Kitty Goes to Washington (Kitty Norville, #2)

by Carrie Vaughn

The Center for the Study of Paranatural Biology has gone public with scientific verification of vampires, werewolves, and the like. As the country's only outed werewolf celebrity, Kitty Norville is called to testify before a Senate special committee investigating this new information. She has taken her talk radio show "The Midnight Hour" on the road and travels to Washington, D.C. for the hearings.Once there, she meets a colorful series of local personalities, all of whom seem to have secret agendas: Alette, the vampire mistress of the city; Luis, an uber-hot Brazilian were-jaguar; Fritz, a grizzled old werewolf and possible Nazi in hiding; Roger Stockton, an enthusiastic reporter who wants to catch Kitty shape-shifting on film; Senator Joseph Duke, the paranoid Bible-thumper who chairs the committee; Elijah Smith, self-proclaimed faith healer to the supernatural. And Doctor Paul Flemming, the scientist in charge of the Center for the Study of Paranatural Biology, who seems strangely reluctant to discuss where his research has taken him.As usual, Kitty just wants to speak her mind and stand up for herself.
But when so many people see her as a means to their own ends, she can't run fast enough to stay out of trouble.

• ISBN10: 0446616427
• ISBN13: 9780446616423
• Publish Date: 1 July 2006
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 13 December 2008
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Little, Brown & Company
• Format: Paperback (A-Format (178x111 mm))
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Berls]

My Initial Reaction...

I've grown to really love Kitty with Kitty Goes to Washington and I'm excited to be getting to know some secondary characters a bit better too! Some (Cormick!), though, remain too elusive!!

The Narration...

I feel about the same as I did with book 1 about Marguerite Gavin's reading of Kitty Goes to Washington - a solid B+. To reiterate what I said in that review - she's IS Kitty. Perfect. She has the voice you'd expect a radio talkshow host to have. And then she's ok with the other characters - the male voices inparticular sound like a woman doing a male voice, rather than a true male voice. But they're distinct and it's easy to get comfortable with her reading. I'll be continuing with an audio read of this series for sure.

The Characters...

When I first started book 1 I did not like Kitty, because she was just so submissive. But by the end of that book she had really grown and I'm happy to report that the new Kitty has MOSTLY stuck with Kitty Goes to Washington. I did feel like we saw a bit of her squeemishness rearing it's ugly head, but to be fair she spent four years as a submissive wolf and that's going to take some time to work out of your system. And she's not exactly in the best situation for building confidence. Kitty's been called to appear before the US Senate as a principal witness for their investigation into supernatural beings. So yeah, the girl's got every right to be a bit squeemish!

One of my complaints in the previous book was that I just didn't get a good feeling for secondary characters and I have to say, Kitty Goes to Washington did much better on that front. It helped that we saw some repeat characters - like her lawyer, Ben - who, BTW, can I just say I ADORE!! He's everything a lawyer should be but never seems to be, plus funny and so fiercely loyal. I remain, however, extremely frustrated about Cormick. I know the plot is gradually taking us towards them hooking up - it has to be! - but I really want to know this guy better. He shows up just enough to keep me interested and curious but not enough to really know him. I do like that he seems to be on Kitty's side and there was one moment in particular where I really liked him and Ben for being there for her.

The Story...

The story for Kitty Goes to Washington kept me glued from beginning to end. Kitty's been called to Washington to testify before the US Senate as an expert on things that go bump in the night. The politics and uncertainty about everyone's agenda kept me anxious, particularly about Kitty's testimony.

But, thankfully, Kitty Goes to Washington wasn't all politics. It was also Kitty trying to navigate being a lone wolf. Not having a pack is rough, particularly on full moon runs. But on top of that, Kitty constantly has to enter unknown territories - in Kitty Goes to Washington this element is heightened by a warning she gets from the local vampire queen, Giselle, that it's dangerous for a lone shifter in Washington. So Kitty's staying with a Vampire - not that she really had a choice - dealing with government bigwigs, and trying to navigate the shifter community. I really enjoyed all the new characters we were introduced to though her time in Washington and found those interactions some of the most enjoyable.

I do have one BIG complaint though. My favorite part of the first book was that HUGE sections of the book were told through Kitty's radio show. I loved that. It was so unique and fun. And it was so missing in Kitty Goes to Washington We still had her show, but it was really such a backdrop to the book, rather than front and center like before. To be fair, Kitty Goes to Washington covers a much shorter time-span, meaning less radio shows and a lot happens that doesn't make sense for the show. So I can't say this made me not like the book - but I did miss it, a lot.

Concluding Sentiments...

I'm loving Kitty and, like in book 1, Kitty Goes to Washington managed to grip my attention and pull my emotions all over the place. I'm looking forward to reading book 3!

[ibeforem]

I actually liked this second Kitty book a little more than the first. There wasn’t all of the pack politics, and Kitty is starting to show her backbone. Of course, there are politics of a different sort at work here, as Kitty has been subpoenaed to testify in front of a congressional committee about the existence of preternatural beings. She finds herself bombarded from all sides, by not only a fire-and-brimstone conservative senator and a tabloid reporter, but also the mistress of DC’s vampires. I did find the confrontation with cult leader Elijah Smith to be a little too quick, almost an afterthought. I think there should have been some more buildup for that storyline. But overall, I really liked this and will definitely be continuing with the series. And hopefully, there will be more of were-jaguar Luis!