No, it’s not the beginnings to a horrible joke, but the start of Pale Demon, book nine of the fantastic Hollows series by Kim Harrison.
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.
Complete fan girl squeals and happy dances all around. From the moment I finished Black Magic Sanction last February, I’ve wanted to read this book. Each Hollows addition is better than the last and Pale Demon is once again my favorite so far. Why? Because of a certain cookie-sniffing shoe maker.
Tink’s a Disney Whore! Yes, I mean Trent Kalamack. Ever since we first met him in Dead Witch Walking, I’ve loved the chemistry in every scene with him and Rachel. They’ve out right hated each other, have both tried to kill the other and yet can work together when the situation calls for it, to both their dismays. So when Kim announced that Pale Demon was going to lock the two of them in a car for 2300 miles, my first thought was “this is gonna be good.” Understatement. What I loved was that we don’t see the polished professional Trent personifies as he pursues political office (say that three times fast), runs illegal Brimstone smuggling operations and tries to find the cure to the curse demons have placed on the elven race. We see Trent disheveled, embarrassed, making mistakes and otherwise being…human.
And Rachel notices too.
Rachel herself faces trial after trial as the Coven tries to stop her from getting to the conference to clear her name (the Coven can’t be trusted), as assassins hunt Trent for reasons he won’t disclose (typical), as Al tries to convince her to shun reality, embrace her inner demoness and join him in the ever-after (the most likely outcome of the conference), and never mind about the day-walking demon that has just placed her at the top of his want list (all in a day’s work). There’s always something or someone gunning for Rachel, trying to kill her, subvert her, manipulate her…and she survives. She takes what is thrown at her, reacting by the seat of her pants and often making bad decisions, but she survives and rises to protect those around her, even when they don’t want her protection (*cough* Trent *cough*). Rachel will always put others above herself and that’s what I love about her. When the cards are on the table and she knows she’s beat, she’ll sacrifice herself to make sure everyone else survives. We need more heroines like her.
And I want more Trent. When’s book 10 come out?
Pale Demon releases on Tuesday, February 22nd from HarperCollins. ARC provided by NetGalley.
Kelly Metz enjoys reading, writing, photography, her family and annoying her baby brother, who, while younger, is now over a foot taller than her and can punch much harder than when he was little. She spends her free time engaging in various torture activities, demon summonings, zombie raisings and spell casting. And writing when she gets bored with those. You can find her online at www.kellymetz.com or follow her on twitter at www.twitter.com/bwlrgrl300
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