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Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows #1)

by Kim Harrison (Goodreads Author)

4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 · rating details · 50,281 ratings · 2,511 reviews

All the creatures of the night gather in "the Hollows" of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party...and to feed.

Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining - and it's Rachel Morgan's job to keep that world civilized.

A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she'll bring 'em back alive, dead...or un...more

Mass Market Paperback, 1st Edition, 416 pages

Published July 1st 2004 by HarperTorch (first published April 27th 2004)

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Jan 10, 2011 Kat Kennedy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: the-great-shelf-of-meh

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. By now most people know that the Bottle-Nose Dolphin is pretty much one of the biggest assholes in the animal kingdom. You know, for randomly hunting down and stalking and killing porpoises, sharks and baby dolphins for no other reason than the pure joy of murdering them in cold blood and so that then can then go off and rape other dolphins.

However, the African Bat Bug could easily surpass the dolphin as one of nature's biggest bastards. Male Bat Bugs seem to have decided one day to pass over th...more By now most people know that the Bottle-Nose Dolphin is pretty much one of the biggest assholes in the animal kingdom. You know, for randomly hunting down and stalking and killing porpoises, sharks and baby dolphins for no other reason than the pure joy of murdering them in cold blood and so that then can then go off and rape other dolphins.

However, the African Bat Bug could easily surpass the dolphin as one of nature's biggest bastards. Male Bat Bugs seem to have decided one day to pass over the perfectly good female genitalia in order to stab the females in the gut with their bug-wangs. Then they go and stab other males in the gut. Basically they think abdominal wounds are just freakin' hilarious. Nobody knows why these bugs are so damn sadistic.

bug woman

The male African Bat Bug would really like to stab her in the gut. If she were Peter Parker, then I'd kind of understand the compulsion

After reading Dead Witch Walking, I think I empathize. There is a good story here. A solid story. Just as functional as the female African Bat Bug's vagina (not that I've ever seen one...) yet Kim Harrison doesn't seem content to make this story easy or pleasurable to read. She kind of wants to cause us pain.

The part where Nick made a pact with the demon (I'll let you go if you take us home kind of agreements) and then the demon decided later that they owed it more, was just dumb! If you get in a taxi and the driver tells you it'll be fifty bucks home only to wait until you get out of the car and stab you with a knife for not giving it $150, then you'd kind of think that's ridiculous. Yet everyone just seems to go along with this.

Rachel can't even quit her freakin' job without having someone try to kill her. This is a world that is just really unnecessarily annoying. I understand she wants to ratchet up the action, but most of it just doesn't make sense. Once again, perfectly good vagina, and Harrison stabs us in the gut.

So whilst I didn't think this book was quite as horrible as many other people seem to feel it was, I also can't say that I loved it or was particularly fond of it. I'm interested to see where Harrison takes the characters. The writing was okay and the characterization was interesting and fresh.

I applaud Harrison for being somewhat unconventional in her writing and storyline, but there's a different between spicing up the bedroom and splicing up someone's abdominal area with your giant bug banger.(less)

47 likes · like · see review

Nov 27, 2009 Lady Valee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

What can I say that hasn't been said?

The action was good, not great, but good. At the end it got way better, but still not as good as some books I gave 4 stars in UF. Some parts were really slow, specially at the beginning. And the fact that it has no romance at all was something that bothered me. It's not only that it has no romance, she doesn't even get interested in someone.
I was expecting much more form this book as everybody was talking about this series, I mean it was a good read, and read...more

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Jan 26, 2010 Kati rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008, in-english, het, urban-fantasy, work-translations, 2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Re-read it for work-related purposes. And actually, it was much better the second time around. Or maybe Anita Blake's obnoxiousness simply desensitized me. Rachel is still dumb, but at least I like all the other characters, or at least I find them interesting enough to keep me going!

08/07/01 This book is lame, there is no other way how to say it. Rachel Morgan, the main heroine, is a little miss know-it-all and at the same time she is embarrassingly stupid. She considers herself a good runner (a...more

16 likes · like · see review

May 26, 2010 FlibBityFLooB rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010, loved-the-audiobook-narration, witty-i-am-not, magic, angels-or-demons, vampires, fae-or-elves, shifters, husband-enjoyed-book, urban-fantasy-or-paranormal

4.5/5 stars. *singing* Attttaccccccckkkk of the killer tomatoes! How can I resist starting this review without that lovely song? I can’t say I’ve ever read a book with so much tomato-hate. Genetically mutated tomatoes have caused much havoc to the human world in the Rachel Morgan universe, and that sets up an interesting world where humans live with pixies, witches, vampires, and other creatures of the night.

