Pale Demon (The Hollows/Rachel Morgan #9)
Kim Harrison
Published: Feb. 22, 2011 (Eos)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon
Rating (out of 5): 5 stars
Note: This review is spoiler-free (yay), but does may give away events from earlier novels. If you haven’t started The Hollows series, you can check out our review of Dead Witch Walking, the first novel.
Things were already tense for Rachel Morgan at the end of Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows #8). Now she’s got the chance to be absolved for using black magic. All she has to do is get to California in one piece and hope that the necessary people keep their words. Things are never that easy, though, and the Coven would really like it if she just didn’t make it.
She sure can’t get through security at the airport, so the only option is to take her mom’s Buick cross country. And going solo? Hardly. Our favorite pixy Jenks, vampire BFF Ivy and even that scheming elf Trent come along for the otherworld version of the Great American Road Trip.
Kim Harrison has a great way of using mundane situations to propel her characters and the humor. We all know spending days cooped up in the car with your family — and there’s no doubt Jenks and Ivy count as family here — can make tension percolate. Add in being hunted, fire, ancient evil and tons of running for our lives and you have so many of the pieces that make this series so strong.
We’re keeping this review spoiler-free, but we promise there are several moments that will have you shaking your head, muttering “oh no” and begging for a bit more. In other words, we promise Pale Demon is freaking amazing.
Overall, Pale Demon is impressive in that nine books in Rachel Morgan has grown a crazy amount and we love her all the more. The plot twists were perfectly placed and the darkness always balanced with just the right amount of pixy swearing to lighten the mood. Sometimes longer series lose their relevance and core connection, but Pale Demon does just the opposite. If nothing else, it further invigorates the series and characters. We have no clue where Harrison will take the series next but we’re already dying for more.
Sexual content: Allusions to rape and a few sexual scenes
Great review! This is yet another reason that I need to pick up The Hallow series and start reading it!
It’s on my TBR list but that is so out of control right now I don’t know when I’ll ever be able to get everything read. LOL. Back to the topic, thanks so much for this review…I think this is the next series I should check out after BDB.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Deanna Cox and The Spinecracker, Vampire Book Club. Vampire Book Club said: Review: PALE DEMON by Kim Harrison (The Hollows #9) http://ow.ly/40pin Two words: Freaking amazing. @HarperVoyagerUS [...]
Great review…I have this sitting on my Kindle, ready to read, and haven’t gotten to it yet, arrrghhhh
soo many books…
I agree, totally. I’m amazed that this is book 9 All the books are still so darn intriguing…STILL!
[...] tease for next The Hollows novel I really loved Pale Demon, and the end left things wide open for Kim Harrison. I’m excited to see just where [...]
[...] more: Read the VBC spoiler-free review of Pale Demon Purchase: Book Depository or [...]
[...] I am all kinds of excited to read more of Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series. The last novel, Pale Demon, really revitalized the series and I’m excited to see where Harrison takes Rachel, Trent, Ivy [...]
[...] growth or tired plots, but I was sure The Hollows series was free of a shift into banality after reading Pale Demon. As a matter of fact, the last Hollows book was one of my favorites in the series and [...]