... In Dead Witch Walking, we are introduced to all the major players, the stage is set and we the readers need only enjoy it as it all unfolds. Plenty of action, brimming with good humor and witty repartee, I particularly enjoyed the unique characters, interesting setting, and the fact that society ... Read review
Advantages: light and entertaining supernatural fantasy, excellent villains, brazen hero looking for action Disadvantages: Rachel's flightiness makes it difficult to stay focused sometimes
...manner of supernatural critters. In Dead Witch Walking, we are introduced to all the major players, the stage is set and we the readers need only enjoy it as it all unfolds. Plenty of action, brimming with good humor and witty repartee, I particularly enjoyed the unique characters, interesting setting, and the fact that society has shunned the tomato in all its forms for carrying that deadly virus!
The pacing can be a bit choppy and ... ...but ultimately these were minor drawbacks that didn't slow me down at all. Light, enjoyable, and entertaining, Harrison's characters drew me into their world, and made me feel like a friend rather than a voyeur. I love books that make me laugh out loud in public places! I was drawn to find out more, and that is what makes or breaks any first in a series. By the last page, I had to have book two waiting for me, and oh yes, dear serial readers, as ... more
When we first meet Rachel Morgan she's just an average earth witch using her wit and her literal charms to grind out an existence bringing in bounties for Inderlander Security. In this alternate future, Inderlanders (vampires, werewolves, witches, Fae, etc) have been forced to reveal themselves thanks to a deadly virus that decimated the human population. And when one of these paranormal citizens steps out of line, the I.S. brings them to justice. Rachel has been struggling for the last three years to make a good impression at work and pull in better runs. It's beginning to look like the world's worst boss may win out!
Cutting a deal with a tax-evading Leprechaun, Rachel and her friends, Ivy the living vampire and Jenks their pixie backup, leave the I.S. to begin their own agency with a whole wish a piece to help them along. The I.S. doesn't take kindly to people breaking their contracts either, even if it is someone they'd rather not keep on the payroll. The remains of the last guy who broke with the I.S. had to be scraped together into a box for his funeral. Death by turbine is not pretty.
So, Rachel soon finds herself free of the I.S. but facing bigger problems, like how to stay in one piece! Stripped of her apartment, all her possessions, her books and magical equipment, Rachel finds herself moving into an old church with the temperamental Ivy, Jenks and his enormous family. Thus the Vampiric Charms private detective agency is born!
Things don't get any easier though, and the I.S. has it in for them now. Rachel decides that maybe if she brings in a big enough bad guy and hands them over to the I.S. that they'll cancel the contract put out on her. They've been hot to pin Trent Kalamack, city councilman and successful businessman, for any of the shady dealings they suspect he's been running in Cincinnati.
Rachel thinks she may have found the lead that will finally bring Trent down. Is Trent an illegal Brimstone drug trade the biggest baddest skeleton in his closet? Can Rachel find proof, or has she bitten off more than she can chew? It just may be easier for her to sweet talk herself back into the good graces of the I.S. rather than attempt bringing the ruthless, powerful, and mysterious Kalamack to justice. Welcome to the Hollows... Better watch your back!
My Thoughts:
This first in the Kim Harrison series is a good urban fantasy involving all manner of supernatural critters. In Dead Witch Walking, we are introduced to all the major players, the stage is set and we the readers need only enjoy it as it all unfolds. Plenty of action, brimming with good humor and witty repartee, I particularly enjoyed the unique characters, interesting setting, and the fact that society has shunned the tomato in all its forms for carrying that deadly virus!
The pacing can be a bit choppy and the copy I read certainly had a Lot of typos, but ultimately these were minor drawbacks that didn't slow me down at all. Light, enjoyable, and entertaining, Harrison's characters drew me into their world, and made me feel like a friend rather than a voyeur. I love books that make me laugh out loud in public places! I was drawn to find out more, and that is what makes or breaks any first in a series. By the last page, I had to have book two waiting for me, and oh yes, dear serial readers, as of Feb. 26, 2008 there will be six in this set.
Jenks, the irrepressible pixie, quite often steals the show, and the series is well-worth reading just for him alone in my opinion. I loved getting acquainted with Jenks, his lovely Matalina, their enormous brood of winged children and through them all, Harrison's view of pixie society. Ivy's personal issues don't really come clear in this first book, but her moodiness, self-repression, and fear all become evident with time.
Ivy is our closest window into the local vampire society. Many times in reading this first book though, I felt like she was merely a foil for Rachel's more impulsive and far less introspective self; a character designed to pull Rachel back from the brink... or perhaps send her over the edge of all she's ever known.
Rachel herself, while amusing, can come off as flighty or lacking in depth, but as we watch her grow and evolve over the series the over-all impression is that of an ordinary person doing her utmost to be someone her parents can be proud of while still fulfilling her own desires. A common enough tightrope, and I must say that she does an excellent job of entertaining us while she's up there!