After I finished the book, I read a lot of reviews on amazon where people strongly disl...more 4.5/5 stars. *singing* Attttaccccccckkkk of the killer tomatoes! How can I resist starting this review without that lovely song? I can’t say I’ve ever read a book with so much tomato-hate. Genetically mutated tomatoes have caused much havoc to the human world in the Rachel Morgan universe, and that sets up an interesting world where humans live with pixies, witches, vampires, and other creatures of the night.

After I finished the book, I read a lot of reviews on amazon where people strongly disliked the book. I, happily, am not going to be one of those people. I believe that I am going to grow to really enjoy this series. It features some of my favorite urban fantasy elements – strong female, snarky humor, characters that are enigmas where you can’t tell if they’re really good or bad, and good sexual tension. I also felt like it was an original storyline with the various things that happened to Rachel throughout the story. I certainly couldn’t have seen the mink/rat scenes coming! There was a fair amount of world-building that took place in the novel, but I didn’t feel overly intimated with learning character names and places the way I feel in some series. I do admit, however, that I re-read the first couple chapters after making it about 40 pages into the book to reacquaint myself with everything that had happened.

I really enjoyed the relationship between Ivy and Rachel in the book. It was interesting to try to determine whether Ivy had ulterior motives for quitting her job and moving in with Rachel. I wonder if I will learn more about that as I read future books in the series. I also really enjoyed the character of Trent. He was intriguing because he was a bit of a puzzle and Rachel had a love/hate thing going on with him during the novel. I like complicated characters in my books.

I listened to parts of this book in audiobook form and read sections of it on my free kindle download as well. The narrator on the audiobook had some strange voices for some of the characters, but I grew to really like them after a while. As an example: Jenks, the pixie, sounds a bit like a stereotypical 1920s gangster with a pixie edge. A little weird, but fun to listen to :) Ivy, Rachel’s vampire seducing roommate, had a very breathy/husky voice in the audiobook. At first I was a bit annoyed by that, but I grew to think that the voice fit her character’s personality fairly well.

So, you may wonder why I’m giving this book 4.5 stars instead of an outright 5? The answer for me lies in the action and sexual tension. I felt there could have been more of both in the story, but I definitely see hints of good action and sexual tension to come in the series. So, I am excited about that.
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Aug 06, 2007 Amy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fifantasy

Hated, hated, hated this book. Rachel Morgan got on my last nerve, and by the end, I was ready for her to get killed. However, her partners Jinx and Ivy were loads of fun.

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Mar 01, 2012 Lady Jaye rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012, stars-2, did-not-like-it, first-in-series, magic, part-of-a-series, pb-demons, pb-werewolves-or-shapeshifters, pb-other, people-magic-users, slap-this-heroine, pb-vampires, new-to-me-author, pb-fae

Er...ok. So this is not going to be a complimentary review, as you've probably already guessed by the rating.

I am a character-driven reader. I don't necessarily have to love a character to bits, but if I can get behind him/her, then I will come along for the ride, and be willing to overlook a lot of things, like faulty plotting. If I don't like the character, well, then I enjoy the book less, and become somewhat cranky. I notice choppy plotting/not-very-good writing.

I am not a plot-driven rea...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, didn-t-finish

First to you who like this, I'm sorry. We can't all like the same books.

I picked this up because it was recommended on the "What to read while you're waiting for the next Dresden book" thread. So:

First I'm not a romance fan to begin with and I can pretty much say that I dislike every PNR (paranormal romance) I've ever "accidentally" picked up. Now, I can hear some of you saying, but this isn't PNR. At least the recommendation I went with said it wasn't. But if it's not, it's close enough for me....more First to you who like this, I'm sorry. We can't all like the same books.

I picked this up because it was recommended on the "What to read while you're waiting for the next Dresden book" thread. So:

First I'm not a romance fan to begin with and I can pretty much say that I dislike every PNR (paranormal romance) I've ever "accidentally" picked up. Now, I can hear some of you saying, but this isn't PNR. At least the recommendation I went with said it wasn't. But if it's not, it's close enough for me.

I almost put this book down 3 times before I finally did. I wanted to like it, I wanted to find an urban fantasy I'd like...really, I did. I won't list the points where I almost quit, or the place I finally hit the wall, yelled that's enough and put it straight into the back to the library stack, not until we get below a spoiler warning.

The bottom line is the plot sounded fair to good, a bounty hunting witch who gets on the bad side of her own former agency and has a price placed on her head. Unfortunately the book got bogged down. We start out with Rachel on the "bust" of a leprechaun. She's fed up, it seems to her that her agency (her boss)has been slighting her and wants her to quit...so she does. It doesn't however go the way she planned.

