Black Curse (The Hollows Book 7), White Witch

Ok, so i'm doing this review for books 1 to 12
I absolutely love this series, it has everything, just everything, Kim sucks you in and never let go and you don't want to leave this world she created. I love every secondary character, even though they all have murderous tendencies, every single one of them but deep down they all have good in them and Kim shows that to you.
My favorite characters are Jenks, Al, Kisten and Trent and i do hope that Kim does something with Al,it just about broke my heart that he left me *sobs*. I have not reat book 13 but i am going to start as soon as i get it.
I started this series very late in the game but i do not regret it because i got to read all the books one after the other without stopping, so, if you haven't started, do it now, you won't regret it. Rachel is the heorine you want to read, she makes so many mistakes and you want to slap in the face every character but you fall in love with all of them

I have a lot of favorite quotes, but to quote them will be to reveal a lot, however, i do have one that stayed with me
Kisten put an arm around me, soggy clothes and all. "I told you, Rachel," he said in my ear to start a warm spot in me. "I've got your back. Nothing alive will ever hurt you if i have breathe in me. And nothing dead will hurt you if i don't"....
*starts crying*....Kisten!!! Come back to me

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Rachel and Ivy are still struggling from the loss of Kisten. The duo are more determined than ever to discover who his killer was and bring him to justice (or at least some wicked revenge), putting even more pressure on Rachel to recover her lost memories of that dreadful night.

Meanwhile, Edden has pulled Rachel in on a case; to figure out who beat up Glenn and left him for dead. Little did she know that it would lead her straight to a banshee. If only Rachel can figure out how to bring her in without losing her soul in the process.

Oh and did I mention that there is a ghost taking up resident at the church along with Rachel, Ivy and Jenks? It turns out it was a ghost that Rachel conjured when she was a teenager. When Al takes him into the ever-after with him, Rachel makes it her mission to save him and talk sense into the goat-eyed demon. As if that's possible!

It's been awhile since I've read a Hollows book and I felt a little lost when I first started reading this one as I completely forgot who Ford was and then when Pierce was mentioned I thought he was somebody I forgot as well. But thankfully he wasn't and his importance in Rachel's life was explained.

I really wanted to settle into a fast-paced action packed book, but this was just not that kind of story. This one was a pretty slow read for me and I had a hard time muddling through it. But from News Year's on it was pretty good.

This story did introduce us to Rachel's brother, Robbie, and I have to say that I really enjoyed him and the sibling banter that came along with him. The two of them made me crack a smile a couple of times, reliving their youth. Robbie is a character that I hope to see more of in the future even though it would have to be in a limited capacity given his role.

I did miss David in this one though. I've always thought he was a decent character, but I never thought I would have really missed him, but there was definitely a void with him being out of town that I hadn't expected.

I was also bummed that Trent was so cold to Rachel in this one. I'm sure it's temporary as the two of them always seem to find themselves forced together for some reason or other and ever since Kisten's death I feel that Trent is supposed to be the man she ends up with.

It was heartbreaking when Rachel regained her memories of Kisten's death. It was so sad to see the love that he had for her and to see him sacrifice it all for her safety. It made me think how different and interesting the story could have been with Kisten as an undead vampire for a while. There is still a part of me that hopes Kisten will come back later in the series. But with the introduction of another possible love interest, it's looking doubtful.

The ending of this book from Rachel's memories on really was the saving grace of this book; unfortunately it just wasn't enough to overcome the slow and boring start. Hopefully, now that Rachel has achieved some kind of closure over Kisten's death she can move on to some more riveting storylines and maybe we can even get a little romance as well!

This review and more at openbooksociety dot com

*contains MINOR series spoilers

I LOVE This series! Kim Harrison has created such an amazing and rich world, that is extremely easy to get lost into. Not to mention the characters that you can't help but fall in love with.

Rachel Morgan is a witch working as a runner, bounty hunter, for the I.S. {Inderland Services} in a world after the turn. The turn was when a breakout killed 2 thirds of the human race, all because of tomatoes. The Inderlanders, supernatural races, were imune and after the breakout they were also the majority. That's when they decided to come out of the closet.

Rachel is tired of doing menial jobs for the I.S., so along with her back up, the Pixie Jenks and the living Vamp Ivy, she quits her job and starts a private runner business. The thing is that the I.S. is not taking Rachel's quitting lightly, specially since she has taken one of their best runners with her, and now they are trying to get to permanently retire, into the grave.

Rachel Morgan is a kick-ass heroine, one of the best out there and her adventures are so much fun! Throughout the novels we get to meet an awesome cast of secondary characters that you can't help but love... Kisten, Matalina, Pierce, Trent, Quen, Ceri and so many more... Each book in the series is full of all-out action balanced out with a great sense of humor that has me laughing out loud many times.

Rachel is one of my favorite heroines ever and amongst the reasons I love her so much is that she is willing to over look the lines drawn by human and supernatural society and do what has to be done to keep her loved ones and herself alive, without ever crossing the lines of the own morals and without hurting anyone on purpose.

I think my biggest biff with the series however, was the death of one of my favorite characters ever about halfway through the series and I am still trying to cope with it. I do enjoy Rachel and Ivy's sexual tension, which is something I had never seen in an Urban Fantasy novel before and it does bring something new to the table, despite the fact that their "will they - won't they" tension can get on your nerves sometimes.

All in all, The Hollows is Urban Fantasy at its best and is a must read to any one that consider him/herself a fan of genre. If you haven't read it yet, get to it! If you have, you know what I'm talking about =D

Originally Posted at Welcome to Larissa's Bookish Life

Well, every series going for this long is bound to have that one book that just isn't up to par with the rest. I'm a huge fan of The Hollows, but this was definitely the weakest installment.

Rachel's shunned, cast aside as a black which in her community. She's also focused on figuring out who killed Kisten a couple of books back. All the while, she takes on a banshee that feeds herself and child by stealing auras from people.

The resolution to Kisten's death was anti-climatic at best. I am not sure how I feel that we needed to wait two years to reach that conclusion.

There also isn't much Trent here, which was another downer for me, kind of like the 4th book where he wasn't there at all. That we get a smidgen of him helps a little. It also helped that Harrison alluded to Book 9 being a book with a lot of focus on Trent.

I don't know about anybody else, but I sort of started to like Al a bit in this book, and not in a "he's a cool villain" kind of way. There is this one scene where Kim gives the reader a bit of a reality check, and I thought it was well-placed. It keeps you grounded in understanding that while he can be plenty entertaining, he's indeed a demon.

Rachel meets up (again?) with what looks to be shaping up to be boyfriend #...Oh I've lost count now. He seems to be a figure from her past and an invisible one of her present. She's definitely plowing through them though. Failed relationship after failed relationship. Yawn. I'm not sure if I have the highest hopes for this guy, but we'll see.

Funny enough, this is the hardcover with the most pages, yet in this book there's the least amount of plot progression. Many have likened this installment to filler and I have to agree. The Hollows as a whole is my favorite series, but I definitely don't recommend starting with this book. This is really a series where you need to start from the top anyway because of the evolving plot. Unfortunately, this one isn't the best first impression because it doesn't showcase the top notch quality that this series is capable of. Though actually, this book is sort of with the first book, ranked in my bottom 3, but the first book is better than this one.

I am definitely hoping for the next book to be a bit better. I have faith that it will be.

I've read this book several times but this time something was very different. I became angry and cried thru the last half of this book. Several key plot points were resolved and they left me stunned and shocked by all accounts. Rachel Morgan is an independent runner for Vampric Charms along with her partners Ivy Tamwood, a living vampire, and Jenks, a pixy with an attitude large as life, together are a powerful team for good in Cincinnati, Ohio or the Hollows. Rachel's brother Robbie is coming to Cincinnati for a visit his first since Rachel was 13 years old. Rachel doesn't know what to expect yet is excited about Robbie visiting. Robbie has a few surprises of his own in store for Rachel which will leave her blind sided and thensome. Alice Morgan is please to have both her children under one roof again even if it's only for a short time. Alice has no illusion when it comes to things Rachel does unlike Robbie who becomes increasingly angry at everything Rachel does or doesn't do in his eyes. Robbie has become engaged wants Alice and Rachel to come to the wedding in Portland Oregon. Both Alice and Rachel are happy for Robbie yet Rachel feels that there is something more going on but can't quite put her finger on it yet. Glenn is hurt and left for dead and Captain Edden wants answers today from Rachel. As Rachel investigates what happened to Glenn, she finds Tom Bansen, a former Arcane witch from I.S., snooping around and wants to find out why. Tom tells Rachel to stay away from this case because it's his which makes Rachel curious as to why. Tom is bad news and trouble besides. Mia Harbor is a banshee with a child and a husband to boot who killed the Tilsons yet no one can find her. Mia is missing and Rachel tries to locate her for Captain Edden. Rachel and Marshall continue their friendship which surprises everyone greatly. Both Marshall and Rachel are still hurting from past relationships to try to take things further. Rachel is starting to remember more about the night Kisten died with the help from Ford. Rachel sees that her trying to remember is tearing Ivy apart yet she wants to remember and solve Kisten's murder. Ford asks Rachel if she knows that she has a ghost haunting the Church. Who is the ghost? What does Robbie really want? Can Rachel help FIB find Mia? What is Tom really up to? Will Rachel and Marshall take the next step? Will Rachel remember what happened to Kisten? Your answers await you in White ,Black Curse.

This is not my favorite Hollows, it did seem slow at first. I read and listened to it, via wispersync(love it!). It was really slow at the begining and did hit its slow points throughout the book, but by the time I got to the end I was satisfied with the over all story.
I had hoped we would see an Al/Rachel learning session, I love the ever-after, but that didn't happen in this book. I was still very pleased with the way that Kistens Murder had played out, and there are a few minor details that didn't get worked out in this that I am super excited to see tied in in the future books!

All-in-all I would in fact re-read this book and all of the others in this series up to this point(and further I'm sure but I haven't got there yet).

My recamendations to Hollows fans who may get discouraged in this book would be to listen to it instead, while doing something else, I chose to knit while I listened. It made the slow parts not seem so slow.

Happy reading!

Plot Summary: It's been six months since Kisten's death, and Rachel and Ivy are still trying to find his killer. They're short on clues, but Rachel's memory is coming back in painful fragments. The FIB want Rachel's help to bring in a murdering couple who are too dangerous to be human, and while on the job she keeps running into Tom, the black witch who tried to have Al murder her in the last book. Rachel is visiting Al for her weekly tutorial in the demon arts, and just when she thinks everything is working out fine, she faces complete rejection from an unexpected source.

Now that I'm finally caught up with the Hollows series, I can go back and read all the reviews on the store to discover why White Witch, Black Curse is the lowest rated book of the series. After reading through some one- and two-star reviews (harsh people, very harsh) it seems that folks got mad at either 1) Rachel's new love interest, 2) her old love interest, or 3) the lack of a love interest with certain parties. I hate to point out the obvious, but this is an urban fantasy after all. Readers who are looking for a neat, tidy, satisfying relationship story should turn to a paranormal romance. Rachel's love life will remain a chaotic wreck until the end of time. When Rachel finds true love, then you'll know that Kim Harrison is tired, and the series will be over.

Most of all it seemed that fans were upset at how a new character was introduced, and I'm wondering how these readers expect authors to keep a series alive without fresh blood? The true bone of contention is not that he's new exactly, but that he (yes, I'm keeping his identity secret) had an important impact on Rachel that is now coming to light, but we (the readers) had never heard of him before. For some reason this revelation has ruffled some fur. Haven't we all have crushes or boyfriends or sweethearts from our youth that are locked in our heart? Why should we know everything about Rachel's past?

Alright, I confess that I'm baffled by the bad reviews. While this book lacked a strong central story-line and the usual breathless conclusion, it was still a highly entertaining tangle of messy little subplots. No, it's not my favorite installment, but I defy anyone to tell me they were bored by this book. Confused? Maybe. Frustrated? Okay. But bored? No, I won't buy it, and that's why it doesn't deserve one- or two-star reviews. A book that I'd give one-star to doesn't hold a candle to anything I've ever read by Kim Harrison.

I suppose the only flaws that bugged me were sins of omission. A lot of my favorite characters, like Al, Ceri, and Trent, got very little page time for such a big book. The good news is that I think Ms. Harrison has finally shut the door on the whole business with Kisten, and Rachel has a new complication regarding her fellow witches that will provide plenty of angst for the next book. I'm kind of glad it has taken me so long to get caught up, because I only have to wait one month to read Black Magic Sanction (Rachel Morgan), which comes out on February 23, 2010.

I don't read vampire novels as a rule, but Harrison's lengthening series (this is the seventh installment) about Rachel Morgan, Cincinnati runner (part private cop, part private detective) and kick-ass earth witch, is the exception. In fact, the popularity of the series has engendered several copycats. Forty years ago, in a parallel version of our own time and place, a manufactured virus got loose and wiped out a large part of humankind, with the result that the citizens of "Inderland" now constitute half of society. That means vampires (both living and truly dead), weres of all sorts, witches of several varieties, pixies, fairies, elves, ghosts, demons (who generally restrict themselves to the Ever-After), and a number of other nonhuman species. They've always been among us, well concealed, pursuing their own interests, but now we humans have to deal with them as equals whether we like it or not. And all their inter-species needs and rivalries have a political aspect that affects everything else. Rachel, who began to realize several books ago that she's more than your average redheaded witch with great legs, has managed to quell social unrest among the weres and the elves, and she's business partners with a very important (and gorgeous) vampire and a pixie with major attitude. She's reached a sort of truce with Al, an especially cunning and grasping demon, and the few surviving (and extremely secretive) elves have decided she might be able to help them survive as a species, so they're leaving her alone, too. She's even learned to handle her own mother and older brother -- most of the time. But now she has to help capture a banshee and her infant daughter, and a banshee is the apex predator, "like an alligator." As always, Harrison paints her non-human characters and their society in multidimensional terms, and her plotting is satisfyingly complex as well. I could only wish her publisher would assign her a skilled developmental editor to assist with her narrative skills and frequently awkward word choices. And there's one major no-no: Harrison introduces a key character (Pierce, the ghost) whom she implies has been part of the story all along -- but he hasn't. I thought I had somehow forgotten a big chunk of the earlier storyline, but I've been told the author only introduced this guy in a short story, which I haven't read. That is definitely not playing fair. A warning to the reader, too: Don't even think of starting this series anywhere but at the beginning. The back-story is minimal and you'll have idea who these people are or what's going on.

I had such high hopes for this book because I loved the previous two in the series. Unfortunately, it was really disappointing.

Let's start with the repetitive stuff. Once again, there is more junk between Ivy and Rachel trying define their relationship. I can't take it anymore. I actually thought this was settled in the last book - but it came up again and I am so sick of reading about it. I don't care at all anymore if they want to share blood or a bed or anything else. Just make a decision and stick with it already.

Next in line is the vamp junk. All the vamps do the same thing. They all want to play with Rachel's scar and every time it happens she has the same exact response written the same exact way. It was interesting and intense in the first couple books, but by book 7 it has gotten boring to read. If the vamps can't be more interesting, then I don't want to read about them anymore. Kisten seemed to be the only exception, but now that he is gone, the rest are just carbon copies of each other.

Now on to the apologies... Anybody count how many times the characters (mostly Rachel) say the words "I'm Sorry" in this book? It had to be dozens. This is getting old as well. Geez Rachel, stop saying you are sorry - if you were really sorry, you wouldn't keep making the same stupid mistakes and apologizing for the same stupid things.

And then there is the whole "poor me" attitude from Rachel that is driving me nuts. We get it Rachel - you are totally alone, you don't deserve good things, and everybody hates you. Boo Hoo, you sound like a broken record. I like heros to be stronger than that and I can't stand when they start having pity parties. But the one thing that dropped this from a 3 star to a 2 star rating was the number of times that Rachel says "It's not my fault" and "it's not fair" in this book.

And then on to the stupid love stories... Can someone please explain to me why so many of the people that Rachel meets fall madly in love with her? Pity party, whiny, complaining Rachel still manages to attract hot men? Yeah, right. Marshal was lame. He could have been cool, but he was a rebound and wasn't there long enough to have any impact. And yet we were forced to read about all of Rachel's inner struggle about to-date-or-not-to-date Marshal, even though he was just a flash in the pan. It was such a waste. And then we get Pierce the ghost who also manages to fall in love with her even though they've only spent one day together. Whatever. Why doesn't anyone fall in love with Ivy?...or Trent?...or the FIB officers?.....or Al?

I didn't care for how Kisten's murder wrapped up. Since he is one of the characters that I liked the most in this series, I didn't like that it felt like an afterthought at the end of the book. I wish that this whole book had been about catching his killer rather than just simply about Rachel remembering the night it happened. I would have preferred that to wasting time with the banshee storyline.

I didn't like that the most interesting characters (Trent and Al) were barely in this book all. But the few times they did make an appearance were the best parts of the book.

My review may sound a harsh, but I'm just so disappointed. This book feels like filler, and that is insulting to a reader who has invested the many many hours to read 7 books in a row.

Does anybody know how many books are going to be in this series? Because I don't want to read anymore filler stories. If a book isn't going to be important to the primary storylines, then I don't want to read them.

This is the seventh book in Kim Harrison's series about Rachel Morgan. Rachel Morgan is a witch and she lives in a church with two friends, Ivy who is a live vampire (meaning she still has her soul until she dies and becomes a dead vampire) and Jenks who is a Pixie. The setting is Chicago and the premise is that in the 1960's a genetically engineered tomato caused a plague that hit the human population very hard but spared most Interlanders. Because of the large loss in human population it became harder to hide so witches, weres, vampires, and pixies came out of hiding and a new society was built. Two types of police were created to police the species, the FIB for human policing and the IS for Interlanders. Rachel was kicked out of the IS and now works with her friends as a runner. Prior to this book her boyfriend, who was a living vampire, was murdered but no one knows by who.

In some ways Rachel reminds me of Stephanie Plum from Janet Evanovich's series because she seems to have perpetual bad luck not with cars but with demons and banshees, with other witches and vampires, with elves and the law. Perhaps also because they are both runners asked to bring in someone who does not want to be caught.

In this installment Edden from the FIB asks Rachel, Ivy and Jenks to help him bring in a woman wanted for murder and beating up a police officer. It turns out she is a banshee who is older than the city, who has had a child recently. Banshees suck up emotions from people and situations to live and can kill someone just by touching them by stealing their aura.

I'm not sure how well this novel would stand by itself. Harrison does do a good job of reveiwing who's who but since it's been a while since I read the others I did run into some moments of having to think twice to figure out who was who and why I knew them. She has done a wonderful job of creating a society that seems real and the emotions and complex feelings the characters have for one another are very well done. As a child Rachel had a blood disorder that could have killed her but was reversed, she spent a lot of time in hospitals and hates feeling out of control of her life. It was very touching for me when she visited the children who were currently in the children's wind at the hospital.

I read a lot of the reviews before picking the book up. And, based on the reviews, I strongly debated not reading it at all. Then, I had to wait weeks before the library had it available. And, I finally read it last week.

Based on the reviews, I was really set to be disappointed, but I found Harrison to be as engaging as ever. To me, this book felt like it should have been #6 instead of #7. Given where #6 ended, Rachel seemed too hung up on Kisten's death at the start of this book.

To address some concerns other reviewers had:

Pierce - he's the "what if?" guy. He's the guy that you don't think about until someone reminds you about him, then you're fixated on "what if?" for several days, then he drifts out of your mind again. I found him to be a quirky character, but I don't entirely trust him. That said, I think their relationship was believable.

Marshal - I liked Marshal. I thought he was good for Rachel. And, I think it's realistic to assume that they would have that kind of ending based on Rachel being shunned. From an anthropological perspective, that's what's supposed to happen when someone is shunned. Losing Marshal is impetus for Rachel to have the shunning removed, and it leaves the plot open for a triangle in a later book.

Al - He's got the hots for Rachel Mariana Morgan, no doubt about it. And, he doesn't trust Pierce with Rachel, which makes me curious about Pierce.

Jenks - Wasn't he supposed to die like 2 books ago? I see Harrison is just having trouble facing the idea that she created a character whom she's going to have to kill, a very loveable character.

Bis - I like the little gargoyle, but I wish a little more info would be supplied about him.

Trent - need more of him(and Ceri, too) because those dynamics were very interesting.

I definitely will continue to read this series. I think Harrison presents fairly realistic characters and story lines.

Oh, Rachel Morgan series, how I love thee. Let me count the ways:

1. You are full of rich, conflicted, and complicated characters. Your good guys are just a little bad, and your bad guys are just a little good, which makes everyone a lovely shade of grey. A reader can find themselves wondering if a demon or ruthless business man are really all *that* bad.

2. You are full of rich, conflicted, and complicated relationships. In real life, there are layers to relationships, and Harrison knows how to show it in her novels. Rachel and Ivy are more than partners. They're best friends, and feel a deep loyalty to each other, often without thinking of the consequences to themselves (or thinking of them, and deciding they don't matter). Jenks has grown into much more than the spunky pixie side-kick. He is a father figure packed into four inches of determination and love. Even Rachel's relationship with the demon Al has many levels, from resentment to respect.

3. You take place in an incredibly different yet familiar world. Harrison has managed to build an alternate universe of sorts, one which might have been the same as our real world if not for some diseased tomatoes.

