Trapped

The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book 5

By: Kevin Hearne

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

In the fifth novel in the New York Times bestselling Iron Druid Chronicles, two-thousand-year-old Druid Atticus O’Sullivan will at last bind a new Druid to protect the earth—but first he must go toe-to-toe with the Roman god Bacchus, the Norse pantheon, and an ancient vampire, all hell-bent on ensuring his demise.

“[Kevin] Hearne is a terrific storyteller with a great snarky wit. . . . Neil Gaiman’s American Gods meets Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden.”—SFFWorld

The downside to faking your own death is that people tend to get upset when they find out they’ve been had. In Atticus O’Sullivan’s case, they’re upset enough to come after him to make sure he dies for real this time. Yet he can’t remain in hiding anymore: He has to bind his apprentice, Granuaile, to the earth so that she can become the first new Druid in centuries.

But the Roman god Bacchus wants mortal revenge for a slight against him, and he proceeds to act on the principle that Atticus should hate his life until it can be ended. Members of the Norse pantheon aren’t particularly pleased with Atticus either—especially one who had languished in darkness, slowly going mad, and is now free to work his mischief again.

On top of that, an ancient vampire, who’d like to remove Atticus and Granuaile as threats to his kind, is working on his own plan for their destruction.

Forced to work at the base of Mount Olympus, Atticus and Granuaile must survive the three-month process of her binding and escape the many traps set for them. It’s fortunate that they have Oberon the Irish Wolfhound on their side—but is one good dog going to be enough to see them through it?

Don’t miss any of The Iron Druid Chronicles:
HOUNDED | HEXED | HAMMERED | TRICKED | TRAPPED | HUNTED | SHATTERED | STAKED | SCOURGED | BESIEGED

©2012 Random House Audio (P)2012 Kevin Hearne

Critic reviews

"It may be possible that Hearne and Atticus are the logical heir to Butcher and Dresden." (SFFWorld)

“Celtic mythology and an ancient Druid with modern attitude mix it up in the Arizona desert in this witty new fantasy series.” (Kelly Meding, author of Chimera)

“A page-turning and often laugh-out-loud funny caper through a mix of the modern and the mythic.” (Ari Marmell, author of The Warlord’s Legacy)

Feels a bit like a placeholder in the story

If you could sum up Trapped in three words, what would they be?

Paranoia pays off

Who was your favorite character and why?

the dog, because he's full of wry commentary

Have you listened to any of Luke Daniels’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

enjoy the whole series

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

no

Any additional comments?

I like this series. This particular book felt a bit more like it was a waystation between larger developments, rather than a real plot line of its own -- that is, it was a lot of things that happened around the attempt to initiate his apprentice as a druid. I'm invested in the series, so I was happy to spend time with them and see Various Crises Dealt With, but I was just more aware than with most of these books that this was part of an ongoing story rather than a tidy story in itself.

In love with Oberon

This story was so good. I’ve listened to all of these books via Audible and I gotta say that, in my opinion, this is one of the best series ever written. All of Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid stories are well thought out and expertly written. Luke Daniels has performed them all and does a superb job of bringing each character to life with the different voices: especially Oberon, the sausage-snarfing, French poodle-loving Irish wolfhound. I’m in love with that dog. He is both funny and poignant and sometimes the smartest one in the room. I cannot imagine these stories without him. I will be very sad when I get to the end of this series. Well done Mr. Hearne and well done Mr. Daniels!

The narrators ability to keep me interested.

The story is super good and the narrator does very well at portraying the various characters.

Well worth the wait!

This was another excellent installment in the continuing saga of the Iron Druid. If you liked the previous books, you will love this one as well. If you have not listened to the other books, I recommend you start there.

