Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand

I’m a big Kitty Norville fan: she’s witty and brave and the books have serious content, delivered with a light touch. Normally I’m cheering for Kitty to win the day and sad that there are no more pages left to read. Yet with “Kitty And The Dead Man’s Hand”, I found myself going “Is that it?” and “What was Kitty thinking”.

The story seemed promising enough: Kitty and Ben, already mated for life as an Alpha pair in a werewolf pack, decide to make things official in the human world and get married. To avoid the fuss of a big wedding, Kitty decides to get married in Vegas and her boss uses this as an opportunity to get her to do her radio show live on TV. He also books Kitty and Ben into a hotel that is running a gun show more show, complete with silver bullet carrying bounty hunter. Add in a magician who reads H P Lovecraft, a Vampire Master only interested in partying and a bizarre tribe of werecats and it should have been quite a ride.

Instead, I found it unsatisfying.

I’ve been to Vegas a few times, I even renewed my wedding vows there, and I thought Carrie Vaughn caught the atmosphere of the place well, so that wasn’t the problem.

I think the problem was Kitty. She’s on her own for most of the book for various reasons, even though she brought Ben and her mother and father to Vegas with her. She stumbles around getting into trouble and mostly waiting for someone else to get her out of it. She gives little thought to her family and only a little more to Ben. Her relationship with the BDSM-loving werecats didn’t convince me. The way two of bounty hunters reacted to her was also hard to swallow. The marriage, when it did finally occur, seemed crass and narcissitically self-indulgent.

Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood, or maybe I didn’t get the appeal of all those bare-chested young men, but I just couldn’t settle in to this book. In every other book, Kitty has grown and developed. In this book, she seems to take a holiday from herself.

Oh, and I still don’t have a clue what the title means.

Anyway, I hope I get the real Kitty back in book six. show less

Las Vegas. Sin City, USA. A city that never sleeps, never rests, never apologizes. ‘Sorry’ isn’t in its vocabulary. And guilt is a foreign concept. Sparkling neon lights, rattling coins, metallic beeps, burps and buzzes concealing a quiet desperation, an all-consuming greed. It’s the American Dream run amok, a desire for instant gratification taken to perverse ends. It is sidewalks paved with gold. Our gold. The land of lost wages. Elvis impersonators. Quickie weddings. Talentless lounge acts. Tacky theme-park inspired resorts. And bad taste.

Really bad taste.

In other words, the perfect setting for urban fantasy. Don’t believe me? Walk through any Vegas casino at 3 am and you’ll see the living dead, bloodshot eyes and show more pallid, bloodless skin, playing the slots. Or staring bleary-eyed at their cards, cocktail in their hand.

Las Vegas and urban fantasy. The perfect complement. Like chocolate and peanut butter. Abbott and Costello. Monkeys and turd-flinging. Where weird and bizarre meet normal, and the lines between fiction and fact blur. Where what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Because no one outside of the town would ever believe it.

Enter Denver area radio show host Kitty Norville—the first publicly outed werewolf and blushing bride to be. Kitty and her fiancé (and pack mate) Ben want to avoid the rigors involved in planning a big wedding. Why go through all that hassle, they decide, when they can just elope in Vegas. Maybe they can even do Kitty’s radio show remotely and package the whole extravaganza as a business trip.

Her radio station manager loves the idea, booking Kitty’s Vegas act quicker than you can say drive-thru wedding chapel. Not only is Kitty going to do her radio show, she’s going to do it on live TV. So Kitty and Ben rush off to the casino capital of the world, excited about their upcoming nuptials. And the chance to relax, sit by the pool and enjoy fruity alcoholic beverages.

So what could possibly go wrong?

How about a gun convention going on in their hotel. The one catering to psycho supernatural bounty-hunters who’d like nothing more than to add a werewolf head to their mantle. Or the message Kitty must personally deliver to the vampire Master of Las Vegas. And there’s also the enigmatic magician in town suspected of doing real magic. Not to mention a mysterious animal show everyone warns her away from.

So what’s a werewolf/radio show host to do to keep her pelt silver bullet free? And still be able to walk down the aisle to get her holy matrimony on.

“Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand” is pure fun, like a day at your favorite theme park, stuffing yourself with ice cream and pretzels. The proverbial rollercoaster, chocked full of thrilling excitement. It’s utterly frivolous, a light and fluffy popcorn novel meant to be consumed sans brainpower. The equivalent of an urban fantasy Twinkie. Yet the novel is incredibly infectious and endearing. An urban fantasy charmer with a twinkle in its eye and an Ace up its sleeve. A literary magician that enthralls, coaxing you to the very edge of your seat.

