Title: Kitty’s  Big Trouble Author: Carrie Vaughn Series: Kitty Norville #9 Cover Art: Craig White Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Julia Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages Publisher: Tor Books;  June 28, 2011 ISBN-10: 0765365650 ISBN-13: 978-0765365651 Sexual Content: References to sex. Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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Description

Kitty Norville is back and in more trouble than ever.  Her recent run-in with werewolves traumatized by the horrors of war has made her start wondering how long the US government might have been covertly using werewolves in combat. Have any famous names in our own history might have actually been supernatural?  She's got suspicions about William Tecumseh Sherman.  Then an interview with the right vampire puts her on the trail of Wyatt Earp, vampire hunter.

But her investigations lead her to a clue about enigmatic vampire Roman and the mysterious Long Game played by vampires through the millennia.  That, plus a call for help from a powerful vampire ally in San Francisco, suddenly puts Kitty and her friends on the supernatural chessboard, pieces in dangerously active play.  And Kitty Norville is never content to be a pawn. . .

Review

More than any other series, the Kitty Norville books read like a television series.  Each episode is action packed, often self contained, with a little romance and character growth thrown in for spice.  KITTY’S BIG TROUBLE is no deviation from that recipe,  and this particular book worked very well for me.  While the action would be accessible to even a new reader, the relationship dynamics (my favorite part), would definitely go right over their head.

The adventure in BIG TROUBLE provides prime character observation time for Kitty, Ben, and Cormac. With the dynamic trio operating as a team (or should it be "quartet" now that Cormac is possessed?  Man, I hate that plot development), I felt this was the best glimpse we’ve had of how this new “pack of three” functions.  I feel guilty when I type that despite Kitty’s marriage, I'm still very much a "Team Cormac" kind of girl.  Ben hasn't had much time to shine lately, as all of the werewolf related issues are outside his comfort zone. This is very evident in BIG TROUBLE, where Kitty intervenes several times to keep Ben in human form.  Outside of adjusting to being a wolf, however, adventure looks good on Ben.  There are subtle hints of the bad-ass monster hunter he once was.  He handles a gun and coordinates with Cormac in a way that is pretty damn attractive, and I look forward to him developing that level of skill and competence in the "alpha" arena.

As evident by my Ben digression, despite BIG TROUBLE being nonstop action from start to finish, it’s the character dynamic that kept me thinking long after I’ve put the book down.  Some of the recent Kitty Norville books tipped the balance too far towards action (I’m looking at you KITTY’S HOUSE OF HORRORS), but BIG TROUBLE was right on the money.  The power struggles and supernatural politics do a great job of sucking me in, but it's the way Kitty and her loved ones change that keeps me coming back for more.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
Kitty and the Midnight Hour Kitty Goes to Washington Kitty Takes a Holiday Kitty and the Silver Bullet Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand Kitty Raises Hell Kitty’s House of Horrors Kitty Goes to War	Jen at Red Hot Books BookYurt Kristin at My Bookish Ways

*This title will be released on February 22, 2011*

Title: Pale Demon Author: Kim Harrison Series: Rachel Morgan/The Hollows #9 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: NetGalley Reviewed by: Julia Hardcover: 448 pages Publisher: Harper Voyager (Feb 22, 2011) ISBN-10: 0061138061 ISBN-13: 978-0061138065 Sexual Content: Attempted rape, allusions to rape, and some sexual scenes. My Rating: Near Perfect - Buy two copies: one for you and one for a friend.

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Description

Condemned to death for black magic and shunned, Rachel Morgan has three days to somehow get to the annual witches convention in San Francisco and clear her name. If she fails, the only way she can escape death is to live in the demonic ever after . . . for ever after.
 
Banned from the flight lists, Rachel teams up with elven tycoon Trent Kalamack, headed for the West Coast for his own mysterious business. But Rachel isn’t the only passenger along for the ride. Can a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car survive for over 2,300 miles? And that’s not counting the assassin on their tail.
 
A fearsome demon walks the sunlight, freed after centuries of torment to slay the innocent and devour souls. But his ultimate prey is Rachel Morgan. While the powerful witch with nerves of steel will do whatever it takes to stay alive, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.

Review

In anticipation of the release of PALE DEMON, I re-read BLACK MAGIC SANCTION to tide me over.  My strategy more or less backfired, as the passion, grief, and action had me even more anxious to read the next Hollows novel, but luckily, PALE DEMON did not disappoint.  Despite the drama at the end of BLACK MAGIC SANCTION, PALE DEMON begins in an innocuous calm before the storm.  It took the series in a direction I would not have anticipated, and, predictably, ends with me out of my mind excited for the next book in the series.

One of Kim Harrison’s strengths is creating fascinating characters, and even her supporting characters have a depth that is unique in any genre.  While this is one aspect of her books I adore, I’m sure this can also be a trial as she has to manage an ever-growing list of complex relationships and individuals (Lee went from being Rachel’s nemesis to Al’s familiar to being married and rescuing Rachel from rogue coven members, who can keep track of this stuff?!).  This cast of thousands, in combination with Harrison’s organic interweaving of plot lines, means I can never guess what to expect in one of her novels, or who will show up.  PALE DEMON deepened my appreciation for existing characters while introducing a few new ones that I will be excited to see again in the future.

Of the old, familiar characters, Trent Kalamack took center stage and really blew me out of the water.  My appreciation for Trent has always been shallow at best.  Despite Rachel’s attraction to him, and the hints of chemistry between them, he had never clicked for me.  Too controlled, too removed, too devious and untrustworthy.  PALE DEMON forces Rachel and Trent to break down many of the barriers between themselves, and build a partnership in ways I wouldn’t have thought possible.  As a part of this process, for the first time in the series, Trent really began to develop as a potential love interest.  Still, I’m never sure if he’ll be Rachel’s worst enemy, friend, or grade-school crush, and the tension is worse than ever now that I like him more as a person.

In addition to changes in Rachel’s relationship with Trent, Ivy also has a few pivotal scenes.  I know of several people who have drifted away from this series due to Rachel and Ivy’s relationship, though I myself have never understood the issue (Perhaps the tension between them was so reflexively predatory it never set off my radar as something to worry about or work through.  Who can reason with a vampire?).  Either way, while the state of their union didn’t bother me prior to this book, I think that those readers who did struggle with it will be pleased to find some resolution (and I’m interested to hear your reactions).  Of Rachel’s two partners, I have been almost entirely focused on Jenks over the last several books, and I really enjoyed his portion of this book.  There is a tenderness between him and Rachel as they both mourn loved ones that is a pleasure to read, and I enjoyed getting hints of what the next twenty years of Jenks’s life may look like.

The hardest part about reviewing this book is dancing around spoilers when I really can’t wait to dish the nitty gritty details with fellow Hollows fans.  While PALE DEMON hasn’t supplanted WHITE WITCH, BLACK CURSE and BLACK MAGIC SANCTION as my latest favorites of the series, I’m looking forward to rereading it over and over in the days and months it takes for Book #10 to make an appearance.

Read the first FIVE chapters of PALE DEMON here.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
Dead Witch Walking The Good, the Bad, and the Undead Every Which Way but Dead A Fistful of Charms For a Few Demons More The Outlaw Demon Wails White Witch, Black Curse Black Magic Sanction	BP at Bibliopunk Jen at My Book Addiction Natasha at Wicked Lil Pixie