If you are like me and are always looking for other books you may like, you might wan to try Brandon' Sanderson's "The Stormlight Archives: The Way of Kings," "The Scar," by Sergey and Marina Dyechenko, "The son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan, the most recent installment in the Kris Longknife series by Mike Shepard - "Furious" - although I think this installment in the series did not really advance the story as much as I would have liked, it still moves the story along some. Please find out what other reviewers have to say before deciding if to read any of the above series. I enjoyed them all, but some more than others. If there is a book you enjoyed, please share it. Thank you.

Fix iPhone Preorders!!!

I'm a little miffed that I preordered so that I could make sure that I would have the book immediately with no trouble, but the only way I could get the preordered book on my iphone audible app was to reinstall that app (and lose my place in my other books). Until audible puts out a message saying that the issue has been resolved, I won't be doing that again.

Another Awesome Atticus Adventure

I've been waiting eagerly for this latest installment in the adventures of Atticus, and this book did not disappoint in the least. I particularly enjoy Kevin Hearne's clever melding of so much interesting history, mythology and folklore with the best of modern pop culture references, while simultaneously managing to strike the perfect balance between humor and action. Atticus, Granuaile, and the irreppressible hound Oberon rapidly climbed to the top of my favorite fictional characters list with Hearne's first release, "Hounded," and I am hoping we'll be following their adventures for a long, long time.

If you haven't yet had the pleasure of reading this series, I envy you. I think I am now on my fourth time through "Hounded" -- listening to it with my teenaged son and his friend in the car in five minute increments -- and it clearly holds up well to frequent rereads. I was a little startled when first listening to "Trapped," though; it sounded like the awesome Luke Daniels -- who is the voice of Atticus like James Marsters is the voice of Harry Dresden -- had some sort of voice makeover. Maybe I am just more sensitive to the differences, since I have been frequently switching back and forth between listening to the first and the fifth book in the series. I finally got used to it, but I did notice a change. Seems like the passing of a mere 12 years would not have affected the voice of a 2000 year old druid in any noticeable way. :-)

Other words in our language than swear words

Any additional comments?

There is too much gratuitous swearing in this series. F-bombs left and right. It is so distracting. There doesn't seem to be a limit to the author's efforts to infuse his writing with words designed to shock. It's lazy writing. Also, in regards to the narrator, Oberon's voice has become more and more child-like with each book. Annoyingly so. His voice in the first book was good. But it has gone down-hill from there.

Will be one of the great series to keep reading

Would you listen to Trapped again? Why?

yes, listend 3 times when I bought it

What other book might you compare Trapped to and why?

roger zelaney amber series it connects you to the character and their story

What about Luke Daniels’s performance did you like?

He is great a bringing the Emotion out of the book and making you feel apart of the story

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I brought you through a range of emotions from feeling the love of atticus and grenueal grow to laughing your @#$ off.

Time flies when your having fun.

If you could sum up Trapped in three words, what would they be?

Best So Far

What did you like best about this story?

EVERYTHING

Which character – as performed by Luke Daniels – was your favorite?

Atticus

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole thing

Any additional comments?

Why does it take so long to get the next volume? lol

Series is like McDonald’s

To me this series is like McDonald’s, I know its complete crap inside but dang if it isn’t amazingly good. This book leaves you craving more, including the insatiable desire for more Oberon, Granuaile and fries. I love how this series tells of the most fantastic and unbelievable events or people in a sarcastic, very modern and matter of fact tone.

Trapped continues the series in the normal grand and epic way including a strange combination of elves, vampires, gods, hell and sex. I love Atticus's apprentice Granuaile and while she seems a little over done she is completely awesome. Oberon, the dog, is very entertaining but has become a little too very intelligent for me. This book also includes a lot more info about Tuatha De Danann and the dark elves (who appear and clown around a little). Luke Daniel narration is perfect and makes the whole story fun to listen to.

Unfortunately this book ends with lots of loose ends and didn’t close as tightly as previous books in the series. Because of a short introduction and the loose ends at the close, the book doesn’t stand on its own. If you’re following the series this book is a must listen otherwise start listening to the series with book one (Welcome to McDonald’s, may I take your order please?).