The book tried several times to pick up it's story line and move along, but it kept bogging down in exploration of Rachel's life. Not in the way other books do with their characters, filling in the corners of the world, fleshing out what we need to know about the magic, and the other races... no, we're exploring Rachel's relationship with her vamp (living vamp as opposed to dead vamp) room-mate/partner and her relationship with her other partner a pixie. Yet somehow, the characters remain shallow.

Like I said I finally came to a point where I decided there are only so many hours left for me to read and a lot of books I'd far rather read than this one. So...one star, end of story, not for me. Enjoy if it's your cup of tea.

(view spoiler)[I wasn't thrilled with the way the book opened. We were on a stake out and the story was already very much of a "been there, done that" (ya I get it...she likes to dress in leather, everyone mistakes her for a hooker, even though she's made it a point to tell us she doesn't have a lot in the cleavage area (though oddly just after that she uses "what she has" to distract someone). The fantasy world is one where supernatural folk are now out in the open as the majority of humanity (us normals, at least she didn't say muggles, of course she'd have had legal problems over that so there's a good reason) has died.

I tried to stay with this book. When I see I'm about to dislike a book quite a bit I want to be fair... The first time I almost gave up was when we met the "non-practicing" vampire, (sigh)...but the book was going on to explain the difference between living and dead vamps. SO I stayed with it to see... I got to the point where they moved into the old church as an office and where Rachel and her "living vamp" partner (Ivy) would both be forced to also live (they've both lost accommodations and have little hope of finding more). I almost quit again when we had the scene where the vamp (Ivy) apparently tries to seduce Rachel...or maybe rip her throat out. She was, confused. I skimmed through it and moved on, "give the book a chance", I thought. I was then treated to Rachel's perusing of the "How to have sex with a vampire without becoming dinner (or possibly the meal of your choice)" manual her partner gave her. (Rachel continues to be straight she tells us, but doesn't really know how to deal with her partner).... I went on. Till we got to the sexy male vamp visiting the sexy (maybe bisexual?) female vamp (Rachael's partner Ivy again) and his move on Rachel (he just wants her for her blood, the sex would be incidental) and Ivy holds him off by saying ..."she's mine".

I read a little farther on, but come on, enough is enough... If this is what you like, fine. When a book has spent more than half it's length on the possible...planned...dreamed...or whatever sex lives of the characters and I know more about that than about the actual plot, it's a little too much romance, paranormal or otherwise for me. If it's for you, then enjoy. Another nonstarter for me. (hide spoiler)](less)

14 likes · like · see review

Sep 10, 2010 Tatiana rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: some UF fans

Shelves: urban-fantasy, series-dropped-lost-steam

In spite of the moderately engaging beginning, Dead Witch Walking finally lost me by about page 100. Unfortunately, no more Rachel Morgan for me.

On the bright side, there is a potential in this series. I recently abandoned a couple of UF series because of the barenness of their worlds. In this book the mythology behind the story is rich. You never feel like the characters walk and interact in vacuum (that's how I felt reading Some Girls Bite and Halfway to the Grave). Whatever is written about t...more

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Feb 23, 2009 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Thank goodness I started reading Kim Harrison's 'The Hollows' series at book #3 because I wouldn't have continued.

In #3, I couldn't put it down so I ordered all the rest.

Not to impressed with #1, but since I know they get soooo good, I kept reading. The first 50 pages are very slow, the story line didn't grab me at all and I struggled to get through to the end.

My advise is to STICK WITH IT. The other books in this series will blow your mind. Move to book #2, that's where the fun starts. This...more

48 likes · like · see review

Feb 24, 2012 zcb257 rated it 3 of 5 stars

3 1/2 stars.

3 1/2 stars.

OK, so it wasn't blow your mind good, but it was good enough that I will be continuing on with the series. I liked the characters, the story was decent if not a bit predictable, and it's an interesting world that I'd like to read more about. I've heard from many that it gets much much better as the books go along, and I can see that. I find that's it's fairly rare to find a 1st book that blows your mind, so I've learned not to discount from the get go.

Rachel Morgan, fail...more

4 likes · like · see review

May 29, 2011 Wicked ♥ (Wickedly Bookish Reviews) aka Bat-Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks-i-own, series-pararom-uf, first-in-series, 2011, fantasy, mythology-inspired, series-fantasy, series-to-finish, supernatural, urban-fantasy, vampires, witches

Reviewed for Wickedly Bookish
http://wickedlybookish.blogspot.com/

I actually liked this a lot more than I was expecting.

Dead Witch Walking starts out slow, and I mean very slow. It takes about the first 100 pages for the plot to begin in earnest and another 50 for the action to start. Once the action gains some momentum, it doesn't stop until the end of the book.