Note that “Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand” is urban fantasy. Not paranormal romance. Not sparkling vampires with purity rings. Publishers and authors often blur these genres together now, sadly almost to the point of being indistinguishable from each other. The novel’s ubiquitous sexy-tattooed-woman-posing-provocatively cover doesn’t help. (Can someone please design an urban fantasy cover that isn’t publicly humiliating? Where people don’t look at me as if I just flunked out of a twelve-step program for deviants.) The biggest difference—“Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand” will appeal to a broader audience. And by broader I mean both male and female.

Carrie Vaughn impressed me recently with her excellent contribution to the George R.R. Martin edited Wild Cards mosaic novel, “Busted Flush.” And she doesn’t disappoint here flying solo. Vaughn’s characterizations are wonderfully realized, quirky, unique and endearing. These are the interesting friends you wish you had. Like comfort food on legs. Look up spunky in the dictionary, and you’ll see Kitty’s picture. She’s a bouncing ball bristling with manic energy. A lycanthropic Nancy Drew. Pesky, but infinitely loveable.

Even though Kitty is a werewolf, Vaughn doesn’t exploit this gimmick. Except for one instance, Kitty keeps her inner werewolf leashed throughout the novel. Her wolfen side is still there, hiding just below the surface, lending its instincts and observations to Kitty. But Kitty’s the action hero. Wolfie’s just along for the ride. And that makes “Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand” much more interesting. Because when Kitty’s in trouble, she sorts it out, letting Wolfie warm the bench.

The novel is structured like a mystery. Kitty investigating weird things, puzzling out how they all fit together. Mostly it works. But the ending was a disappointment. The sum not as interesting as its parts. Causing me to ask—is this the best conclusion Vaughn could come up with? Still it’s only one missed note in an otherwise catchy tune.

Last Word:
A fun, fast read “Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand” is urban fantasy written to appeal to a broad audience. Fluffy like a high-tech, special effects-laden summer movie, all big action and chills and thrills, the novel’s a real crowd pleaser. If you’re looking for something deep, pass this one by. But if you’re looking for an entertaining afternoon read, Kitty’s your ticket. show less

Solid installment of Kitty the Werewolf. I probably would have given it 4 stars, but I have a serious dislike for books set in Vegas. I'm just soooooo not interested in it as a setting that it automatically deducts points. Sue me.

Also, although I really did enjoy the story for what it was, it felt like a less of a continuation of the series than a little jaunt away on vacation (despite all the shenanigans). I know that things that happened in Vegas aren't going to stay in Vegas (hello, Tiamat!) and that will affect the coming book(s), but it almost felt like a really long short story of Kitty that you'd find in a paranormal Vegas anthology then part of the main series.

You'd think that a series about a werewolf with a radio show would start to get a bit stale after a few installments. You'd be wrong.

Carrie Vaughn pulls out all the stops as Kitty and Ben head to Las Vegas so that Kitty can do a live TV broadcast of The Midnight Hour. And they plan to get married. Sounds like a plan, right? Unfortunately, there's a gun show in progress in the very hotel where Kitty will be doing her show. On stage. In front of hundreds of people. And in the midst of the crowd is a whole group of lycanthrope bounty hunters. Needless to say, Wolf doesn't like any of that too much.

Ben finds distraction in a poker tournament and Kitty takes in both an animal act and a magic show. As usual, nothing is what it seems. Ben show more disappears right before the wedding. Although the police believe that the mob is involved, everyone else (including Kitty's parents) thinks it's cold feet. Kitty knows differently.

This book is a miniature Vegas act. It's slick. It's clever. It's thrilling. And it's left me wanting more more more. Carrie Vaughn is fast becoming one of my all time favorite authors. show less

Kitty's back - and getting married to her pack mate and lawyer in Vegas... if they can avoid being kidnapped by the mob, being shot at by supernatural bounty-hunters, and being sacrificed to an ancient god by feline lycanthropes. What a honeymoon!

After the very clear story arc in the first four books, I always struggle a little bit with Dead Man's Hand (I think this is my third read). Not that the story isn't good; it is. It's just that I'm not sure where it's supposed to be going. I also wonder if the first thing a new werewolf alpha would really do after a takeover is leave pack and territory.