4. You seamlessly move the major series arc ahead while giving us an interesting immediate concern.

5. You don't dilly dally with namby pamby background at the beginning of the story -- you jump right in to the action! One thing that Harrison is especially gifted at is working the background information into the course of the story without it being overly intrusive.

6. You build upon current supernatural mythologies without changing too much and without adding cheesy elements. In Harrison's books, the supernatural often feel more natural than the human.

7. You never ignore the past. Events that happened in the first books in the series still have an impact in the last books.

This series is really one of the best paranormal series out there. If you're not reading it, YOU SHOULD BE.

I've been a fan of Harrison since page 1 of Dead Witch Walking and this series is fast becoming one of my favorite series. Through Harrison I've found a whole new world of urban fantasy that I can tentatively venture in to because, alas, a lot of urban fantasy can be a waste with a few authors tucked in here and there. With White Witch, Black Curse I had hopes of another great Hollows book, but this one fell a bit short.

Right away I can say that I love Harrison's style of writing. Her prose is succinct and fluid, her description is rich in detail. All that aside, this was the first in the series that things began to feel a little repetitive, hashing old scenarios and descriptions over again. Through the first half it seemed like a tired storyline that dragged on, culminating in a pseudo paranormal romance. This is exactly what I did not want to read. Harrison being a female author writing urban fantasy, I knew that I was taking a risk with Dead Witch Walking of falling in to the trap of paranormal romance and I was ecstatic to find that although there is some, it is brief and plays a role. Not so with this installment as the first half seems to be all about Rachel's love interests in her just a friend Marshal, not to mention her pining for Kisten. All of this culminated in a long drawn out sex scene that had me rolling my eyes and doubting whether Harrison would be able to recover and begin writing a story that I have been waiting for better on half the book.

Although there was much to be wanting, I think she did recover somewhat enough that by the end of the book I was satisfied, if only a little disappointed. The action got a little better, old characters were re-introduced, and a plotline finally got closed so we don't have to get subjected to it in the next installment. I'm not really sure what to take on Pierce. Not having read the short story I was a little taken aback on who he was and why we hadn't seen him before, but at the very end his powers were intriguing and his magical strength is one that I cannot wait to read more about, if only to flex some magical muscle and show the demons who he really is.

All in all certainly her worst of the series. A slow start with a decent finish, still not bad compared to other authors, but only a 3 star compared to her other installments in the series.

3 stars.

Rachel Morgan is a witch, living with a vampire (who, fortunately, hasn't died yet) and a family of pixies (who, unfortunately, are about to die quite soon, of old age -- at least the parents will, though not the four dozen children), beholden and apprenticed to a demon, with an uneasy alliance to the last few elves alive in the world; she has dated a dishonest human thief who endangered her and stole from her, a noble living vampire who died protecting her, and, it turns out in this novel, an embodied ghost who died almost two hundred years before, who has now come back to -- well, maybe he has good intentions. And in this novel, Rachel decides the time has come to take on a whole new species: the banshee, the apex predator of this world of the Hollows and the Turn, the nastiest, deadliest, most powerful race in the world -- rivaled only by undead vampires and demons, but matched by neither.

Because the largest issue any of these races seems to have is -- issue. The elves are willing to do almost anything to repair the damage done to their genetic code by their ancient enemies, the demons; the demons are willing to do almost anything to seduce their one surviving female, and protect their one potential new female, a certain genetically altered (or perhaps re-altered) witch. The vampires have allowed Rachel to stay alive and unharmed, despite her vulnerability to vampire powers, because their master, Rynn Cormel, believes that the witch may have the ability to save the soul of all future vampires, starting with her roommate and best friend, Ivy Tamwood. If Rachel succeeds in saving Ivy's soul, then the vampires will be able to last into their undeath in greater numbers -- which will help to balance the growing power of the vampires' top supernatural rivals, the Weres, now that the Weres have the ability to make new Weres with bites, rather than the simple reproduction that has been the only source of new Weres for centuries. So naturally, the banshees have a very difficult time reproducing: the banshee subsists on the emotions, the auras, of other living creatures, which it can drain with a thought. Newborn banshees have the power, but not the control to turn it off -- which means that they are fatal to any living thing that touches them, other than their mothers. Not a good baby to have in Italy.

The banshee of Cincinnati -- there is only one, who has lived in the same area for 300 years and allowed no rivals to stay -- has found a way to have a child with the man she loves, and still keep that man alive despite her daughter's fatal touch. She has not found a way to spare innocent bystanders from being eaten by her adorable little bundle of evil, because she does not care to try. When the family puts one of Rachel's friends in the hospital, Rachel goes after them. This, in combination with Rachel's ongoing dealings with demons -- which have brought up a whole new storm of consequences -- and her and Ivy's continuing attempt to discover the identity of the vampire who murdered Rachel's lover Kisten, make up the bulk of the plot. But because these books are complex and genuine in their attempts to depict all of Rachel's life, there is also the issue of Rachel's mother and brother and their comings and goings; the debate between continued friendship with Marshall, the attractive but comfortable companion she has spent the last two months having platonic fun with, and the possibility of romance with a man who could, for the first time, be good for Rachel; the sad prospect of losing their pixy friend Matalina, and the slightly more distant prospect of losing Jenks, the best character in these books; and at least a little time spent with Trent and Rachel's past health issues. Oh yeah: and then there's the ghost that has been in love with Rachel for ten years. Or maybe it's that she's in love with him. Maybe both. Or neither. When it comes to Rachel's love life, none of us really know -- least of all Rachel.

The book is a little slow at first, even a little confusing, simply because there are so many plotlines to keep juggling. But some of these are resolved in this book, and perhaps resolved permanently; the banshee issue certainly is, along with the murderous vampire's identity. And once the book is settled into its groove, it chugs right along, as readable and entertaining and engrossing as all the rest in the series. Great twists, a better pace than some of the other books have had -- and an excellent ending. This one's a good'un.

4.5 stars

This book was much better than book six. These books definitely need to be read in order. I love that Rachel has finally decided to just stay friends with Ivy. I love the addition of Bis and Pierce. Rachel discovers Kisten's murderer in this book. We also get to meet Robbie for the first time and learn more about Rachel's father.

The usual players are here in full force, except for Ceri, who is suspiciously absent the entire book. I definitely missed her, I really enjoy Ceri's addition to the story. I think that Rachel is starting to grudgingly respect Al and I think that Al kind of likes her. How gross/weird is that? Looking forward to the next book in this series.

Just One Gripe:
Rachel's denial that she is turning into a black witch.

The Best Thing About This Book:
The addition of Pierce. I love the way he speaks!

I was suprised by the many negative reviews of "White Witch, Black Curse". I agree with many of the points made in these reviews, however I believe the good in this story far outweigh the negative points. My biggest problem with this story is actually probably my own fault, so I won't weigh that in my star giving...Its about a year between Hollows books and I found myself very confused by a lot of things in the book. I didn't remember Kisten's death well enough to really relate to the story of them trying to 'remember' the killer by walking through Kisten's boat. I couldn't remember Jenk's reasoning for giving Rachel the foretting potion. Didn't all this happen in book#5? Again my own fault, but it did leave me feeling a little out of sorts during the story. Also there is obviously still chemistry and feelings between Ivy and Rachel. I don't necessarily want them together as a romantic couple, but I think its hard to deny what Harrison is creating. And I was confused by this as well because I thought the issue was resolved in a previous installment. I too missed Trent and Ceri...and Al was such fun for each page he was on that I truly want to see more of him as well. I wasn't upset by the introduction (again) of Pierce the ghost from Rachel's past. I was annoyed by the fact that he was just this briefly seen character in a novella, and then he is referred to in the book as the "man Rachel measures every man in her life by, and they dont' have a chance of measuring up" or something along those lines. The Jenks/Matalina lifespan is becoming more and more immenant. Somethign is going to have to happen one way or another after talking about it since book #4. I can't figure out how Jenks could die and not harm the series permanently. Maybe Harrison will suprise me on this one. The storyline was ok, but I wasn't excited by the whole banshee thing. I wish that the book could have had more of a focus on finding Kisten's killer and having the resolution be totally amazing. Instead I was underwhelmed by the killer and the after effects of Kisten's murder. Maybe the biggest problem was that there was too much going on and nothing felt all that important to the overall Hallows story arc. Probably the most important thing to happen was Rachel's shunning. This could cause all kinds of future entertaining events. Marshal's exit was also kind of odd. I hope that this story was Harrison's way of wrapping up some loose ends so we can cleanly focus on the everafter and Trent, Ceri and Al. The possibilities here are endless and amazing. Harrison's writing was still well done and I still really like Rachel, Ivy and Jenks. I am grateful for having this story to read so that I could visit with them again, but it just wasn't as strong as I've come to expect.

When the streets are cluttered with vampire and werewolf scum, who you gonna call? Maybe you would call the local vampire, witch, werewolf police department, because it takes one to catch one. Blood Work, the graphic novel, is an extension of a series by Kim Harrison. Harrison's novels are a grimy clash of the real police world with the world of magic. There was a catastrophic event that forces mystical creatures to reveal themselves to the public. The Inderland Runner Services, or IRS, is formed as a task force composed of vampires and witches to help police those same beings. Blood Work follows the lives of Ivy and Rachel as they team up for the very first time.
The art in the graphic novel is average. Main characters' faces seem off, and there is nothing eye-popping going on in the book to pull the reader in. The overall writing of the book is above average as the book cares more about the relationships of the characters. It does fail to explore the world created by them, so I felts like I was missing important pieces. This is defiantly a graphic novel for those that are fans of this series. The rest of us might just want to read the novels instead.

*Originally published for San Francisco/Sacramento Book Review*

Just introduced to this series recently, and have to say that I just keep going from one book to the next, and they just get more interesting to me. She has tough luck, and a lot of it, with plenty of twists and turns along the way. Her character is evolving from what she thought she was, to what she's meant to be. Much like life, in that you don't know what will be dealt to you, and bad choices just keep adding to more bad choices for some. She thinks she's doing good, and can't see it any other way, but society disagrees with her. You should read the short "Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel" before reading this book, though, because it does refer to that story for a major happening in the book. I was happy when the Kisten thing was resolved, and not unhappy with the explaination (as some reviewers were) I like how things aren't so easily figured out, with Ms Harrison's books. She throws in new characters, taking out some others, making us sad, and gives us a good laugh at times. You just don't ever know what turn Rachel's life will take, and that is what keeps me reading.

I enjoyed reading the majority of this book but it was not as captivating as others in the series. I had a hard time remaining interested in the first 200 pages of the book. I think the story could have been completed in about 300 pages. I also did not have the back ground information on one of the characters introduced in "Holidays Are Hell". If I would have read the short story "Holidays Are Hell" I might have had a greater appreciation for the character Pierce. I do like that Harrison gives many of her characters a sense of humor and I did find myself laughing and smiling at Jenk's and Rachel.

Spoilers - In this book Rachel had too many negative things happen to her. It was almost a turn off. I am wondering how much can go wrong with her life? When will she triumph? She is shunned (which leaves some?), never thanked for her good deeds and sacrifices, she looses her "boy" friend (which I like his character), she's indebted to everybdy, her mother leaves town (timings right plus Rachel is shunned), Kisten's murder is already dead and Rachel is still the student of a demon (that we did not learn much about).

Speaking of Kisten's murder, I remember him from one of the earlier books and Ivy spoke of him. It is strange to me that Rachel did not recognize the vampire. Hum...

This book was like reading a bunch of short stories in one book with some being related and others not. I was looking for more follow-up from book 6.

Overall, not as good or as funny as her previous books.
I found the addition of characters, namely relatives, highly distracting. Added to the fact that I didn't believe the characters themselves, the relatives. I didn't think they needed to be in the book, at all. The series has had six previous books without relatives, and they did fine. Why have them now?
And the new love interest, kinda of, was sort of a dud as well. And the other guy, who Rachel may or may not have feelings for? What is up with that? Seemed a little ho-key instead of hot.
Also, the funny banter between Rachel and some of the other characters wasn't there, like it had been in previous books, I loved that sassy dialogue! I missed it terribly in this book.
The most interesting parts, to me, were when Rachel was with Trent. Love Trent! I also thought Al was great!
Although you do finally find out what happened to Kisten, but that wasn't handled very well either. Though, I'll admit the book that had him dying, that part of that book, was really badly written...the whole dream sequence felt like a cop out.
So, it's a good book to read if you want to follow the series. However, I wouldn't say it's a MUST read, if you're on the fence about it. I almost didn't finish it all, a first for me with this series. I wonder if the series is just teetering out now? Or if this was just a mediocre book. One out of seven wouldn't be bad.

My first venture into the unknown world of the graphic novel! When I heard Kim Harrison was writing a graphic novel that described the conditions in which her Hollows main characters Rachel and Ivy meet, I know I had to read it. I was a bit scared that I wasn't going to like it, because to be honest I have never read in this format before.

Turns out, it was pretty awesome. I can't talk for the hardcore graphic novel readers out there. But as a fan of the Hollows series, I can say that Blood Work is definitely worth it. The art is easy on the eyes, and even though I didn't always pictured the characters different than they turned out. I liked the little background in Rachel and Ivy, and see Ivy and Kisten together.

If you haven't read the other Hollows books, I'm not sure how much you will like Blood Work. The plot is pretty much self-explanatory, and pretty exciting too, but it will probably be too short a book to truly appreciate the characters. But then again, maybe that is always so in a graphic novel?

I would definitely recommend Blood Work if you're curious how Rachel and Ivy met.

I am really enjoying the journey Rachel Morgan is on in these books. After the events of the last book, Rachel is stuck with a horrible agreement with the demon Al, a number of ragged threads in her personal life, and the truth about her race's heritage to come to terms with. And then, of course, as if that wasn't enough, now she's got a banshee to track down and a ghost to rescue. Never a dull moment.

I found this story chaotic in a wonderful way. The focus is constantly shifting from one problem to another and back again because Rachel has so much going on, but the balance was perfect. Rachel as a character is the type to try to solve all the problems around her at once and this story was very true to that aspect of her personality without seeming like it was jumping around willy nilly. She is still learning to balance her instinct to shield the ones she loves with her need to rely on those around her for help. I like the rate of growth we're seeing in that aspect of her character.

Rachel is still dealing with the fall out from Kisten's death and I was surprised by the way that played out in this novel. The confrontation with Skimmer really caught me by off guard. Though nothing that happened was out of character, I was not expecting Ms. Harrison to take things in that direction. The mix of visceral response, physical action, and flashback was beautifully written. And the resolution of things in the tunnels at the end was another gem. So dark and so perfect.

I also like the societal consequences Rachel faces in this novel. She's come a long way from the black and white moral code she used to operate under at the beginning of the series, slipping just a little further from that path with every crisis, and I enjoyed watching that catch up with her. (Though I do feel kind of like a bad person for saying I enjoyed someone's tragedy... whatever, it's fiction!) I'm intrigued by how Rachel is going to go forward from here.

Oh, and there was some absolutely beautiful humor in this one. Without being too spoilery, I will say that the scenes in the elevator and the coffee shop were lovely. I've never really liked the Al character before, but he completely shined in those scenes. And I have a feeling I'm going to like Pierce.

I've enjoyed this series more and more with each book published. This book wasn't as good as the last, but it was still worth the read for me. The plot seemed a little disjointed, and I missed Trent, Ceri, and some of the other secondary characters I've gotten to know.

I'm glad Kisten's death was finally resolved, even though it wasn't as I expected. The resolution leaves me more hopeful for Ivy, though. To me, Ivy and Rachel's relationship seemed to strengthen in this book - they seemed to be able to touch each other and feel emotional together without fear that it would turn into something dangerous. It didn't seem as angsty to me (the "should we, shouldn't we" angst prevalent in previous books... this one seemed to get mostly past that).

Warning... minor spoilers ahead...

There was much less humor this time around (even from Jenks), and I missed that. More humor was needed to balance out the misery and feelings of "aloneness". The whole shunning issue, Marshal's wimpiness, her mother leaving, her brother being unsupportive, etc., etc., cast too much of a depressive pall over the book.

Overall, I enjoyed the read. Although I came away feeling lonely after reading it, I'm still looking forward to reading the next in the series.

I definitely liked pieces of White Witch Black Curse, but it felt pretty much like a short story with a bunch of other random stuff pulled in from past books and short stories for filler.

First the bad: I don't know about the rest of you fans, but I really just wasn't happy with revisiting Kisten's death and without providing spoilerish details, I found that thread to be rather pointless when all was said and done. I also found it wierd that Harrison dipped back into two of her old short stories for two of the major players in this book, the killer and Rachel new love interest. Also there wasn't enough of Trent or Al - after the last book, I wanted to see more development in Al and Rachel's 'working' relationship and more demon games, but Rachel never sets foot in the ever-after.

The good: I liked the resolution to the banshee story line. And I really liked Ford. And I am alway happy for as much Jenks as Harrison can manage to throw in - even though he spends a lot of time in Rachel's handbag here.

Overall, this book felt very transitional - now that Rachel has closure, here's hoping that we get back to the good stuff in the next installation.

I am not the type of reader who cries about how I want a story to progress. It's the unexpected paths an author takes which makes reading so enjoyable. If you want it all to go the way you want then write it yourself.

I DO , however, expect the worlds these stories inhabit to be consistent if not make sense.

Rachel was a runner who brought in black witches and other species who broke the law. She is accused of being a black witch pretty much the whole time yet the biggest fear she has is that they'll catch her with her seat belt off or an expired license. Tom summoned her thinking she was a demon, tried to kill her and another woman yet he's out walking around without worrying about getting locked up. Trent is no older than Rachel, yet has been apparently been running an underground illegal drug ring since he was 14 and has not only gotten away with it but NO ONE even suspects him?
Rachel is constantly slandered in these books by Media yet she never tries to defend herself. By the pop culture references, none of the 40% of people who died were celebrities or their fore bearers.
Consistency has been degrading from book to book on a world wide scale(come on..everything relevant to the demon world happens in Cincinnati?) and on the characters personal scale. Either leave the social structures vague or set them in stone.
I actually like everything except the two issues that have doggedly persisted through too many books. The Rachel/Ivy thing, and Matalina dying. For the former; give Ivy some bags of Rachel's blood and move on and on the latter; either big her up and small her down so she can be revitalized as Jenks is or let her go toes up to get it over with.

OK. Let us start the review.
The Bad. A little too long.
The Good. The character interaction between almost anybody in the novel with anybody else. I love Al, so seeing them is great. Love Jenks and Ivy, so that's cool. Page 224 made me almost cry. This is full of real warmth, human emotions, pain, love, life and, yes, even death. I can't explain just how good this book is without getting into so many spoilers. We get answers but of course, as with the best of stories, we get even more questions.
Yes, there is a few new characters - which is how it should be, and some new information about witch culture and Rachel's past. Good. I didn't know everything about the characters and their world and I don't want it delivered to me in one big data dump. This is not a role playing game - this is how real life works.
The Ugly. I liked Kisten, so already am starting to miss his interaction with everybody else.
That's it. No need to ramble on. Get it, read it, enjoy it.

I love the Hollows, but this is sub par for any medium. I am not digging this art in the least. I know a lot of people try to make the excuse that an artist can't capture what you imagine in your mind, but I beg to differ because there are a couple of series with decent graphic novel adaptations. Mercy Thompson's is one of them and even Anita Blake's is better than this, though I'm not a fan of that style and no longer read the series. I was at least going to give the cover some credit, but that was before I received the actual book and saw that it was simply a photograph, not a cool drawing/painting.

I've also seen a few amazing fanart pieces for the Hollows that not only capture how I imagine the characters, but make them look even better (see Valliant Creations on Deviant Art and you'll see what I mean). Those artist are capable of drawing comic book style too, so one would hope that a hired professional could at least get it in the ballpark. Ivy's asian features are stronger than we were initially led to believe, and she's not as beautiful and elegant as we're led to believe. Rachel's okay, but not that sexy either. I knew Kisten wasn't going to be great but then they HAD to add Trent *shakes head*. I am hoping we don't see Jenks at all at this point since a sequel is in the works. It's definitely disappointing for me, especially coming off of the high from the Pale Demon installment which is now my favorite book to this date. While not my favorite character, I do rather like Ivy so I was hoping for an interesting read. I will admit that a few scenes are quite funny and it was cool seeing things from her POV, but that's really the only plus I can give it. Fans of Ivy/Rachel may like knowing how Ivy started falling for Rachel. While I am not a fan of the pair at all these days, in the earlier books I was intrigued by the idea. I can say that this book hasn't done anything to remotely sway my preference back to that end if that was Harrison's goal.

I do appreciate the attempt at trying a prequel instead of making a graphic novel based off of existing publications, but with Harrison's inexperience in this realm, it may have been better had she gone that route and just started with Dead Witch Walking. This just didn't give me that Hollows feel most of the time, and it's probably because every thing's confined to speech bubbles, which really limit the depth we're accustomed to. I just wasn't emotionally attached. I am just not sure how many non-Hollows followers perusing the graphic novel aisle will pick this out and think it's worth $23, or even $14, but that's just me. I wanted to like this, but I just can't recommend this with good conscience.

What I didn't like:

Look, I know Rachel and Ivy have a very tenuous grip on the limits of their relationship, if there are limits...whatever kind of relationship it is. But do we have to be reminded of it all the time? UGH. Yes, the reality of what they are to one another is tedious by nature and they would be constantly adjusting and re-adjusting. I do not want to read about every single adjustment. 50-100 pages could have been cut by eliminating repetition and redundancy.

