Condemned to death for black magic and shunned, Rachel Morgan has three days to somehow get to the annual witches convention in San Francisco and clear her name. If she fails, the only way she can escape death is to live in the demonic ever after . . . for ever after.
Banned from the flight lists, Rachel teams up with elven tycoon Trent Kalamack, headed for the West Coast for his own mysterious business. But Rachel isn’t the only passenger along for the ride. Can a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car survive for over 2,300 miles? And that’s not counting the assassin on their tail.
A fearsome demon walks the sunlight, freed after centuries of torment to slay the innocent and devour souls. But his ultimate prey is Rachel Morgan. While the powerful witch with nerves of steel will do whatever it takes to stay alive, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.
Kim Harrison’s Hollows is one of my must-have series. Her characters are some of my favorites in the Urban Fantasy genre. Take pixy Jenks, for example; he’s been around since the very first book in the series. We were told back then that pixies had a shelf life, but somehow Jenks has defied that death date and kept on ticking. Hell, if Harrison kills off Jenks, she would have a full-on fan revolt.
“Tink's a Disney whore!” - Jenks
This is the ninth book in the series, and focuses on somewhere different than the Hollows. We go on a road trip! ROAD TRIP! (Sorry, I had to.) It’s a departure for the series, since we usually stick to one or two places within the world. Even better, Rachel is trapped in a car with Trent, her “elven frenemy.” Their love/hate relationship is another favorite in the series, but no-one can replace Kisten. *cries again*
“You need a new hobby, Rachel. Something other than nasty little men with visions of world domination.”
Trent has always been the rich elf with the attitude problem, but in Pale Demon we get more of Trent on a personal level. Not out there to kill Rachel, but to ask for her help (I know, that shocked the hell out of me too. Trent asking Rachel for help? The world must be ending. Or at least the series. *sob*) But together they made for an interesting addition to the whole road-trip scenario.
“You think Ivy's a planner? She has nothing on a motivated elf with too much money.”
Of course I’d be remiss not to mention Ivy, Rachel’s vampire best friend. I have issues with Ivy—sometimes I love her and sometimes I hate her, kinda like with Trent and Rachel’s relationship. But Ivy has some great lines, even if she is emo-vamp most of the time.
But as usual, some of the best lines belong to Rachel herself:
'You need to be clever to best him. Are you clever, Rachel?'
Oh God. She wants to know if I’m clever. I glanced at Al, and he stared at me, then shrugged. Licking my lips, I said, 'It’s the shiny pot that puts a hole in the sky.'Al’s mouth dropped open, but Newt thought about it, her expression thoughtful and her fingers finally leaving her knife. 'Very true,' she said as she eased back into the cushions.
With a soft click of his teeth, Al’s mouth shut. His eyes were cross, and he seemed peeved that I’d found a way to satisfy her without compromising myself at all.
I’ll be sad when this series comes to an end, but the characters will always have a place in my heart and don’t blame me if you, like me, accidentally scream out “Tink's Panties” instead of the f-bomb (blame Jenks!).
Natasha Carty reviews Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy on her website WickedLilPixie.com and lives in Toronto, Canada, with her cat Seamus.
