arianej's Full Review: Kim Harrison - Dead Witch Walking
Rachel Morgan is in trouble. A witch and a bounty hunter with a string of captures gone bad, she's looking to break out of her contract with the Interlander Agency. But the last person to try and break their contract ended up in bits and pieces, and Rachel is determined to avoid having her remains collected in a shoebox.
If the leprechaun she's just nabbed for tax evasion can grant her three wishes, Rachel just might have a chance to escape an assassination hit from her ex-employer and launch a new career. When she seizes the chance to become a freelance bounty hunter, she finds herself unexpectedly joined by Ivy, a gorgeous vampire and the Agency's top runner, and a cranky pixie named Jenks as back-up.
Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking is a smart, funny supernatural novel set in and around... Cincinnati, Ohio. A deadly virus has ravaged the world, leaving behind a greatly decimated human population and a disease-resistant population of "Interlanders": witches, warlocks, vampires, pixies, were-beasts and many others who've been living incognito alongside humans all along. Now suddenly aware and deeply wary of one another, the human population mainly sticks to Cincinnati, while across the river Interlanders work and play in an area now known as "The Hollows".
Rachel and her unlikely allies must pay out her contract and call off the assassins, and she believes she's found a way-- investigating a local prominent businessman and possible druglord and exposing his crimes for what they are. It's a good plan, and if Rachel can evade the werewolf hit squads, she just might make it.
Strengths
With a premise like that, comparisons to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series is inevitable, but inaccurate. Rachel Morgan is very little like Anita-- awkward, clumsy, impulsive and a bit naive, she's more like a the main character in a chick-lit novel than a seductive butt-kicking vampire executioner. And you know what? I'm glad. Rachel is far more human and realistic, someone I could more easily identify with in a heroine.
She's confident enough to enjoy being good at her job, but not so arrogant she can't admit she's screwed up. Rachel's got emotional baggage, but she deals with it as best she can, without whining or using it as a flimsy excuse to engage in (really laughable) multi-species sex orgies.
While there is some interesting sexual tension between her and Ivy (living with even a non-practicing vampire is a stressful business) and later on, between Rachel and another character, it's very well done and often humorous, leading up to some of the funniest parts in the book. One of the best examples is after an uncomfortable encounter with Ivy as both adjust to being partners and roommates, where Ivy gives Rachel a "vampire dating guide" of Do's and Don'ts. Much to her dismay, Rachel discovers she's been sending all the wrong signals if she doesn't want to end up Ivy's "snack", and she's even more horrified when a fellow passenger points out that there are illustrations!
But then I hesitated, squinting as I became confused. Was there a third person in there? And what the hell was that bolted to the wall?
"This way," the man said, reaching over the seat and turning the book sideways in my grip. His cologne was woodsy and clean. It was as nice as his easy voice and soft hand intentionally brushing mine. He was the classic vampire flunky: nice build, dressed in black, and a frightening need to be liked. Not to mention a lack of understanding personal space.
I tore my gaze from his when he tapped the book. "Oh," I said, as it suddenly made sense. "Oh!" I exclaimed, warming as I slammed the book shut. There were two people. Three if you count the one with the... whatever it was.
My eyes rose to his. "You survived that?" I asked, not sure if I should be appalled, horrified or impressed.
His gaze went almost reverent. "Yeah. I couldn't move my legs for two weeks, but it was worth it."
Also worth mentioning are the minor characters, who are every bit as developed and interesting as Rachel is-- and even more so, in some cases. Jenks is a pixie, small enough to perch on Rachel's dangling earring when she's on a run, but a valuable ally who can smell out trouble whether it's in the form of avenging fairy hordes or werewolves stalking in the garden.
Born into vampirism to a vampire mother, Ivy is the last living heir of her house, and has sworn off drinking blood. Although she doesn't have the full-fledged powers of the truly dead Undead, she has enough of the vampiric gift to make her an excellent bounty hunter. In fact, it would seem like she hardly needs a partner at all, so why is she so intent with staying close to Rachel?
Weaknesses
The other characters are at times so good that Rachel can get a little lost in the mix. She's more the EveryWoman, and despite the story being told from first person point of view from her perspective, she can get a little eclipsed by Jenks and Ivy, who are nothing if not colorful. Quite a few of the book's ongoing mysteries deal with Ivy and her hidden agenda regarding their new partnership, something I look forward to reading more about later on in the series.
But I'd have to say the main weakness in the book is in the setting. Harrison's world is a very interesting one, and I really liked learning little tidbits here and there about how human society vs. Interlander society function in this post-plague world. I also loved the little details and references the author included about Cincinnati and its surrounding area, which are recognizable to someone familiar with the city.
The problem is that the premise of the deadly virus and subsequent banning of all biological research feels a tiny bit weak, and that's what a lot of the plot is based on. Even if the human population was hard hit by a bioengineered virus, would humans really go that far and outlaw medical research? Without seeing how such a scenario might develop from point A to point B, it's hard to swallow. It doesn't help that we receive nearly all this set-up and context in one large info-dump early on in the book.
That's sort of inevitable in an alternate history kind of tale like this one, however, and the rest of the book was good enough to make me forget its vulnerabilities. I stayed up far later than I should have just to finish it.
Recommendations
If the Anita Blake series makes you roll your eyes, give this novel a try. The cast of characters is fairly strong, and so is the action. If you can forgive the little bobble in the beginning, Dead Witch Walking gets better as the story progresses. Harrison does a great job with pacing, always teasing the reader on with clues about what's going on, but leaves plenty of material and mystery for another book. Most importantly, neither the author nor the novel ever takes itself too seriously-- it's all in good fun.
I never expect the first book in a series to be entirely smooth and polished, and this one was more than enough to get me interested in picking up the rest: The Good, The Bad, And The Undead, Every Which Way But Dead, A Fistful of Charms, For a Few Demons More and to be released in 2008, The Outlaw Demon Wails.
All the creatures of the night gather in "the Hollows" of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party...and to feed.Vampires rule the darkness in a predat...More at HotBookSale
Fun, sassy, and filled with action, humor, and romance, Dead Witch Walking makes the perfect summer read for anyone who likes vampires, paranormal fan...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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