Every Which Way But Dead (The Hollows, Book 3) | Kim Harrison

Every Which Way But Dead (The Hollows, Book 3) | Kim Harrison | On the right track

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Every Which Way Bu...

	Every Which Way But Dead (The Hollows, Book 3) Kim Harrison Eos, 2005 - 501 pages average customer review:based on 122 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Simply Amazing

Her books are a thrill-a-minute, extremely well written, and read like I'm at the movies! ... all I've got to say is WHRE'S THE MOVIE CONTRACT!

Jim

On the right track

This is the third entry in Kim Harrison's Hollows series about witch/investigator Rachel Morgan. I highly recommend you read the first two (Dead Witch Walking and The Good, the Bad & the Undead) before tackling this one or you'll be lost-plus it will ruin a few surprises if you ever backtrack and read the first two. Briefly, this series is set in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky (big ups to Covington/Newport) and is set in an alternate world where humans share space with vampires, weres, fairies and other assorted supernatural beings. All of whom came out of hiding after a manmade virus wiped out a large portion of the human population of the planet. Rachel is a witch that works in a detective agency with a living vampire and a pixy. Yes, a pixy. Just trust me when I say it's better than it sounds.

Unlike the previous two novels, this one hits the ground running with action that continues all the way to the conclusion. The book opens with Rachel summoning the demon Alagliarept. It seems Rachel is desperately trying to get out of being his familiar-an arrangement she was forced into at the end of book two. In the process, she rescues his former familiar-a 1000 year old elf named Ceri. Her boyfriend Nick has left her after being unable to deal with her accidentally making him her familiar, the vampire Piscary is in jail but still making trouble for her and her living vamp roommate Ivy, there's a new supervillain vying for control of Cincinnati's underground, Al the demon is more determined than ever to pull her into Hell with him, elf and semi-nemesis Trent Kalamack is still trying to make her work for him and-oh yeah-the other living vamp in Rachel's life, Kisten, has asked her out.

This book simply rocks. The action is non-stop, the alternate universe is elaborately drawn, the characters are mostly likable and engaging and there is chemistry aplenty. And if you are a Kisten fan, you will be happy to know that he and Rachel finally get closer in this book. What I didn't like is the levity from the first two books is almost gone. Although Rachel doesn't stupidly contaminate a crime scene by having a meaningless temper tantrum as she did in the second book, I did find myself missing the witch that stole the Howler's fish. This book and Rachel are much more serious. And what is almost a criminal literary crime, Rachel and her pixy business partner Jenks have a fight midway through over something kind of silly and he moves out, leaving a huge vacancy of humanity and comic relief. Likewise, Captain Edden and his son from the Federal Inderland Bureau (the human agency that polices supernatural crime) are MIA in this novel as well. I did enjoy Rachel growing more into her own as a witch however and I really loved the way that Harrison resolves the final battle between Rachel and the new villain.

Despite minor complaints, I really enjoyed this book and I've already picked up the next one in the series (A Fistful of Charms.) I found Kim Harrison after giving up on Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake novels which jumped the shark about 3 books ago. If you too are a refugee from that series or enjoy supernatural mystery, I think you'll be very happy here.

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Please get this author a copyeditor!

This is the third in the Rachel Morgan series about an earth witch private eye (sort of) in an alternate Cincinnati, where Were-creatures, vampires, elves, pixies, fairies, and more (and in several varieties of each) are part of the everyday world. Rachel is becoming a witch to be reckoned with, not least because of her close but uneasy relationships with her partner and her new boyfriend, both vampires. She's also a member of a Were's pack -- but only on paper and only for the insurance benefits. That's much of the fun, actually -- the ways in which non-humans deal with mundane American life and business. And vampire politics is fascinating. Her boyfriend is front-man for the criminal master vampire she managed to defeat to have sent to prison, so things aren't so cut-and-dried in her world. And her demonic connections are getting waaaaay out of hand. Harrison is finally getting the hang of character development and her plotlines are much more interesting than in her earlier work, I'm happy to say. There's a fair amount of torrid sex, too. On the other hand, she's still badly in need of an editor. "Precedence" does not mean the same thing as "precedent," and "conniving" and "contriving" are quite different words. Nor are "pained" and "painful" equivalent. A decent copyeditor would have caught all that. She also makes strange word-choices with some regularity, such as describing a room as "twenty feet tall" instead of "high." She says she never took any writing classes, only the usual English courses in school -- and I believe it. She must have been paying close attention, though, the day she discussed present participles because 80% of her verbs appear in that form. She also ought to declare a moratorium on the word "from" -- "my hands fell from him," "a gasp came from me," etc. Actually, it's almost as if English weren't her first language. Finally, you really have to treat this series as a single, very long novel because Harrison almost never gives you anything in the way of a backstory to explain something in a later volume. It wouldn't hurt to explain in passing *why* most humans can't stand ketchup. Very annoying, and it gets in the way of a good story.

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Every Which But Dead

The item was in perfect condition and arrived in the time estimated with no problem.

Every Which Way is Just OK

What it is about:
In the previous book Rachel Morgan made a deal with a demon. For the demon testify against a big bad vampire Rachel has to be his familiar. In this book Rachel pays up. In this book Rachel and her human boyfriend, Nick, are still having problems b/c Nick can't handle Rachel's use of magic especially when it involved him. To top it off Rachel starts flirting with another dangerous vampire. Throw in pissing off her partners and you got Every Which Way but Dead.

The Good:
I enjoyed meeting new characters like Ceri who might have something to contribute in future books. I am glad that Nick and Rachel are on the outs b/c I don't really like Nick. Although Rachel hates Trent I like him and like the scenes he is in.

The Bad:
In this book there seems to be a lot of the same old same old. Rachel is battling the same demon, trying not to let Ivy bite her, and trying to resist sexy vampires. It gets a little old and annoying. How much more can these characters whine? Also If you haven't read book 2 you probably should b/c you will be a little confused about some of things that are happening in this book. I couldn't understand how all of a sudden Rachel is dating a bad guy. It is a little disconcerting...

Conclusion:
The feels a little slow but picks up towards the end and you get to meet more characters that will be interesting later. I am a little worried that Rachel is getting to cliqued and is going to start sleeping with all the species she can. All in all this entire book is just ok. I am questioning where Harrison is taking this series and am worried it is going downhill.

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