 | Title: Kitty’s Greatest Hits
 Sexual Content: None. Rating:
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Description
The first-ever story collection from the New York Times bestselling author, including two all-new works!
Kitty Norville, star of a New York Times bestselling series, is everybody’s favorite werewolf DJ and out-of-the-closet supernatural creature. Over the course of eight books she’s fought evil vampires, were-creatures, and some serious black magic. She’s done it all with a sharp wit and the help of a memorable cast of werewolf hunters, psychics, and if-not-good-then-neutral vampires by her side. Kitty’s Greatest Hits not only gives readers some of Kitty’s further adventures, it offers longtime fans a window into the origins of some of their favorite characters.
In “Conquistador de la Noche,” we learn the origin story of Denver’s Master vampire, Rick; with “Wild Ride,” we find out how Kitty’s friend T.J. became a werewolf; and in “Life is the Teacher,” we revisit Emma, the human-turned-unwilling-vampire who serves the aloof vampire Master of Washington, D.C.
This entertaining collection includes two brand-new works: “You’re On the Air,” about one of Kitty’s callers after he hangs up the phone; and the eagerly awaited “Long Time Waiting,” the novella that finally reveals just what happened to Cormac in prison, something every Kitty fan wants to know.
Review
Under normal circumstances I'm not a huge short story fan, I miss the deeper character development arc that a long story offers. I turn to short stories as a last resort on vacations, or seek them out to tide me over until a favorite author’s next full length book is available. KITTY'S GREATEST HITS turned this paradigm on it’s head. Rather than tiding me over until the next book, these stories deepened my appreciation for the rest of the series and made it more likely that I’ll bump the next Kitty Norville novel to the top of my TBR pile.
In the full length Kitty books, I tend to get overwhelmed by action and lose track of character development. KITTY’S GREATEST HITS offers the opportunity slow down and focus on Kitty, her humor and curiosity and unique perspective on life. I particularly enjoyed Winnowing the Herd and Kitty and the Mosh Pit of the Damned, where Kitty's hilarious outlook adds so much fun to the most mundane proceedings, everything from an office party to a dive bar concert.
While it was nice to get a glimpse of Kitty in relative repose, seeing things through her eyes is not a new experience. My favorite aspect of KITTY’S GREATEST HITS was the opportunity to see the Kitty Norville universe from a historical perspective, or from the point of view of other characters that Kitty encounters. Vaughn's enthusiasm and imagination makes it obvious that she takes great joy in exploring all angles of how this world fits together, from the other side of a call-in to Kitty’s show to familiar historical events reimagined with a paranormal twist. The stories included for Rick, T.J., Emma, and Cormac are seminal, showing them at crisis points in their lives. We see T.J.'s path to lycanthropy, Rick becoming a vampire, and most important of all, the story of Cormac's possession. I have always been a Cormac fan, to the point where I've felt alienated from a story line that has closed so many doors between him and Kitty. Long Time Waiting offers not only a sense of Cormac’s feelings about Kitty, but also some much needed insight into his dealings with Amelia. For someone as strong and fundamentally lonely as Cormac, it was incredibly winning to read about his slow-building trust in this most unlikely of partners.
As much as I enjoyed this anthology, it does leave me frustrated for more. More stories from the perspective of these fascinating supporting characters, more time to focus on the relationships that are so important in Kitty's life, and more time with Kitty herself. While only two of these short stories are newly published content (though I had not read most of them before), the ability to wholly immerse yourself in this world is well worth the price of admission. Given how much I enjoyed KITTY’S GREATEST HITS, I'll keep reading the action-packed full length novels, keep hoping for a spin off from another character’s point of view, and look forward to more short stories that give a well crafted little glimpse into another part of Kitty’s universe.
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