These three head up a great cast of characters that work well together in presenting a story that, like real life, does not begin in the here and now, but in the distant fog of the past. We are tantalized with glimpses of Rachel's odd childhood, and left to wonder just how long her family and Kalamack's are destined to intertwine... Her father's untimely death and her mother's imperfect recovery from that tragedy continue to haunt our heroine.
Nowhere do these scars show more plainly than in her love interests, her impulsive choices, and the unconscious need for adrenaline in her life. Can this witchy red-head figure out what Trent's hiding? Can this unlikely trio forge a viable team? Will she even live long enough to figure out a suitable wardrobe for all of this? Have fun finding out!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ a footnote to readers:
I am mystified as to why Ciao has this book listed as a horror book, yet they apparently expect you to review it as an Audio Book. I have not listened to the audio as I prefer to read for myself. This review is of the book, not the audio. Please take into consideration that as Ciao has a glitch over the placement of this book, I have not incorrectly placed this review here. When you go to this book's listing here and begin the review it treats it like an audio rather than the written work it is listed as! Thank you and enjoy the series!
Advantages: Addictive, Witty and Cleverly Written Disadvantages: You may just want to read the next one...
...he was spot on!
Dead Witch Walking is the first in a series of books about Rachel Morgan. In this world, forty years ago a genetically engineered virus killed half of the world's human population, and seeing their chance, the monsters that humans had unwittingly lived cheek by jowl with revealed themselves for what they really were. Having read Anita Blake, I was used to a world where vampires, werewolves and faeries are real creatures that are ... ...was always the case, but the benefit of Rachel Morgan's world is that you could potentially imagine this happening. The way that the humans have reacted to having the truth unveiled to them is interesting, as is the irrational fear that all humans have of tomatos (the virus was spread by the fruit). Additionally, in Anita Blake's world, anything different is usually bad. In this world, that isn't necessarily the case. It's interesting to see this ...
Sa1sysoo 02.04.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison
Advantages: Great story and character. Fluid and enthralling writting style. Disadvantages: None, if you have any sort of imagination.
Dead Witch Walking is the first book in Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series. The story is about a white witch (Rachel Morgan) who is also a runner (bounty-hunter) for the Inderland Security Service, a supernatural policing force set up when a deadly virus wipes out a large number of the world's human population forcing the hidden communities of supernatural beings to make themselves known. Tracking down law-breaking supernaturals in modern-day Cincinnati ... ...is tired of a recent list of crap assignments, such as picking up tax-evading trolls. Feeling under appreciated she wants to get out and start her own agency. The only problem is no one ever quits the I.S. and lives to tell about it. Especially when she takes the I.S.'s best runner with her, a living vampire named Ivy Tamwood.
Rachel is a marked woman, spending the time needed to set up her agency fending off attacks from fairy assassins and werewolves ...
anichick 19.06.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison
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Quick review of Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison
Rachel Hunter. Ex Indreland Runner/Bounty hunter and now unemployed with a price on her head!.
With Jenks the Pixi and Ivy the Living vampire,Rachel must stay alive long enough to pay off the bounty on her head,and dig the dirt on a suave ruthless crime lord. ...
Cyberleader 22.04.2008
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison
Advantages: Clear comparisons to real life and fab characters. Disadvantages: some charaters are underdeveloped
...kick-ass witch) who quits her dead end job and sets up home and buisness in a church with a vapire, Ivy, and a pixie clan, led by the love able Jenks, all the while dodging hitmen hired by her ex-boss.
While Rachel and Ivy are great characters, they are often upstaged by Jenks - a foul mouthed character who provieds most of the comedy- when all three are together and your left wanting more of Ivy's personality to show and to see less of her ice ...
superem08 29.05.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison
Advantages: Very gripping book! Disadvantages: Series can get a little repetitive.
...writing when I was given Dead Witch Walking by a friend. I started reading it that night, and was hooked. I bought the rest of the series that night over the internet, and set about reading them in order. I think I had a couple of hour's sleep that night; I had to stay up to read the rest of the story! I found it very gripping, mainly because the reader can really relate to the character. Dead Witch Walking is an excellent book. It focus on the life ... ...her assorted friends who consist of a Pixie, a vampire who has sworn off blood and a few others. In this book, Rachel quits her job and has to dodge death threats. The back story to this is great, and is very well thought out. The quality of the writing is really excellent, with a warm, friendly tone coming across to the reader. Kin Harrison is not afraid to include violence, and for me, this adds to the realistic tone of the book. People get hurt. ...
kookicat 22.11.2006 (23.11.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison
Product Information for "Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison" »
Product details
Type
Fiction
Genre
Horror
Title
Dead Witch Walking
Author
Kim Harrison
ISBN
61567191
EAN
9780061567193
Manufacturer's product description
Sexy bounty hunter and witch Rachel Morgan prowls the dark streets of Cincinnati, keeping tabs on the vampires and other creatures of the supernatural who prey on the city's innocent and vulnerable inhabitants.
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