A very engaging fantasy horror. Lots of story and detail for so few pages. An enjoyable read. Recommended.

Solid urban fantasy with horror elements.

I'm not terribly well versed in mythology so not sure how well, that part holds up, but this is a very interesting world that's been built and I'm excited to see where the story goes. There are a few gruesome and also some skankalicious moments, but they aren't the meat of the story which is a nice change of pace.

*Digital review copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

Buy this book now. A shocking and stunning new series, Hidden Blade will cut deep. Queen of torment, Ms. DeCosta creates another world where the lead character is totally screwed over. Starting with page one, I am hooked and can't stop until I get to the end. This story moved fast and kept my adrenaline pumping.

I loved Ace Dante. He is the antihero who is really a hero but given a raw deal. What happens when the good guy is the loser and the evil guy is the winner? Enter in Ace Dante who is betrayed by his mother and cursed by an evil god. Specifically, two psychotic dysfunctional incestual Egyptian gods who need to be wiped off the face of this Earth and every realm above and below, continue to mess with Ace. I loathe them.

This story engaged me, infuriated me and made me cry. I rail at Ms. DeCosta for moving me so much I cried at the end of this story. If you need a happily ever after ending, this book is not for you. If you want to feel intense sorrow, grief, fury and helplessness, this is the book for you. If Ms. DeCosta were to ever to delve into BDSM, look out, she would blow a kinky reader's mind.

The world building is fantastic. Ms. DeCosta takes the Egyptian mythos and mixes it into something new and refreshing. Her character building is amazing. She creates individual characters who are unique and pull a reader in. A reader becomes invested in the character and with Ace, it isn't that I feel pity. It is that I feel outraged and I root for him to overcome. He does not. He is beaten down even more in this story. Ms. DeCosta is one of those authors who will kill characters off. I gasped in horror with what she did. I couldn't believe my eyes and had to re-read several passages over again to ensure what happened really did happen.

The tale is vivid with imagery and almost a sensory overload. This type of gritty world with dark themes and antiheroes is hard to write well. Ms. DeCosta does it so well without making it heartless. Instead, she tears the reader's heart out and stomps all over it whilst chortling maniacally. This story is smooth, suspenseful, slightly dirty erotic and powerful. At the end of this story, I hit rock bottom hard and ended up with a major book hang over. I loved reading this book and I'm a bit afraid to re-read it because of the intensity of emotions pulled out of me. This mesmerizing urban fantasy is highly recommended to readers who enjoy a tortured hero used as a proverbial whipping boy.

Hidden Blade is the first book in a new series by Pippa DaCosta and it has all the ingredients I came to expect from this author after I read Chaos Rises (which I also reviewed): excellent worldbuilding, interesting (if not always likable) characters, and non-stop action.

Ace Dante has been banned from the Underworld and bound to the dark soul of the evilest sorceress he'd ever captured. Now they are condemned to walk this Earth together, because the death of one will bring the destruction of the other as well. So they decide to open a private investigation agency and help mortals in sticky situations where gods are involved.

Oh yes, this is a world where ancient deities never disappeared. They just adapted and morphed and are more powerful than ever. And they like to play games in which mortals have very little chances of winning. That's where Ace comes in, offering what help he can to even the odds. But when Bastet, goddess of cats and Ace's ex-wife asks for his help, Ace might just find himself in an impossible situation, because helping her means going against Osiris and Isis, and Osiris has a claim on Ace's soul. A claim that Ace cannot deny. A compulsion that he simply cannot fight, no matter how much he tries, but that doesn't mean he won't try.

As far as first books go, Hidden Blade does an excellent job of introducing the protagonist and the world he lives in as well as showing us exactly what the stakes are. Ace isn't a nice guy or even particularly a good guy, but he's been placed into an impossible situation so the reader can't help but empathize with the poor devil. And despite not being a good guy, he still tries to do the right thing in most situations, even when that means angering the god that can literally order your heart to stop beating at any moment.

Because Egyptian Gods are not very benevolent entities in this world. They are flawed and petty and all-powerful, which is a very bad combination. They can bestow a blessing or reap the supplicant's heart out and eat it with the same ease, depending on their mood. And Osiris is the most powerful of the Gods, so making him your enemy is a royally bad idea.

As I mentioned above, the action is also relentless. The book is fast paced and keeps you at the edge of your sit all the way through. But even though the story barrels towards the inevitable conclusion at speeds way above the legal limit, it doesn't feel rushed. Surprising, I know. We still get a glimpse into our characters' pasts and the motivations behind their actions. We still slow down enough to look around this world and decide that yes, it's something we would like to learn more about. We learn a bit about Ace, but aren't given much clues as to what happened in the past that got him banned out of the Underworld and basically put on a leach by Osiris. And the events in the last quarter of the book have such an impact that now I NEED to pick up book 2 and see if Osiris will get what he deserves for what he did…

So to recap this rather rambling review, this book does an excellent job of introducing a new world and making the reader care for the characters. I would definitely recommend it to urban fantasy lovers. And I will pick up book 2 to see where the story goes.

PS. I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first look at this great author! Loving the world-building and truly hoping for more!