There are many negative reviews for this book here on Goodreads, and I have to agree with most of them that it suffers from the "first...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Rita rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rachel Morgan é uma bruxa, que trabalha para a SI, uma organização que tem o intuito de controlar todos os seres sobrenaturais, denominados de Inderlanders, existentes em Hollows. Ao considerar que merece receber melhores missões, do que aquelas que lhe têm sido atribuídas nos últimos tempos, decide demitir-se, o que lhe provoca inúmeras amarguras e tentativas de assassinato.

Com várias criaturas sobrenaturais no seu encalce, irá viver numa igreja, com uma vampira como colega de casa e um pixy a...more Rachel Morgan é uma bruxa, que trabalha para a SI, uma organização que tem o intuito de controlar todos os seres sobrenaturais, denominados de Inderlanders, existentes em Hollows. Ao considerar que merece receber melhores missões, do que aquelas que lhe têm sido atribuídas nos últimos tempos, decide demitir-se, o que lhe provoca inúmeras amarguras e tentativas de assassinato.

Com várias criaturas sobrenaturais no seu encalce, irá viver numa igreja, com uma vampira como colega de casa e um pixy a protege-la de possíveis ameaças, sendo a sua única missão é manter-se viva, aspecto que se torna cada vez mais difícil com o avançar do tempo.

Já possuía este volume há algum tempo, depois de o ter ganho num passatempo, contudo inexplicavelmente nunca tinha surgido oportunidade de o ler, até ao momento em que estipulei ler 6 Romances Históricos e 6 livros de Magia e me recordei desta obra.

Com um mundo interessante, onde várias são as criaturas sobrenaturais, desde bruxas, a animalomens, vampiros, pixys, fadas, entre outros, a autora mergulha-nos uma obra repleta de acção, onde o suspense é uma realidade, que nos incute curiosidade por descobrir um pouco mais sobre as personagens e sobre como Rachel se conseguirá safar de tantas tentativas de assassinato e inimigos.

Contendo personagens interessantes começando com a nossa narradora e personagem principal Rachel, que num mundo onde o contrabando é um facto, se mantém viva, tentando combater um dos maiores criminosos de Hollows, com o objectivo de comprar o seu contrato desta e liberdade; que irá descobrir que é alguém mais forte do que poderia sequer imaginar ou o seu ex-patrão e que é o alicerce de um estranho grupo, que passará a ser quase como uma família para si. Confesso que a sua personalidade não me conseguiu convencer a cem por cento, contudo fico à espera de ler o seguinte volume, pois acredito que poderei ficar mais ligada a ela na seguinte obra.

Jenks, o pixy que defende Rachel, juntamente com a sua família, e que foi para mim a personagem que mais me fascinou, para um ser tão pequeno é dono de uma grande força, perseverança e até teimosia, tendo sido alguém que gostei muito de conhecer e que me deixou vontade de descobrir mais sobre si.

Numa escrita simples e um mundo interessante, repleto de acção e humor, Kim Harrisson consegue envolver-nos na trama e sentirmos necessidade de descobrir mais sobre as personagens e o seu desenrolar.

Em suma, este “A Bruxa em Apuros” mostrou-se interessante e levar-me-á a ler o seguinte volume “Uma Bruxa Detective” com alguma expectativa.

(http://magia-livros.blogspot.com/2012...)(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 13, 2012 Michele Lee rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, urban-fantasy, reviewed

I was given this book as a gift.

The Hollows book #1

First, the back blurb:
“All the creatures of the night gather in 'the Hollows' of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party...and to feed.

Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining—and it's Rachel Morgan's job to keep that world civilized.

A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she'll bring 'em back alive, dead...or undead.”

It's been a while since I've read a back...more I was given this book as a gift.

The Hollows book #1

First, the back blurb:
“All the creatures of the night gather in 'the Hollows' of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party...and to feed.

Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining—and it's Rachel Morgan's job to keep that world civilized.

A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she'll bring 'em back alive, dead...or undead.”

It's been a while since I've read a back blurb that said so very little about the book, and by now I should know to be suspicious when that happens. It's taken me three tries to get past page fifty of this book. The opening chapter is killer, as a skank-dressed Rachel Morgan stands outside a bar complaining about how her boss hates her and keeps giving her joke jobs (she works for an organization said to be like the FBI but it comes off a lot more like the IRS) then whining about all the jobs she's messed up lately. She assaults a man for buying her a drink (after mentioning, a lot, how much like a hooker she looks) and later as she uses disguise charms and potions to get around EVERYONE can see through them (so really, what's the point?). Readers should get used it this inconsistent way of storytelling because the book constantly goes back and forth between trying to convince us that Rachel is one of the best at her job, then showing her make loads of really poor decisions.

