Saturday, April 3, 2010

Review: Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison




Title: Dead Witch Walking
Author: Kim Harrison
Release Date: July 1, 2004
Publisher: HarperTorch
Number of pages:  432

ISBN-10: 0060572965
ISBN-13:  978-0060572969









Description from Goodreads:


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.

My thoughts:

Dead Witch Walking is the first book in the Rachel Morgan series. I’ve read so many rave reviews about this series, and couldn’t wait to read it. Sony offered it as a free download so I had no excuse to put off starting this series any longer.

I really wanted to fall in love with this series, but only managed to fall in like. I found it difficult to keep up with what was happening at first. The author didn’t offer an explanation for how or why the preternatural creatures of the world had come out of hiding until a few chapters into the novel. I would have loved to have had an explanation sooner so that I wouldn’t have felt so confused. The book seemed to drag on at times. It easily could have been 50 pages shorter, and still a good quality story. I felt it was an all around bumpy introduction to this series. This seems to be a common problem for first books due to all the information the author has to get across to the reader. It definately is not enough to make me give up on the series. I’ve heard it improves as it goes, and I plan to read the next book with an open mind.

I don't want to just focus on the negative so let me tell you what I liked about Dead Witch Walking. I really liked Rachel. She was so normal even though she’s a witch. She complained about her frizzy hair, lack of cleavage, and was self conscious about her abilities to do “witchy” stuff. It made her easy to relate to. Jenks, the pixy, was a huge asset to the story, and an excellent source of comic relief. I’m not sure how I feel about Rachel’s vampire roommate, Ivy. I’m definitely curious about her intense interest in Rachel. I’m looking forward to visiting The Hollows again in the near future.

Find out more info about Kim Harrison on her website.

4 comments:

  1. When I bought this book at the bookstore, the clerk said "It's a great series but you have to give it a chance past the first book. Trust me, you'll like it." I kind of felt the same way you did after this book, but with the clerk's comments in mind, I went on to book two then the rest of the series. Definitely give it one more book before you decide whether or not you want to continue reading this series.

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  2. I've heard that some have a hard time with the first book. But I loved it and the series only gets better! I hope you'll give it a chance because this is one of my all time favorite series. They only get better and better!

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  3. This was a good review to read right now. I've just started this one as well and am having some of the same feelings you describe. Will continue on for sure to see how it all plays out.

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  4. I got this as a free ebook. Haven't read it yet. I'm waiting for someone to drop a kindle in my lap lol!

    I've heard the same on the series gets better!

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