Shaman, Healer, Heretic (Olivia Lawson, Techno-Shaman #1) by M. Terry Green

Even for a techno-shaman, a kachina in the bedroom isn#x2019;t exactly part of the drill. When Olivia Lawson wakes to find one towering over her, she panics. A Hopi god visiting the real world isn't just wrong;it's impossible. Or is it?
Soon Olivia learns that the kachina is the least of her worries. As she struggles to save her clients, clashes with other shamans, and fends off the attacks of real-world vigilantes, Olivia finds herself in the destructive path of a malevolent ancient force intent on leaving the spiritual realm to conquer this one. Left with few options, Olivia is forced to defy centuries of shaman prohibitions. As she and her allies risk everything in their bid for survival, Olivia ultimately learns that the rules are there for a reason and that breaking them has a terrible cost.

This book surprised me. It was a very entertaining read with a premise that is wholly different from books in its same genre.

Livvy is a great protagonist, with wit and spunk, but without being overly aggressive or silly. That’s nice to see, since sometimes authors can take things to the extreme when it comes to making their characters “cool”. She is a shaman, which I can’t remember having encountering before in urban fantasy. The descriptions of the work she does to help her clients are fascinating and make the book worthwhile reading just for that.

But the plot is just as good. There’s a wonderful sense of pacing in the pages and, as we come closer to the climactic point in the story, it starts to accelerate, keeping the reader breathless. The mood set, with all the different characters coming together despite their apparent dislike of each other is fun to read about. All the characters are interesting, including SK, who I thought was only going to be a peripheral one, but who turned out to be one of the more interesting ones, right up there with Livvy.

I highly recommend this one if you like urban fantasy and if you want to read something that will keep you entertained from the very beginning. I, for one, will be reading the next one in the series next.