"In New York, there's a troll under the Brooklyn Bridge, a boggle in Central Park, and a beautiful vampire in a penthouse on the Upper East Side. Of course, most humans are oblivious to this, but Cal Leandros is only half-human. His father's dark lineage is the stuff of nightmares-and he and his entire otherworldly race are after Cal.
He and his half-brother Niko have managed to stay a step ahead for three years, but now Cal's dad has found them again. And Cal is about to learn why they want him, why they've always wanted him: He is the key to unleashing their hell on earth. The fate of the human world will be decided in the fight of Cal's life..."
From GoodReads.
Publisher: Roc
Release Date of Book #1: Nightlife (March 7th , 2006)
Most Recent Release in the Series: Roadkill - Coming on March 2nd, 2010
My Copy: Books #1-4 eBooks. Book #5 Paperback (waiting for my copy)
B
uy the Books in This Series @Amazon or @Barnes & Noble or @Borders!
Once again, this was a series I found in my constant quest to feed my reading addiction. It was the first Urban Fantasy I read that had a Male protagonist and for that reason I was curious and apprehensive, all at the same time. I mean, until then I had only read kick-ass Female leading ladies and I didn't know if I would enjoy that change in POV. In addition, I was utterly convinced that Rob Thurman was a man LOL. I came to find out that Rob was actually a diminutive for Robyn a while later. =)
My misgivings aside, I absolutely LOVED this series from my first encounter with the Leandros Brothers.
Cal Leandros is half Auphe (Grendel/Demon), horrific creatures from which nightmares are made of. Cal and Niko's mother was a gypsy that sold her body and let one of these monsters impregnate her. That monster had a plan, but Niko and Cal escaped and have been on the run ever since.
The Leandros Brothers' world is full of all the creatures that go bump in the night and we get to know a lot of them throughout the series. I love the way Rob built their world, it is so dark and fascinating that you can't help but being drawn to it.
In the first books of the series we follow the stories through Cal's point of view. Cal is snarky, smart, stubborn, bitter and extremely loyal to his brother Niko. I loved that Thurman added Niko's POV in book #4, Deathwish. It was a great change of pace and it gave us a better look into his mind. Niko is basically the perfect brother, he has spent his whole life with one goal in mind, keeping his brother safe. Niko is strong, kick-ass, extremely intelligent, loyal and very head strong, He will do anything to make sure Cal is safe from those who would hurt him.
The Cal Leandros series is dark, full of action and great snark. A parade of terrifying creature coming out of a fairy tale gone wrong and great secondary characters like Promise and Robin Goodfellow that have become just as important as the brothers to the series. This series is not for everyone, but if you are not afraid of the dark and feel like checking out a pair of brothers that might as well have originated the TV show Supernatural (since the first book in this series was written before the show existed), check out this series!
I Give it 4.5/5!
My Least Favorite Book in The Series So Far: Nightlife (Book #1) - Just because so much has happened since then and each book just gets better and better =)
My Favorite Book in The Series So Far: Deathwish (Book#4) - Having both Cal's and Niko's POV in this book was genius and just made me love this series even more!
Books in The Series, in The Order They Should be Read: