Dead Witch Walking

This is the 1st offering in 'The Hollows' series from Kim Harrison & WOW she sets a complex scene for a supernatural alternative world. A mishap of genetic engineering has all but wiped out the human population. Those immune to the killer virus were members of the supernatural community who declared their existence to the remaining humans & now coexist under a wary truce.

The supernatural beings are called Inderlanders, the ISB was set up as a body to police the activities of their own. Enter Rachel Morgan a witch & disgruntled ISB employee who has quit her job as a runner / bounty hunter. Not being able to afford to buy out her contract her former boss puts out a contract on her life but with the help of friends she spends much of the book fending off attacks from the various creatures that go bump in the night.

Rachel's business partner & roommate Ivy is a non-practicing living vampire which essentially means that she retains much of her humanity being able to walk in daylight & not suffer ill effects of religious symbols. Though, she has some of the vampiric perks such as super speed & strength there is the also the underlying instinct to feed that she must battle especially difficult living with Rachel.

This book has a great mix of the supernatural, it is based on magic but there are story lines that include vampires, pixies & to a lesser extent weres. Much of the book is dedicated to setting the scene / characters which made for a bit of a slow start for my taste but I expect this will resolve in the next offering.

Let's start by saying this is the first book in the popular series known as The Hollows. The Hollows is basically that part of Cincinnati where anything with fangs, fur or wings hang out to party or simply to feed. It is a world created by author Kim Harrison and what a world it is. This is what makes this book or story a notch above most of the same genre. Everything is so imaginative BUT at the same time almost believable in the way that everything is tied together. Characters and places and agencies that are pure fantasy simply make sense. The interaction between the characters is the selling point to the series. Although this is only the first book I have a feeling that this will become one of my favourite series. Anyways enough babbling and on with the review.

The background to the story is what happens after a virus almost wipes out the human race. What is left is a lot less mankind and a lot more fang, fur, wing and magic kind. These are now known as the Interlanders in other words not the people with the crossbows but the people you aim at with your crossbows. I just love the way the virus is spread through something most humans like and have around, let's just say next time I go to Tim Horton and order my usual BLT well, it might now be simply a BL. Yes the power of the biologically altered tomato almost destroys the human population. I guess you could say: eat red and drop dead. So humans and interlanders are now almost in equal numbers and must learn to live together. So to make sure no laws are broken we now have two major agencies, the Interlander Security or I.S. who takes care of the paranormal kind and the Federal Interland Bureau or F.I.B. who takes care of the human kind.

Our basic story is about one Rachel Morgan who happens to be a white witch who decides to quit her job at the I.S. This doesn't go to well with her boss since the top agent known as Ivy Tamwood a living vampire decides to leave the agency as well to open up a private business with Rachel and a Pixy who goes by the name of Jenks. So to punish Rachel her boss puts up a contract to have her eliminated. The only way Rachel can get pass this, is by actually paying back the contract. The problem is she doesn't have that kind of money so she thinks up this ingenious plan of capturing the man responsible for the big bad tomato fiasco and he being a councilman will not make the task of getting the necessary proof an easy matter. So the villain in this story goes by the name of one Trent Kalamack and what's so special about him is the fact that he is not your average evil person but he goes off as charming, intelligent and very deadly.

Now what I truly love about this book is the interaction between the main characters. Rachel being a strong but not invincible character sort of grew on me as the story progressed. She seems to be a character that will change and mature as the stories progress. Next we have Ivy the living vamp who brings a little of that dark but good side to the story. She might be Rachel's friend but she still has that taste for the red stuff. Next but not the least we have Jenks the Pixy, probably my favourite character of the lot. Imagine him as Peter Pan with a very bad attitude. He loves to get drunk on honey and tell people off. When you get dusted by Jenks believe me a vacuum doesn't quite cut it. The only way to stop an awful rash is by taking a salt water bath. So you could say he's a wicked little pixy...hey that has a nice ring to it...I simply can't remember where I heard it before...maybe I should register it...anyways, all in all this is a great read but it shows it's a first in the series and was meant more to introduce the characters and magical world than give us a nonstop thrill ride. I totally recommend this one.

Rachel Morgan is a witch that has just let the I.S. Not that her bossed cared he was trying to get ride of her anyway. When she left with Ivy (I.S.'s best agent), that her boss cared about and has put a price on Rachel's head.

To try and get the price off her head Rachel decides to bring down Trent. He is the biggest drug dealer (Brimstone) in town, and no one has been able to get anything on him. With that evidence she can bargain to get the price on her head lifted. With the help of Jenks and Ivy Rachel might be able to get out of this alive.

Plan A: break into Trent's office and get evidence on him and not get killed on the way there. Rachel and Jenks get caught in the act. Plan B: break into Trent's office to get the evidence, not get caught and not to get killed on the way there. Rachel uses her gifts to change into a mink to get in side with the help of Ivy and Jenks. Rachel gets caught again, but can't change back. Trent keeps her in a cage trying to convince her to work with him. When that doesn't work he puts her in a rat pit fight. Whichever animal survives wins.

Rachel is put up against a very mean rat, only to discover he is a human in animal form. They manage to escape with their lives and change back. With Nicks (the rat) help Rachel tries to track down some dark and powerful magic books that Rachel can use to save her butt. Once they are in the library Rachel is attacked by a demon that uses your worse fear to kill you. Rachel's biggest fear is Ivy, her friend and vampire, killing her. Nick makes a deal with the demon to save Rachel's life. Now Rachel owe's the demon a favour. Rachel knows that owing a demon will not lead to good things.

The group decide to turn to the FIB, the human police, for help in bringing Trent down. Only when Rachel agrees to become a secret liaison for the FIB, will they listen to her. Once Rachel has told them everything she over heard during her time as a mink in Trent's office, the FIB set up a sting to catch Trent's people bringing in the Brimstone. Only it is not Brimstone that Trent is trafficking, its biodrugs, drugs that killed off a big part of the human's years before. Rachel is in way over her head.

I enjoyed this first book in the series. Harrison creates such a different world that I really like. I think that this series will turn out to be really good. Rachel is a nice strong, and not an overly organised character. She makes you laugh, but you really want her to succeed. There is so much to the storey that I have not even mentioned in this review. It is fast paced and fun!

This book was recommended to me by a friend of mine in the States, so I thought that I would give it a shot. I found that it took me over 100 pages to finally get into the story. I found that the beginning hovered over Rachel and Ivy's uncomfortable relationship and really didn't go anywhere. Once Rachel started venturing out, things got interesting. I may read the next book in the series after I finish a few others on my list. Not a bad book but not the best that I have read.