I also do not want to read about banshees who offer nothing to the story. So Rachel was in a dirty tunnel and THAT was the setup for the big revelation about Kisten's death? Double UGH. And WHAT ABOUT IVY?! Rachel had all the gratification through her memory coming back and the experience of her last moments with Kisten, especially when he kills the vamp to whom he was given. That vamp was all about Ivy, so she should have been more involved in the big revelation and/or gotten some closure, which she did not. Rachel even sealed the oubliette herself (albeit with Ivy holding her up). It was totally lame. I am growing tired of hearing about every little pain in every single place that Rachel has when she's weak or beaten up, and just how she's held together and by who. It gets tedious after a while.

Giving Kisten's death center stage in this book (or at least many pages that the banshees had) would have been a proper memorial. Making the memory of his death a lesser scene within a scene due to ambient odor was lame. I still can't swallow that Rachel ever would have survived Mia down there, or that reliving Kisten's death would be so inconsequential for her. While she has grown, Kisten seems to have been the love of her young life. It's not believable that she could just seal the oubliette and be okay, like what just happened was not a big deal.

The banshees were a new, late addition to the story and were terrible villains. They also had nothing sympathetic about them. I didn't hate or like them; they were superfluous. Seriously, how is it that the villain (Mia) even had an antagonist after her? The Walker could have been left out altogether.
Better would have been a plot that really involved Pierce, maybe with him leading Rachel and Ivy to the truth about Kisten's murder. Yes, he was another late and somewhat strange addition to the series (although part of the anatomy of a series is the introduction of new characters) and I agree with another reviewer's point that Rachel's sudden revelation of measuring every man against him was hard to swallow at this stage. There should have been a reference to him in earlier books to make that particular attitude work. That said, Pierce was probably not yet in Kim Harrison's brain that long ago.

Glenn and Edden are too flat. As is, they don't offer much except as filler.

Getting Al to agree to Rachel's demands (when the moment in Carew Tower arrives) was way too easy. He's kicked her ass and dragged it around for less than that, and he usually messes her up nicely.

Not enough Al, not enough Trent, not enough Bis. Where were Minias, Ceri and Keasley?

Again, Kisten's death - he was a favorite character (as he was meant to be)and maddeningly noble to the core, even undead. WHY? It made him too Prince Charming-ish.

Why is every male in the story willing to make sacrifices for Rachel? Most of them aren't even supposed to like her (or want to work with her). Edden and Glenn constantly give her breaks, even when they're sending her away from a crime scene. Marshal made a scarifice to help her in an earlier book, when they met. Kisten sacrificed his life for Rachel (and Ivy, at least). Even the demons keep giving her breaks. (except Newt - we need more Newt!) Trent does so much for her. The only ones who don't cater to her are Tom and the Banshees husband. The one male character I liked who did nothing for her was the prison guard where Skimmer is held. All the other males seem to bend over backwards for her, whatever their own reasons are.

What I did like:

Al. The humor is great during those awkward public outings with an unlikely crew.

Bis! Let's have more of him.

Rachel can still manage to get her ass thoroughly kicked.

Finally finding out how Kisten died. Leading us on any longer would have been total overkill.

There is more to Pierce than originally indicated.

The fact that Rachel does get attracted to all the guys (or most of them). One reviewer on here didn't like that, but I think it's a vulnerable part of a largely invulnerable character. That she constantly likes the wrong guys (and knows it now) makes her more real. And I much prefer that to every guy wanting to jump her bones or fall in love with her instantly, as with Sookie Stackhouse. It's cool that she thinks of them that way and not all of them are so into her.

Rachel is maturing as a character and that's interesting. She is growing and although sometimes all the little details and self doubt are overkill, it's nice to see that she's not exactly the same person that she was in the first book. (Jenks is still the same, save for the new penchant for honey as Matalina dies.) Ivy is different, too.

Rynn Cormel finally shows himself to be the ruthless undead boss that we knew he had to be in order to get where he is.

Bottom line:

It is not the worst in the series, and not the best. It could be shorter and much better. All of Ivy and Rachel's issues are still repeated constantly. There's not enough humor and demons, and too much banshee and filler characters. It's still worth reading, just don't set your expectations too high. I will read the next one.

Prequel to your favourite series, Blood Work is point of view by Ivy, Rachel's roomie telling the story of when they first met.

The plot centres around a somewhat run of the mill case (by Rachel Morgan's standards) driven largely buy cameo graphic introductions of key characters from the series and quite tidy artwork particularly of Ivy and our lead lady Rachel.

While this piece is a solid graphic interpretation there is a lack of pizzazz. It's fun to see a typical Hollow's plot drawn out, but as mentioned the plot is typical - and the artwork while nice doesn't exactly blow one's mind.

Obviously Harrison couldn't play around too much with plot, its unlikely readers would tolerate needing to read the comic to get canon plotline, still it gives Blood Work the feel of fanfiction.

Although at the end of the day its worth a look if only to see our leading ladies in the ink so to speak...

Let me preface by saying I borrowed this. And I'm glad because I could give it back to the 15 yr old who had it. I didn't care for it. Not to say I don't enjoy a little graphic novel now and then but I have to go to DC and Marvel for the truly great stuff. Here? Not so much.

The characters seemed either overdone (read, Ivy) or watered down (read, Rachel).

Ms. Harrision, how about telling these stories in a regular book for those of us who really don't need the pictures? Your ability as a writer is far and away so much better than this. Actually, you are amazing and this style just seems like you're catering to youths instead of your regular fans. If this is so, then market it as YA.

I say if you are a true fan of The Hollows, take a pass here and wait for great books that Ms. Harrison will give us.

Seventh in the Rachel Morgan / The Hollows urban fantasy series revolving around the partners in the Vampiric Charms agency in an alternate Cleveland, Ohio. [Lady Galaxy caught me out in a mistake! It's not Cleveland but Cincinnati in which the series is based.]

Some days, it just doesn't pay a girl to get outta bed...especially when all the good one attempts only results in people seeing you as bad.

Harrison has written a compelling story in an even more compelling series...White Witch, Black Curse just grabbed me up and made me cry as Rachel remembers what happened the night Kist died. There are so many mini-plots embedded throughout the story which Harrison "twists" on and drags us further along even as she drops more breadcrumbs along the primary road of the series. Truly a master in building tension and intrigue.

I did not like Blood Work, for art and plot reasons (lack of resolution in the ending). Blood Work is Harrison's first graphic novel as a writer. It is Pedro Maia's first graphic novel as an artist. I think it is also Gemma Magno's first graphic novel. This team needed artistic oversight from an experienced artist who worked at Marvel or Dark Horse or Shounen Jump, someone who understood story visualization.

Character depictions -- Ivy is well portrayed (shouldn't her eyes shine black when the aura is out?), with the exception of her boots. In the books they have more heel. Denon is written in the Hollows as being a bodybuilder, with much greater muscle-tone than he is illustrated with (to keep up with the real vamps). Kirsten and Piscary are supposed to be vampires, but they have little razzle-dazzly *aura* and this makes them not scary and forgettable. Rachel is not Rachel.

On Rachel -- I hated how Rachel looked like Pipi Longstocking. In the authors notes at the end, Harrison mentions they characters were never depicted anywhere but in her head before "Blood Work". This is incorrect. I formed my picture of Rachel by looking at cover art: Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows, Book 1) to Pale Demon (The Hollows, Book 9). The Hollows themselves. Own them all. Nine different pictures of Rachel looking sexy witchy dangerous. Her hair is red and straight, not orange and curly (remember her Mom's hair straightening charm?). Rachel has a degree of style that simply isn't present in her depiction, a vibrancy, a lacking in the art...

Art Style -- no motion, no sound, but great background details (good job on Rachel's pinky ring). The illustrators only used still shots; they were unable to depict motion. Graphic novels should contain motion lines, noises, bold/italic/other-fonted text to convey emphasis and emotion. No 'WHAM!', 'BAMF!' or booms in the work. (Where was the music in the night club?) The illustrators left them out, creating tepid, hesitant still-life. This works for the detective portions and character introductions. Action scenes fail. The biggest combat event is a cross-block of a knife in gang fight, and it has no motion lines or 'thuds'! How is that professional quality for an expensive hard cover graphic novel?

Harrison's notes say she picked her sketch artist by the depiction of Ivy's vampiric aura as an energy being. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Vol. 1 uses this technique for psychic power auras ('Stands'). The 'animated' power aura is present in the medium, as Jojo is a 'classic' with seven distinct stories, hundreds of volumes, and has been around since the 1980's. I think if Harrison knew more of graphic novels, or even bothered to Google her own fan art at Deviant Art, she would have better artistic choices.

I love Kim Harrison. I love her style, and I love how she's able to create such a world that the reader can just become immersed in. She can create witty and funny dialogue, and sometimes the series just blows me away with how innovative and creative it can be. But White Witch, Black Curse was one of her less stronger novels. I wasn't sold, or convinced. The Banshee side storyline? What relevance has that pertaining to Rachel and her own life? That didn't contribute to anything- not to any new plot development. There was little character development, and there was the sudden intrusion of Pierce, who I felt was pretty much "imposed" upon the reader. He came out of nowhere, and suddenly he plays a major role, and we are told that he is possibly the reason why Rachel can never really love anyone. I don't buy it at all; it was unconvincing, and as subtle as being hit by rocks, and I'd like to point out it felt a little unfair, especially with the other men (or women, in Ivy's case) who have been with the readers since book one. Pierce does not sell at all, and his dialogue is as cheesy. Very cheesy- at any rate, I can't take him seriously.
Other then that, I love Al and Trent (interested in his relationship with Rachel), and a bit of Jenks. I love their characters. I find Trent and Al to be enigmas, never really knowing what their motives are. Their characters are gray, too, with seemingly unfathomable minds and it makes them all the more intriguing, wondering what the **** is going on in their heads. Ivy, however, I can't take- or at least her relationship with Rachel. It needs to be settled, instead of always vacillating between the possibility of romance or friendship. Yes, I am tired of their little drama.

White Witch, Black Curse (2009) is the seventh fantasy novel in the Rachel Morgan series, following The Outlaw Demon Wails. In the previous volume, Rachel exchanged names with Al. Then Tom summoned Al from the ever-after and got Rachel instead. He and his coven were very surprised when they let her out of the circle.

Rachel returned to the ever-after and made a deal. Now she is a student in demon magic with Al as her instructor.

In this novel, Rachel Morgan still doesn't remember the deaths of Kisten. She now knows that Jenks had dosed her with a forget potion to prevent her from rushing out to face the undead killer. She realizes that he had probably saved her life, but she is still haunted by the memories of Kisten.

Ivy Tamwood is a living vampire. She is also Rachel's roommate. They have been living together for a year, learning how to avoid angering each other. She too is still grieving over Kisten.

Jenks is a pixie. He is a partner in the firm of Vampiric Charms and is now the owner of the church where they are living. He is married to Matalina and has about four dozen children at home in the old church.

Ford is a Federal Inderland Bureau psychiatrist. He also senses emotions. He would rather not have this talent since he cannot block the feelings of others.

Edden is the Captain of the FIB office in Cincinnati and the father of Detective Glenn. Edden hires Rachel occasionally to brief his people on lesser known Inderlander facts.

Marshall is a former dive instructor who now lives in Cincinnati and attends the University. He is a friend of Rachel, but not a boyfriend.

Tom Bansen is a former official within Inderland Security. He was shunned for his secret summoning of demons.

In this story, Ivy still has not discovered anything new about the killer. Of course, she had not done anything for the first three months because she had been worried that she had killed Kisten. Now she is working on the killings, but not making much progress. But she is very sure that any purely human means will not help bring back the memories.

Yet Rachel has begun remembering specific details about the killing of Kisten. It starts when Ford takes her to the drydocked boat where Kisten was killed. She remembers some of her own actions and a few details of the killer, but not his face or name.

Marshall has come to the boat impound yard to give Rachel a ride back. She gets into the truck, has a last few words with Ford, and is ready to leave when Ford returns to the truck. Glenn is hurt and Edden wants her to come to the hospital.

Rachel tells Marshall to leave and rides to the hospital with Ford. There she learns that Glenn had gone out after work to talk with some suspects in the death of a friend. He had been brutally beaten and left for dead. He survived only because he had left word of his whereabouts with friends and they found him before it was too late.

Rachel goes to the crime scene with Ivy and Jenks. There she finds that the FIB does not like anyone touching things within the site. She finds a banshee tear in the child's bedroom, but is ejected from the house.

Since Edden doesn't mind her presence in the garage, she goes through the boxes there. She discovers that the current occupants are not whom they are thought to be. She also finds Tom eyeing her car and asks Edden to check it for bombs.

FIB later discovers that the occupants are a serial killer, a banshee and their child. IS will not touch the case for several reasons, but mostly because banshees are very powerful creatures. Ivy later tangles with the banshee woman and gets walloped. Even an undead vampire would probably not be able to overcome a banshee.

This tale forces Rachel to consider the wisdom of hunting a banshee. She knows that they are VERY hard to tag, but Edden really wants the people who hurt his son. For once, Rachel says no to him, but events force her hand.

The story leaves Rachel in an even bigger mess that before. Some things are resolved, but other things happen. Many tangled threads are left for the next volume: Black Magic Sanction. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Harrison fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of weird magic, crime investigation, and a mixed-up witch.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Been waiting for over a year for this new book so when it was available, I bought it here on the store!

Most people already posted reviews on some of the details so I won't bore with rehashing them.

The story was.... somewhat of a let-down! At least for the first half.
It was slow and tiresome as the story just dragged on mainly about Rachel's quest on finding peace about Kirsten's death and find the killer.

Towards the end, the pace quickened and ... Spoiler... the issue was resolved!

I missed Al and Ceres (somewhat) and hope they'll return in future volumes.

Don't know how many volumes Ms. Harrison plans but let's hope she doesn't drag out the storyline! This book wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as the previous volumes.

I was able to get an audiobook version and loved that they brought back Ms. Marguerite Gavin. [Gigi Birmingham in the previous audiobook version was annoying (as many people, including self, didn't like her voice characterizations). Got used to her, though, in the end]. It was nice to hear Ms. Gavin's rendition of Rachel and the gang and hopefully she'll stay on for the ENTIRE series =:)

If any tv studio plans on making these books into a series, please consider "Chase Masterson" as Rachel. I can just hear her and see her as Rachel =;)

Time to re-read... re-hear the older audiobook version of The Hollows to refresh my memory especially Pierce, whom I had forgotten about!

...and the way things are progressing that might just happen. Outlaw Demon Wails was my favorite book so far, this was a bit of a let down from that. I am torn between 2, 3, and 4 stars here. At times I felt like Rachel complained too much, then again, she may be justified with everything that happens to her in this book. She is constantly struggling to find herself, and to define herself in terms of black or white. She needs to realize she is in the gray area, and stop trying to make excuses for herself. Though, all of that is what is great about Rachel, she is realistic. If I were to put myself in her shoes I would have given up long ago. Unfortunately this book did seem to drag on with no apparent plot or point, and was very depressing at times. In addition to that, Ivy and Rachel are at the same place in their relationship, Jenk's wife is dying but is mostly ignored, and the Kisten resolution was disappointing. That would be where I am leaning towards a 2 star.

Then I have to sit back and think that I couldn't put this down. I absolutely love the characters in this series. I love how realistic and believable everyone is. I love how Jenk's tries to protect people but can't. I love his attitude. I love that Rachel never gives up, and Al is just plain awesome! I would have loved this book if there were no banshees really, I can just read about these characters forever. The banshee situation felt strange. For some reason it didn't feel like a real plot, I didn't care either way what happened to any of them. If we were supposed to feel any sort of sympathy towards them it didn't work for me at all.

With all that being said, I absolutely love this series and am deeply invested in all of the characters. I can't wait to learn more about Pierce and Al. Will Ivy be able to keep her soul after she dies? When will Rachel get rid of her marks? Is she to be shunned forever? Will Pierce be able to remove the shunning? Will Ivy ever be able to accept what she is and find a balance with Rachel? Is Jenks going to die soon? How will that affect things? I can't wait for more!

I've developed a love / hate relationship with this series. Loved the beginning books that make the basis for the series, severely disappointed by the latter books that have defanged my favorite character Ivy and made her more or less barely seen furniture by the most recent novel. So it was with pained hope that I looked forward to a graphic novel where Ivy was the focal point. I've been reading Comic Books since I was six and comics are a medium I love dearly. This particular graphic novel (and the term NOVEL is used pretty loosely here) not so much.

I love Ivy. But this rendition of her falls short of expectation both visually and text wise. Colors used on her make the character look 'muddy' without clear contrasts. What should be shadows to define and make her look 3 dimensional make her look dirt smudged. The character design is... less than appealing to me. She's not exactly a dog, but she simply doesn't look elegant, sophisticated, sexy or alluring the way this uber top of the food chain living vampire has been often described. She looks very biker gang butch, heavily muscled and almost mannish. Very Asian for someone who previously was described as looking "slightly Asian, but not markedly so".

Most of Ivy's text is inner dialog, as she is a pretty laconic character in the books, and not very chatty in the graphic novel either. Reading her is not really informative, and rather repetitious about how she's just interested in the job and NOT falling for ding bat but kitten has claws Rachel her newbie witch partner. Aside from 'she smells good' there isn't much development in the graphic to show WHY Ivy is attracted to her partner. From the novels, we know why Ivy likes Rachel, but unless you've previously read the books, Ivy's falling for Rachel doesn't seem natural or understandable. In fact, unless you've read the novels, this is not a good book to introduce you to the series or the world of the Hollows. The few pages in front that should introduce you to the world don't really do the job for someone walking in on it cold.

Also the writing of both story and dialogue is choppy and there is no smooth flow. This felt like a very rough draft story board to me than a finished product. So while book fans may enjoy simply because it's another piece of the Hollows storyline, it doesn't really add anything new. The plot is so simple as to be banal, the art is mixed bag and nothing to collect for art's sake alone. Out of all of them only a couple of pages were visually appealing to me. But nowhere near 23 bucks worth of appealing.

Since I am a fan of Ivy, and Rachel, and Ivy/Rachel, I'd probably collect this simply because it's about Ivy and Rachel, but that's about it. It suffers greatly in contrast of the other novel based graphic novels and comics published for Patricia Briggs, Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, and the like.

One thing I did like, is after the story part of the graphic, there is a for the artist, a full page description for both Ivy and Rachel. This I think will be helpful for fans who want to create their own artistic depictions for the characters.

End Comments - this might have worked better with more experienced comics industry professionals, like Terry Moore or J. Scott Campbell helming the art side, and if Kim Harrison had someone to take her script and rework it into something more smooth and flowing and... well, exciting This was pretty dull work, Ivy's vampiric lesbian/bisexual interest in Rachel was the only interesting thread, and even that was kind of awkwardly presented. Also, acne and elves do not go great together. Just saying. I give it one star for the extras after the actual story.

Tell the truth. Did you take the time to read all of those Hollows short stories scattered in anthologies over the past few years? If the answer is yes, you're finally getting your payoff. Just about every short story associated with the series comes into play here. And while you didn't HAVE to read them all to understand, they certainly give the reveals here something-extra for the fans who went beyond the novels.

We pick up with Rachel accepting her deal with the demon, Al, to become his student. Her friendship with fellow witch, Marshall, is deepening and looks like it may just develop into something more. Things seems to be evening out a bit, until someone attacks Glenn, a human officer and good friend to Rachel. It's quickly revealed that a banshee named Mia and her husband Remus are to blame. We met Mia back in "Undead in the Garden of Good & Evil" (Dates From Hell.) She was the person who convinced Ivy that she could change her life, be more than the monster Piscary crafted her to be. In return, Ivy gave her the wish Rachel granted her in Dead Witch Walking. And Mia used that wish to fashion herself a family.

In the meantime, Rachel finds out someone is haunting her church. Do you remember any ghosts in her past? Think back to "Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel" (Holidays Are Hell.) Yep, good old Pierce is back. And he is a welcomed sight. Especially as we see Rachel struggle to remember bits and pieces of the night Kisten died. The last book gave me a small break from the heartbreak I felt in For a Few Demons More. But it is back with a vengeance as Rachel finally remembers his sacrifice with heart-breaking clarity. And his killer? Another familiar face with a grudge set up in (you guessed it) another short story.

Rachel suffers even more hard knocks in this book. While nothing will ever touch the loss of Kisten (and believe me, she is still suffering that), the indignities and loss just keep piling on. Thank goodness for Ivy and Jenks. They are her anchors and her true family. Another great Hollows installment. But please, Kim Harrison, do you have to make me cry so much? 5 stars.

P.S. I was surprised at how many poor reviews I read here on the store. And I guess I can agree with those who made the point that Pierce, as the great benchmark for Rachel's love life, is a little far fetched. And while he could never replace Kisten in my heart, I did like him quite a bit in the short story. Perhaps without reading that, though, he may not have made me nearly as excited. As for Rachel's impetuousness, it doesn't strike a dark chord in me. That's simply who she is. And while she is trying to grow, she is still acting very much in character with what we've seen in past books.