In fact inconsistent is about the best way to describe the whole book, though halting and frustrating also fits. After bagging the tax-evading leprechaun she's after Rachel decides to shove her job where it belongs, accept a bribe from the criminal she just caught and go freelance. For unconvincing reasons a living vampire, Ivy, and a pixie name Jenks join Rachel. And despite her boss admitting that he'd been trying to force her to quit for years (why he didn't just fire her, I'm not sure) he then proceeds to spend a lot of money hiring people to kill her. Typically they fail due to sheer luck or other people saving Rachel, rather than her own skills. Half the time Rachel herself doesn't even notice death spells or people moving in to attack.

Rachel, in turn, decides the best way to get her now ex-boss off her back is to try to bust a huge drug cartel case that he's working on before he does. There's also a very uncomfortable side plot involving a lesbian attraction between Ivy the vampire and Rachel. It's uncomfortable because Rachel is genuinely scared of Ivy's attraction to her, but Ivy's attraction appears to be built on things completely outside of Rachel's control. Rachel is Ivy's roommate and trying to find a way for their scents to never mingle, to never talk to her about her family or other vampires (although Rachel, super agent that she is, seems to know next to nothing about them when they're around) seems like expecting a woman to maim herself to prevent people on the street from finding her attractive.

As for the world building, a bioengineered tomato launched the supernaturals' takeover and made science illegal, which raises more questions and ends up coming off more silly than serious (especially to readers of SF as well). Humans are almost prisoners to the supes, but still portrayed with derision, totally missing out on an interesting source of conflict (which really sums up the drama of the book, it's all forced, and the natural sources are glanced over and ignored). There's a whole language Rachel uses, but in the end it feels false because of a lack of supporting detail. When there is detail of the greater world of Harrison's world it lacks the lush richness of genre powerhouses like Laurell K. Hamilton and Ann Rice.

Almost everything in the book comes off as stodgy and flat, and a complete inability to connect with or care about the main character makes me more than willing to let my book allowance relax a little by skipping out on the rest of this series. There's just too much crammed into this book with no context, atmosphere or charm, as if there's an attempt to make up for the lack of texture with fight scenes and drama that the main character had to be an idiot to get into in the first place.
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Apr 19, 2012 Zeek rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Cool world the author created- altho it ending up being too out there for my tastes. A little bit sci fi fatalistic future, a little bit vampish, and a little bit "Charmed"- only darker.

Rachel Morgan is a witch and quasi FBI agent for the paranormals who reign supreme in the future because a bio-engineered killer tomato, sometime in the past, killed off most of the "humans" (non-magicals like us).

Yeah, no kidding, killer tomatoes!

Rachel's job stinks, so she decides to leave and join up with a go...more

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Mar 26, 2008 Meagan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Don't let the cover, description, cover reviews, or hell, even the title throw you off on this one. It looks like a cheesy paperback. Possibly even a twisted romance novel, but beleve me it's not.

It takes place in a world where instead of going to the moon, money went into bioengineering. Of course something went wrong a virus got out, in tomatoes. Like a plauge it started wiping out humans, Inlanders however (people and beings with mystical abilites, witches, weres, pixies etc.) were immune. We...more Don't let the cover, description, cover reviews, or hell, even the title throw you off on this one. It looks like a cheesy paperback. Possibly even a twisted romance novel, but beleve me it's not.

It takes place in a world where instead of going to the moon, money went into bioengineering. Of course something went wrong a virus got out, in tomatoes. Like a plauge it started wiping out humans, Inlanders however (people and beings with mystical abilites, witches, weres, pixies etc.) were immune. Well eccept for the Elves. They went completely extinct. It hit them wrose than humans. By the time the thing was under control the population of regular humans and Inlanders was roughly the same. No longer feeling the need to hide, being as they were no longer the minority to be prosecuted, the Inlanders became open about who they were. There for regular humans and Inlanders live openly together.

Well for the most part. There are prejuduces. If you think that is a bit complicated, it's only the back drop. But don't let that scare you. The story is quite entertaining.

Racel Morgan, withch, is a runner for the IS the inlander version of FIB. Basically the FBI or Police for naughty or rather evil Inlander's. Long story she breaks her contract with them and their best runner, Ivy ( a living vampire) with her. So there's death threat out on her head. She doesn't have the money to pay it off so she goes for the next best thing. She'll cracka a case so good they'll have to leave her alone. Of course it means going after Cincinatti's best loved, most powerful, and due to his refusel to say whether he human or Inlander, most neutral political body, Trent. It's not long before Rachel Morgan has more on her ass than a bunch of angry and magical assasians.

