The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (The Hollows, Book 2) (edition 2008)

Spennandi og oft húmorísk frásaga af áframhaldandi glímu nornarinnar Rachel Morgan við undirheima Cincinnati þar sem galdramenn, vampýrur, varúlfar, menn og fleiri kynjaskepnur takast á um völdin. Rachel uppgötvar tengsl á milli forns fjandmanns og raðmorða sem hafa skilið lögregluna eftir ráðþrota. Heltekin af hefndarþorsta einsetur hún sér að sanna sekt glæpamannsins og kastar allri varkárni fyrir róða - sem hún hefði kannski ekki átt að gera. ( )

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This is a better written book than the first one – a tighter plot, a (slightly) more likeable MC. But I’m still giving it 3.5 stars because I find the whole situation with Ivy deeply disturbing and the author hasn’t justified it to my satisfaction. I don’t dislike Ivy, but the dynamic – even with the story-line geared toward engendering sympathy – just feels really exploitative.

Rachel’s personality, while improved, still failed to click with me. I have to believe, still, that future books are better; there’s an “Extras” at the end of this ebook (from the library) that had two “articles” written by Rachel Morgan about vampires and fairies/pixies, and her voice in these – dry, funny, a little snarky – is what I expect her voice to be in the books, and so far, it’s definitely not.

In both books so far, Rachel is rather strident about the line between white and black magic and her morals appeared to be set in stone, but when the rubber hit the road in this one, she crossed that line in order to achieve a greater good. But boy, she caved quick; she didn’t waste any time offering and accepting a rather dark deal. View Spoiler » She has a massive fear of ley line magic, but once she figures out she can do it, she starts playing with it in a scene with the pixies that was great, but didn’t do a lot to establish her creditability or integrity as the heroine.

None of this is to say I didn’t enjoy the book; as I said at the start, it’s a much better story. I just haven’t found my groove with the characters yet, and I’m definitely up for book 3. I continue to see hints that future books are going to be more my jam. But I’m glad I can get them at my library; if I’d bought these first two, I’m not sure I’d be willing to go further. ( )

I enjoyed the book even more than the first one. Kim Harrison has a great voice and writes interesting characters, who often make poor choices. Great humor throughout.

This book was featured on Cocktail Hour episode 11. http://www.cocktailhour.c-spot.net/archives/50 ( )

Good fluff. ( )