Death May Be Easy, But Living is Definitely Hard!

TITLE: An Easy Death (Gunnie Rose #1)
AUTHOR: Charlaine Harris
PUBLISHER: Saga Press
PUBLISHING DATE: October 2, 2018

FROM GOODREADS:  In a new trilogy that presents a chilling alternate history of the United States where everyone believes in magic—but no one is sure whether they can trust it.

Gunnie Lizbeth Rose has been hired by a pair of Russian sorcerers as both their local guide and muscle through the small towns of East Texas as they search for a distant relative of an infamous sorcerer whose bloodline can help save their emperor-in-exile as an ever-increasing number of assassins tries to stop them.

After the assassination of FDR in the 1930s, the US collapses and is picked off by the UK, Canada, Mexico, and Russia. We find ourselves in the southwestern states now known as Texoma. It is here that the gunnie Lizbeth Rose tries to piece out a life, running security on runs from Texoma, across the border to Mexico where work and prospects are stronger. When two Russian magicians come looking for a man named Alex Karkarov, they hire Lizbeth to find him or his family, but there are problems: The man they're looking for is dead, but he has a daughter they now need to find, as an ever-growing set of sorcerers and gunnies do not want them to succeed. It’s a good thing Lizbeth is a deadly gunfighter; too bad she hates sorcerers, even the ones she has to learn to rely on.

MY THOUGHTS:  Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie, which means individuals hire her for assistance based on the fact that she is an excellent markswoman and is not afraid to kill to survive.  Early on in the book, we see Lizbeth's team fall prey to an ambush.  She survives but this means that she must find another way to make a living.  Despite hating the Russian wizards and wanting noting to do with the part of the United States they have taken over, she agrees to a job helping two of them, Eli and Paulina.  However, unbeknownst to them, Lizbeth may have more of a connection to the man they seek than she is willing to share.

I loved this book.  It was almost impossible to put down and Harris has created a intriguing yet terrifying world in her alternate United States story.  First of all, Lizbeth is a kick-ass heroine.  She loves her guns almost more than people and is not afraid to kill.  Secondly, I found the adventure of looking for an individual who might be able to share the Tsar's life full of twists and turns and very few of them predictable. At every turn, someone was trying to kill Lizbeth, Eli, Paulina or all three and I would have just given up and died before I reached the halfway point.  Finally, while there isn't really a romance in this book, which it definitely didn't need, I loved the relationship that developed between Lizbeth and Eli.  Though they are an odd pairing at best, I am excited to see where they end up in the future.  In the impossible world they live in, when someone works hard to give you a fridge, yep I said fridge, it's a relationship you can't easily ignore.  

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries, alternate history, fantasy and action-adventure.  There are witches, Russian nobility, lots of guns, dirt, grime and magic.  I fell in love with Harris' Midnight Texas trilogy and hated when it ended.  That being said, I think I'm going to enjoy this new trilogy even more!

RATING: 5 PAWS