Brimstone Bound (The Firebrand Series Book 1)

Entertaining. I had fun reading the book, and I'll probably read the sequel.Flawed. The plot holes are distracting. The story only progresses because people are willing to give the protagonist help they would not reasonably give her. (You need the secret password? Sure, here. You want me to hold off on reporting on the body? Sure, no problem.) And the motivations for the murders turn out to be absurdly bad.

In the first book of the Firebrand series, Harper introduces Emma, a soon-to-be fully fledged cop in London. But things are not what they seem. Emma is assigned a rotation with the Supernatural Squad and from there, things go downhill, and the danger is more than brawling werewolves and stalking vampires. In a neat twist, Emma must solve her own murder.There's quirk and dry British humour; there are supernatural elements interspersed with contemporay England, and there's a touch of romance; the genre can be described as a cozy-mystery style of methodological crime-solving plot mixed with an urban fantasy setting and characters -- though I must admit that I found the strong urban fantasy cover a bit of a misfit with the simple light writing within. This story is reminiscent of Harper's How To Be The Best Damn Faery Godmother In The World (Or Die Trying) series with elements from her Bo Blackman series.Lighthearted and full of compelling characters, including another of Harper's iconic overconfident, stubborn yet moral, fallible female heroines, this is a book that will fly through your fingers in an easy escape read, especially for fans of vampires and werewolves.

Brimstone Bound by Helen Harper a five-star read that will warm the cockles of even the coldest deadest hearts. This is number one in the amazing new Firebrand series and once again shows us what a great author Helen Harper is, I am a massive fan, so I was expecting good things and I wasn’t disappointed. I loved the idea and premise of the Supernatural Squad and DC Tony Brown, well he was so well written I could picture him perfectly, I especially loved Tallulah and her purple power. This was good, it has characters that you will be rooting for, and some that you will be rooting against, and there are some twists and reveals that will surprise you, and such a great story that you will be hooked wanting to know what happened and what will be revealed next. You will also be kicking yourself as there are little clues along the way, but they are so well done you need to be Hercule Poirot to figure them out, I am now eagerly awaiting number two as I am sure it will be even more devilish, I must say that I simply adore the fact the author has donated all of the pre-orders for this novel to a couple of amazing charities, it made me go and pre-order it every where I could find and I really hope others will too, if anyone needs a few hours away from this crazy time we are living in then you wont go wrong with this, and It helps support those who need it so get pre-ordering.

Emma is a young detective-in-training with the London Police, just entering her last rotation before the final exam. She is assigned to the 'Supe Squad' for two weeks instead of her coveted Cyber Crime, but she overcomes her disappointment and goes to report to DC Anthony Brown. And she gets herself killed that same night.... only to awake the next morning in the morgue!Determined to find out who killed her Emma starts her own investigation. Not easy in the territory of werewolves, vampires and other supernaturals but fortunately she is assisted in her quest by vampire Lukas.The book reads like a cozy mystery but then with supernaturals. We follow Emma when she uncovers clues and we get some (minor) world building and explanation.I had an inkling who was behind it all, but the story was quite enjoyable. I look forward to reading the next in the series and getting to know more about Emma and how she will fare!

I try to read a lot of everything paranormal/mystery related, or in other words, not related too real life. Indy authors tend to have a looser relationship with reality which in these trying times is where I want to be.I'm on the last book of this trilogy and I can say that the story and character building has truly kept me going. There may be a time or two when I need to flip back and fact check between different clan characteristics but Helen really does have her own take on the supes and she builds them up nicely so that you find yourself hating a character one minute and routing for them in the end. Layers..... Nicely done so you don't get bored.Emma seems to stay true to her buildup though it would be nice if You knew a bit more how she felt about certain people. I like that there isn't a lot of female angsty drama with girlfriends, that is ssooo oversold.This is a fun story to read and the books flow nicely into each other. Pick this series up and you'll be happy you did

Brimstone Bound by Helen Harper a five-star read that will warm the cockles of even the coldest deadest hearts. This is number one in the amazing new Firebrand series and once again shows us what a great author Helen Harper is, I am a massive fan, so I was expecting good things and I wasn’t disappointed. I loved the idea and premise of the Supernatural Squad and DC Tony Brown, well he was so well written I could picture him perfectly, I especially loved Tallulah and her purple power. This was good, it has characters that you will be rooting for, and some that you will be rooting against, and there are some twists and reveals that will surprise you, and such a great story that you will be hooked wanting to know what happened and what will be revealed next. You will also be kicking yourself as there are little clues along the way, but they are so well done you need to be Hercule Poirot to figure them out, I am now eagerly awaiting number two as I am sure it will be even more devilish, I must say that I simply adore the fact the author has donated all of the pre-orders for this novel to a couple of amazing charities, it made me go and pre-order it every where I could find and I really hope others will too, if anyone needs a few hours away from this crazy time we are living in then you wont go wrong with this, and It helps support those who need it so get pre-ordering.

I love Helen Harper's books, she's a one-click pre-order author for me whenever something new comes up, and Brimstone Bound definitely lived up to my expectations.Emma Bellamy is just weeks away from achieving her detective status when she's assigned her final rotation to the Supe Squad. First day on the job she ends up murdered and wakes up on the slab in the morgue. In order to solve her own murder, Emma gets pulled deeper into the supernatural world in London and mixed up in more crimes and politics.Brimstone Bound is well written and leaves you guessing much of the way through. Although I did figure out Emma's murderer early on, other mysteries within the book were not so straight forward. The world created with different factions of the supernatural existing in London, separate to but intermixed with humans is an interesting one that I can't wait to explore more of in the next installment, along with Emma's budding relationship with Lukas and the mystery of Emma herself.

As with any 1st book in a new series from a favourite author, I had extra anticipation - wondering will I like it, will it be too similar or too different from their other books.As soon as I started reading I relaxed as it’s all good :)As with any other Helen Harper book, the world building is effortless to slip into, the main character is likeable and the story pulls you in.The new setting and main character is police in London, with Emma as a regular trainee detective who gets posted to the Supes squad in her last placement.And the story goes from there - no more spoilers from me!I really enjoyed the new setting, and (only) slightly grittier tone than Ms Harper’s last series, with the story pulling me in from the start.If you haven’t read any Helen Harper books yet, but fancy an easy to read UK based urban fantasy with easy world building and a relatable lead, this is well worth a read.Really looking forward to the next in the series already :)(I was lucky enough to get an ARC, and then bought on release day too to get audio version at reduced price!)

Very laughable, silly motive for her murder. It was soooooo minor. Last 2 pages of the big reveal felt even less compelling than the children’s mystery books I read at 10 years old. I didn’t feel respected as a reader who has given my time to read this. I guess I also figured out earlier in the book who it was anyway, because one scene just went too far and was too stilted. You just knew it was a set up frame for the murderer.

Helen Harper is a must-buy author for me, and this new series doesn't disappoint. We are introduced to a completely new world, where werewolves, vampires and Others live amongst humans, but keep to themselves.The Supe Squad of the Met Police have the job of keeping peace and investigating crimes involving the supernatural. The story is packed full of humour, thrills and enough open questions to have me smashing the pre-ordered button for book Two - hurry up October!