Amazon: 4.16/5
Goodreads: 4.7/5
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Authors Website
Amazon Description: Gabe thought he had covered all the angles, but it’s tough to plan a contingency for accidentally trapping an evil god in your brain.
Gabriel Delling might call himself a professional con artist, but when walking superstitions start trying to bite his face off, his charm is shockingly unhelpful. It turns out living nightmares almost never appreciate a good joke. Together with a succubus who insists on constantly saving his life, Gabe desperately tries to survive a new reality that suddenly features demons, legends, and a giant locust named Dale—all of whom pretty much hate his guts.
And when an ancient horror comes hunting for the spirit locked in his head, Gabe finds himself faced with the excruciating choice between death…or becoming some kind of freaking hero.
Opinion: Hero Forged is Josh Erikson’s first book and features Gabe, a charming, clever con artist who is short on cash. When he accepts a job that promises a big pay day he finds himself going down a rabbit hole filled with monsters and magic. Saddled with a psychotic god in his head and a succubus as a companion, he will have to use all his wits to stay alive.
I really enjoyed this book. Erikson’s writing flows smoothly and didn’t feel like a first effort. There are a ton of urban fantasy books out there and Erikson did a really good job in keeping the world he created fresh. Every chapter in the book has an excerpt from a work in process called CONscience that Gabe is writing and that adds to his characterization quite a bit so don’t skip out on reading them! While the book is an urban fantasy there was a hint of Cthulu/monsters from the beyond in the book that I really enjoyed and helped the book stand out from the crowd.
It starts a little slow and is dialogue heavy but for me it didn’t detract from the book. If you start reading and get stuck keep going because it gets very, very good.