Review of Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

5 Fangs for Pale Demon Book 9 in The Hollows series

Description:

Condemned and shunned for black magic, Rachel Morgan has three days to get to the annual witches’ conference and clear her name, or be trapped in the demonic ever-after . . . forever after.

But a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car going across the country? Talk about a recipe for certain disaster, even without being the targets for assassination.

For after centuries of torment, a fearsome demon walks in the sunlight—freed at last to slay the innocent and devour their souls. But his ultimate goal is Rachel Morgan, and in the fight for survival that follows, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.

My Review:

Wow- this was probably one of the best Hollows books yet.

We get to see a lot of the world of The Hollows outside of Rachel's little Cincinnati area. I had no idea the outer parts were so desolate. We've never really seen how bad the tomato virus outbreak really affected the human population before. Sure we've learned little bits here and there throughout the series but "seeing" the world along this road trip was an eye opener.

The road trip lets us delve headlong into the complex relationship between Rachel and Trent. Nothing like getting stuck in a car with someone for 3000 miles to bring more of the story between them to light. I always knew, right from the beginning, there was something going to happen between Rachel and Trent, even if it would break all the normal rules of romance novels. I mean they've tried to kill each other several times, or at least torture each other extensively, but there's always been something under the surface. Some would think it stems from their childhood past together, which is particularly true but there's much more there.

It seems Rachel is finally allowing herself to see Trent as a good looking male and acknowledge her attraction to him, even if it's only subconsciously. I just wonder if it'll end up with them together in a happily ever after. Rachel surely deserves it. Her character has been through so much over this series, she's probably one of the best written characters ever with the most growth as well. Harrison is a master storyteller and is fabulous at throwing in unexpected twists and turns that you never see coming. You get so focused on the story you don't see what's coming until it's in your face- which is fabulous because I hate figuring out the entire story from the set up in chapter one. I love a good surprise- or better yet lots of surprises.

I truly love Rachel and this series. I'm sad to know that only a few books remain before it ends. It will be a bittersweet goodbye for me because I love this series so much I hate to part with it yet Kim Harrison promises a happy ending-so hopefully it will be a fond farewell.

During the road trip from hell they have to battle elves who attack Trent trying to stop him from completing his mysterious "elf quest" that he can't share the details about. During one of the battles a demon gets let out from his prison-in broad daylight during one of the battles- and literally all hell breaks loose...under the sun.

Rachel ends up learning a lot more about Trent, elves, and demonkind during this trip. She also learns a lot about herself because of this freed demon and the time she has to spend in the everafter.

We get to see plenty of interaction between her and Al (I can't help but love psycho demon Al who is extremely complicated) and we learn more about the only remaining female demon, Newt.

In Pale Demon other characters are fleshed out- like Jenks who is finally moving on, Bis who we learn more about as a gargoyle, and Pierce who has always been a bit iffy in my opinion.

We also see some Rachel's relationships reach an end point- which is both sad but necessary.

Rachel has to face the witches council and an angry demon that can walk in the sun. How will she manage to get out of this one alive? Will she make it out alive?

The things revealed toward the end of this book might shock, surprise or amaze you- like what Trent's elf quest was really about, how Rachel fights the demon, and the abilities Trent has that no one ever knew about.

I eagerly await book 10 so I learn what Rachel is going to do next.

If you love this series you have to read this book. I devoured it in two days (which was over a month ago but I am just now finally getting aorund to typing up my review- sorry for the delay). Non-stop action, thrilling interaction between characters, and the constant wonder of "OMG what's going to happen next?".

If I had to pick just one series that I adore this would be it. Sure I love many, many books and authors but to pick them all apart deciding on which characters, flaws, story lines, settings, world building, etc etc that I love the most- well this series has it all.

If you have not picked up a book from this series yet- what on earth are you waiting for? This is a MUST READ series. Start from book 1 and just keep going. I swear it only gets better.