This book does not come close to the dizzying action and emotion that "For a Few Demons More" held, but it does resolve a huge plot thread, which practically sneaks up on you when you least expect it. The introduction of the new character, Pierce, is a welcome addition, and who that happens to be is a pleasant surprise in itself. Definitely out of all the characters in the Hollow's world (witches, vamps, weres, elves, pixies, etc.)the demons have to be the most entertaining. I was a bit disappointed that they had such little "stage time" this book. Minias is noticeably absent and missed. Minias and Newt have a most unique and interesting relationship, but unfortunately they didn't fit into this installment. The main plot reveals a new but ancient form of Inderlander, the banshee, and this adds another dimension to the balance of power among the species. If I had an outright complaint, it would be some of the repetition that becomes apparent throughout the narration. Way too many "so not this" and "so not that's", and quite a bit of "as if this" and "as if that's". Too much is brought up as "not fair". Hopefully this is not done consciously since it could be seen as copying the style of another author, who I will not mention, whose books have seriously declined in quality. I don't see that happening here as long as the extra dialogue and detailed descriptions stay imaginative and relevant to the ongoing and developing storylines. Again, not as amazing as FAFDM, but by the end it's a satisfying read that leaves you anticipating what comes next.

First let me say that I am a fan of the Hollows series of books. I have read each and now Book 7 is available I was excited to dig into it. Second let me say that I do audio books--I drive alot and prefer to listen to a book rather than music while I drive. For me, the reader (Marguerite Gavin) is the voice of Rachel Morgan. Marguerite seems to get into the character so you are listening Rachel's thinking not just words on a page. I also like Marguerite's voices for the other key characters (specially Jenks).

What I like about the whole series is how Rachel, ah ah, "wanders" thru her life and yet seems to get done the task of the book. I listen to alot of action-adventure books where there is a mission and the process to efficiently execute the mission. This book (and whole series) is not like that. It seems to be a "slice-of-Rachel's-life" complete with a main mission, sidebars, sub-plots, on-going-character matters and other interesting things going on (like little unannounced visits from Al). Each book seems to get the job done but leaves alot of open-ends which hopefully lead to the next installment. WW,BC leaves plenty of loose ends that clearly need a book 8 (that is a hint to Kim Harrison).

I am not going to say much about the plot leaving most of it to you the reader. I will mention a life-sucking baby is involved in this book.

While I enjoy all of the characters. I would really like to learn more about Ivy. OK, here is my dirty little secret: Jenks is my man! Oh yeah! I like the way Jenks thinks and talks! Go Jenks!

I really enjoyed the first 5 chapters that were released online and was very anxious for the book to arrive.

They may have been the best 5 chapters in the book. After that we seemed to revisit the same themes as before. While I did like the book I hope that the characters grow in the next one.

I did have to go back and read some of Harrison's short stories to get all the pieces to the puzzle. It had been so long that I had forgotten about the banshee and about some of the stuff with her brother.

Recommend reading Dates From Hell, Hotter Than Hell and at least one other short story book before reading this book.

Rachel Morgan, witch and bounty hunter, is hired along with her PI partners, Ivy and Jenks, by the Federal Inderland Bureau (FIB) to solve their latest case. While working on the FIB's case, Rachel secretly tries to solve the mysterious death of her vampire boyfriend. With the help of Agent Ford, Rachel relives her memories of the night Kirsten died. Somehow her present case and Kirsten's death are connected. As Rachel, Ivy, Jenks and the Federal Inderland Bureau race to solve their latest case, will they also find Kirsten's murderer?

I feel the primary characters are introspective and are searching for completion within themselves. Rachel questions herself as much as she quests to find Kirsten's killer. Her relationships with the other characters are temporary, superficial. She might crave, but she will not touch. The dialogue is catchy. These two elements carry this novel. Like the other reviews, I too feel reading the previous books in the series will help the reader.

Huge fan of Kim Harrison's novels but not such a big fan of graphic novels so not surprisingly I did not really like this book. I did read it because I do love Kim's books but it only took about 25 minutes to get through the whole thing. Luckily I picked it up at the library and did not even have to check it out since I was able to read it in the time it took my kids to pick out books. I'm glad I did not pay for this book I would have felt cheated.

The story line doesn't really add anything to the series it just shows the first days of Ivy and Rachel working together at the I.S. and their first run together. The story moves entirely too fast with no actual story depth (maybe that is just the nature of comic books), they meet one day, find a dead were, and the next day they find the killer and Ivy is in love with Rachel. I felt like "did I miss something?".

I will say the artwork in this book was very good and very consistent from start to finish (I have seen some graphic novels where by the end of the book you couldn't tell the characters were the same character in the beginning), although they did not match the image of the characters I had created in my mind, which is one drawback to comics.

If you are a fan of the Hallows series and want to read this I suggest going to your local library and checking it out where you can return it so you wont feel like you wasted your money.

It's several months after Kisten's death and Rachel still has no memory of who killed him. She and Jenks at last return to the boat where he was killed and they discover a bit of evidence. FIB psychologist, Ford, agrees to hypnotize Rachel to get the answers once and for all.

Meanwhile, Rachel and Ivy's FIB agent friend Glenn is left for dead. They quickly realize that a banshee has taken most of Glenn's aura, but he will recover.

Unfortunately, Rachel's investigation reveals there's not just one banshee, but a banshee baby. She's also left near dead. Traditionally, banshee babies feed on people indiscriminately and having two feeding banshees in Cincinnati means serial murder. This close to New Year with shoppers at the mall and parties in full swing only makes matters more scary.

Just as Rachel thinks she might have some clue how to magically control the banshees, she's shunned and cannot get ingredients for her charms. And that's not all the trials our itchy witch faces from human and non-human alike.

"White Witch" is not quite as expository as the last Rachel Morgan story, but there are enough questions answered to keep us moving on in the series. Kim Harrison really knows how to write characters that keep you engaged and keep the story fresh for readers. I personally would recommend that readers start with "Dead Witch Walking" which is the first Rachel Morgan story and explains the world and the characters within it the best, but you can pick up "White Witch, Black Curse" and still get most of what is happening, you'd just miss a lot of the fun.

Rebecca Kyle, March 2009

As a matter of fact I read half the book, put it down, read two other books, then picked it up again. It just didn't keep my interest long enough. What disappointed me most of all was how depressing this book was. Usually Harrison throws in a dash of romance, a pinch of funny, etc. This one was so down.

SPOILERS>>>Rachel is shunned, she looses her love interest, they kick her out of crime scenes (that they asked her to attend), she's attacked several times, nearly dies...um...several times, her mother moves away to live by her brother, Al snatches her ghost (by the way, Pierce is from a short story she wrote for an anthology book), and she's getting back her awful memories of the day Kisten died. There is nothing funny or light-hearted in this book. Yet, at the last two pages Rachel is happy and the last line of the book, "I love my life." Huh? What is there to love?

I still plan to continue reading this series, at least one more, in hopes that Harrison throws her poor character "a bone." Jeez, if her life sucks any more, I would begin to wonder why Harrison doesn't kill off the character.

This is the 7th book in the Hollows series by Kim Harrison. In a series that has consistently blown me away with its great writing quality and fast pace this book was a huge disappointment. I really feel like Kim Harrison was forced to write this book and forced to wrap up the whole Kisten mystery and didn't want to; this book just drags. Quick side note: I listened to this on audio book and the audio book quality was great.

In this book Rachel is trying to remember what happened on the night when Kisten was murdered. Ford is along to try and help her jog her memories. Ivy is still trying to solve the Kisten murder in her own way. Then they get called on a case that ends up involving a mother Banshee who may be killing to feed her child. Oh and Pierce (you know the guy in the short story done in the anthology "Holidays from Hell") pops into Rachel's life. Also like usual Rachel is having trouble with Al (her demon teacher) and is trying to keep things with Marshall on a "strictly friends" basis.

As you can tell from the above things were kind of jumbled together; Rachel didn't seem to know what she was doing most of the book. There are so many things that bothered me about this book. First and foremost is Rachel's whining. I mean you probably could have cut 50 pages out if you had eliminated some of the whining; I felt like counting the number of times Rachel said "But, I'm a White witch!" with an honest to god foot-stomping whine...the number of times this was said had to be in the double digits at least; were they trying to drive home the book title? Rachel acted pathetic throughout the book and constantly said she would change things while she constantly made the same horrible decisions over and over again. It just wasn't interesting to read about that.

Next issue is the Kisten thing. All this build up over multiple books over who Kisten's killer was...it was very anti-climatic. The conclusion to the Kisten murder was weird too (I won't give anything away) but it was very rushed and very unsatisfying and really felt forced; like someone told Harrison she had to wrap up this plot point so she grudgingly did it. My only positive reaction to this part of the story is that we finally can (hopefully) stop hearing "Who was Kisten's killer?".

Then there is the appearance of Pierce, a minor character in a short story in an anthology half of the readers of this series probably haven't read. Pierce takes a major part in this story and I thought it was odd that he suddenly plays such a big role in Rachel's life. His inclusion felt forced and unnatural. The Banshee character Mia was also unsatisfying; there was so much "we have her, we lost her, we have her, we lost her" that I just got bored with the whole story. Rachel's whole moral struggle with bringing in Mia was odd, it was like Rachel completely lost her sense of right and wrong and wandered around confused for most of the Mia investigations.

Of course, to bring even more pain into the mix Harrison had to (again) bring up Ivy and Rachel's blood balance. I had really, really hoped we were done hearing about this. In fact it seemed pretty tied up in the last book and I was disappointed to see it rear its ugly head again. Bringing this up, yet again, added to my boredom and made me roll my eyes...I mean come on let the characters move on and get on with the story. Same with Marshall, what was up with his relationship with Rachel, is it there just to take up page space?

There were a couple good pieces to the story. Pierce is actually an interesting character and I am eager to see more of him. Eddings and Glenn were great characters and added more to the story than any of the other characters. Al stole the scenes he was in too. Also Bis was awesome and I hope the gargoyle is in the story more in the future. Rynn Cormel is an intriguing master vamp and I am also eager to find out what his future actions are. In fact all of these characters were way more interesting than Rachel and Ivy; maybe Rachel's character is just getting tired. All I know is something has to change or I will be getting rid of all the books in this series and dropping it.

All in all a disappointment. This was a long, long book that felt forced and chased itself in circles a lot. There were a couple bright spots, but overall I just wanted the book to be over.

Let me start by saying I love the world where Rachael lives. I really like the dynamics of the different species and how they co-exist. My favorite characters are Bis, Al, Trent, Jenks and his entire family. There were not enough of any of them in this book.

Warning - You should read Holidays are Hell short story Two Ghost for Sister Rachel for some background on Pierce and Hotter than Hell short story Dirty Magic for the background on Mia. I can't imagine trying to read this book without reading those first. The ghost story should have been included with this book and the banshee should never have left the short story she was born in.

The book started WAY too slow. I barely made it through the first couple chapters and to be blunt I skimmed though all the flashbacks. I tried to read them but just didn't care anymore. Worse yet, you don't find out who killed Kisten until the last 50 pages or so? And then it was... uneventful. It was very disappointing to say the least. I really loved Kisten however his memory was trampled. A 3rd death in a way. What a waste.

For me, the book didn't start getting good until Al showed up. After the way the last book ended I thought we were going to see a lot more of Al and Rachael's demon abilities. I like Pierce and I like the idea that he is rather naughty when dealing with demons. Not stupid like Nick. I hope this combined with the whole shunned thing will open the next book up to Rachael the Demon rather than Rachael the whiny crybaby indecisive tease that she has been.

I just love Bis and I want to see more of his character develop. I also prefer the sassy Jenks rather than the emotional one. I am sad his wife is dying and I don't want Jenks to die either however being reminded his wife is dying every 30 pages is a bit much. Maybe it is time to bring in another one of Jenks kids for training. Lighten it up a bit.

Trent. I don't know why I like this character but I do. I think he makes a good ally and a great villain all at the same time. He was sorely missing from this book. More Trent type characters and less Ivy. She has become repetitive and boring. The whole Skimmer scene in this book? Pass. Cut that character loose already. Better yet, let them hook up and take off together.

I will contnue to read these books but I have stopped buying them. I got this one from the library because I felt the Kindle price was unreasonable.

I must admit, I was a bit worried after reading some of the reviews before recieving my book, but after reading the book my self I think that maybe we have been expecting a bit too much.

This installment, although not as good as Outlaw still is pretty good and on retro spect I can see where Kim Harrison is coming for.

**NOTE Some spoilers ***

We have the identity of Kristens killer, which although was a bit rushed and pretty far out field, now clears the way for Rachel and Ivy to move on. I did think it was bit contrivied that having collapsed, she realised who it was.

I slightly disagree with a previous reviewers comment on her using black magic to seal up the bodies of the person who killed Kristen. I think that this shows that Rachel is indeed on a very thin line that could result in her goin seriously dark.

The new character of Pierce was a bit wierd, but I am putting down the fact that this suposed important person and first love of Rachel was mysteriously absent, due to the fact thtat Rachel genuianly though he had crossed over. We now know that he is so clever he outsmarted Al, which is no mean feat in itself. I think he may not be all he claims and possibly may come into the story further on.

As for the fact that Rachel has been chunned, I like this. It geniuenly puts her at a disadventage and gives the story a new slant. How is she going to survive now she is shunned? We see that it also affects those around her, with her mother being shunned alongside her. I think the reason its never been mentioned is that Rachel has been in the frame of mind that it would never happen to her. Yes she has demon marks but she isn't into black magic.

I must admit I was glad that Marshall is now out of the picture. He was too Vanilla for my liking.

My only gripes? As one reviewer pointed out, there was no continuation on her training with Al, (which is why I think she has been shunned and nothing to do with the demon mark = back magic) I hope Harrison brings this into the books.

Not enough Trent. He was in the book for two or three scenes to give some information.

Ivy and Rachels relationship. Something has to give in this. Either get them together or have them call it quits. Ivy wasn't in this much and to be honest, the book survived.

Overall, this book though not the best in the series, it was still a good book. I think that this volume was a breather before the story kicks up a notch again.

First, I want to say that I liked how all of the titles of Harrison's Rachel Morgan books were based on Western movie titles. I thought that was a unique and fun feature of the books, so even the title of this book is a disappointment for me.

I was so excited about reading this book that I checked it out of the library the first day it came out. I expected to read this book in a couple of days, because I am a fast reader and when really into a book, I will read it until I'm done. However, it was a chore reading this book because it was so boring. Devoted readers waited a year for this book to come out, and I think we deserved a little more action than what Harrison gives in this book.

Solving Kisten's murder is only a minor story line, and even Ivy is disappointed about its resolution. Kisten was a main character in the book, and I think his murder should have meant more than for just making a point.

Rachel is trying to figure out how she is going to save Ivy's soul. Apparently, master vampire Ryan Cormel thinks that is all Rachel is good for, since she will not become romantically involved with Ivy. I think that is something we are all tired of reading about.

Another potential boyfriend for Rachel is introduced in this book, which is from one of Harrison's anthologies; even though it is treated like it is a story line from previous Hollows books. Harrison should not assume that her Rachel Morgan fans have read her anthologies as well. I guess she is trying to generate business, but I have no interest in reading them.

I am giving this book a three, instead of two, only because Harrison has done such a great job creating this series.

I love this series! Harrison's characters are so well-developed I need to remind myself that they are not alive, walking around in the world we live in. No two characters are even remotely the same. Each has his/her own unique qualities.

I came into this series backwards in that I read Book 7 first and then worked my way back to the earlier works. I was on vacation, needed something to read, saw it on a store shelf and never imagined I would get hooked. Of the four books I read, this latest one is still my favorite as I find it to be the most intense with regard to the relationship between Rachel and Ivy. Harrison does such a superb job of capturing the passion between Ivy and Rachel. The depth of emotion between these two women is so intense - I simply don't know of another writer who captures so much passion, so effectively, with so little actual physical contact between two characters.

I don't feel the cover artwork for any of the books in this series does justice to the work within. The artwork connotes an entirely different feel, one that is beneath the quality of the actual writing.

Overall, Kim Harrison has presented readers with another good installment in her series. Rachel continues to be a three dimensional, interesting character. The plotting is not bad and the pacing is strong. I will recommend this book!

A few things, however, would have made this a five star effort. So here are some "peanut gallery" suggestions from a reader. Rachel/Ivy--there needs to be resolution in their relationship. The delicious tension between them in the first handful of books has evolved into something sad. The tease has gone on too long and is nothing but painful. Considering their obvious love for each other, and their history, keeping them apart before they even got started seems a little artificial. If Rachel simply was unwilling to have a romantic relationship with a woman under any circumstances, shouldn't that have been the resolution long ago? I understand the characters were supposed to be confused. Problem is, should that confusion extend to the readers?

When selecting a Kisten's killer, it would have been so much more meaningful to pull someone from the existing story that readers cared about or at least remembered. Finding him already dead only served to bleed any remaining tension from what should have been an explosive climax. Why avoid the showdown? If the point was that the characters now have to internalize their anger -- that's been shown many, many ways already.

Finally, there are so many characters in the story now that it's losing focus and too much time has to be spent reminding the reader of who they are and their backstories. Considering the length of the series that's understandable. Still, more focus (less subplots involving multiple characters) would be greatly appreciated.

A few tweaks would have gone a long way. Still, I utterly enjoyed this book and will happily purchase the next one. Kudos to the author.

In Cincinnati, four decades since the Turn, Inderland Security polices the no-humans. Working for I.S. Ivy Tamwood is irate over her demotion from homicide to street cop and working for a low blood Denon the ghoul. She turns livid when Denon introduces her to her new partner Rachel Morgan the earth witch. Besides not wanting to work with a witch, Ivy also loathes babysitting the new runner.

Denon assigns the pair with running down drug dealers. Under a bridge, Rachel talks with Sharps the troll about the nearby corpse of a werewolf. The hit looks like that of a master vampire. While Ivy says not their problem, Rachel insists they investigate. They get into a bit of a tangle and Ivy finds she wants to taste the witch's blood. However, Ivy knows she underestimates her newbie partner when the witch fights back and points out the killer is not a vamp bit a powerful witch. She further explains someone is using dark magic, but erred with the werewolf sacrifice in human form. The pair begins to investigate though knowing Denon will counsel them.

This Hollows graphic novel is a great urban fantasy that tells the tale of the first meeting and patrol/case between the witch and the vampire. The story line contains the essence of the series, but enhanced by the excellent muted colored illustrations of Pedro Maia and Gemma Magno. Fans of the Hollows will appreciate Kim Harrison's wonderful first encounter as angry Ivy and goody two shoes Rachel bare their "fangs" at each other and some nasty inhuman slime.

Harriet Klausner

From the get go for myself the Hollows series was just a distraction after having gotten through a fantastic series. What I have loved is many of the characters and their interactions and the fast pace of action. These books have often made me laugh as well.

My issues though are not only with this book but with the series in general at this point.

I am sure there are spoilers coming so read at your own risk.

- I have loved the characters, but they are continually introduced and now we have a ton of characters that are often unmentioned in any given book. I am not asking that they are all part of it because that would be chaos but it seems that many of the plot 'leaps' will pull random character x into the fray just to get through something difficult to explain.

- Plot 'leaps'. I really suggest getting better readers before publishing these books who can be completely honest. There hasn't been a book in this series where I wasn't like "where the heck did that come from?" Jenks and the forget potion to me never made any sense along with countless other items. Even though you are dealing with the fantasy genre, it doesn't mean that people will accept that kind of well fantasy. I don't like it when something feels forced.

- Series - Is there a direction? One of the things that I marvel at in some of these series is how well and interconnected the stories are and how well they can go back on draw upon previous plotlines that fit stunningly into the newer plots. To me this is about having a vision for the entire series and the characters in it. I am SURE it is difficult to write a really good book, and thus more difficult to write a really really good series (which this has been good or else I wouldn't have come this far) but the challenge that the books have to seemlessly merge into 1 great story. This has started to feel like the telenovellas where every season the soap operas use the same actors and recast them in totally different stories.

- Rachel - While waiting this book I started the Anita Blake books. When I came back to this series I felt like Rachel is a whiny, boy crazy, 13 year old. I suppose she is almost more real because she is indecisive and inconsistent but I guess I expect more from my fictional characters than that part of reality. As others have suggested it's her lack of decision making and wisdom that she ends up in trouble. And she is often dead set against something and then will do an about face and dive into it usually for some terrible reason that makes no sense i.e. 'I am going to teach Al to respect me blah blah blah'. Her getting 'involved' with Marshall and then kicking him to the curb in the book didn't make any sense either and again cheapened Rachel.

This Book - And while many of the books have started already in motion, this book started nowhere. Maybe it's just me, but I truly felt the first 3rd of this book nothing happened. I took over a month to read the entire thing which in the past I have gotten through the books in a weekend. I thought when it picked up it was ok but like the others the banshee thing seemed like such a new idea to be introduced at this time. There are so many possiblilities such as getting mixed up with another cities master vampire, like some sort of rivarly that Rachael becomes the key to or something...gang wars with Cleveland lol. I just was caught off gaurd by how out of the blue Banshee seem to trump rock, paper, and scissors without batting an eye. I mean, do undead vamps have auras?

Characters - You have some very good characters. I love Jenks and Ivy. I love that even though Ivy is so bad that she actually looks to Rachel (although I don't know why sometimes because Rachel does come across like a leaf blowing in the wind). I hate that Jenks is about dead. If his wife is gonna go just do her in already. Rynn is interesting I look forward to more of him, and Al is one of my favorites. I felt Pierce was completely forced into the story here and why Rachels Mom would suggest she be with him and how she even knows enough to make that distinction never made sense to me.

