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.

A Few Photos from the Kim Harrison Book Signing

These are a few pictures from Kim Harrison's Pale Demon book signing in Lansing, Michigan from February 22, 2011

Here's Kim signing my books

And here's a video of Kim reading from Pale Demon, it's fuzzy and shaky but the sound is good

Happy Thanksgiving: Holidays Are Hell Giveaway

Happy Thanksgiving to all my US readers celebrating today.

I am doing my annual make a huge dinner from scratch complete with turkey, homemade stuffing from scratch, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and real gravy, sweet potatoes, squash, pies, and cranberry sauce- oh cornbread and rolls too. And cake- because it is my oldest boy's 19th Birthday today as well.

Even though I have my hands full I'd like to offer a great book giveaway today- title totally appropriate I'd say :-).

So either before or after you're done stuffing yourself fuller than the turkey I hope you're dropping by here to enter my Holidays Are Hell Giveaway.

If you haven't read this anthology yet and you follow The Hollows series by Kim Harrison this book should be on your must have list.

Holidays Are Hell features the short story, "Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel". In it Pierce first appears in Rachel's life when she is just a teenager trying to summon her father's ghost on the Solstice. She ends up with Pierce.

Holidays Are Hell also features stories from Lynsay Sands, Vicki Pettersson, and Marjorie M Liu.

Here's the blurb:

This holiday, spend quality time with family and loved ones—living and dead... There's no place like home for the horrordays—unless you'd prefer a romantic midnight walk through a ghost-infested graveyard... or a haunted house candlelight dinner with the sexy vampire of your dreams. The (black) magical season is here—and whether it's a solstice séance gone demonically wrong with the incomparable Kim Harrison, a grossly misshapen Christmas with the remarkable Lynsay Sands, a blood-chilling-and-spilling New Year's with the wonderful Marjorie M. Liu, or a super-powered Thanksgiving with the phenomenal Vicki Pettersson, one thing is for certain: in the able hands of these exceptional dark side explorers, the holidays are going to be deliciously hellish!

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Review of Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison

Rachel sure has gotten herself into a mess this time. The magic ethics coven is after her and they are using lethal force to grab her- and they call her a black witch.

Before she knows what's happening or finds a way to stop it she finds herself locked up in Alcatraz facing a lobotomy. Luckily she has good friends that try real hard to keep her safe. Too bad they haven't found a way to keep her out of trouble.

Poor Rach, half the world shuns her because of her "black magic and demon ties" the other half wants to use her because of it. Trent, Al, Pierce even a rogue member of the committee all seek to control her for their own purposes. Even her ex Nick comes back into the picture and has his own agenda. As if Rachel needed all the men in her life to be more complicated than her life itself. She's getting away with murder with Al because he wants her for his own reasons, Pierce is a big question mark- who knows what he's really after, and Nick is just scum that should have been disposed of a long time ago. Really if you meet someone who has been magically changed into a rat out of revenge...well that might just say something about that person.

Then there's Trent...he and Rachel have a very complicated respect/hate and maybe something more relationship. They've known each other since they were kids. Too bad Rachel doesn't remember much of it.

Warning- something very sad happens in this book that had me in tears for pages. If you are sensitive you'll be crying, too.

Black Magic Sanction is a fast paced roller coaster ride that has Rachel in peril on almost every page. You keep wondering how and if she'll make it out of this mess alive.

Definitely a five fang read. I couldn't put it down. These books continue to get more complicated as they go. I can't wait to see how it all ends up. Rumor has it Rachel will get her happy ending. I just wonder how and with who.

I'll be sad to see this series end though, it is at the top of my favorites list.

This series is the epitome of urban fantasy. A complex world full of fabulous characters, plots, subplots, and enough story arcs to keep you wondering what's going on and what's going to happen next.

If you haven't started reading this series yet and you are a fan of the genre...I wonder what you're waiting for.

Monday Musings February 22. 2010

So I had a busy weekend, mostly writing and at night watching the first season of True Blood on DVD. I have to admit I am totally hooked. I am bummed the second season doesn't come out on DVD until May. It's a very interesting show, kinda odd, really quirky and totally addicting. It makes me want to get HBO. So where are they on the seasons? Has the third season already aired or is currently airing now or about to start?...

Kim Harrison's Black Magic Sanction is officially released tomorrow! Woo Hoo! I hope to go to one of her signings this coming weekend, she's actually coming to Michigan! I want to go Friday to the one in Ann Arbor but it all depends on my husband's work schedule. Hopefully he can make it because I am not driving that far alone.