I will grant that the first 20 pages or so of this book a little bit cheesy. But in an amusing, we-know-it's-harsh-but-it's-just-to-pull-you-in kind of way. For instance she catches a lepurchon using charms that are a yellow moon, green clover, purple heart... ha. But after I was introduced to the intellgent back story these quips were easy to forgive. And I promis eventually Jenks the nosnstop talking pixie becomes less annoying, even to Rachel.

As for the smutty romance part that the cover of this book in some odd ways seems to impart, forget about it. Romance is the last thing on Ms. Morgan's mind. Between disguises, almost dying, and spending an unruly amount of time as rodent, she just doesn't have the time.

The book was action packed, and kept me guess. When I returned to it it was like returning to a weekly drama. I liked it.

I have only a few small complaints. 1. I think the slightly cheesy begining could throw some people off. 2. Sometimes Rache's inner insecurities don't reflect her outter actions, but perhaps that is the beauty of her charecter. She;s so insecure she Has to look tough. 3. A few minor fight moves in the last big fight seem to get pulled off a little too smoothly. AFter keeping it clumsily realistic for 320 pages, I wasn't ready for a perfect toss to trip and down a guy. But alas minor complaint.
4. Sometimes the charecter of Rachel bothers me a bit. But just a bit. It's actually a good sign that I'm taking her seriously as a charecter. So yeah I guess that's not really a complaint.

Basically this is a first book a decently lengthed series, that I plan to purchase the rest of. It is my sinful little delight stacked up there with all my educational and political outlook book and good strong straight fiction. Hooray.

I reccomend it. The latest book is in Hardback and just came out. I can't wait to catch up to it!

p.s. Harrison doesn't answer all questions, in fact she does a fine job of raising a few at the end, and you know what, I dont mind. That' s rare, but maybe it's because I know theres another book out there :)(less)

23 likes · like · see review

Dec 02, 2007 Nichole (Dirty H) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, vampires, 2008, demons

Well, 3.5 stars.

I expected/hoped to like this book more than I did. But it's worth reading if you're into the urban fantasy genre. It's action packed, almost to the point that I was like, "Enough! Take a breath and give me some character development!"

But it was full of action, and entertaining enough although it was a little predictable. The characters were likeable but underdeveloped, and the mythology was interesting. I'm hoping that we get more insight into these things as the series progres...more

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Nov 22, 2007 Kathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

From a blog post I wrote in 2005:

I love stories about vampires and creatures of the night. Not necessarily the type that will keep me awake all night worrying about the sounds I hear outside my window but more of the clever, funny yet still scary stuff. If you've read Laurel Hamilton, then you know what I mean.

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison fit the bill...somewhat. The main character is a bounty hunting witch. Vampires and Pixies and the like live openly among humans (though not comfortably)...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 03, 2008 Sean Harris rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who like Laurell K Hamilton

I tried to like this book. Really. The problem was I liked the supporting characters more than the main character. She was just too ... inept. At everything. Otherwise, it was well-written and had a great backstory, but ...

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 03, 2009 Kristy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well, I'm reading this series coming off of the Anita Blake series. I loved that series in the beginning but it went on a wild goose chase of what it used to be towards the second half so I decided starting a new series would help my disappointment.

I enjoyed this book in context but the details are a little weak. I liked it but found myself skimming parts and bored in others. I was hoping that it was the exposition that made it boring so I'm trying book 2 to see if I like it more.

I'm not annoye...more

3 likes · like · see review

Rob When there are mixed reviews about a series - some like it and some don't, I keep an open mind and go to the next one and maybe even to the third. Thi...more
Feb 04, 2009 03:43pm

Kristy Rob wrote: "When there are mixed reviews about a series - some like it and some don't, I keep an open mind and go to the next one and maybe even to th...more
Feb 04, 2009 09:34pm

Clacie Good review, I am also just coming off Anita Blake. After 19 novels of Anita I'm not sure what to make of Rachel. I'm almost finished with Dead Witch...more
Feb 07, 2011 09:05pm

Jun 24, 2012 Jeann rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-uf, own, witches, dark-and-gritty, buddy-reads

As one of the most popular urban fantasy titles out there, I was really excited to start The Hollows series. I have a thing about the supernatural, ever since I was young I've been intrigued with the world of witches, vampires, werewolves, and the like. The blurb to Dead Witch Walking sounded promising.

Once I got into Dead Witch Walking however, I found it difficult to get into. There's just something about the writing that is difficult to follow. Too many fragmented sentences, and there wasn't...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 08, 2012 Annie the Destroyer *Leather Lust* rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012, drinks-on-me, ebooks, mages-or-witches, genre-urban-fantasy, witches, vampires

Posted on Under the Covers

It’s about freaking time I read this book! I’ve had this book on my TBR shelf for so long and upon starting this book, I realized that I made a huge mistake of waiting this long! Rachel Morgan is kickass, fun, feisty and a thrill to read!