Despite all my "whining" I have overall enjoyed the series and will pick up the next book. I just think that it could be cleaned up plot-wise, series-wise and turned back into something special. You have the characters and the following, I just think having some serious critical thinkers go over the story lines and details could definately help bring it into focus. I personally like my fantasy mixed with reality and some depth in the stories. The best lies are those mixed with truth!

I am a huge, huge fan of the Hollows series by Kim Harrison. And I was so excited to find out that a graphic novel was coming out, featuring my favorite characters. Blood Work is a prequel to Dead Witch Walking. But it is set after the events of "Undead in the Garden of Good & Evil." Essentially, it is the story of how Rachel and Ivy came to be partners for the first time, from Ivy's perspective.

Let me talk about the plot first and then I'll get to the art. When Rachel is introduced to Ivy, it's not clear if it supposed to be a punishment or reward from Piscary for Ivy's frame-job of her old boss. At first, the women are like oil and water. But as they start working the case of a dead Were, Rachel begins earning Ivy's respect --and eventually Ivy's more sensual attention. Ivy and Kisten are still a couple and Ivy is very much under Piscary's thumb. But as the book progresses, she begins to question if she wants it to stay that way.

I'm still nursing a broken heart over what happened to Kisten in the novels, so it was bittersweet to see him here; especially since he is so devoted to Piscary, the man ultimately responsible for his murder. There's no Jenks here; Rachel hasn't met him yet. I guess if this were a story told traditionally, it would stack up to a novella. There's not a whole lot going on... more like a snapshot in this time of their lives.

I don't think there was any way I could be 100% happy with someone else's artistic vision for my beloved characters. Rachel, Ivy and Piscary were ok for me. Not exactly how I envisioned them, but I could live with it. Kisten was the furthest from what I pictured. In my mind, he is early Jason Lewis. Here, he is... not. But despite that, it was easy to slide into the story, and interesting to see visual representations of all the tidbits that are part of the Hollows lore, from the charms, to the magic, to Ivy's aura.

I don't know how meaningful this would be to someone who hasn't read the series. But it's a treat for fans. Almost 4 stars.

I LOVE THIS SERIES!!! Following the misadventures of Rachel as she basically rips up the Hollows in her wake is one of my favorite pass times. It seems to me, thought, that after the huge tragedy a few books ago that they haven't been as good. It's been nothing but her talking to herself, making excuses, and trying to convince herself that not everything she does is about that one event. In the first book following the tragedy I can understand her doing that but at this point I'm not saying she needs to move on by any means but she does need to stop making everything in her life about that one single event.

Yes, investigate it. Yes, find out the truth. But don't judge everything down to the clothes you are wearing that day on if you are doing it for this reason. I absolutely LOVE this series and when the next one comes out I will be right there to get it that very day but I'm hoping that it gets solved soon so we can move on to the kicking of the butts that is certainly needed at this point in the story!

If there was a rating of 10' Kim Harrison would earn a thousand. This story is a continuation of the Hollows series. Miss Harrison continues to keep me up nights trying to read further into the wee gourd of the morning with well-developed, interesting characters and a super great story line. The post-Turn world is a wonderful place to visit.

A funky urban fantasy setting in which a lesser vampire cop gets a new partner who turns out to be a female human witch. There's a lot of fantasy interwoven into our world and a lot of sexual references (or actual sex). Oh my.;)

Artwork is fairly good.

Everyone has about summed up my problems with this book. I have referred to Kim Harrison as my idol before, but this book was pretty much a total let down. I have had a constant fear she will turn into LKH and this book did nothing to reassure me otherwise. There is no comparison with the wonderful, wonderful last installment in the series, The Outlaw Demon Wails.

I bought this in the hardcover and regret it as aside from the few tidbits with Al and Trent it is not something I picture myself re-reading.

Despite this, I will continue to have faith in Harrison's ability as a writer. Even the best can have a flop. I just hope the next book isn't a disappointment as well. Quality over quantity please. We can wait longer for a more coherent and well thought out sequel.

SPOILERS*****

My two major disappointments with this book were the fact the resolution of the Kisten arc seemed thrown together and anticlimactic after all the build up, and post-ODW I would have expected to find out more about demon culture and see some Rachel + Al interaction in the Ever After.

The way it was presented here, the resolution of Kisten's murder would have been better at the end of FDM. All this build up for what? Some vamp we never heard of already dead and rotting? Not worth it at all. Although I did get some minor satisfaction from Denon being dead as well, it did not make up for the disappointing and anticlimactic finish.

I kept waiting and waiting for Rachel to have to cross over with Al, but it never happened. Instead of showing us what goes on there, we get told a scant few things about her lessons with Al. I didn't expect to see too much of this because I thought this book was going to be about going after Kisten's killer, but you know, a few pages would have been nice. Instead I get bombarded with filler about Banshees which I have absolutely zero interest in. Maybe they will play some kind of interesting role later, but in this book nothing any of them did was entertaining to me in the slightest. I just read through hoping for something interesting and was mostly disappointed.

*Edit 11/07/11*

After reading through the FAQ's on Kim Harrison's website and seeing her explanation about the resolution of Kisten's death, I have changed my opinion about that part of the book. Harrison meant for it to be an anticlimactic finish because that is more realistic than the Hollywood trope of The Perfect (and dramatic) Revenge. I understand Harrison's desire for authenticity. I share in Rachel and Ivy's disappointment over it, but I am supposed to and I am okay with that since it was very intentional. However, I stand by my assessment of the banshees. I am open to rereading for additional meaning now though, as I am certain it must be there.

I'd also like to say that my faith in Kim Harrison has not been misplaced. Both Black Magic Sanction and Pale Demon are wonderful books. If you ask me which is my favorite now, I might have trouble answering! Harrison is very talented. She remains my idol and favorite author.

Another great read in the Hollows series. I love the way Kim Harrison keeps this series interesting. Rachel figures out who killed Kisten, fights off an aura sucking banshee and gets Al under control. In the midst of it all manages to get herself shunned and lose a friend almost boyfriend. Great continuation of the series!

As another reviewer commented, this installment in the series seems to be treading water. I guess it would be hard to follow-up the exciting revelations and fast-paced action of the last book (Outlaw Demon Wails is my favorite in the series so far), still I was hoping for at least one plot line resolution or big revelation that advanced the bigger, overall story. I love reading about all the characters, particulary Jenks, and I was glad there was a little more of Glenn in this book, but I really missed all the other key characters who weren't in this one.

***MILD SPOILERS***

I couldn't believe we didn't see Trent or Al until almost the end of the book! And Ceri and Quen (two of my favorites) were nowhere to be seen. I'm sorry, but vampires and humans just aren't as interesting or exciting as the elves and demons! :-) I hope that the whole Mia storyline has some larger purpose in the series, because otherwise I'm not sure why we had to read so much about it. Here's hoping the next installment has more twists and turns - and more elves and demons!

This is the 7th book in the Hollows series by Kim Harrison. In a series that has consistently blown me away with its great writing quality and fast pace this book was a huge disappointment. I really feel like Kim Harrison was forced to write this book and forced to wrap up the whole Kisten mystery and didn't want to; this book just drags. Quick side note: I listened to this on audio book and the audio book quality was great.

In this book Rachel is trying to remember what happened on the night when Kisten was murdered. Ford is along to try and help her jog her memories. Ivy is still trying to solve the Kisten murder in her own way. Then they get called on a case that ends up involving a mother Banshee who may be killing to feed her child. Oh and Pierce (you know the guy in the short story done in the anthology "Holidays from Hell") pops into Rachel's life. Also like usual Rachel is having trouble with Al (her demon teacher) and is trying to keep things with Marshall on a "strictly friends" basis.

As you can tell from the above things were kind of jumbled together; Rachel didn't seem to know what she was doing most of the book. There are so many things that bothered me about this book. First and foremost is Rachel's whining. I mean you probably could have cut 50 pages out if you had eliminated some of the whining; I felt like counting the number of times Rachel said "But, I'm a White witch!" with an honest to god foot-stomping whine...the number of times this was said had to be in the double digits at least; were they trying to drive home the book title? Rachel acted pathetic throughout the book and constantly said she would change things while she constantly made the same horrible decisions over and over again. It just wasn't interesting to read about that.

Next issue is the Kisten thing. All this build up over multiple books over who Kisten's killer was...it was very anti-climatic. The conclusion to the Kisten murder was weird too (I won't give anything away) but it was very rushed and very unsatisfying and really felt forced; like someone told Harrison she had to wrap up this plot point so she grudgingly did it. My only positive reaction to this part of the story is that we finally can (hopefully) stop hearing "Who was Kisten's killer?".

Then there is the appearance of Pierce, a minor character in a short story in an anthology half of the readers of this series probably haven't read. Pierce takes a major part in this story and I thought it was odd that he suddenly plays such a big role in Rachel's life. His inclusion felt forced and unnatural. The Banshee character Mia was also unsatisfying; there was so much "we have her, we lost her, we have her, we lost her" that I just got bored with the whole story. Rachel's whole moral struggle with bringing in Mia was odd, it was like Rachel completely lost her sense of right and wrong and wandered around confused for most of the Mia investigations.

Of course, to bring even more pain into the mix Harrison had to (again) bring up Ivy and Rachel's blood balance. I had really, really hoped we were done hearing about this. In fact it seemed pretty tied up in the last book and I was disappointed to see it rear its ugly head again. Bringing this up, yet again, added to my boredom and made me roll my eyes...I mean come on let the characters move on and get on with the story. Same with Marshall, what was up with his relationship with Rachel, is it there just to take up page space?

There were a couple good pieces to the story. Pierce is actually an interesting character and I am eager to see more of him. Eddings and Glenn were great characters and added more to the story than any of the other characters. Al stole the scenes he was in too. Also Bis was awesome and I hope the gargoyle is in the story more in the future. Rynn Cormel is an intriguing master vamp and I am also eager to find out what his future actions are. In fact all of these characters were way more interesting than Rachel and Ivy; maybe Rachel's character is just getting tired. All I know is something has to change or I will be getting rid of all the books in this series and dropping it.

All in all a disappointment. This was a long, long book that felt forced and chased itself in circles a lot. There were a couple bright spots, but overall I just wanted the book to be over.

Let me start by saying I love the world where Rachael lives. I really like the dynamics of the different species and how they co-exist. My favorite characters are Bis, Al, Trent, Jenks and his entire family. There were not enough of any of them in this book.

Warning - You should read Holidays are Hell short story Two Ghost for Sister Rachel for some background on Pierce and Hotter than Hell short story Dirty Magic for the background on Mia. I can't imagine trying to read this book without reading those first. The ghost story should have been included with this book and the banshee should never have left the short story she was born in.

The book started WAY too slow. I barely made it through the first couple chapters and to be blunt I skimmed though all the flashbacks. I tried to read them but just didn't care anymore. Worse yet, you don't find out who killed Kisten until the last 50 pages or so? And then it was... uneventful. It was very disappointing to say the least. I really loved Kisten however his memory was trampled. A 3rd death in a way. What a waste.

For me, the book didn't start getting good until Al showed up. After the way the last book ended I thought we were going to see a lot more of Al and Rachael's demon abilities. I like Pierce and I like the idea that he is rather naughty when dealing with demons. Not stupid like Nick. I hope this combined with the whole shunned thing will open the next book up to Rachael the Demon rather than Rachael the whiny crybaby indecisive tease that she has been.

I just love Bis and I want to see more of his character develop. I also prefer the sassy Jenks rather than the emotional one. I am sad his wife is dying and I don't want Jenks to die either however being reminded his wife is dying every 30 pages is a bit much. Maybe it is time to bring in another one of Jenks kids for training. Lighten it up a bit.

Trent. I don't know why I like this character but I do. I think he makes a good ally and a great villain all at the same time. He was sorely missing from this book. More Trent type characters and less Ivy. She has become repetitive and boring. The whole Skimmer scene in this book? Pass. Cut that character loose already. Better yet, let them hook up and take off together.

I will contnue to read these books but I have stopped buying them. I got this one from the library because I felt the Kindle price was unreasonable.

I must admit, I was a bit worried after reading some of the reviews before recieving my book, but after reading the book my self I think that maybe we have been expecting a bit too much.

This installment, although not as good as Outlaw still is pretty good and on retro spect I can see where Kim Harrison is coming for.

**NOTE Some spoilers ***

We have the identity of Kristens killer, which although was a bit rushed and pretty far out field, now clears the way for Rachel and Ivy to move on. I did think it was bit contrivied that having collapsed, she realised who it was.

I slightly disagree with a previous reviewers comment on her using black magic to seal up the bodies of the person who killed Kristen. I think that this shows that Rachel is indeed on a very thin line that could result in her goin seriously dark.

The new character of Pierce was a bit wierd, but I am putting down the fact that this suposed important person and first love of Rachel was mysteriously absent, due to the fact thtat Rachel genuianly though he had crossed over. We now know that he is so clever he outsmarted Al, which is no mean feat in itself. I think he may not be all he claims and possibly may come into the story further on.

As for the fact that Rachel has been chunned, I like this. It geniuenly puts her at a disadventage and gives the story a new slant. How is she going to survive now she is shunned? We see that it also affects those around her, with her mother being shunned alongside her. I think the reason its never been mentioned is that Rachel has been in the frame of mind that it would never happen to her. Yes she has demon marks but she isn't into black magic.

I must admit I was glad that Marshall is now out of the picture. He was too Vanilla for my liking.

My only gripes? As one reviewer pointed out, there was no continuation on her training with Al, (which is why I think she has been shunned and nothing to do with the demon mark = back magic) I hope Harrison brings this into the books.

Not enough Trent. He was in the book for two or three scenes to give some information.

Ivy and Rachels relationship. Something has to give in this. Either get them together or have them call it quits. Ivy wasn't in this much and to be honest, the book survived.

Overall, this book though not the best in the series, it was still a good book. I think that this volume was a breather before the story kicks up a notch again.

First, I want to say that I liked how all of the titles of Harrison's Rachel Morgan books were based on Western movie titles. I thought that was a unique and fun feature of the books, so even the title of this book is a disappointment for me.

I was so excited about reading this book that I checked it out of the library the first day it came out. I expected to read this book in a couple of days, because I am a fast reader and when really into a book, I will read it until I'm done. However, it was a chore reading this book because it was so boring. Devoted readers waited a year for this book to come out, and I think we deserved a little more action than what Harrison gives in this book.

Solving Kisten's murder is only a minor story line, and even Ivy is disappointed about its resolution. Kisten was a main character in the book, and I think his murder should have meant more than for just making a point.

Rachel is trying to figure out how she is going to save Ivy's soul. Apparently, master vampire Ryan Cormel thinks that is all Rachel is good for, since she will not become romantically involved with Ivy. I think that is something we are all tired of reading about.

Another potential boyfriend for Rachel is introduced in this book, which is from one of Harrison's anthologies; even though it is treated like it is a story line from previous Hollows books. Harrison should not assume that her Rachel Morgan fans have read her anthologies as well. I guess she is trying to generate business, but I have no interest in reading them.

I am giving this book a three, instead of two, only because Harrison has done such a great job creating this series.

I love this series! Harrison's characters are so well-developed I need to remind myself that they are not alive, walking around in the world we live in. No two characters are even remotely the same. Each has his/her own unique qualities.

I came into this series backwards in that I read Book 7 first and then worked my way back to the earlier works. I was on vacation, needed something to read, saw it on a store shelf and never imagined I would get hooked. Of the four books I read, this latest one is still my favorite as I find it to be the most intense with regard to the relationship between Rachel and Ivy. Harrison does such a superb job of capturing the passion between Ivy and Rachel. The depth of emotion between these two women is so intense - I simply don't know of another writer who captures so much passion, so effectively, with so little actual physical contact between two characters.

I don't feel the cover artwork for any of the books in this series does justice to the work within. The artwork connotes an entirely different feel, one that is beneath the quality of the actual writing.

Overall, Kim Harrison has presented readers with another good installment in her series. Rachel continues to be a three dimensional, interesting character. The plotting is not bad and the pacing is strong. I will recommend this book!

A few things, however, would have made this a five star effort. So here are some "peanut gallery" suggestions from a reader. Rachel/Ivy--there needs to be resolution in their relationship. The delicious tension between them in the first handful of books has evolved into something sad. The tease has gone on too long and is nothing but painful. Considering their obvious love for each other, and their history, keeping them apart before they even got started seems a little artificial. If Rachel simply was unwilling to have a romantic relationship with a woman under any circumstances, shouldn't that have been the resolution long ago? I understand the characters were supposed to be confused. Problem is, should that confusion extend to the readers?

When selecting a Kisten's killer, it would have been so much more meaningful to pull someone from the existing story that readers cared about or at least remembered. Finding him already dead only served to bleed any remaining tension from what should have been an explosive climax. Why avoid the showdown? If the point was that the characters now have to internalize their anger -- that's been shown many, many ways already.

Finally, there are so many characters in the story now that it's losing focus and too much time has to be spent reminding the reader of who they are and their backstories. Considering the length of the series that's understandable. Still, more focus (less subplots involving multiple characters) would be greatly appreciated.

A few tweaks would have gone a long way. Still, I utterly enjoyed this book and will happily purchase the next one. Kudos to the author.

In Cincinnati, four decades since the Turn, Inderland Security polices the no-humans. Working for I.S. Ivy Tamwood is irate over her demotion from homicide to street cop and working for a low blood Denon the ghoul. She turns livid when Denon introduces her to her new partner Rachel Morgan the earth witch. Besides not wanting to work with a witch, Ivy also loathes babysitting the new runner.

Denon assigns the pair with running down drug dealers. Under a bridge, Rachel talks with Sharps the troll about the nearby corpse of a werewolf. The hit looks like that of a master vampire. While Ivy says not their problem, Rachel insists they investigate. They get into a bit of a tangle and Ivy finds she wants to taste the witch's blood. However, Ivy knows she underestimates her newbie partner when the witch fights back and points out the killer is not a vamp bit a powerful witch. She further explains someone is using dark magic, but erred with the werewolf sacrifice in human form. The pair begins to investigate though knowing Denon will counsel them.

This Hollows graphic novel is a great urban fantasy that tells the tale of the first meeting and patrol/case between the witch and the vampire. The story line contains the essence of the series, but enhanced by the excellent muted colored illustrations of Pedro Maia and Gemma Magno. Fans of the Hollows will appreciate Kim Harrison's wonderful first encounter as angry Ivy and goody two shoes Rachel bare their "fangs" at each other and some nasty inhuman slime.

Harriet Klausner

From the get go for myself the Hollows series was just a distraction after having gotten through a fantastic series. What I have loved is many of the characters and their interactions and the fast pace of action. These books have often made me laugh as well.

My issues though are not only with this book but with the series in general at this point.

I am sure there are spoilers coming so read at your own risk.

- I have loved the characters, but they are continually introduced and now we have a ton of characters that are often unmentioned in any given book. I am not asking that they are all part of it because that would be chaos but it seems that many of the plot 'leaps' will pull random character x into the fray just to get through something difficult to explain.

- Plot 'leaps'. I really suggest getting better readers before publishing these books who can be completely honest. There hasn't been a book in this series where I wasn't like "where the heck did that come from?" Jenks and the forget potion to me never made any sense along with countless other items. Even though you are dealing with the fantasy genre, it doesn't mean that people will accept that kind of well fantasy. I don't like it when something feels forced.

- Series - Is there a direction? One of the things that I marvel at in some of these series is how well and interconnected the stories are and how well they can go back on draw upon previous plotlines that fit stunningly into the newer plots. To me this is about having a vision for the entire series and the characters in it. I am SURE it is difficult to write a really good book, and thus more difficult to write a really really good series (which this has been good or else I wouldn't have come this far) but the challenge that the books have to seemlessly merge into 1 great story. This has started to feel like the telenovellas where every season the soap operas use the same actors and recast them in totally different stories.

- Rachel - While waiting this book I started the Anita Blake books. When I came back to this series I felt like Rachel is a whiny, boy crazy, 13 year old. I suppose she is almost more real because she is indecisive and inconsistent but I guess I expect more from my fictional characters than that part of reality. As others have suggested it's her lack of decision making and wisdom that she ends up in trouble. And she is often dead set against something and then will do an about face and dive into it usually for some terrible reason that makes no sense i.e. 'I am going to teach Al to respect me blah blah blah'. Her getting 'involved' with Marshall and then kicking him to the curb in the book didn't make any sense either and again cheapened Rachel.

This Book - And while many of the books have started already in motion, this book started nowhere. Maybe it's just me, but I truly felt the first 3rd of this book nothing happened. I took over a month to read the entire thing which in the past I have gotten through the books in a weekend. I thought when it picked up it was ok but like the others the banshee thing seemed like such a new idea to be introduced at this time. There are so many possiblilities such as getting mixed up with another cities master vampire, like some sort of rivarly that Rachael becomes the key to or something...gang wars with Cleveland lol. I just was caught off gaurd by how out of the blue Banshee seem to trump rock, paper, and scissors without batting an eye. I mean, do undead vamps have auras?

Characters - You have some very good characters. I love Jenks and Ivy. I love that even though Ivy is so bad that she actually looks to Rachel (although I don't know why sometimes because Rachel does come across like a leaf blowing in the wind). I hate that Jenks is about dead. If his wife is gonna go just do her in already. Rynn is interesting I look forward to more of him, and Al is one of my favorites. I felt Pierce was completely forced into the story here and why Rachels Mom would suggest she be with him and how she even knows enough to make that distinction never made sense to me.

