Book Review: Every Which Way but Dead by Kim Harrison

My rating: 3.25/5

From Amazon:

"There's no witch in Cincinnati tougher, sexier, or more screwed up than bounty hunter Rachel Morgan, who's already put her love life and soul in dire jeopardy through her determined efforts to bring criminal night creatures to justice.

"Between 'runs,' she has her hands full fending off the attentions of her blood-drinking partner, keeping a deadly secret from her backup, and resisting a hot new vamp suitor.

"Rachel must also take a stand in the war that's raging in the city's underworld, since she helped put away its former vampire kingpin—and made a deal with a powerful demon to do so that could cost her an eternity of pain, torment, and degradation.

"And now her dark 'master' is coming to collect his due."

This book started out slow, but that really didn't bother me.  The author isn't a bad writer as far as that goes, and she kept me hooked plot-wise.  Some things might even keep me reading the series, such as the introduction of a demon creepier than Algaliarept.  But as interested as I still am in Rachel's background and the secrets of her father and the ever-after and whatnot, I still don't like Rachel as a character, and that's a big problem. Sometimes she's alright, but other times she's just an irritating plot device instead of a person.  In spots that were meant to be character-driven, the book read a lot like fan fiction, in that I'm pretty sure the author wishes she were a witch with a mysterious background who could kick butt and be vulnerable and sleep with a vampire with no consequences.  This vampire, by the way, does the bidding of the master vampire who raped her roommate in the previous book and tried to (and nearly did) kill Rachel.  And Rachel knows all of this.  So her new relationship with him is, from this reader's perspective, inexcusable.  The guy even causes a bunch of deaths (and nearly Rachel's) and Rachel basically shrugs it off as not really his fault. She even makes a friend uncomfortable by overtly sexually flirting with the vampire, and she thinks this is funny.  This isn't normal person behavior.  I would also like to know why she keeps fantasizing about Trent when he tried to kill her in book 1.  That's not normal or relatable behavior either.

One of the best characters, Jenks, disappears midway through the book after getting into a huffy argument with Rachel too.  And that's it; no more Jenks for the rest of the book.  He's brought up a few times, Rachel feels guilty, etc., but it seems the author realized she had too many characters and got rid of one of the most interesting ones.  Harumph.

The first two books weren't completely vampire-centric, but this one verged on it, and I have a feeling the series is headed that way.  I'm tired of vampires, so I hope not.  I may continue reading the series, but I'll be giving it a break for a while.

Book Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Undead by Kim Harrison

My rating: 4 stars

I almost put up the summary of this book from Amazon until I realized it was ridiculous, even mentioning the main character's ability to "tangle with a cunning demon or two" when the book only has one demon. Oy.

Therefore, I give you my own summary:

Rachel Morgan, witch bounty hunter extraordinaire, no longer has a price on her head in this second book of The Hollows series.  At least, not in the same sense: This time there's a serial killer out to murder witches in horrific ways... all of whom have talents similar to what Ms. Morgan seems to be developing.  With intriguing information about her friend/roommate/coworker Ivy's vampiric relations, Rachel's family and past, and who the heck Trent Kalamack is, this book is a definite step up from the first book in the series.

The author definitely improved her game for this book after the good-but-also-disappointing beginning to the series.  The writing is more focused and solid, and for that I am most appreciative.  Like the first book, the plot and action kept me reading, but this time it didn't meander as much as the first book did.  There is a serial killer to catch, and while the previous mysteries are still open (who/what Kalamack is, what happened to Rachel's dad, etc.), they aren't in the forefront.  A lot of these mysteries still aren't solved by the end of this book, similar to the first book, but at least we're given some information and I don't feel like I was left hanging, and for that reason I'll keep reading the series. 

But of course, I have to have some complaints. ;)  [WARNING: A few possible spoilers ensue.]  The main one being Rachel as a character.  For the most part, she's an understandable, relate-able character... but then she has her moments when she's not.  For one, her constant forgiveness of her living-vampire roommate, Ivy, is perplexing.  Like in the first book, Ivy constantly comes close to killing Rachel (in a literal, non-figurative way), who then constantly makes excuses for Ivy's behavior after the fact.  I don't get it.  I understand that Rachel likes Ivy, that when she's not a psycho she's a good friend; but they could be good friends who don't live together, since the close quarters are essentially what drive Ivy to near murder.  If this weren't a worry, they would be fine.  I just don't get it. 

Then there's Rachel's sophomoric moments that make me want to smack her.  Most visibly, one of these moments occurs when Rachel is participating in the police investigation of the serial murders and wants to see a crime scene.  They tell her to wait, they need to document/photograph/do police stuff first, or else the crime scene could be considered contaminated and the guilty party could get off scott free.  So what does she do?  Sneaks in to see the crime scene while they're working on it and gets in trouble... and then yells at everyone who's angry with her and pouts about the fact that she's in trouble.  And on top of this, she never feels guilty for having possibly ruined the investigation.  Really?  I can understand the morbid curiosity, but never once realizing what she's done wrong (when it is entirely obvious to the reader) doesn't make any sense.

However, even with those complaints, I still really enjoyed the book.  I want to know what happens to every one of the characters and I want to find out more about their backgrounds, as well as about the fantastic world the author has created, and that's impressive.  One warning I will add for the queasy: this book is gorier than the last (almost surprisingly so).  But when you're dealing with a supernatural serial killer, I suppose that's to be expected.

Next up in the series: Every Which Way But Dead, Book #3.

Book Review: Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

My rating: 3.75/5

From Amazon: "The underground population of witches, vampires, werewolves—creatures of dreams and nightmares—has lived beside humans for centuries, hiding their powers. But after a genetically engineered virus wipes out a large part of humanity, many of the 'Inderlanders' reveal themselves, changing everything.

"Rachel Morgan, witch and bounty hunter with the Inderland Runner Services, is one of the best at apprehending supernatural lawbreakers throughout Cincinnati, but when it comes to following the rules, she falls desperately short. Determined to buck the system, she quits and takes off on the run with an I.S. contract on her head and is reluctantly forced to team up with Ivy, Inderland's best runner . . . and a living vampire. But this witch is way out of her league, and to clear her name, Rachel must evade shape-changing assassins, outwit a powerful businessman/crime lord, and survive a vicious underground fight-to-the-death . . . not to mention her own roommate."

The writing in this book is, for the most part, solid and good, and I enjoyed reading it.  I especially loved Rachel's temperamental pixie co-worker, Jenks, and his awesome family (made up of his wife and bazillion kids).  The background is interesting too; it's almost an alternate history, just with supernatural creatures.  But at the same time, I'm still not entirely sure about a lot of things that may be cleared up in future books in the series (The Hollows), such as why the I.S. can have people killed for breaking their contracts, what's up with Ivy (the vampire roommate), what happened to Rachel's dad, what's up with Keasley (the witch across the street), what's up with Nick (just a human...?), etc., etc.  And leaving so many loose ends was part of why I couldn't quite rate the book a 4.  The plot meandered a bit too, in that there were too many problems to deal with all at once, and I'm not sure that much of anything was fixed or solved by the end.  I even caught myself forgetting a few times which problem the main characters were working on at that point. 

However!  I still had trouble putting the book down, which is always a good sign, and I have it on good authority that the other books in the series are even better than this one.  With that, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for an entertaining paranormal urban fantasy series. 

(You can also read the first chapter of the book on Kim Harrison's site for free here: http://www.kimharrison.net/BookPages/DWW/DWW.html)