Rachel is at a turning point in her life. She has made the major decision to leave her job with the IS, taking with her one of the best runners, a vampire named Ivy. Now, the IS doesn’t do well with people who decide to just get up and...more Posted on Under the Covers

It’s about freaking time I read this book! I’ve had this book on my TBR shelf for so long and upon starting this book, I realized that I made a huge mistake of waiting this long! Rachel Morgan is kickass, fun, feisty and a thrill to read!

Rachel is at a turning point in her life. She has made the major decision to leave her job with the IS, taking with her one of the best runners, a vampire named Ivy. Now, the IS doesn’t do well with people who decide to just get up and leave so immediately, Rachel has a new enemy on her hands as an assassination order is put on her. She gets kicked out of her apartment and is forced to live in a church with Ivy. At this point, things really start to go downhill when Rachel gets caught up with the likes of Trent, a sexy and powerful councilman who has his fingers in a lot of dangerous pots. Harrison turns the dial up on the action and the plot twists until your mind is spinning from it all.

Many readers have said that this book suffers from “first book of the series” syndrome. Yes, I think I would agree with that. However, I definitely don’t think it’s a reason not to give this series a shot. DEAD WITCH WALKING hooked with me with the first chapter and then kind of lost its way a little bit in the beginning. Harrison hits you with a lot at once so getting a feel of being in Rachel’s mind while feeling out the world at the same time was a little hard. Some scenes aren’t as clear as they could be and I don’t always agree with what happens in the book, but I still found the book moving at a good pace. By the middle I was hooked and I finished it quite quickly after that.

Despite the minor areas that kind of blur together, Harrison seems to have a clear image of The Hollows in her mind. I like that she is willing to pull out anything to make her books interesting. I mean, really a witch who turns into a minx? I never thought something like that would be entertaining.

If you’re looking to try this series out, then I say go for it! Don’t let the slow scenes get you down. After you get through them, this book really is a breeze to read and from what I’ve heard, the series only gets better from here! (less)

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Sep 05, 2010 Celine rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: urban-fantasy lovers

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Reread this for a challenge. This is the book that got me into urban fantasy. Before that, I had only read epic fantasy, and I had no clue there were so much more kinds of fantasy there, just waiting for me to discover them.

Rachel is an IS (Inderland Security) runner, but lately things aren't really working out for her. She hasn't had a good run in weeks. So, at again a horrible tag she decides to quit. But she takes the best runner the IS has, Ivy Tamwood, a living vamp, with her. The IS, not s...more Reread this for a challenge. This is the book that got me into urban fantasy. Before that, I had only read epic fantasy, and I had no clue there were so much more kinds of fantasy there, just waiting for me to discover them.

Rachel is an IS (Inderland Security) runner, but lately things aren't really working out for her. She hasn't had a good run in weeks. So, at again a horrible tag she decides to quit. But she takes the best runner the IS has, Ivy Tamwood, a living vamp, with her. The IS, not so pleased with this, puts a price on her head. So now Rachel has to do everything to avoid being killed by fairy assassins and other evils...

This book is plain awesome. All supernatural beings came out of the supernatural closet during "the Turn", when the whole world was in chaos because of a virus that spreaded through tomatoes. Now, the "Inderlanders" live next to humans, but there is still a lot of suspicion and distrust.

Our protagonist, Rachel Morgan, is an earth witch, and a kick-ass heroine. She can defend herself quite well without her charms, and it feels great to have a heroine that can take care of herself. She is a bit ignorant, but she has her pixy and vamp partners to keep her out of trouble.

We see her grow in Dead Witch Walking from a I-can-do-all-of-this-by-myself-attitude to accepting that sometimes, you just need your friends, and you have to trust on other people. She is still not completely comfortable with living with a vampire that craves her blood, but we see definite progress.

All characters are so complex and have their own lives and problems. This series has one of my favourite side-characters ever: the tiny pixy Jenks, with a not so tiny attitude. His straightforwardness is hilarious. He just makes my day any time.

The story is incredibly fast paced, everything takes place in a couple of days, and there is so much going on. There are a lot of questions unanswered but there wasn't a big cliffhanger ending. There is a lot of stuff left for the rest of the series, and I can't wait to reread those as well. (less)

5 likes · like · see review

Dec 28, 2012 Nyssa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, action-adventure, mystery, 2011, format-paper, grg-paranormal-addicts, favorite-series, speculative-fiction, series-in-progress

What a fun adventure, with a few bumps along the way. Two years seems to have been the right amount of time before reading this again. I really didn't remember many of the details, and got to enjoy the ride all over again.

