Book Review: An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris

An Easy Death
Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Gunnie Rose (Book 1)
Publication: Saga Press (October 2, 2018)

Description: The beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, the inspiration for HBO’s True Blood, and the Midnight Crossroad trilogy adapted for NBC’s Midnight, Texas, has written a taut new thriller—the first in the Gunnie Rose series—centered on a young gunslinging mercenary, Lizbeth Rose.

Set in a fractured United States, in the southwestern country now known as Texoma. A world where magic is acknowledged but mistrusted, especially by a young gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie. For the wizards, Gunnie Rose has already acquired a fearsome reputation and they’re at a desperate crossroad, even if they won’t admit it. They’re searching through the small border towns near Mexico, trying to locate a low-level magic practitioner, Oleg Karkarov. The wizards believe Oleg is a direct descendant of Grigori Rasputin, and that Oleg’s blood can save the young tsar’s life.

As the trio journey through an altered America, shattered into several countries by the assassination of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression, they’re set on by enemies. It’s clear that a powerful force does not want them to succeed in their mission. Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie who has never failed a client, but her oath will test all of her skills and resolve to get them all out alive.

My Thoughts: This book is quite a departure for Charlaine Harris. Set in an alternate United States decimated by influenza, nineteen-year-old Lizbeth Rose makes her living as a gunnie - an armed mercenary. She lives in Texahoma which was carved out of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and part of Colorado. The United States has lost territory to Canada and Mexico and fractured into Britannia which includes all the thirteen original colonies except Georgia which chose to join the Southern tier of states and become Dixie. California and the West Coast has become the Holy Russian Empire and the home of the exile Tsar Alexei. The HRE is the only place that has magicians called grigori.

Lizbeth has a special hatred for grigori because her mother was raped at age sixteen by one of HRE's traveling magicians Oleg Karkarov and the result was Lizbeth. She was working as part of a crew ferrying people from Mexico to New America when their caravan was ambushed by bandits. All of her crew was killed. But Lizbeth managed to track down the bandits, kill them all, and see their human cargo to safety. After all, she has her standards. It does leave her without a job though.

Two grigori from the HRE have come looking for a guide. They want to find this Oleg Karkarov. It seems that his blood can be used in transfusions to keep the ailing Tsar alive. Only Gunnie Rose found him first and killed him to get revenge for the rape of her mother which she doesn't share with the grigori. When Gunnie learns that Karkarov may have another daughter, she decides to take the job with the Russians.

The action begins almost immediately when another gunnie attempts to murder her new clients. And the action doesn't stop. As they travel trying to track down Karkarov's brother and daughter, they run into all sorts of trouble and attacks from other grigori. It seems clear that someone doesn't want the Tsar to live.

This was an entertaining story with clever worldbuilding. I liked the character of Gunnie Rose who is fast and accurate with any of her many guns and who is quick to kill to protect her clients.

Favorite Quote:

"Lucky it didn't strike you over your heart. It would have stopped it beating, whether he meant to kill you or not."

"Yeah. I'm really lucky."

He moved a little. I could hear his hair dragging along his pillow. "I feel you are being sarcastic." He sounded almost playful.

"You"re real smart."

"Very sarcastic."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.