8/15/2024 12:06pm
Pssst. Hey. This is a secret liveblog, just for people who check the website. Well, I guess it's not technically a liveblog, since I'm posting it after the fact. But I'm typing it live, so It Counts To Me.
We're rereading The Grendel Affair by Lisa Shearin for a book club 🖤
We’re Supernatural Protection & Investigations, known as SPI. Things that go bump in the night, the monsters you thought didn’t exist? We battle them and keep you safe. But some supernatural baddies are just too big to contain, even for us…
When I moved to New York to become a world famous journalist, I never imagined that snagging a job at a seedy tabloid would change my career path from trashy reporter to undercover agent. I’m Makenna Fraser, a Seer for SPI. I can see through any disguise, shield, or spell that a paranormal pest can come up with. I track down creatures and my partner, Ian Byrne, takes them out—usually saving my skin in the process.
Our cases are generally pretty routine, but a sickle-wielding serial killer has been prowling the city’s subway tunnels. And the murderer’s not human. The fiend in question, a descendant of Grendel—yes, that Grendel—shares his ancestor’s hatred of parties, revelry, and drunkards. And with New Year’s Eve in Times Square only two days away, we need to bag him quickly. Because if we don’t find him—and the organization behind him—by midnight, our secret’s out and everyone’s time is up.
There's no tag since it's just us ;)
8/15/2024 12:08pm
I'm already 2 chapters in, so to recap, we get a good chunk of worldbuilding right off the bat. Mac is going to deal with a nachtgnome in a trusted informant's store. On the way, she's harassed by a vampire, who is scared off by a creepy guy with too many faces. When Mac gets to the shop, Ian is also there because he heard she was doing a side gig. They try to capture the gnome but hear a commotion upstairs & find a grisly murder has been committed. The cops show up immediately, implying this was some kind of setup. They get arrested but are immediately bailed out by a lawyer. Not just any lawyer, but the head boss lady's lawyer, so something serious is going on.
8/15/2024 12:13pm
I thought I remembered the two cookies debacle happening later in the book? I think my brain lumped it in with something that happens at a new year's party later. Or maybe they revisit this again?
8/30/2024 2:37pm
Getting back into it. The book is a little hard to read. Not because I dislike it, but because I've read it before. It's actually pretty hard for me to reread stuff; this book in particular makes me, like, hyper? in a way that makes it hard to focus.
8/30/2024 5:14pm
Okay here's the thing. In fiction, framing is everything. It's only weird if you make it weird. You really didn't need to be weird about Kenji. It is fine for elves to be different races. I assure you the Asian elf is the Least Weird thing to show up in this book.
8/31/2024 11:22pm
Switched to the audiobook and oh my god why am I so stubborn why didn't I do this sooner it's been so much easier to focus this way
even starting over from the beginning i made so much more progress that throwing myself at the physical book why didn't i do this earlier i'm so mad lol
9/1/2024 1:14am
This 2013 book definitely has a certain... 2013-ness to it. The weirdness around race, the woman v. woman misogyny… there are definitely things that haven't aged well lol.
9/1/2024 1:18am
Knowing about the whole doppelganger bit going into this scene, holy shit these bad guys are dumb. Like it really never occurred to y'all that you might mess up and talk to the real mac instead? Like you didn't establish a code phrase or anything????
9/1/2024 2:35am
The thing about this book is that Things Just Keep Happening. Which on one hand is good, keeps things exciting and maintains a good pace, but it also means that there are so many moving parts and pieces it can kinda start to get a little convoluted. Like it all makes sense when they spell it out, but in the moment it can be a bit hard to keep up. It doesn't help that it's a bit harder for me to follow little details in an audiobook vs a physical book.
9/1/2024 2:58pm
While I have a second let's take some time to try and unpack all this & sort it out. Note that some of this is based on spoilers I know from the last time I read it, but I also don't remember the book that well, so. Hazy half-remembered stuff here and there.
Ultimate big bad wants to reveal supernatural creatures to the world. Sends a pair of Grendels to New York to fuck shit up during new year's eve.
Ollie was in possession of a mummified Grendel arm, someone else had the head. Bad guys want the arm and head to use them to pay the grendels for fucking shit up. Ollie's now been kidnapped so we gotta deal with that. The guy who was gonna sell the head was actually dead and it was his twin brother but they're both dead now so it doesn't really matter. The key take away is that one of them was a scientist for the government doing Stuff. Also I think the ex-wive is an alias for the Ultimate Bid Bad? I don't actually remember for certain; it just seems true based on what I know about said big bad.
Bad guys are also working with a doppelganger of Mac, so they can infiltrate SPI offices.
There's also a secondary big bad that hasn't shown up yet & I remember nothing of how they actually factor into the plot, or if they're working with Ultimate Big Bad or not. I just remember they have specific beef with Ian.
9/1/2024 3:12pm
Also I was so wrapped up the audiobook I forgot to mention the leprechaun thing. There's a bit where Mac recaps her first field mission, which was tracking down members of a leprechaun bachelor party who'd ditched their protection detail. I remember this being one of my favorite parts of the book when I read it the first time. Apparently there's like a prequel novella specifically about this bit? Might look at that at some point.
Related, I love the little detail of the desk flair thing, where if you do something cool (or funny) your coworkers make a little guy for your desk? That's so neat.
9/1/2024 7:59pm
I do like that this doppelganger bit gets resolved neatly. I generally don't vibe with "being accused of something you didn't do" plots lol. And we love a competent leader!
9/1/2024 8:09pm
We have Ian's Tragic Back Story & his trauma around partners dying in the line of duty, specifically by getting eaten by supernatural creatures. Thankfully, this results in Ian wanting to give Mac combat training, versus him being overprotective and not letting her do her job.
9/1/2024 9:08pm
Ah yes, the Bowling Bag of Doom
9/1/2024 9:20pm
Yay I remembered correctly about the big bad! It's Vivian's evil sister, who was in fact that one dude's wife. Also the government knows about supernatural creatures and has been trying to use them for military stuff for a while, which is why that guy had the grendel head.
(Vivian is Mac's boss who is a dragon; i don't think i officially mentioned her yet lol)
9/4/2024 12:46am
We found ollie! And the second big bad! It's one of the spooky guys she ran into at the beginning of the book. Also the guy who was the leader of the jewel thieves who ate Ian's partner. And he's like… a super-shapeshifter? Currently a ghoul, but not always.
9/4/2024 12:52am
Secondary Big Bad's lackey is being a very helpful little infodump, tying everything together neatly 🖤
9/4/2024 1:05am
Tiamat's Here! And so is Vivian in dragon form! does this mean … dragon fight?
9/4/2024 1:08am
DRAGON FIGHT DRAGON FIGHT DRAGON FIGHT WOOOO
9/4/2024 1:14am
And the day is saved 🖤
9/4/2024 1:22am
See, this is the kind of information witholding I'm fine with. We weren't with Ian during his fight with the not-ghoul, so I'm fine with not knowing the details.
I mean, we get the details afterwards anyway, but still.
9/4/2024 1:24am
Book is done!
Overall I really like this book, maaaybe not as much as the first time, but mostly because a) I already heard all the jokes, and b) the convoluted mystery was a bit harder to keep up with over audio vs. reading text.
Now that I've reread the first book, I feel like I can finally go back to continuing the series. See you next time for The Dragon Conspiracy ;)