(view spoiler)...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 21, 2012 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: needs-editing

When I asked on Google+ for recommendations for a new series to try, I was given this one. Partway through, I thought I remembered it, and when I checked on Goodreads I had read it before - and given it one star (with no review).

That was a while ago, and I've read a lot of worse books since, so I've upgraded it to a slightly reluctant three stars (the reasonably good, though far from conclusive, ending just barely tipped it over from two).

So what didn't I like? Firstly, there's a lot of infodum...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 15, 2007 Phyl rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of light supernatural mystery fiction

Shelves: have-read

This book wasn't deep and meaningful or the Great Canadian/American Novel, but it was a light, enjoyable read.

Start with a witch who leaves the equivalent of the faery world's FBI to go out on her own, in partnership with a vampire and a pixy. The FBI-equivalent puts a price on her head, so that pretty much everyone in the faery world (other witches, fairies, vampires, weres, a demon, you name it) are trying to kill her to collect the reward, while the rich criminal she's trying to catch wants t...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 24, 2012 Kez rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-books, 2012-books, ebooks, genre-contemporary-fantasy, theme-magic, theme-kick-ass-females, theme-demons, theme-faeries, theme-shapechangers, theme-vampires, theme-witches

When I first started this book I was 100% convinced. I didn't particularly find Rachel engaging, however it seemed as though about a quarter of the way in Harrison found her stride. The characters Ivy, Jenks and Rachel were fleshed out, an uber-villain was introduced and I became fascinated in the machinations of the IS. I liked the fact that Ivy is trying to refrain from drinking blood, but it's not as easy as most stories make out. She struggles with it constantly, rather than occasionally lap...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 02, 2010 Sheralyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: recommended

My very first thought as I started reading: Kim Harrison can write! And being so out of my usual genre made me appreciate more how she drew me into hers using all the tools I usually find a turn off. Only she did them right!

I don't know of any of my friends on this site who would want to read a book like this, but I read her first 3 books in 3 days, missing out on precious sleep and a good concert so I could finish and still get in my usual work hours. I'm forcing myself to take a break now beca...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 18, 2009 Jenny J rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, read-in-2009

A fun paranormal mystery about Rachel Morgan, a witch bounty hunter on the run from the organization she originally worked for, and her partners Jenks (a sarcastic pixie) and Ivy (a vampire who may or may not be of the blood-drinking variety...)

In spite of the terrible cover illustration and misleading back blurb, this isn't vampire smut. Just a fun time with an interesting cast of characters.

4 likes · like · see review

Apr 27, 2010 Ana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Ana by: Ana C. Silva

Shelves: in-english, urban-fantasy, author-usa, read-in-2010, don-t-own

Pode ler a opinião completa AQUI.

This book did not surprise or live up to my expectations.
The excessive portrait of Rachel and Ivy's relationship (or wannabe relationship) did not help either, as in the end it resulted in nothing, not making the plot move forward in any way. What was the point of it all?
The characters were boring, the plot predictable and everything happened on luck alone and nothing made much sense.

A pity, but I won't be reading the remaining books.

1 like · like · see review

Jan 15, 2012 The Bookworms' Lair rated it 5 of 5 stars

Rachel Morgan works in law enforcement, she loves what she does but the job itself has lost its appeal. When she leaves a price is put on her head and Rachel must survive assassination attempts, manipulation by a city power, and her vampire room-mate. without wanting to give too much away this is the first in a series that has remained strong over its current total of nine books (at the time of writing)due mainly to the detailed characterisation, description and humor. Kim Harrison has created a...more

1 like · like · see review

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Who's Your Author?: What world would you visit or want to live in?	10	28	May 12, 2013 02:07pm
Buddy read...book 1-10	307	178	Apr 03, 2013 04:12pm
Kim Harrison Hollows Series	9	57	Mar 26, 2013 01:15pm
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Paranormal Addict...: The Hollows - Kim Harrison	119	395	Jan 27, 2013 12:10pm

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About Kim Harrison

Kim Harrison, dark urban fantasy author of the New York Times bestselling The Outlaw Demon Wails, was born and raised in the upper Midwest. After gaining her bachelors in the sciences, she moved to South Carolina, where she has remained since. She is currently developing a new young adult series between working on the Hollows books, and is a member of The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Ame...more

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Books by Kim Harrison

Every Which Way But Dead (The Hollows, #3)

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (The Hollows, #2)

The Outlaw Demon Wails (The Hollows, #6)

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“What are you?" I rasped.
It smiled. "Whatever scares you.” — 185 people liked it

“Most of the upper management of I.S. were undead. I always thought it was because the job was easier if you didn't have a soul.” — 115 people liked it

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Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows #1)

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