriously bad patch of road in book two that Charlie is not the most sensitive to, which made it that much more realistic. And then there is the whole, him willing to jump off a 45-story building to try to save her thing. But seriously the whole series is worth reading just for the Tattooing scene alone.

There was more time with the two fascinating characters the Fae king and the Jinn King, and it looks like we're going to Elysia in the next book.

I have a hard time reviewing my absolutely favorite books, I feel like I can't do them justice. I can only say, IF you are a fan of Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels or the Kalayna Price: Alex Craft-Grave Witch series, you're going to LOVE this series. If you've liked the books I really liked before, then please trust me, buy book one and start there. The world and character building is so dense and AWESOME I had to go back and re-read scenes from the previous two books just to catch up so please don't jump the gun and start with book one. I'm probably going to go back and re=read the entire series from start to finish before the next book comes hope (hopefully next year) just to try to follow what has all happened, because things that didn't seem that important in previous books come back up in later books as huge issues.


Tags : Amazon.com: The Hour of Dust and Ashes (9781451625479): Kelly Gay: Books,Kelly Gay,The Hour of Dust and Ashes,Pocket Books,1451625472,Fantasy fiction.,Madigan, Charlie (Fictitious character);Fiction.,American Mystery & Suspense Fiction,American Science Fiction And Fantasy,FICTION Fantasy Action & Adventure,FICTION Fantasy Contemporary,FICTION Fantasy Urban,FICTION General,Fantasy,Fantasy - Contemporary,Fantasy fiction,Fiction,Fiction - Fantasy,Madigan, Charlie (Fictitious character)

The Hour of Dust and Ashes Kelly Gay Books Reviews

I strongly suggest you read the previous book in the series (Better Part of Darkness and the Darkest Edge of Dawn) prior to reading this installment.

I've been impatiently looking forward to this release and was not disappointed. The ingenuity of the storylines from previous installments were wrapped up in a simply brilliant ending of one era of Charlie's life. By the end of this book the author cleverly steers us toward the next chapter in Charlie's evolution.

This series is a perfect authentic combination of what I categorize as light SF and heavy dark urban fantasy. In this series the preternaturals are actually "off worlders" not just from another dimension but are from different worlds altogether. Charlie takes a fascinating trip to a "hell" planet in this installment. I loved the mode of travel she took to get to and from, and the planet description was so creative.

Occasionally, I fruitlessly tried to savory this story slowly and make it last, but there was a fat chance of that! This story was just too exciting and compelling to put down. The action was plentiful, the world depictions and descriptions were flawless, and the storyline was so completely spellbinding that I never wanted this book to end.

With every Charlie Madigan installment this author effortlessly grabs my attention and keeps it. This is definitely one of my top favorite series and I eagerly look forward to every book.

I highly recommend this book to fellow dark urban fantasy readers and look forward to book four due out summer 2012.

I also recommend
Venom (Elemental Assassin, Book 3)
Green-Eyed Demon (Sabina Kane)
Mark of the Demon (Kara Gillian, Book 1)
Frostbound The Dark Forgotten
Black Wings
The Hour Of Dust And Ashes is the third book in the Charlie Madigan series by Kelly Gay. It's so hard to write a description of The Hour Of Dust And Ashes without giving too much away but here goes. The story picks up one week after the last book. The Ash victims are possessed and taking their own life and with Charlie's sister Bryn one of those Ash addicts it is a race against time for Charlie and Hank to discover what is happening and to prevent the remaining Ash users from committing suicide. In order to save her sister Charlie follows Bryn to Charbydon with Hank, Rex and Brim where they encounter dangerous creatures and Charlie finds out about Hank's mysterious past.

I absolutely love this series and book 3 hasn't changed that in fact I love it even more. Ms Gay gives us a fantastic new world with fantastic characters. Charlie is a witty kick ass cop and her relationship with her daughter comes over brilliantly. Hank is amazing, he is incredibly good looking as one would expect from a Siren but he is also a good loyal friend. The relationship between Charlie and Hank develops some more in this book and it is great to finally find out about Hank's secret past. There is one scene in the book where Hank is using his voice to heal Charlie and it is so well written that it is more intimate than some sex scenes that other authors have written. Rex appears more too, in the past I wasn't too keen on Rex but I have changed my mind now, Rex really shines in this story. This book isn't as fast paced as the other two books which I liked. We also see one of the other worlds for the first time as Charlie goes into Charbydon. We are not left with a cliff hanger per se but we are left with a situation that means I have to buy the next instalment as soon as it is released. If you like books with lots of sex and happy endings this book is not for you, however if you like kick ass chicks, hot men, witty writing and a cute hellhound I would definitely recommend these books. I would like to give this book 5 stars.
If you love Kate Daniels, you'll love Charlie Madigan. Both series have similarities that expand well past the fact that they are both set in a Magical Atlanta, and yet there is nothing derivitive about this creative and gritty dark blend of magicial police procedural and Urban Fantasy/SciFi blend. It goes from horror to humor to action with a hint of romance in minutes. All kinds of mythos are explored. These are the kinds of books that keep you up all night. There are commonalities; the female lead falls into the kick-ass and take names later category and the romance is on such a slow burn it has you going back again and again re-reading your favorite scenes just to see if there is more nuance there then you first imagined as it builds slowly over the series. Like Kate's world, Charlie's Magical Atlanta world building is layered and dense. Charlie is a total badass who has a kid she is trying to protect and who in essence is fighting magical criminals. And yet they are completely different series and much like Kate Daniels; this is, hands down one of my favorite, and this book was no mid series slump.

