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!

The Hallows by Kim Harrison (Or, the Series I Never Talk About)

Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series is one of my all-time favorites. No, really. If you're wondering why I haven't mentioned it (much) here's why: by the time I started this blog in 2008, I had read up to book six, The Outlaw Demon Wails, and was so distraught by the death of a character that I found I couldn't talk about it, couldn't think about it. I still get choked up over it and last night, when I finished White Witch, Black Curse, I got weepy again.

And again...but also got some closure too. Tink's tampons, finally! (You need to read these books to understand that one so, no, I haven't flipped my wig.)

In December of 2008, I listed the Rachel Morgan series as one of my top ten favorite things for '08 as it was the year I first read them. In 2009, I learned (along with anyone else who cares about her books) that Kim Harrison is just a psuedonym for Dawn Cook, a fantasy writer. I was shocked! A whole persona was created in the guise of Kim Harrison, I guess to go along with her kick-ass character Rachel Morgan, and I was sorry to hear it. On the other hand, Dawn Cook has other books in which I look forward to reading and that's a good thing.

Kim Harrison's books are on my autobuy list along with Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, and let's be honest, a few dozen others. I will never buy this series in ebook format; I want to read them while having my nose stuck in a real, hands-on, made with paper and ink  book. They are part of my permanent collection and as long as I have the means, I will always have the shelf space for them. I also love the titles and the Clint Eastwood connection.

I've been collecting Dawn Cook's Truth series ever since I inadvertently bought the second book, Hidden Truth, while at the bookstore. They don't sound anywhere near as edgy or dark as The Hallows but I'm optimistic that the high standard of writing will still be there.

Harrison also has a YA series about a dead girl named Madison Avery. I also have the first book in that series, Once Dead, Twice Shy, but surprise, surprise - I haven't read it yet.

I've finally started catching up with Rachel, Ivy, and Jenks. I hadn't realized just how much I had missed them. These characters (along with all the others) make me laugh and cry. I've requested Pale Demon from netgalley.com but I'm not expecting to get it. HarperCollins hasn't granted me any of my requests so far and that is disappointing and frustrating to me because I read many, many, many of their authors and buy many, many, many of their books. (End whining.) I will still be buying Pale Demon when it comes out, irregardless. I'll be starting Black Magic Sanction later today, after I do some hopefully injury-free Christmas light hanging outside.

Kim Harrison writes one of the premier UF series of today. If you like witches, vampires, weres, demons, pixies, and are afraid of tomatoes then this is the series for you.