Hodag Days is the second Threshold Covenant novel by R.L. Baranowski. Released 25th March 2025, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
This is a serious/gritty rural fantasy populated by Native American and other cryptids, set in rural Minnesota. There are flashes of humor, often where bureaucracy intersects with magical creatures who also happen to be rural rubes. The mostly hapless MC is a lawyer who is magic-less, but legally represents the regulatory body which keeps everyone blissfully unaware that werewolves and vampires actually live amongst them.
It's a fun, campy, romp-y out of control pickup truck ride with sentient snake-y lizard people, beer-truck-stealing werewolves, fallen angels, curses, and a credible bond-villain (boo, hiss). Although it's the second book in the series, it works well enough as a standalone, and readers coming into the story with this book won't have trouble keeping up. There are returning characters who have some back history from the first book, so if read out of order, there will be some slight spoilers.
Four stars. For fans of urban fantasy, especially snarky bureaucratic shenanigans, a bit like a redneck American version of Stross' Laundry Files, with Dresden overtones.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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