Despite all my "whining" I have overall enjoyed the series and will pick up the next book. I just think that it could be cleaned up plot-wise, series-wise and turned back into something special. You have the characters and the following, I just think having some serious critical thinkers go over the story lines and details could definately help bring it into focus. I personally like my fantasy mixed with reality and some depth in the stories. The best lies are those mixed with truth!

I am a huge, huge fan of the Hollows series by Kim Harrison. And I was so excited to find out that a graphic novel was coming out, featuring my favorite characters. Blood Work is a prequel to Dead Witch Walking. But it is set after the events of "Undead in the Garden of Good & Evil." Essentially, it is the story of how Rachel and Ivy came to be partners for the first time, from Ivy's perspective.

Let me talk about the plot first and then I'll get to the art. When Rachel is introduced to Ivy, it's not clear if it supposed to be a punishment or reward from Piscary for Ivy's frame-job of her old boss. At first, the women are like oil and water. But as they start working the case of a dead Were, Rachel begins earning Ivy's respect --and eventually Ivy's more sensual attention. Ivy and Kisten are still a couple and Ivy is very much under Piscary's thumb. But as the book progresses, she begins to question if she wants it to stay that way.

I'm still nursing a broken heart over what happened to Kisten in the novels, so it was bittersweet to see him here; especially since he is so devoted to Piscary, the man ultimately responsible for his murder. There's no Jenks here; Rachel hasn't met him yet. I guess if this were a story told traditionally, it would stack up to a novella. There's not a whole lot going on... more like a snapshot in this time of their lives.

I don't think there was any way I could be 100% happy with someone else's artistic vision for my beloved characters. Rachel, Ivy and Piscary were ok for me. Not exactly how I envisioned them, but I could live with it. Kisten was the furthest from what I pictured. In my mind, he is early Jason Lewis. Here, he is... not. But despite that, it was easy to slide into the story, and interesting to see visual representations of all the tidbits that are part of the Hollows lore, from the charms, to the magic, to Ivy's aura.

I don't know how meaningful this would be to someone who hasn't read the series. But it's a treat for fans. Almost 4 stars.

I LOVE THIS SERIES!!! Following the misadventures of Rachel as she basically rips up the Hollows in her wake is one of my favorite pass times. It seems to me, thought, that after the huge tragedy a few books ago that they haven't been as good. It's been nothing but her talking to herself, making excuses, and trying to convince herself that not everything she does is about that one event. In the first book following the tragedy I can understand her doing that but at this point I'm not saying she needs to move on by any means but she does need to stop making everything in her life about that one single event.

Yes, investigate it. Yes, find out the truth. But don't judge everything down to the clothes you are wearing that day on if you are doing it for this reason. I absolutely LOVE this series and when the next one comes out I will be right there to get it that very day but I'm hoping that it gets solved soon so we can move on to the kicking of the butts that is certainly needed at this point in the story!

If there was a rating of 10' Kim Harrison would earn a thousand. This story is a continuation of the Hollows series. Miss Harrison continues to keep me up nights trying to read further into the wee gourd of the morning with well-developed, interesting characters and a super great story line. The post-Turn world is a wonderful place to visit.

A funky urban fantasy setting in which a lesser vampire cop gets a new partner who turns out to be a female human witch. There's a lot of fantasy interwoven into our world and a lot of sexual references (or actual sex). Oh my.;)

Artwork is fairly good.

Everyone has about summed up my problems with this book. I have referred to Kim Harrison as my idol before, but this book was pretty much a total let down. I have had a constant fear she will turn into LKH and this book did nothing to reassure me otherwise. There is no comparison with the wonderful, wonderful last installment in the series, The Outlaw Demon Wails.

I bought this in the hardcover and regret it as aside from the few tidbits with Al and Trent it is not something I picture myself re-reading.

Despite this, I will continue to have faith in Harrison's ability as a writer. Even the best can have a flop. I just hope the next book isn't a disappointment as well. Quality over quantity please. We can wait longer for a more coherent and well thought out sequel.

SPOILERS*****

My two major disappointments with this book were the fact the resolution of the Kisten arc seemed thrown together and anticlimactic after all the build up, and post-ODW I would have expected to find out more about demon culture and see some Rachel + Al interaction in the Ever After.

The way it was presented here, the resolution of Kisten's murder would have been better at the end of FDM. All this build up for what? Some vamp we never heard of already dead and rotting? Not worth it at all. Although I did get some minor satisfaction from Denon being dead as well, it did not make up for the disappointing and anticlimactic finish.

I kept waiting and waiting for Rachel to have to cross over with Al, but it never happened. Instead of showing us what goes on there, we get told a scant few things about her lessons with Al. I didn't expect to see too much of this because I thought this book was going to be about going after Kisten's killer, but you know, a few pages would have been nice. Instead I get bombarded with filler about Banshees which I have absolutely zero interest in. Maybe they will play some kind of interesting role later, but in this book nothing any of them did was entertaining to me in the slightest. I just read through hoping for something interesting and was mostly disappointed.

*Edit 11/07/11*

After reading through the FAQ's on Kim Harrison's website and seeing her explanation about the resolution of Kisten's death, I have changed my opinion about that part of the book. Harrison meant for it to be an anticlimactic finish because that is more realistic than the Hollywood trope of The Perfect (and dramatic) Revenge. I understand Harrison's desire for authenticity. I share in Rachel and Ivy's disappointment over it, but I am supposed to and I am okay with that since it was very intentional. However, I stand by my assessment of the banshees. I am open to rereading for additional meaning now though, as I am certain it must be there.

I'd also like to say that my faith in Kim Harrison has not been misplaced. Both Black Magic Sanction and Pale Demon are wonderful books. If you ask me which is my favorite now, I might have trouble answering! Harrison is very talented. She remains my idol and favorite author.

Another great read in the Hollows series. I love the way Kim Harrison keeps this series interesting. Rachel figures out who killed Kisten, fights off an aura sucking banshee and gets Al under control. In the midst of it all manages to get herself shunned and lose a friend almost boyfriend. Great continuation of the series!

As another reviewer commented, this installment in the series seems to be treading water. I guess it would be hard to follow-up the exciting revelations and fast-paced action of the last book (Outlaw Demon Wails is my favorite in the series so far), still I was hoping for at least one plot line resolution or big revelation that advanced the bigger, overall story. I love reading about all the characters, particulary Jenks, and I was glad there was a little more of Glenn in this book, but I really missed all the other key characters who weren't in this one.

***MILD SPOILERS***

I couldn't believe we didn't see Trent or Al until almost the end of the book! And Ceri and Quen (two of my favorites) were nowhere to be seen. I'm sorry, but vampires and humans just aren't as interesting or exciting as the elves and demons! :-) I hope that the whole Mia storyline has some larger purpose in the series, because otherwise I'm not sure why we had to read so much about it. Here's hoping the next installment has more twists and turns - and more elves and demons!

This series is just so much fun. Rachel's story is full of twists and Turns. The depths of the Hollows world and the detailed lives of the many, many secondary characters is a wonderful placed to get lost.

This is the best book in the series, by far. Rachel is finally growing up and acting more and more like an adult. I love seeing her progress with every book, and this one was really a turning point for Rachel. I also adore how Kim Harrison has written this series without hitting a Laurell K. Hamilton slump (aka no plot, all sex). Kim is able to actually write a story with plot, and I admire her for it.

This is the volume of the Hollows where Kirsten's murder is solved. Personally, as a reader, I wasn't really happy about devoting an entire book to this, and I wasn't sure if this would be the main plot or a subplot. I know I really didn't want to read a mystery novel, especially over a departed character I've already moved on over as a reader.

It was a subplot (cheers). Rachel doesn't even spend a third of the book on it. Other sub-plots involve Rachel's dwindling public reputation and a ghost.

The main plot revolves the introduction of a new type of rare inderlander, the aura-eating banshee. You die when your aura is gone, and banshees can read emotional auras like an open book. This ties in nicely as one of them aura-prophesies self-destruction to the main characters in the most malicious way possible, as part of her introduction. Well done, and creepy.

Character development gets some great scenes as the mind-reader Ford interacts more with Rachel in the presence of other people. We also meet Rachel's brother for the first time and Ivy's little sister (again, briefly).

The one thing I felt missing from this novel was scenes in the Ever After with Al. I really hoped to read a teaching session. Not in the book. Al does show up to complicate Rachel's life though, so it wasn't a total letdown.

Overall, not quite the novel I'd hoped for, but still a good Hollows novel.

I'm a big fan of KH and while I do lose patience sometimes with Rachel and her choices I always find myself utterly compelled by the end of the book. I love these characters -- their lives are complicated and messy, take a while to resolve or shift, and that's refreshing. That's life!

I'm thrilled to have Pierce back in the series as I think he's a great match for Rachel. For those of you who wondered where he came from, yes, you do need to have read KH's short stories - which are enjoyable on their own but add a lot to the background of the series.

I really like this series and I'm definitely on board even as I might not always be pleased with where it's going. It's ultimately the author's story, she has a Plan and I get to enjoy the ride!

Interesting story about finding Kirsten's killer and dealing with a banshee family over the course of the New Year's holiday. Very believable brother - sister relationship between Rachel and Robbie. I like these books because I think I know where the story is going, but I'm never quite right.

Blah. I love the Hallows series by Harrison but am not interested in a "graphic novel". I wish she would redo this as a real novel. Words. My imagination is far better than the graphics. Her writing is far better than the artwork. She has something that works. Stick with it.

I'm quite picky when it comes to books...usually 8 out of 10 disappoint me. I'd have to say that this newest in the Hallows series was very well done. I actually cried during one scene (all I'll say is that it's a flashback scene). All my favourite characters didn't disappoint - Ivy and her constant concerns she's turning into a monster...Jenks' snarky comments and his worry over his beloved wife...Bis, a teenage gargoyle who acts a lot like a teenage human...Rachel, always being punished for doing the right thing.
I would like to add a thought that's purely my own opinion regarding Al the uber demon...I believe he has feelings for Rachel in his own corrupted way.
In any event - it was a great read & didn't disappoint. :)

I feel like anything I have to say about this book has already been said. This book tried too hard to to be too many things. Bringing in the banshees was interesting but then the introduction of the ghost character threw me, where was this story going? As well as who killed Kisten. The plot was just too all over the place to be any good, or go anywhere for that matter. I really wished Harrison had focused on one point and developed it, instead of this haphazard mess. I wished I hadn't spent my money on it, it really wasn't worth it. If you want to read it for the sake of following the hollows, I would suggest borrowing it from the library or a friend.

I agree with many of the other raters about the "filler-like" quality of this current installment of the Hollows series. That being said, Harrison sure knows how to write her filler. I love how Rachel is continuously growing. That isn't to say this story is all supposed "character development" and no plot. Rachel is learning about herself, which we the reader can witness through her thoughts and actions. She is learning that though she may be powerful she isn't the biggest and baddest inderlander, or even close. This lends itself well to the series. There is never a feeling of "Wow, that was too easy". There is more helpless frustraion than magical solution.

This book creates many new plot threads as well as neatly wrapping up others. I was a little disappointed in the Kisten story resolution, but I think having the characters' feelings match my own reveals that Harrison is going for realism. Not everything ends the way you think it should. As for those who are tired of Rachel's laments I would say: "Be reasonable". This wasn't some one-night stand. This was a man Rachel had a serious relationship with, and I would be more confused if she just up and forgot all about Kisten. Rachel is frequently reminded of Kisten and rightly so. He JUST died.

Al is absolutely devious and I am glad to see that his relationship with Rachel hasn't changed his character far from what he is at heart. I laughed aloud several times whenever Al was present. The new(ish) character Pierce I dont know much about, having not read his short story. I urge people to read her other works in the anthologies.

When all is said and done this is a great addition to the series and I am hoping that what Harrison has in store next for us will only be made more amazing by the threads that are being set up in this book.

Although she has nightmares over what she will ultimately learn, Rachel Morgan continues her inquiry into the murder of her vampire boyfriend Kisten (see FOR A FEW DEMONS MORE). As she remains resolute she knows much of her fear comes from not remembering what happened just before her significant other died. She is also frustrated as neither her mundane hunting skills nor her witchcraft abilities have enabled her to achieve her objective (see THE OUTLAW DEMON WAILS).

While the witch struggles with the lack of progress in her investigation, a banshee family assaults the Hollows. As always the bitterness and distrust between humans and Inderland lead to more hostility. However there is a rare but common agreement that Rachel and her demons are behind the troubles.

The superb seventh Rachel Morgan fantasy contains a radically different feel to the story line as there is less action than in previous tales, especially the last two, and more depth into the souls of what motivates key characters. The poignant look is not just with Rachel; though the audience understands her trepidations yet need to solve the whodunit. Filled with the profound reflective musings of the cast, this is a must read for fans of the Morgan saga as WHITE WITCH, BLACK CURSE resolves key threads especially the big one from the previous entries and begins a new major twist.

Harriet Klausner

This book isn't bad like some of the reviewers are saying it is. I think it moves the series along pretty well. This is not a stand alone book but definitely part of the Hollows Series. This book is like a middle book of a series and it is filler. You find out finally what happened to Kirsten so that Rachel can move forward. Yes, there are a couple new characters added to the mix like there are in most of Ms. Harrison's books. I liked the character of Pierce and Rachel's connection to him. I understand why we haven't heard of him before since she's usually too busy to really talk about what has happened in the past. I enjoyed Al's parts. I find him always interesting and funny. I think he brings more depth to the series. I'm glad one character is going away or at least leaving for a little while. He drove me crazy in the past books. I love that Rachel and Ivy are coming to an understanding and getting to know more about each other. I enjoy their interaction. Basically I liked the book and would recommend it to anyone that is following the series.

Rachel's in trouble, Ivy wants more from their relationship, Matalina is dying, baby pixies are screaming and getting in trouble, people are constantly scolding Rachel, Rachel goes her own way for the "good" of others, Rachel is worried about her mother, Rachel's brother is criticizing her, someone close to Rachel is hurt, the whole world is against Rachel, Al is causing her trouble, Rachel is fretting over the demon marks, someone is playing on the demon marks, etc., etc., etc. Same song, eighth verse.

Halfway through one more bad thing happened to Rachel and I just quit reading. I never do that. But I was just so fed up with the repetition and the bleakness of her life that I gave up. Like Rachel said she just can't seem to catch a break.

It's too bad because Harrison started the whole urban fantasy thing (at least for me) and as another reviewer mentioned she has built a great world. She is a good writer but not a plotter. She doesn't seem to know how to let her characters grow and/or move forward. Most series should follow an arc and then end - with at least a nominally happy ending!

It looks like Harrison is starting a new series and I will probably give that a try but, I have long since started checking these out of the library rather than buying them.

I enjoyed this book almost as as much as Demon Wails -- great story, characters, everything. I do worry about Rachel though as she seems to be getting herself in deeper and deeper. I want her to be okay!

I've already preordered the next book -- can't wait to see what happens to Rachel, Jenks, and even Ivy, who I am starting to warm up to (slightly).

I'd heard of Kim's "Hollows" series, but had never read any of them. I picked a copy of this graphic novel up, and was immediately intrigued by the characters and setting and amused by the snap and sparkle of the dialogue. The story as told in BLOOD WORK was intriguing, and so were the people, and the visual medium was skillfully used to convey the supernatural elements. As soon as I'd finished it, I bought the first book in the series, DEAD WITCH WALKING, and was hooked -- since then I've read them all and am eager for more.

BLOOD WORK is good; the novels are, if anything, even better.

Rachel is back, wreaking a wide swath of havoc and pandemonium in her wake, without even trying! In this latest installment of the "Perils of Rachel" (intended as a euphemism for the early silent movie weekly series "The Perils of Pauline"), Ms. Harrison delivers the same fast pace and engrossing action that infuse all of her previous books.

After tangling with a banshee who strips her aura, Rachel has to prepare for her weekly meeting with Al. Add a ghost that she resurrected when she was 18 and you've just found the pandemonium. The havoc follows when she works with the FIB to try to bring in the banshee and in the process, gets shunned for dealing with demons. Poor Rachel can't win, but she never lets it get her down for long.

Ms. Harrison nicely balances the non-stop action with the emotional aspects of Rachel trying to remember who killed Kisten and in dealing with her various relationships with Ivy, Jenks, Marshal, her family, the FIB and, of course, Al. The book also has its humorous aspects. One of my favorite parts where I had to laugh out loud was when Trent happens to be in the same elevator that Rachel and Al get into at the Carew Towers.

If you've never read the series, you need to find out what you're missing. If you're familiar with the series, you've got to buy this book. It's fantastic!

Harrison obviously has lost interest in this series and should end it. This series has gone on way too long. Almost all the books in this series now are just covering the same ground again and again. Rachel Morgan is becoming more and more immature and unstable with each book. Her constant whining about her miserable life gets really tiresome. If she doen't like her life why doesn't she change it? The real reason she can't keep a man is because no one can stand her. Also, if she has all this powerful magic at her disposal why is she always getting her butt kicked by everyone? I think Harrison is just writing this series now because of her contract and because she's dragging it out to make as much money from it as possible. The problem is so many of these romantic/detective fantasy books are now so much alike. If you have read one you have read them all. Also, why are all the heroes or heroines in these books so technologically challenged? Isn't it possible to understand magic and science both? In fact a story using both elements would probably be interesting. Harrison introduces characters and plot lines in this book that have not been in her entire series. It's as if she has painted herself into a corner with the plot line and now can't get out. Do yourself a favor. If you must read this book don't buy it. Take it out from your local library. Most of them probably have it by now. Save your money. Don't reward a bad writer for this junk.

The last four books in this series I have pre-ordered from the store in hard cover and sent to me in Australia. At the end of each book I cannot wait for the next release and I visit Kim Harrison's excellent web site for previews and release dates. In this 7th book in Rachel's story her power and also her vulnerability continues to grow. Vital questions are answered and yet more questions are posed to ensure that I will be hoping for an 8th book. Rachel's relationships have real depth and all of Kim Harrison's charactors are three dimensional to the reader. I cannot put Kim's books down till I finish and I am always satisfied and hungry for more. More about Ceri, what lost memories to be revealed, her status as a White witch, grudging respect from Al, her albatross love life. And yes I read the series over and over. I have my son hooked too and we send books back and forwards between Aus and the UK. The best series I have ever read.

Although I agree with some of the previous critiques I still think this is one of the best books in the series. I thought that the last book had more slow parts and that this book didn't slow down at all. I would agree that this book jumped around a lot with no real rhyme or reason but you have to admit we did learn more about the make believe world of The Hollows. I was glad she didn't dwell so much on Kisten this and Kisten that, although I liked the guy.. he's Dead! And I'm thankful Rachel can now mmoooovvveee on! Two of my favorite characters in the book, Al and Trent weren't around a lot until the end and that was sad but I can tell they might be part of the main plot line in the next book and I can't wait!! I am so excited about the characters Pierce and Ford! Ford suprised me with his special abilities and I hope he's around more. I hope Kim develops Pierce's character like I imagine him to be, him and Rachel are going to be double trouble for Al! lol! This book was a light, fun read much more than the previous books.. mostly because nothing really tragic happened, so the book ended on a positive note that I hope left a smile on everyones faces. I can't wait to see what happens next in Rachel's World!

I might be in the minority here but I found this book to be the weakest one in the series so far. I actually had to put this book down after Rachel's constant whining became unbearable...she is lonely, she can't keep any relationships, she complains about it, she screws up another relationship, she doesn't understand the ones she has, the end. I mean seriously, where was the action in this book??? And why is Kim Harrison not explaining necessary character descriptions to the reader, such as "what is a banshee?" I am sure one can deduce what a banshee is from the plot but I still don't understand what a banshee is as a species. Second, who the heck is Pierce??? He had to be a Kim Harrison afterthought in order to give Rachel another destructive relationship, because I don't recall him being in any of the previous books. Harrison did not even introduce him into the plot; he basically just shows up as Rachel's next screw up. And third, where was Ceri and the elves? I miss them and they were completely missing from this installment which I found really disappointing. I am not sure if I can read anymore of this series. A character can only remain broken and whiny for so long, and Rachel is definitely at that point. And one more thought...the Ivy and Rachel question needs to end. I have no clue why this dilemma took up most of the book but Harrison needs to finally define their relationship, which I thought she did with "friendship," or she will lose me as a reader.

I'll be blunt - this book was a disappointing effort. Not every novel in a series can be a barn burner, so I'll give Ms. Harrison a break, but this was by far the weakest in the collection. Here were my problems:

** SPOILERS **

1.) The last book ended with the very interesting premise of Al and Rachel as mentor/student. Want to know how that's progressing? You won't find the answer in this book.

2.) The whole banshee plotline ticked me off. Maybe I'm missing a sympathy bone somewhere, but I thought a bullet to the head was in order. It wasn't realistic, either. Ivy getting jumped by scrawny serial-killer dude as he escapes custody for what seemed like the millionth time? No. And the longer it dragged on, with Rachel demanding sympathy for Momma banshee, the more I wished for a quick and violent ending.

2b.) The dynamics of Human/Inderland society are becoming increasingly unbelievable. In the latest book, humans are looked upon as nothing but cattle by an apathetic I.S. force, and the FIB is completely incompetent. How long would this situation continue before angry/frightened people took the law into their own hands? There was a point in the novel where Rachel was arguing vehemently for Banshee Peace and Understanding and someone finally said, "what about the Tilsons?" You know, the married couple they murdered? Oh yeah. The Tilsons. Whoops.