Charlie Madigan started out in book one a recently divorced single mom who is a police officer. She almost died before the book started only to be brought back with some new technology developed by the man who discovered gates between the two planes of existence, Charbydon (the reality to the mythical hell) and Elysia (Heaven). In this fictional world, good and bad characters exist in both worlds. Charbydon is dying, it is a world stuck in eternal darkness and more and more refugees from both planets are coming to our world via the portal at Atlanta.

Charlie's partner Hank is a Siren from Elysia. A gorgeous guy whose voice is so magical he must were a voice mod on his neck at all times to keep anyone who hears it from basically following him around like a puppy dog. I loved how in book one, Charlie and Hank were just police partners who worked together, gave each other shit, had each other's backs and tried to pretend they weren't attracted to each other.

Charlie had too much emotionally to work through over her ex husband Rex's infidelity and then later when she found out he'd made a deal with a Revenant, a magical spirit with no body who wanted a home, that if he was ever hurt so bad he could potentially die, the Revenant could take over. So Charlie found herself dealing with another betrayal by her husband who was now more or less dead or at least so far suppressed, a stranger was walking around in his body. A stranger who is actually a really nice guy who is willing to pretend to still be her husband for her kid's sake while she waits for the right time to tell her.

In book one Charlie and Hank were trying track down who was distributing ASH, an off world drug that was addicting and killing those who tried it. Their search took them from the political elite of all three worlds to the "Underground" of Atlanta, a shopping area that became the place where many Charbydon natives have moved. One of these, the leader of the Jinn, is a total gangster badass, who scares even our intrepid Charlie. Not enough to keep her from going to him and pushing his buttons of course in trying to find out his involvement in the drug distribution.

Alot was revealed about Charlie's brush with death that she was unaware of, her sister accidently became addicted to ASH and Charlie, in order to save her daughter's life, did something that brought about Charbydon's darkness, where it is now covering only the city of Atlanta like a perpetual night.

In Book Two THE DARKEST EDGE OF DAWN, Charlie and Hank were promoted to a private division of the ITF doing police work, focusing ONLY on the off-worlders who are causing problems. We were introduced to; the King of the Fae, a Dragon who lives in the cities park, and a secret as old as Solomon. Charlie began having to learn how to balance the now emerging magical two sides of her nature, and try to balance something as simple and yet as complicated as her home life. Her Fake husband moved home and is helping her raise her daughter (he's a hell of a cook, loves Broadway tunes and is a whiz at math homework), and the two of them ganged up on her and she now is having to deal with their new pet, a Hellhound her daughter can somehow communicate with. She is trying to find a way to save her sister from the addiction to Ash and also trying to figure out what is controlling her sister and apparently taking over her body, causing her to do things she would never do otherwise. Charlie and Hank also had to trying to track down and arrest a serial killer who was stalking her and find out who was killing all the Dryad's and why.

She also is realizing she is potentially in serious trouble, with her attraction to her partner. There is one scene that was so fraught with sexual tension and then turned so shockingly violent, I'll never look at tattooing the same way again.

So this brings me to book Three, "THE HOUR OF DUST AND ASHES." I wasn't sure how Gay could write something as good as the first two books but I was really satisfied with book three. I felt the character development was improving, and the story arc's were resolving nicely. In the first two books, Charlie had a tendency to be a bit abrasive and obtuse. In book three, she's slowed down a tiny bit from her frantic running around and mouthing off and acted more competently. There is still tension and nonstop action, but Charlie isn't quite flying off the handle with rage or being quite the smart mouth she was before which was kind of getting to me. I'm so happy to see character growth. Charlie is learning some self-discipline. She's always been a hot head, and Hank's been the civilizing force of the pair but now she's starting to recognize there are consequences for every action as she and in some cases all of Atlanta are having to learn to live with past actions she has taken.

In this book she learns some secrets about Hank that were startling and heartbreaking. Rex is coming to his own now that he's found out he was a Jinn Warrior in a past life. For some inexplicable reason the Ash victims are trying to kill themselves, including her sister Bryn and in an effort to save them all, she has to make a deal with the Sylphs. They can possibly help her figure out what is happening but in order to do so she has to agree to accept each one of their gifts, each of which nearly kills her. The storyline with her husband is finally, obviously yet sadly resolved, and she and Hank move things up from a slow burn to simmer. When these two finally get together it is going to be as satisfying as the wait for Curran and Kate.

The action finally moves off world (which I've been dying to see) where we get to go to and see it up close, (it was rather Dune-ish) which was super SCIFI and fun.

I fell in love with Hank long before Charlie could admit she had feelings for him. He's totally hot, sexy, funny, loyal, smart, and isn't all he-man all the time. By this book the sexual tension was enough to make your palms sweat. It was a very adult relationship, built slowly over time and I'm so grateful. I'm really tired of reading books where the main characters are grunting "MINE" within minutes of meeting and sniffing at each other.

This relationship is intelligently written and building slowly. We're getting to know these characters over a period of time, their ups and downs. Hank goes through a seriously bad patch of road in book two that Charlie is not the most sensitive to, which made it that much more realistic. And then there is the whole, him willing to jump off a 45-story building to try to save her thing. But seriously the whole series is worth reading just for the Tattooing scene alone.

There was more time with the two fascinating characters the Fae king and the Jinn King, and it looks like we're going to Elysia in the next book.

I have a hard time reviewing my absolutely favorite books, I feel like I can't do them justice. I can only say, IF you are a fan of Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels or the Kalayna Price Alex Craft-Grave Witch series, you're going to LOVE this series. If you've liked the books I really liked before, then please trust me, buy book one and start there. The world and character building is so dense and AWESOME I had to go back and re-read scenes from the previous two books just to catch up so please don't jump the gun and start with book one. I'm probably going to go back and re=read the entire series from start to finish before the next book comes hope (hopefully next year) just to try to follow what has all happened, because things that didn't seem that important in previous books come back up in later books as huge issues.