However, this book does introduce one of my very favorite characters; Odysseus Grant. Grant is an old-style stage magician in Vegas, complete show more with top hat and tails and all the classic illusionist tricks like scarves and rings and rabbits in hats. But his real purpose in Vegas is a bit more interesting. Grant is a guardian, tracking old-style dark magic, like the cult of Tiamat and an old portal to a Lovecraftian realm. I would SO love some stories about Grant; he's mysterious and enigmatic and oh-so interesting. There have to be some good stories there. Vaughn writes a lot of short stories; I'll have to go scour her website to see if any of them have been about Grant.

I also like the observations Kitty makes about her relationship with Ben. She describes that love "snuck up" on them; it didn't hit them like a massive explosion. Their wolves mated first, and then their human sides came later. I really like how Vaughn writes a realistic relationship for Kitty and Ben; they fight, they aren't attached at the hip, Ben's not an "alpha" male as we see in some books--he lets Kitty be herself and do her thing. They worry about each other, but they don't limit each other. It's a really refreshing take on relationships in popular culture.

Overall, I like this book, but not quite as much as the first four. But that's okay, 'cause there are a lot more books to come. :)

Purchased. Review courtesy of onebooktwo.com | one book, two reviews. show less

Kitty heads out of town again, this time for Las Vegas. She somehow was talked into hosting a live television special in the City of Sin and in delivering a message from Denver’s Master Vampire to the one in Las Vegas. Add to that a wedding, a poker tournament and mobsters; what could be more fitting for the setting of this novel?

Kitty is booked into the same hotel that is hosting a gun show and some of the conference goers are not too keen on her kind. It does not take much to make an enemy of someone who already has it in for you. Where Kitty goes, you can be sure magic and danger will be close behind, and sure enough, Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand has some of both. Las Vegas is the home of many secrets and Kitty quickly finds show more herself tangled up in the middle of several.

Although I liked Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand, it got off to a slow start. Considering the characters that needed to be introduced for the set up of the various plot threads, including the main one, it probably could not have been done any other way. In addition, I wish the author had gone a little farther with certain threads in the novel, but perhaps that was in part due to the limitations of a first person narrative.

Something I really liked about Kitty in this book is how she used her cell phone to warn her friends when she was about to jump into trouble. Sure, she didn’t stay put like she promised and ran head first into trouble all by herself. But at least she reached out for help, even if a little later than she should have.

One of the strongest things Kitty has going for her are her friends and how they will stand by her during the worst of moments. Kitty may not be able to tackle the biggest evil in the world on her own, but she is a team player—most of the time—and she is not afraid to stand up for herself no matter how afraid she might be.

Carrie Vaughn has created an interesting storyline which holds a lot of promise in developing further in future books. Although this was not my favorite book in the series, Kitty and her friends continue to keep me entertained and interested in their adventures. show less

Now that Kitty and Ben's lives aren't in immediate danger, they look to the future. Pressure from Kitty's mom catalyzes them to start planning their wedding, figuring that (what with living together, working together, and being mated wolves) they're practially married already anyway. But neither of them has much interest in a big fancy wedding, so instead they elope to Las Vegas, bringing Kitty's parents along for the ride.

It turns out, even getting married in Vegas is a lot more complicated than they'd hoped. Ben's newfound supernatural abilities give him an edge at the poker table that gets him into trouble, while Kitty's curiousity embroils her in the understated battle between a stage magician (who may be doing real magic) and a show more group of performing were-cats. And, to top it all off, Kitty attracts the attention of several bounty hunters.

The plot is fun and twisty once it gets started (which takes a little while), but the real attraction in this book are the characters. I've seen Ben called boring elsewhere, but I like him a lot. I like that he comes from a working class family and went to law school to be able to defend his cousins and friends. I like that he's a scruffy dude without pretentions but with skills he's put serious effort into. And I like that generally he's just in the background, being quietly sardonic and supportive, until abruptly he's tough-as-nails, won't-back-down as any alpha male love interest could be. Kitty, meanwhile, is now my favorite urban fantasy gal, thanks to her moral center, courage, and quirky tastes.

My favorite scene: Kitty is in the midst of negotiating with bounty hunters (who are about three seconds from shooting her with silver bullets) when her parents show up. The hunters realize that this fearsome werewolf has chipper, country-club parents who wear pastels, and are completely discombobulated. Love it!

Despite my enjoyment of it, this felt like a placeholder novel, getting the characters into position for the next, hopefully more exciting, installment of the larger plot arc. show less