3.) Ivy/Rachel relationship. Come on. Move it along, already. It's gonna happen, right? So happen a bit faster.

4.) Who the heck is Pierce and why do I care? I don't. See #3.

*** END SPOILERS ***

I'm going to pretend this novel didn't happen. Hopefully volume 8 will kick it up a notch.

It saddens me to find this once enjoyable series has become a tired old story with nothing new in the way of plot or story. There are so many disappointments this time with characters and story (or lack of).

***MINOR SPOILERS***

Rachel spends the entire book griping and moaning to every character she interacts with.

Ivy's character has been reduced to being pathetic and needy, even crying over the now tired and boring need to be Rachel's love interest. It's time to move the Rachel/Ivy relationship story definitively one way or the other. It's gone on to the point of being totally unbelievable.

Some of the most uninteresting secondary characters get way too much time while most of the favorites are entirely absent.

The big whodunit question was, in my opinion, a major disappointment. A real missed opportunity to make it more interesting.

This book actually had me getting irritated with the characters. Even Jenks is annoying in this one, and I have always liked him in the past. Most of the books have picked up where the previous one left off. This one doesn't. It's off somehow. Harrison has begun writing a new young adult series and it seems maybe she had trouble switching back and forth between writing the two series. Kim's writing syle has never been very sophisticated but this book read like a young adult story at times. Hopefully, Kim will get back on track and have a real story next time, if not, it's the end of the series for me.

This book isn't bad like some of the reviewers are saying it is. I think it moves the series along pretty well. This is not a stand alone book but definitely part of the Hollows Series. This book is like a middle book of a series and it is filler. You find out finally what happened to Kirsten so that Rachel can move forward. Yes, there are a couple new characters added to the mix like there are in most of Ms. Harrison's books. I liked the character of Pierce and Rachel's connection to him. I understand why we haven't heard of him before since she's usually too busy to really talk about what has happened in the past. I enjoyed Al's parts. I find him always interesting and funny. I think he brings more depth to the series. I'm glad one character is going away or at least leaving for a little while. He drove me crazy in the past books. I love that Rachel and Ivy are coming to an understanding and getting to know more about each other. I enjoy their interaction. Basically I liked the book and would recommend it to anyone that is following the series.

Rachel's in trouble, Ivy wants more from their relationship, Matalina is dying, baby pixies are screaming and getting in trouble, people are constantly scolding Rachel, Rachel goes her own way for the "good" of others, Rachel is worried about her mother, Rachel's brother is criticizing her, someone close to Rachel is hurt, the whole world is against Rachel, Al is causing her trouble, Rachel is fretting over the demon marks, someone is playing on the demon marks, etc., etc., etc. Same song, eighth verse.

Halfway through one more bad thing happened to Rachel and I just quit reading. I never do that. But I was just so fed up with the repetition and the bleakness of her life that I gave up. Like Rachel said she just can't seem to catch a break.

It's too bad because Harrison started the whole urban fantasy thing (at least for me) and as another reviewer mentioned she has built a great world. She is a good writer but not a plotter. She doesn't seem to know how to let her characters grow and/or move forward. Most series should follow an arc and then end - with at least a nominally happy ending!

It looks like Harrison is starting a new series and I will probably give that a try but, I have long since started checking these out of the library rather than buying them.

I enjoyed this book almost as as much as Demon Wails -- great story, characters, everything. I do worry about Rachel though as she seems to be getting herself in deeper and deeper. I want her to be okay!

I've already preordered the next book -- can't wait to see what happens to Rachel, Jenks, and even Ivy, who I am starting to warm up to (slightly).

I'd heard of Kim's "Hollows" series, but had never read any of them. I picked a copy of this graphic novel up, and was immediately intrigued by the characters and setting and amused by the snap and sparkle of the dialogue. The story as told in BLOOD WORK was intriguing, and so were the people, and the visual medium was skillfully used to convey the supernatural elements. As soon as I'd finished it, I bought the first book in the series, DEAD WITCH WALKING, and was hooked -- since then I've read them all and am eager for more.

BLOOD WORK is good; the novels are, if anything, even better.

Rachel is back, wreaking a wide swath of havoc and pandemonium in her wake, without even trying! In this latest installment of the "Perils of Rachel" (intended as a euphemism for the early silent movie weekly series "The Perils of Pauline"), Ms. Harrison delivers the same fast pace and engrossing action that infuse all of her previous books.

After tangling with a banshee who strips her aura, Rachel has to prepare for her weekly meeting with Al. Add a ghost that she resurrected when she was 18 and you've just found the pandemonium. The havoc follows when she works with the FIB to try to bring in the banshee and in the process, gets shunned for dealing with demons. Poor Rachel can't win, but she never lets it get her down for long.

Ms. Harrison nicely balances the non-stop action with the emotional aspects of Rachel trying to remember who killed Kisten and in dealing with her various relationships with Ivy, Jenks, Marshal, her family, the FIB and, of course, Al. The book also has its humorous aspects. One of my favorite parts where I had to laugh out loud was when Trent happens to be in the same elevator that Rachel and Al get into at the Carew Towers.

If you've never read the series, you need to find out what you're missing. If you're familiar with the series, you've got to buy this book. It's fantastic!

Harrison obviously has lost interest in this series and should end it. This series has gone on way too long. Almost all the books in this series now are just covering the same ground again and again. Rachel Morgan is becoming more and more immature and unstable with each book. Her constant whining about her miserable life gets really tiresome. If she doen't like her life why doesn't she change it? The real reason she can't keep a man is because no one can stand her. Also, if she has all this powerful magic at her disposal why is she always getting her butt kicked by everyone? I think Harrison is just writing this series now because of her contract and because she's dragging it out to make as much money from it as possible. The problem is so many of these romantic/detective fantasy books are now so much alike. If you have read one you have read them all. Also, why are all the heroes or heroines in these books so technologically challenged? Isn't it possible to understand magic and science both? In fact a story using both elements would probably be interesting. Harrison introduces characters and plot lines in this book that have not been in her entire series. It's as if she has painted herself into a corner with the plot line and now can't get out. Do yourself a favor. If you must read this book don't buy it. Take it out from your local library. Most of them probably have it by now. Save your money. Don't reward a bad writer for this junk.

The last four books in this series I have pre-ordered from the store in hard cover and sent to me in Australia. At the end of each book I cannot wait for the next release and I visit Kim Harrison's excellent web site for previews and release dates. In this 7th book in Rachel's story her power and also her vulnerability continues to grow. Vital questions are answered and yet more questions are posed to ensure that I will be hoping for an 8th book. Rachel's relationships have real depth and all of Kim Harrison's charactors are three dimensional to the reader. I cannot put Kim's books down till I finish and I am always satisfied and hungry for more. More about Ceri, what lost memories to be revealed, her status as a White witch, grudging respect from Al, her albatross love life. And yes I read the series over and over. I have my son hooked too and we send books back and forwards between Aus and the UK. The best series I have ever read.

Although I agree with some of the previous critiques I still think this is one of the best books in the series. I thought that the last book had more slow parts and that this book didn't slow down at all. I would agree that this book jumped around a lot with no real rhyme or reason but you have to admit we did learn more about the make believe world of The Hollows. I was glad she didn't dwell so much on Kisten this and Kisten that, although I liked the guy.. he's Dead! And I'm thankful Rachel can now mmoooovvveee on! Two of my favorite characters in the book, Al and Trent weren't around a lot until the end and that was sad but I can tell they might be part of the main plot line in the next book and I can't wait!! I am so excited about the characters Pierce and Ford! Ford suprised me with his special abilities and I hope he's around more. I hope Kim develops Pierce's character like I imagine him to be, him and Rachel are going to be double trouble for Al! lol! This book was a light, fun read much more than the previous books.. mostly because nothing really tragic happened, so the book ended on a positive note that I hope left a smile on everyones faces. I can't wait to see what happens next in Rachel's World!

I might be in the minority here but I found this book to be the weakest one in the series so far. I actually had to put this book down after Rachel's constant whining became unbearable...she is lonely, she can't keep any relationships, she complains about it, she screws up another relationship, she doesn't understand the ones she has, the end. I mean seriously, where was the action in this book??? And why is Kim Harrison not explaining necessary character descriptions to the reader, such as "what is a banshee?" I am sure one can deduce what a banshee is from the plot but I still don't understand what a banshee is as a species. Second, who the heck is Pierce??? He had to be a Kim Harrison afterthought in order to give Rachel another destructive relationship, because I don't recall him being in any of the previous books. Harrison did not even introduce him into the plot; he basically just shows up as Rachel's next screw up. And third, where was Ceri and the elves? I miss them and they were completely missing from this installment which I found really disappointing. I am not sure if I can read anymore of this series. A character can only remain broken and whiny for so long, and Rachel is definitely at that point. And one more thought...the Ivy and Rachel question needs to end. I have no clue why this dilemma took up most of the book but Harrison needs to finally define their relationship, which I thought she did with "friendship," or she will lose me as a reader.

I'll be blunt - this book was a disappointing effort. Not every novel in a series can be a barn burner, so I'll give Ms. Harrison a break, but this was by far the weakest in the collection. Here were my problems:

** SPOILERS **

1.) The last book ended with the very interesting premise of Al and Rachel as mentor/student. Want to know how that's progressing? You won't find the answer in this book.

2.) The whole banshee plotline ticked me off. Maybe I'm missing a sympathy bone somewhere, but I thought a bullet to the head was in order. It wasn't realistic, either. Ivy getting jumped by scrawny serial-killer dude as he escapes custody for what seemed like the millionth time? No. And the longer it dragged on, with Rachel demanding sympathy for Momma banshee, the more I wished for a quick and violent ending.

2b.) The dynamics of Human/Inderland society are becoming increasingly unbelievable. In the latest book, humans are looked upon as nothing but cattle by an apathetic I.S. force, and the FIB is completely incompetent. How long would this situation continue before angry/frightened people took the law into their own hands? There was a point in the novel where Rachel was arguing vehemently for Banshee Peace and Understanding and someone finally said, "what about the Tilsons?" You know, the married couple they murdered? Oh yeah. The Tilsons. Whoops.

3.) Ivy/Rachel relationship. Come on. Move it along, already. It's gonna happen, right? So happen a bit faster.

4.) Who the heck is Pierce and why do I care? I don't. See #3.

*** END SPOILERS ***

I'm going to pretend this novel didn't happen. Hopefully volume 8 will kick it up a notch.

It saddens me to find this once enjoyable series has become a tired old story with nothing new in the way of plot or story. There are so many disappointments this time with characters and story (or lack of).

***MINOR SPOILERS***

Rachel spends the entire book griping and moaning to every character she interacts with.

Ivy's character has been reduced to being pathetic and needy, even crying over the now tired and boring need to be Rachel's love interest. It's time to move the Rachel/Ivy relationship story definitively one way or the other. It's gone on to the point of being totally unbelievable.

Some of the most uninteresting secondary characters get way too much time while most of the favorites are entirely absent.

The big whodunit question was, in my opinion, a major disappointment. A real missed opportunity to make it more interesting.

This book actually had me getting irritated with the characters. Even Jenks is annoying in this one, and I have always liked him in the past. Most of the books have picked up where the previous one left off. This one doesn't. It's off somehow. Harrison has begun writing a new young adult series and it seems maybe she had trouble switching back and forth between writing the two series. Kim's writing syle has never been very sophisticated but this book read like a young adult story at times. Hopefully, Kim will get back on track and have a real story next time, if not, it's the end of the series for me.

I am a huge fan of Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series. The last book in the series, "The Outlaw Demon Wails" was incredible and I've read it three times.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

When I finally got a hold of "White Witch, Black Curse" I was so excited. Right off the bat, however the pace was slow and the material was boring. I actually had to force myself to read each page. The plot of the story was uninteresting and the issues from the last book that I wanted touched on in this book were only briefly mentioned, ie. Rachel learning demon magic from Al, the demon rhelm, Trent and the Faire race, Ceri and her baby.

My favorite characters: Trent, Al, Ceri, Newt, Minias either had only brief cameos or were not seen at all. Kisten's mysterious death (I hated Kisten) is still dragging on...to a ridiculous conclusion I might add, some ghost named Pierce is suppossed to be the love of Rachel's life *gag*, some banchee is killing people, and I could not have cared less. It was just so boring and dragged on and on ....
It made me honestly think that Ms. Kim Harrison had decided to go to Hawaii and had some ghost writer whip this piece of..um..book up for her.
Yuck!

This entry into the Hollows series is good in terms of developing characters, but weak in terms of a plot or any real driving force behind the story. It was difficult to get invested in the story, becuase there was not a story to get into. Rachel grows less and less sympathetic with each subsequent novel.

I have been a fan of Kim's books since the beginning and was really looking forward to this one but I have to agree with an earlier review. It was a chore just to finish it. The writing seemed a bit childish at times and the descriptions were unnecessarily long and boring. The book is thinner than the previous two hardback releases. With every other page describing a character with "hand on hips" or "hip cocked" and just the incessant whining and same old sub-plot that still goes nowhere, there is little room for any real story here. I have to agree with what was previously said, who edited this book? Sorry Kim, this one seemed like nothing more than filler. I wil probably buy the next one, but I'll wait for the paperback version instead of shelling out more $$ for the hardcover. This wasn't worth the hardcover price, even at a discount. The thrill is gone.

I picked up this book at Borders when it was going out of business. I read the description and thought it was interesting. I didn't realize it was part of a series until I started reading the book. There are so many grammatical errors and the book doesn't have a good flow to it that I definitely won't be reading the rest of the books in the series. The book was just barely interesting enough for me to finish it.

I liked this book a lot. My interest was flagging after the second book in the series, but I'm glad I stuck with it. This book tied up some loose ends although I am dying to find out about Ceri, and was slightly confused about the "dud" locator charm. I guess I have more to look forward to! Thank you Kim Harrison :)

All around, with some caveats, this is the best book by far in the series. BUT if you can't handle some change and the author growing the purpose and intent, substance of her work, think hard about opening up for a different read than before.

Quick points:

1. Many reviewers comment that you need to read other works of her's outside the story. That may be a big reason for a lot of the negative reviews. Remember, the author knows the short stories on her character, they ARE a part of the character's world so should read them if you want to understand it all. Do the suggested reading: Holidays are Hell, Dates From Hell, Hotter Than Hell before reading this book.

2. This book is big picture and Kim is developing HER series differently than the standard. I love it. I'm tired of same stuff writers. I can get that from the last few crap books of Anita Blake/L. K. Hamilton. That being said the book is disjointed at times. I think the author must have had a traumatic experience or flashback to painful times in her life and it definitely came into this book.

3. You simply don't get what you expect in this book. Everyone thought it would be more about her demon wrestling, dark curse spell cooking ever-after and Kisten revenge. NOT. Soooo you either luv it or hate it. She did drop several clues in previous books and is still going in the direction she clued us into regarding Al and her family and Ivy so it's NOT too much a stretch. Her different approach was obvious to me early and got my mind digesting on what Harrison was aiming for fairly early. I was into new deal well before two major plot lines were wrapped up and thoroughly enjoying trying to ID the character development clues as well as say YESS I KNEW IT when I guessed right. The more daft readers won't get it and pan her...

4. Con: Kisten situation wrapped up anti-climatically as if Kim just didn't want to deal with it anymore, leaving readers thinking 'so this butcher job is what happens to a major character and plot line?'

5. Pro: It made her a different author in that she was ripping the expected satisfaction away from us to hit us with a dead wet fish about our socio/political machinery. You don't like the wet fish as a reader untill you wash ur face and ask WTF did she do that for? Once I perused the entire book in my memory I gained loads of respect for her move, but hope she doesn't do it again as most times we like a predicted butt kicking showdown that rings all the bells for miles around.

The up side is that the Kisten conclusion WAS used as a power trip AND opened a whole new area of future action between Rach and her vamps IF you manage to comprehend the obvious. It was just too abrupt for me and made me totally miss the power trip rush I read these books for as I was still confused by the sudden closure. So I agree there are things to DISLIKE in how she handled Kist's stuff. I want to read bone twisting fights/throat ripping fights, not smell putrid wet fish on my face, lol...

6. You must be willing to let your author take you for a improved ride (or stop reading books). Artists develop (thank god) so should their series and what it's about. If you can't see that what happens at/to her mother('s) place isn't a HUGE GIANT Bullhorn telling you the series is changing as the character is maturing, then go read standard romance novels. And no, I looked forward to a Mom teaches Rach cool things as they take on the world, so I didn't LIKE how that was dodged. But Harrison has mixed family things a bunch...there is still hope.

7. So this is a "transition" book on many levels. You can in enjoy it or whine about not getting the exact same spaghetti sauce as last week/year/decade. I loved it for the closing off of tired story lines, the big move up to graduate school with the characters, the cold vs. warm sides of things, and lastly the breath of fresh air.

8. Many reviewers just seem to miss things like that the Ivy/Rachel thing DOES have significant developments. You can't do everything on all the anticipated events, so some will tread some water like the Ceri baby thingy while Rachel deals with major events. If you're a fan of this series you MUST read WWBC to be prepared for what's coming and SHOULD read the anthologies be4 u read WWBC.
----------------
In general...
It was very well rounded with a some-what unusual and even painfully-awkward-for-the-reader at times wrap-up. I use the term "wrap-up" to mean that there are almost 2 endings here that seem disjointed. The kick here is that when I put it down and puzzled over it all I was impressed with the bigger picture I think this book was about. It left me more satisfaction from a book than I've had in a long time.

Like others I expected more spelling/curse cooking adventures with Al. We got some serious Al development (he's a lot more than the same old Al Rachel loves to hate) with a fairly sneaky next-book teaser with symbolic twist on what their relationship will be like in the future.

SKIP TO "SPOILER OVER" I mean is Rachel and their relationship is clearly metamorphosing, but is she getting a deadly ice butterfly or is he getting soft and appreciative with a cool new gift/familiar???
SPOILER OVER

This book was like that most of the time, refreshingly side-stepping the predictable with some hard twists while others (the big news) are more like a slow slide where you eventually raise ur your head up and say how did we get HERE Kim, WTH???. So you shouldn't go into it with a "I know what's gonna happen and I luv to get my fix" attitude. This book is more of a artist telling a more big-picture story and changing the series to a new stage (characters should age/change in a long series) than just another installment of action packed/slam bam she's a bad mofo/watch her kick butt in a tricky jam.

Don't get me wrong our witch picks up some significant power tools and of course more dragging anchors/obstacles for the future. So I got my fix while being highly impressed by all the changes in the characters' relationships, particularly a feeling that this boy toy will be around for a while. Kim is really putting some serious legs not only Rachel's jogs but this series IMHO. Our favorite witch has moved into the graduate level spell world, shows us world-class line magic that impresses the hell out of Ivy. Our HOT witch is set to become a powerhouse particularly with the new man-meat despite the judgmental attitudes surrounding her demon work. Harrison deftly uses that judgmental attitude to make two major changes in character availability, and adds one that really opens up lot's of fun with her new white witch/dark world buddy as well has holds open the chance for the world to be educated about the real Rachel. Don't you just love the chance to anticipate a good "I told you so" comeuppance?

Yes there is Rachel whining and other things I generally have on 'auto skip' edit mode while I read as almost all authors over do something in thier books.

The humanity lessons in this story very strong. You get some real feel-good here along with the villainy and crap in her life. I dropped some tears due to the touching parts. The was a heavy dose of well-done compassion and relationship richness in this one. Kim moved up to first class in my list. She casually drops a major but slow-burn bomb early leaving you to figure out how important it is as you begin to understand this book is a different horse than the previous rides.

Kim definitely made a strong decision to take her series well beyond the standard adventure installment series. She makes a unmistakable statement that her work is more than a great kick-butt preternatural power trip. She was sneaky in this book by sledge hammering on other thing IMHO. I loved that she left out some of the clues on where she was going, giving us with a hard left, then right turn in the story at then end. I just keep peeling the onion layers to her messages and character interaction. I got to puzzle a good bit in this book. Refreshing.

Needless to say Kim Harrison has my full applause and I'm stilling fishing in the depths of where's she going with Al and their new Witch/Boy Toy, Trent and the possibilities she's created with Ivy.

Enjoy!

I began reading this series on a whim; I didn't know anything about them. I soon found myself staying up into the wee hours of the morning reading until I had finished the series. White Witch Back Curse was one of my favorites. I'm eagerly awaiting Rachel's next dilemma.

I read this series because the worldbuilding is great, and the witchcraft is interesting and intricate. The author really has those things down pat. Unfortunatly, this series is kinda falling flat (for me, anyways) as it goes along. A character doesn't have to be perfect or even likeable for me to like reading about them, but Rachel is just plain annoying, and it's hard for me to have any kind of concern for the character. I am also sick to death of Ivy and the relationship angst between her and Rachel - it just goes on and on, book after book, and when you think they've got it settled...nope, we're in for another round. Figure it out or go your seperate ways already! Sheesh. I honestly wish it had been Ivy killed off instead of Kisten. At least he was interesting without annoying the heck out of me! I wonder why is Ivy even a main character in this series? She doesn't really do much for Rachel, and we have to read endlessly about how Rachel needs to be careful of this trigger, or that trigger, because Ivy's eyes are starting to dilate!!

