Synopsis: Kitty Norville is back and in more trouble than ever.  Her recent run-in with werewolves traumatized by the horrors of war has made her start wondering how long the US government might have been covertly using werewolves in combat. Have any famous names in our own history might have actually been supernatural?  She’s got suspicions about William Tecumseh Sherman.  Then an interview with the right vampire puts her on the trail of Wyatt Earp, vampire hunter.

But her investigations lead her to a clue about enigmatic vampire Roman and the mysterious Long Game played by vampires through the millennia.  That, plus a call for help from a powerful vampire ally in San Francisco, suddenly puts Kitty and her friends on the supernatural chessboard, pieces in dangerously active play.  And Kitty Norville is never content to be a pawn. . . . –Goodreads

Review: I literally went into four different book stores to find this one because we weren’t getting any in stock where I work and I just couldn’t wait to read the next Kitty book. I ended up finding it in a little SciFi/Fantasy only store in Toronto, and it was well worth the hunt.

I found the mood and pacing of this book to be a little different from what I usually expect from this series. There was a little less humor but Kitty was still Kitty. Snarky and troublesome as ever. I’m really enjoying watching her and her husband, Ben as their relationship evolves. So many fantasy relationships are just way too over the top but with Kitty and Ben you can just tell that they really love each other. They’re a team and they count on each other. It’s just a really healthy relationship that evolved from a friendship. I’m also glad the love triangle aspect has pretty much faded into the background. If there is going to be issues with Kitty and Ben down the line, it shouldn’t come from Cormac.

All that being said, the romance is definitely not the central focus of this series, and that’s part of what makes it so refreshing. Kitty and crew have taken off to San Fransisco to help out an old friend (who incidentally, I liked a lot less this time around then when we first met her). There is not a lot of actual werewolfishness in this one, but her wolf is always a part of Kitty so it’s always playing into the storyline somehow.

If you’re a Carrie Vaughn fan, or if this book sounds intriguing… be sure to check back next week for a week long celebration of the wonderful Carrie Vaughn and her books. Lots of reviews, giveaways and even an interview with Carrie herself. I know I’ve been hyping it a lot… but I’m just so darn excited. Plus, since I’m doing most of next months posts in advance that means I might actually get some time to go back and reread Kitty and the Midnight Hour

Rating:

Second Opinions
@ A GREAT Read
@ Urban Fantasy Investigations
@ RT Book Reviews