Thursday, April 7, 2011

Pale Demon by Kim Harrison




Synopsis

Condemned and shunned for black magic, Rachel Morgan has three days to get to the annual witches’ conference and clear her name, or be trapped in the demonic ever-after . . . forever after.

But a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car going across the country? Talk about a recipe for certain disaster, even without being the targets for assassination.

For after centuries of torment, a fearsome demon walks in the sunlight—freed at last to slay the innocent and devour their souls. But his ultimate goal is Rachel Morgan, and in the fight for survival that follows, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.


My thoughts:
I've mentioned this before with this series, for some reason I really related to the relationship between Rachel and Kisten and when he died I almost had to give the series up.  I had a hard time with the last few books because a part of me felt that with his death the series had ended.  This book brought me back around.  It sounds so silly in print, that I would be so upset by the death of a character, but for some reason it really affected me which is a tribute to Harrison's writing, that I was able to feel so deeply for a character written onto the page.  I have wondered for a bit where she was going with Rachel being a demon and again, this book revealed where she is going and a lot more.

This is book nine in the series and I have read them all.  When I first discovered the series I read all the books in order and then as new books have come out I have read them too.  Sometimes I feel like I have forgotten some of who is who and what has happened.  Part of why I love discovering series that have been around for a while is that I can read all the books in order and then everything is clear and read sequentially so there are no confusions about characters.

In this installment Rachel's trip to the west coast is complicated by the fact that she cannot fly, she is detained when she gets to the airport and finds that she will not be allowed to fly for her meeting with the coven but must drive across the country to get there in time.  Added to that, Trent wishes to drive with them across the country so he can go on an elf quest.  Bis, her resident gargoyle at the church, has started waking up during the day and calling her when he feels Rachel tapping a ley line, and Jenks and Ivy are also along for the ride.  Along the way a day walking demon is freed, some destruction occurs, Rachel comes to know more about herself and her abilities, and Jenk's is kidnapped by a group of pixies.  The book is full of action and, while long, utilizes the entirety to tell the story.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about the way Harrison wrapped up this installment, but I like it and feel it will add to the next book in the series.  At the bottom of this review I included links to my reviews for books 7 and 8.  Book 7 was one of the first I reviewed when I started my blog!

Product Details

Pub. Date: February 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Format: Hardcover , 439pp
Series: Rachel Morgan Series , #9
ISBN-13: 9780061138065
ISBN: 0061138061

White Witch, Black Curse Book #7
Black Magic Sanction Book #8

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