The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (Hollows, #2)

by Kim Harrison

[celinenyx]

Review of third read

I rarely truly binge. I am often a restless person, someone who gets up after reading for an hour, someone who will watch ten TV shows halfway through the season, rarely finishing any of them. Even when I love a series, or a book, or whatever, the odds are slim of me following it up in any consistent way.

Which I why I find it fascinating that I read two Hollows books right after each other without a second of unrest or boredom. No need to pick up another novel in between. Kim Harrison writes so wonderfully smoothly - her scenes flow into the other, her character's banter fueling the pace in moments where plot takes a back seat. Most of the characters are flawed, well-rounded, and fully themselves. The triad at the core of the series, witch Rachel, pixie Jenks, and vampire Ivy, balance each other in interesting ways. Their family bond (though they don't see it yet as one) is what makes me return to these books. It scratches an itch that TV shows such as Friends and Gilmore Girls do as well - a group of people that care for each other, not romantically involved, and who always stand up for each other at the end of the day.

Finally, I think Ms Harrison has done a great job on Trent. Reckless businessman, mobster, and all-round mysterious, he is the character I find most intriguing. His collected manner is a fantastic foil to Rachel's fiery temper, and he is deliciously evil yet vulnerable. I never read the last few books of this series, and I am now looking forward to see more of his layers peeled away.

Review of second read

In honour of the release of Pale Demon, the ninth book in the Hollows series, on the 22rd this month I'm rereading the whole series.

When I first read these book I didn't even know the "urban fantasy" was a genre and I devoured these books, enjoying every bit of them. They introduced me to this wonderful world where humans, vampires, werewolves and witches all live together in a contemporary world. Every detail about this world was new for me, never having read anything like it.

And even though my innocent fascination is gone after reading my share of urban fantasy, this series is in my opinion one of the best out there. It has the right mix of fast-paced action, suspense, true friendships, drama, character development and even some romance to keep the story interesting.

In this book the FIB (the investigation bureau for non-Inderlanders, also known as those boring human beings) contracts white earth witch Rachel to help find something or someone that's killing ley line witches one after the other. The trail leads to extremely rich and attractive young bachelor Trent Kalamack, that also runs most of Cincinatti's underground. But as always, nothing is what it seems...

Rachel is flawed, but that makes her so much easier to relate to. She doesn't always make the right decisions and is extremely stubborn at times which makes me love her even more. She cares about her family and her close friends/business partners and she tries to make the best out of everything. Throughout the series we see her struggling with her morals. What is the line between good and bad? In this book she starts to realise not everything is black and white. Even though she has sworn never to deal with demons (as people who are stupid enough to do that usually end up dead or worse) the smut on her soul is only increasing. And what to do about that demon-summoning boyfriend?

These books are quite long (about 450 pages in paperback) you read through them at an incredible speed. I like reading about how Rachel deals with her blood-craving living vampire roommate, her delicate relation with the FIB, the investigation part of the story. Kim Harrison's writing is clear and adds to the story, describing the witch spells and other magic in detail.

I would also like to give Ms. Harrison credit of her incredible cast of secondary characters. They all have their distinct personalities, and I love them all for that. Especially the mysterious Trent is awesome, and the tongue-in-cheek pixy Jenks is hilarious.

Even if you've already know where the story is going these books are extremely engrossing. I would recommend them to everyone interested in paranormal stories. Even if the books take some time to get into at the start, they are totally worth it.