This week at Fang-tastic Books Naomi Clark will be here as part of online book tour and Nicole Peeler will be here for an interview on Friday.

Plus I have a few announcements and reviews that will be going up this week. Hope you all enjoy.

A Review of White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison

Four Fangs for White Witch, Black Curse By Kim Harrison

I am a little disappointed with White Witch, Black Curse. I can't quite put my finger on it but something was lacking in this book that is normally in the other books. The magic that Kim Harrison can put into words is something amazing but it wasn't there through most of this book. I didn't start feeling the magic until close to the end.

I have been waiting for the 7th book in The Hollows Series to see what happens with Rachel Morgan next and after the bombshells that were dropped in the last book I expected...I don't know more revelations, more ties revealed, more dots connected I suppose. Now Kim Harrison did clear up everything about Kisten's death and revealed his killer so that is all out of the way so Rachel can move past it. The problem is, it was all a bit too anticlimactic for Rachel, Ivy and for me as a reader.

The book pretty much starts and ends with Rachel trying to remember, then finally remembering what happened the night Kisten died. Yet while trying to remember she gets tangled up in the mess that is her life.

The FIB wants her to track down and bring in a banshee...really bad news since they can kill without even touching you. Rachel's brother Robbie comes to town to visit and Rachel is having relationship issues as she decides what to do about Marshall. They've been hanging out for months...should she take the relationship farther?

**Warning Minor Spoilers Ahead Do Not Read Any Further Unless You Want to Know**

To top it all off Rachel learns she has a ghost in the church...and who should that ghost be? Pierce (read the Holidays From Hell Collection, Harrison takes us back to when Rachel is 18 and she conjures up Pierce). So throughout the book Rachel is obsessed with giving Pierce a body...again. But something isn't right about Pierce we just don't get to know what...Harrison drops clues but of course leaves the trail going at the end of the book so we don't know what the heck is going on.

Jenks doesn't trust Pierce one bit. And Al, the demon can't keep him under control. There is definitely more to Pierce than what we see and too many coincidences for it all to be nothing. Let's see, Rachel's dad's watch, the one she used to conjure Pierce well it was originally Pierce's that's why she ended up with him instead of her dad. Then we learn that Pierce is the one buried at Rachel's church on unsanctified ground, the one with the name scratched off the tombstone and the creepy angel statue...yeah, that's Pierce. Creepy and not a coincidence. Then there's the fact that Pierce seems to be really smart and powerful and can evade a demon. Hmmm... yet we don't learn much of this until the end of the book.

Most of the book focuses on Rachel's inner turmoil and her battling the banshee that keeps ripping apart her aura and leaving her weak. I guess it was a major plot that would lead Rachel to where she is now. You know her growth as a character but I felt a lot of it was blah, blah, blah. Nad rachel even manages to get herself shunned which doesn't get cleared up. This is really going to make her life harder.

Rachel's interaction with key players in the series was absent until close to the end when both Trent and Al were finally given larger roles in the book. And Ceri was absent through the entire book, just a mention here and there but she was never on screen. I want to know more about Al and Trent. There is a lot underlying there that we have not been introduced to yet. Al and Rachel's relationship is weird. He torments her yet I get the feeling he protects her as well, he seemed to be very concerned about Rachel sleeping with Pierce and Pierce killing Rachel. Jealous? Hmmm. Does Al have a thing for Rachel? I don't know, I sometimes get that vibe.

And then there's the whole Trent and Rachel thing. Now that is complex as hell. I really feel a vibe there but I don't know where that is going to lead. Trent fears Rachel yet is drawn to her. They have a shared connection, a history Rachel doesn't remember all of and Trent seems to want her to remember. She saves his butt all the time and he makes her cry, why does she get so worked up over him if she doesn't care? And even Jenks thinks she should play nice with Trent.

Those are the two characters I really want to see more of with Rachel, Al and Trent. Of course Harrison will string us along because we want to know and if she revealed all well there might not be anymore books.

I just think White Witch, Black Curse was lacking a bit of focus yet it was still a phenomenal book and I really want more. The last part of the book was the best and really got me excited though I knew she was going to cut out the good stuff just to leave me wanting more. Which I do. A lot more.

Got My Hands On A Copy of White Witch, Black Curse

Woo Hoo! The library actually had a copy of White Witch, Black Curse. Yes!

As soon as I finish The Scot, The Witch and the Wardrobe by Annette Blair I am devouring the newest book in the Hollows Series. I can't wait to see what Rachel gets into this time.