ARC Review: Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

To save her life, bounty hunter and witch Rachel Morgan must overturn a death sentence, outwit a demon assassin, and endure a cross-country drive with a vampire, an elf, and a pixy in this latest kickass adventure in the New York Times bestselling Hollows series

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...forever after.

Banned from the flight lists, Rachel teams up with elven tycoon Trent Kalamack, headed for the West Coast for her 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 more than 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. (from the back cover of this ARC)

SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW UNLESS YOU ARE CAUGHT UP WITH THIS SERIES! I MEAN IT!

**clears throat**

Pale Demon is the ninth full length book in Kim Harrison's The Hollows series and the fifteenth installment altogether.

Pale Demon is a kickass book and it just may be my new favorite of the series. While I've loved reading each new installment in their own ways, the last few have been the hardest to digest. This happens a lot with long-lived series like this one, I think; with all the calamity and tribulations that these characters have gone through it gets harder and harder to keep the, uh, magic going. However, by the end of Pale Demon, things are starting to look up for Rachel. Just a little bit.

Kim Harrison said of Pale Demon on her website, "Some of the desire to write Pale Demon came from you, the readers, wanting to know if Trent and Rachel actually liked each other despite the taunts and put-downs. I wanted to know myself. What better way to find out then a forced cooperation? If something was going to happen, it would happen then. Right? What evolved surprised even me, and I hope you like it." This was what Pale Demon is all about, the interaction between Rachel and Trent. Kim Harrison is a genius, putting these big personalities into a car for a cross-country road trip. Rachel and Trent have a lot of history and while it certainly hasn't been all good, there's a bond there that keeps it from being all bad. Forcing them to be together in a car for days is a perfect way for her to have them resolve their issues; ratcheting up the tension and pissing people off will bring things to a head every time. It was also pretty funny, too. I will admit it took me a little (read: longer than it should have been) while to figure out why Jenks kept using phrases with "cookie" in them. I got a real big laugh out of that when I figured it out.

The other reason why Pale Demon is so good: the demons. Rachel spends quite a bit of time in the ever after with Al. Their relationship is such fun to behold and I do believe that they actually care about one another. Inasmuch as demon can "care" about someone, anyway. Newt is crazy as ever too.

Pale Demon is starting a new chapter in the chronicles of Rachel Morgan. Things are changing in her world, some relationships are ending and others are just beginning (sort of). I can't wait to see what happens next. The first two chapters are now available on Harrison's website with the next two coming soon. Pale Demon will be released on February 22, 2011.

Now, the best part: a GIVEAWAY! Who wants my LibraryThing ARC of Pale Demon? (US only) Remember, this is an ARC so it won't last forever. (A few pages are already loose.) But who cares if you don't have to buy it? Here's the deal. Become a follower (current followers are eligible too) and leave a comment and the winner will be picked randomly on January 31, 2011. I will get it to the winner before it's release date! Good luck!