That's the other problem with this series. I find Harrison's antagonists and minor characters much more endearing than her protagonists. Al and Trent are probably my favorite characters in the series, and unfortunatly she's turning Trent into a whimp. I also found myself much more concerned about what happened to Mia and Remus in this book than Rachel. And after following the "who murdered Kisten" drama for over 2 books the whole mystery ended in an anti-climactic fizzle.

Coming straight outta left field we had some guy/ghost named Pierce show up, with no previous mention besides a short story in an anthology (sorry, I don't read those - didn't even know about it) and suddenly he's the man Rachel's always measured men by. *rolls eyes* I don't even know what to say about that development...

This paticular book was slow on action, and high on melodrama. If you are caught up in this series I'm sure you'll be reading it, but expect a rehash of the same Rachel and Ivy drama, Rachel and Kisten drama, Rachel and Jenks drama, Jenks and Matalina drama (yes, Matalina is still dying for the third or fourth book now - like the Ivy issue Harrison is milking that for drama as long as she possibly can), Rachel and boyfriend drama, Rachel and family drama, it's all here...again. Nick even gets a mention or two. This series only seems to take tiny, itty-bitty steps forward and huge steps back. I'll probably read the next one, but I'm no longer paying for these books new.

Can you tell by my ranting that I'm disappointed I'm not liking the series better? :P

I think if you have purchased all the books in the Rachel Morgan series this is a must. It's a graphic novel so it's not going to get into vivid detail like the books do but the artwork is beautiful. I loved Kist and am not sure what I expected him to look like, but I don't think the end product is what I expected. Rachel is beautiful and Ivy is exotic, so all in all it's good.

I am a fan of the series and took this book on vacation so I could really focus on the story and unfortunately I had to struggle to finish it. First 50 pages and last 50 pages were worth the read, the rest pretty much a waste of time. Not sure what Ms Harrison was thinking or planning to take the series but if I did not love the characters Jenks, Ivy, Al (what little there is of him); I would have not been able to finish the book.

There are few series out there just just get better and this is one of them, Rachael and the gang are like friends and I love hearing about all of them, even if I feel like screaming at them sometimes :)

Rachel is getting one-dimensional and the story was meandering all over the place in this 7th book. It really was in need of some plot editing to improve and hold it together. The banshsee thing was neat but led nowhere. Marshal resurfacing was very lukewarm. This one doesn't make me want to read anymore stories from the Hollows.

Hope believes in the possibility of everything. Her three year old daughter, Maya, has an imaginary friend who suddenly goes missing and Hope tries to track him down. Hope's mother died when she was only sixteen and she can't help but wish her mother was around to give her advice. Maya goes through a difficult stage and Hope and her husband are forced to try different methods to get Maya on the right track. Together they work through their problems and are brought closer together by a trip to Belize.

Hope is a strong woman who doesn't believe in giving up. I think we all could learn a little something from her. Her family journey proves that everything is indeed possible, you just have to work for it.

This book isn't what i expected. We're at book number seven, and i kind of expected something more dramatic, considered that it's a hardcover and all. None the less, it's a good one and it deserves a 5 stars in comparing with its previous. But this would be just another one in the serrie with new characters, new incidents where Ms Harrison revealed Kisten's murder; case solved with some loose end. However, it seems that my hope to see Kisten again is ended there as well. He's dead and will stay so, it seems. If anything, i get to see Trent again, and if i read it right (or if the author have another purpose that she have not yet revealed in this book), Trent has feeling for Rache; just hint, hint; though at this point, he's still giving her a hard time on the "your soul black, your aura stains" thing; For reader who had high hope to see Al (interested character, isn't he? I so hated him in the previous books until book #6 )he will show, but nothing developed. I hope to see more of him. I'm a sucker for bad and dangerous characters. All in all, i'm looking forward for the up comming books. Here's the wait again

This wasn't the most amazing things she's written but was a good book in keeping with all the Rachel Morgan books. The plot was solid even if the story wasn't high on adventure as some of the books. I liked that it put the character in an not completely helpless place for a change... much as though building her up for tougher times ahead.

I have read all of the books in this series and loved them. This book is long, confusing (even for those of us who have read the previous ones), tiring (how many times do we have to hear about Matalina's failing health?), is poorly edited, and on and on. I briefly looked at other reviews with poor ratings and agree with them. Pierce? Come on..... What about the chrysalis? the rope? not even properly presented as a cliff hanger.

Seems like it's stretched to be 500 pages .....

I've been a Kim Harrison fan since "Dead Witch Walking" and was very excited to see a Graphic Novel in her line-up. The story is familiar if you've read the series, and the pacing and artwork are good.

There've been complaints that the charactors didn't look like they should, but how often do movies accurately portray written charactors? I had different mental images of Rachel, Ivy, and Kisten, but it wasn't distracting from the story for me. This was just another layer in the world of the Hollows.

I could put up with almost all of it, as I've gotten attached to all of these characters, all the way up until the end, then it was just kinda like hmmmm.

I hope the next book shakes things up a bit more.

Back in "MY DAY" we would joke about people who needed to read books with "A lot of pictures" as skills were ostensibly limited. These are obviosly a growing trend, and as we exit the computer age(Ask Bill Gates), and enter the surveilence age, it seems normal to a lot of people that everything is tied to a computer, or phone. OK> I admit I am an old coot, but just today the supreme court is beginning to decide if it is constitutional for police to place a gps device on a car without a warrant. Cell phones have gps locators in them, as does the northstar type of "Road service" Progressive insurance is using a recording tracker to "cut your premiums" by having a complete running history of your vehicle use. My Point? When I read a book, I don't want the graphic artist to interpret the story for me; I'd like the author to spell out their ideas. It is too easy to misinferr pictures drawn for prurient attention. There. If you are an artist, draw. If you are an author, write. If you are an old fool like me, hope you die before it gets too distressing! PR/DAV/RVN/1971.

I discovered this series over two years ago now and flew through the first 5 back to back and was delighted when The Outlaw Demon Wails was release and finished it immediately and thought regretfully I had to wait another year for this one. But I soon realized that this installment just lacked something....it lost the charm, excitement, and mystery somehow. It seemed so contrived and disengaging.... Maybe it was because I was anticipating more of the Ever After and demons but they were painfully absent...I'm hoping this book was just a hiccup and will check reviews on the next one before deciding the Hollows series has taken a turn for the worse.

It seems that Kim Harrison has given up on this series and produced this book due to contractual obligations. If I wanted to read about emotional BS for hundreds of pages, I would have bought a romance novel.

I am suprised at the reviews for this book!! I have been a K. Harrison fan since I picked up the first book in this series and have yet to be disappointed. I thought the whole book was fantastic and I still love the world she has created. I read a lot of different fantasy series and this is still one of my favorite. I can't wait to find out what happens next!!!

I will start this review by saying that I love Kim Harrison's series The Hollows. They were the first true Urban Fantasy series I collected, and it has been my recommendation to many a person wanting to try out this genre.

However, and as much of a Fangirl I am to this author and her work (and the main character of the Graphic Novel, Ivy Tamwood), I have to outright admit there are some really serious issues with this Graphic Novel adaptation of the world of the Hollows. The author at least was gracious enough to not just wanting to transcribe her already written work into comic book form (Anita Blake and Harry Dresden, I'm looking at you!), something that seldom works right. Instead, she gifted us with a trip into the mind of Ivy (rather than the books' narrator, Rachel) and tells us just how the main duo of the series came to work together and know each other.

Storywise, this might have worked rather well for a novel, or a noveletta -- but in comic form, the most interesting aspects of the tale were subdued or understated. Ivy's feelings (read love) for Rachel happened incredibly abruptly, and even though Rachel here wasn't as incredibly annoying as Mercy Thompson in the "Homecoming" graphic novel (awful awful AWFUL!), she came across as random, whimsical, and annoyingly moralist. And somehow, Ivy seems to be amazingly grateful to have Rachel's abuse. I love the two characters and I adore Rachel, but I really didn't like her in this GN - in the books she's sassy, self assured and a little bit cheeky. Here? She's got mood swings that take her from cutesy to "RANTING BITCH IN YOUR FACE!".

Again, this tiny history behind the GN would be much more interesting if more properly developed but it just didn't work -- there was no emotional development, and the secondary plot (the murdered werewolf) seems crammed in to give the girls something to do that wasn't Ivy moping over Rachel and her relationship to Piscary. The secondary characters felt awkward -- crowbared even -- almost forced to be there, as if they had been contractually obligated to make an appearance to please the fans.

I can't really understand the goal of this Graphic Novel:

- If it was to give the fans a little treat, to show them a vignette of how their main duo came together, it fails because it lacks most of the elements that make the Hollows Series so much fun -- and the author's talented writing. Everything given here is a weak rehash of what we already knew from reading the books.
- If it was to actually complete a missing gap in The Hollows lore, and the author meant it as something actually useful, it, again fails, because she chose the wrong medium: she's clearly out of her depth, and the story itself would either need to be told in a bigger book, or by a more competent storyteller in this means, because -- really? I didn't learn anything interesting about the two that I didn't know already.
- If it was to draw in new people, give them a taste of the books and maybe get them to buy the series, it also fails, because there is very little information about the setting (the little there is is crammed into a few squares) -- and when you waste 3 whole pages just to describe Cincinnati, and then carry on the rest of the book as assuming that the reader already knows the setting fully well, then you really can't expect the new readers to be engaged, because they will have no reason to care about the characters. And with the story itself not being particularly good or memorable -- it becomes even harder to recommend this as a "stepping stone" for someone to get interested in the series.

One thing is painfully obvious -- Ms. Harrison is a delicious writer, but she can't write comics to save her life. As I said above, the first three pages are dedicated to Cincinnati alone -- something that would work fine in a novel, but not in a comic book. Then, suddenly, the GN rushes forward, and I kept getting the feeling I was running behind it, filling in bits here and there with my own knowledge of the Books. There is no pacing, no interest, no use of the medium itself to convey the story -- it seems as if Kim Harrison just wrote a story, and then told someone to write pictures for it. Unfortunately, with comics seen often as a "lesser medium", a lot of people believe that if you can write novels, you can write comics. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth and it takes a special training (and talent) to be able to pull off a good Graphic Novel.

Blood Works doesn't work neither as a comic or a novel, thus failing in both precepts of being a "Graphic Novel."

Now, the art.

Many people complained that the art was ghastly, subpar, didn't make the original characters any justice. I think it just shows that the artist is not very experienced -- and I can understand that for all her popularity, Ms. Harrison couldn't really afford to hire one of the real good and great comic book artists in the market (Ivy drawn by Adam Hughes.... le sigh!). I didn't like the art, but if the story had been good, I wouldn't have minded it. Curiously, one of the things that annoyed me most about the art wound up being the author's fault -- Ivy's excessive Asian looks irritated the hell out of me, because it went against the "hint of Asian" that claimed that Ivy had in the books. It was far too much -- and I blamed the artist, all the way through the GN, until I reached the "extras" section, where Kim Harrison shows her notes asking for the artist to redo Ivy, because she show the "hint of Asian" -- and listing Lucy Liu as a good reference.

Now, Lucy Liu is a beautiful woman. But she is VERY CLEARLY Asian. And Ivy is not supposed to be (at least judging from the books), and instead, she should just have an exotic look, topped off with a hint of Asian. It's small wonder quite a few complained about this unexpected feature of Ivy in the GN. Part of me wonders if it wasn't just to make Rachel look better by comparison, because she was quite prettily drawn.

I didn't really like the hairdo in Ivy (Ivy is highly sophisticated, and that ponytail didn't work well), but those are minor grievances.

Unfortunately, I'm forced to give this book a very low mark: the story is forgettable and unoriginal, the art is passable at best and mediocre at worst, and it seems, in the end, just a waste of paper and space for either fans or nenwcommers. This comes across more as a work of vanity (to have one's urban fantasy books turned into comics seems a recent trend as of late), and not to really achieve anything truly meaningful.

This seventh volume in the series didn't do it for me.

What I thought was going to be the main storyline, the hunt for Kirsten's killer that started up in the last book, began the story well but was then dropped until the last 50 pages, where it was wrapped up in a wham-bam fashion almost as an afterthought.

In between, we have a mish-mash of things falling into one of two categories. There is tiresome formula. Rachel has troubles with yet another boyfriend. Anyone surprised?...no. Al jerks Rachel around? Anyone surprised?...no. Rachel and Ivy have trouble defining their relationship. Anyone surprised?...well, only in the sense that I thought they finally put this one to rest in the last volume.

The other category is things that seem to come out of left field. Without giving too much away in spoilers...Rachel suffers some serious public relations problems. This is not particularly surprising given what she's had to do over the stories. What is a "huh?!?" moment is that she takes this lying down, almost like she's bought into the "demon marks = black witch" concept. That's so out of character it's just jarring to the reader.

The second "where did this come from?" thing is the whole Pierce subplot. Did I miss a book; is this really #8? (no) It's dropped in like we've known about it for six volumes already.

I hope that the next volume in this series gets back on track. Otherwise, this series won't hold my attention very long--we've seen similar series implode.

I couldn't put this book down! This was actually the first book in the Hollows series I read, so I knew I would have to read all of them. Currently reading them (in succession)...looking forward to finding out what led up to this one! :)

This book, like all her other books, was great. I can't wait for the next book. After I finished, I had a hard time starting a different book, I just wanted more about Rachel and everyone else. Good job Kim Harrison!!

While I didn't think it was as good as the others, it's still a must read for the Hollows fans...

There's so much going on and so many characters that it's harder to follow than the others...

If you rate Kim Harrison's books like I do - Favorite Hollows book(s) is/are 9.5 / 10, then 'White Witch, Black Curse' is a solid 7.5 / 10.

Although I love this series I think this book was slightly disappointing. In the last book we find out that Rachel will be training with Al, for reasons that I will not mention here, but this book did not continue that story line at all. Sure, Al was in it a few times but not to the extent that I was hoping for. And, in this book we find out what happened to Kisten with a very unclimactic discovery at the end of the book. Revenge is too late for Rachel or Ivy and it left me wishing that it had been handled in a different way.

this book arrived promptly and the cover was in good condition. however when i opened the book, the spine was broken in the front and the page was coming out of the book. i did not expect this book to be in this condition. i will not order from this seller again because of this.

The best part of the reading, for those who've been with the series from the start, is of course just reacquainting yourself with the various cast. The main characters could just be visiting the local grocery and it would be fun to read along as they banter and just do slice of life stuff. Characterization is the mainstay of the series, and just keeping touch with Jenks and his family is enough for a comfortable, enjoyable (in some cases bittersweet) read.

That said, while I love the characters of Kim's books, the latest installment of the Hollows series seems to just tread water rather than advance any of the characterizations or plot lines. Yes we find out who killed Kist. Unfortunately it's a stupidly senseless death that seems just to have happened so Rachel could have an excuse to be angsty. This new book lacks a rather critical sense of, for want of better term, soul. With little rhyme or reason, Rachel is not at her best as she mopes through a majority of the book when she isn't agonizing over how long she should respect her dead boyfriend's memory before giving into her desire to knock metaphysical boots with a goodlooking guy witch whose best feature appears to be his convenient accessibility.

Rachel has always had a bit of a bewildering auto "wolf whistle, pant, pant, pant" thought mode when she encounters any and every good looking male who isn't running away from her bad reputation and isn't trying to kill her... Okay scratch that, she "notices" them in that way even if they are trying to kill her. Not that she follows up on it, always, but it grows old after the umpteenth time she notice how hawt this or that guy's tight butt happens to be. It feels artificial when it's driven home several times a book, book after book, just how hot to trot Rachel is for any good looking guy that crosses her line of vision.

Meanwhile the intriguing almost romance between Rachel and Ivy that held such promise in the first few books, now tiredly retreads the same old same old for a seventh book as Ivy grows painful to watch with her soulful torch bearing for Rachel, who alternately eggs on and then slaps down the vampire who perpetually teeters on the edge of self control. Much as I'd love Rachel and Ivy together, finally, even a femslash romantic such as myself can see this has become a sad joke that just seems to linger as hollow lipstick lesbian tease.

The mystery of the book is nonexistent for anyone whose read the short stories that reveal all the whodunnit almost at the start of the novel, or incomprehensible for those who haven't read all the prequel shorts and thus have no idea of what is going on or as one friend asked me "Who are these people?!? I don't know what half this book is about." -- The latest book is not an understandable read for anyone who hasn't read the previous books and shorts.

I'd recommend this book for long time fans of Rachel and her crowd. It's great to read more Rachel even if she isn't doing anything really meaningful. This isn't the best book in the series, but even a place marker that treads water is okay if it's just a pause between better things. I really hope things in the next few books pick up though.

I have enjoyed Kim Harrison's books so far, it's been a fun playground, but if this book is any indication of future work to come, this may be my last foray into The Hollows. I was going to give this book a 2, then I realized I had almost nothing good to say about it, and thought a 1 was sufficient.

***SPOILERS TO FOLLOW***

The things I liked (what little there was):

Bis is the bomb, such a protective little tyke, it was great to see more of him and get tantalizing hints of his role in things to come. I'm very, very curious to see what sort of part he'll be playing in Rachel's magical development. Obviously a unique one.

Jenks is always a ray of sunshine (or fairy dust), even if he was getting just a little repetitive here. Potentially my favorite of the good guys these days. Oh, and Ford was fun to play with, since he's possible the ONLY male in the entire series Rachel hasn't developed a sexual crush on... yet.

Rynn Cormel. I was interested to see what was going to be done with this character and I wasn't disappointed. I had hoped Harrison wouldn't confine Rynn to happy-go-lucky, good-guy vampire tricks, and she doesn't. He's not quite a bad boy, but he's a very real and dynamic character, made even more interesting by being what he is: lacking a soul and still somehow thriving, if an undead vampire can be said to thrive.

Glimpses of Al and Trent (as they are by far the most interesting mysteries still floating around in this series) were of course, very welcome, and very interesting.

The reasons this is the worst book of this series:

The number one reason: Pierce. I mean, come on now, not only is he a character who ONLY got introduced in a short story, and is spoken about in this book as though he's been there all along, but his importance to Rachel is so contrived that it's laughable. I mean, seriously, we are only now (in book 7!) finding out that ALL ALONG, Rachel has been hedging all her bets against this man, and THAT is the main reason she can't land herself a decent relationship? Oh. Please. I was so disgusted reading about how 'all this time she's been measuring all the other wanna-be's up against him' that I just about had to stop reading. On that note, if you're going to introduce a main character in a short story and then go on like everyone knows who he is, the least you could do is include the short in this book somewhere...

The number two reason, and I never thought I would say this: Rachel. Is it just me or is she getting less and less interesting the longer this series goes on? If she does the 'woe-is-me' routine, or talks about how her life sucks, or it's all her fault people are A) treating her badly or B) leaving her, one more time... I try to be sympathetic, but let's be honest, she gets herself into these situations more often than not. There's a fine balance in writing angst, and this one tipped way too far into the depressing side. And I begin to wonder if Rachel really will ever learn, because one minute she'll be talking about how she's going to change, and then the next minute she's back to doing something stupid (like chasing Banshee's down dark alleys solo when a few pages previous she was talking about how witches are no match for them). I'm beginning to see some stagnation in Rachel as a character.

And btw, I thought she and Ivy had come to an understanding, if not resolved the (possible) romantic issues? Then why is it being rehashed for the billionth time here? A direction really needs to be chosen and stuck with between those two. It's getting seriously annoying, and how sad is it when the two main characters of a series are the most irritating parts of it?

The Banshee story. This book's main B-plot involves a brand new species being introduced into the Hollows. Frankly, I was unimpressed. From the eye-catching title, I had expected far more work with Al (who really only shows up at the end), or at least SOME continuation of the previous remaining loose ends. Aside from Kisten, there was almost none of that here. I realize the author is trying to take the series in a new direction, but so many species and mini-character have already been introduced in the Hollows that, frankly, reading about an unsympathetic Banshee who (like many others) is trying to kill Rachel, was just uninteresting. Glenn and Eddings were fun though.

Marshal. I never cared for his character much in the first place, but I have to admit his exit from the series felt especially strange. If I didn't know better (ahem), I'd say he got shoved out to make room for another love interest. But there wasn't one in this book, right? Oh, wait!

Kisten. Um. Really? The mystery that's been stretched out over maybe three books now? An entire novel dedicated to answering it (and dealing with Banshees... who have to be the most unsympathetic characters that Rachel somehow manages to be sympathetic too. And on that note, you couldn't care less about Banshees killing a family for sustenance, but you'll hate Trent until the day you die for safekeeping his entire race? Alright then...) So the mystery of Kisten.. is no mystery at all. In fact, it's a fact that probably could have been discovered and explained on a side-note, and avoided all the build-up that eventually lead... nowhere. Hey, not everyone can die in a blaze of glory, but I figure a huge opportunity gets missed when you decide to blow it up this big and then crash it with no interesting resolution what-so-ever.

There are many more things, but it would be crying a bit too much to name all the minor details behind my disappointment with WWBC. In summary, definitely the worst book in the series, and thank goodness I didn't actually spend money on it. Hopefully not a sign of things to come.

I love Harrison's novels and usually purchase them for my kindle, but I was shocked by the price of her latest. I just can't justify paying more than $9.99, although I like to buy ebooks to support my favorite authors. I'll be going to the library for this installment!