Review of Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows #1), by Kim Harrison



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. (From GoodReads)


My Review

Dead Witch Walking is a book that I might have never found if not for the Preternatura Book Club ran by Suzanne Johnson at her blog. That would have been such a shame. Dead Witch Walking was a true pleasure to read.

The world that Kim Harrison built is truly ingenius. She has firmly woven the human and supernatural world into one unit. In the interest of not revealing spoilers, I'm not going to tell what brought about The Turn (kind of like The Great Revelation in True Blood), but it just makes me shake my head and laugh at the sheer brilliance.

Main character, Rachel Morgan is just so darn wonderful. She is the ultimate girl's girl, meaning a girl just can't help but love her. She is so, well, Rachel. If you've read the books, you'll know what I mean. She has the best of intentions, but sometimes, the follow through is flawed. She tends to jump into perilous situations without thinking. Most of the time to disasterous results. She is loyal and determined to use her powers only for good, no matter what.  Rachel is surrounded by a tremendous "supporting" cast. I say "supporting" because in many ways they steal the book. Ivy is a living vampire. She is a compulsive over-planner, methodical and pretty much the complete opposite of Rachel. There is also Trent Kalamack, a shrewd, ruthless, and (grudgingly admitted)handsome businessman that Rachel is determined to bring down. Seriously, my face is scrunching up into an ugly grimace just thinking about him. Rachel and Trent play a dangerous cat and mouse game throughout the book. Each remains determined to maintain the upper hand. And Jenks. Oh, Jenks. I think I have a little wee crush on Jenks, the magnificent pixie. The little guy possibly has the best one-liners I've ever read. He is my favorite character in the book.

Truthfully, I did have a little trouble maintaing my focus through parts of the book. The parts of the book that kind of backslid into the world-building started to lose interest for me. I just felt it went on a bit too long. But with the world of The Hollows fully established,  I don't think that will be much of a problem moving forward. This series has a cult-like following and I've heard that this series gets better with each successive book. So I am ready to jump into Book 2, The Good, the Bad, and the Undead with no hesitation.

You can find Dead Witch Walking at:

GoodReads  |  Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

Mass Market Paperback, 416 pages

Published April 27th 2004 by HarperTorch

* This is a book that I won in a giveaway by no one affiliated with the author/publisher. *