The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (Rachel Morgan, Book 2) (The Hollows) by Kim Harrison
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Book Reviews of The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (Rachel Morgan, Book 2) (The Hollows)
Book Review: This is not a new book!
Summary: 4 Stars
This isn't a new book, it is a re-release of the second book in the series. The series is wonderful, but opening the book I was so excited to get, just to realize I had read it YEARS ago was not! Do not be fooled as I was.Book Review: What a series
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading book 1 (Dead Witch Walking) I could tell this author had something. After book 2 I needed a fire extinguisher. After book 3 I was hooked for the long haul. Her Character is so well drawn out in this series, you forget they aren't real.Book Review: Better than the first, but still not great
Summary: 3 Stars
I read "Dead Witch Walking" and was not impressed. (You can read my review for that one as well.) In this second book, the author's technique didn't improve much, and you have to tolerate usage of the same phrases over and over throughout the book. The writing isn't very sophisticated, and the main character is very thin and not intriguing (sort of like a watery stew). I understand that writing in first person is very difficult, so maybe the author should have moved to third person for this second outing. Perhaps she was trying to follow in the noir fiction movement, but the atmosphere of the books are too bright for that.
The only redeeming parts of this ongoing story are the interpersonal struggles and the fascinating (and drastically deeper) supporting character, Ivy Tamwood. The plot in this book is actually pretty good, and it is more complex than the first book.
I read this second book in the hopes the author's technique would have improved. (Come on, editor, you should have pushed her harder.) Unfortunately, it was at times tortuous. Will I read the third book or more? I don't know. Ivy's ongoing crisis is interesting, but that's about it. I'm personally tired of Rachel's juvenile behavior and hearing how she always has to push the wayward strand of hair out of her face. I could walk away from this series and never look back. Actually, now that I've said it, I think I'll move on to other books that I've been longing to dive into.
Book Review: Maybe they get better?
Summary: 2 Stars
I have read the first 2 books in this series - honestly they're not that great. I tried to like them, i wanted to like them. They read like average TV episodes of Dresden Files or Night Stalker or First, the world the author has created and virus that decimated a good chunk of the population seems, like an after thought. I can see the witches & such coming out of hiding after the virus, but come on - there would not be Starbucks after 1/4 of the word population was wiped out. There would be total chaos for decades if not longer. Yet the author has the characters living in a world much like own own, but with witches & wizards, drinking coffee at Starbucks, etc. This should be a grim world, with burnt out cities and roving armies and isolated city states. Instead we have Witches' Universities and Starbucks. The only reminder of a virus that wiped out over a billion people is humanity's aversion to Tomatoes?! Please... (The virus was carried by a mutant tomato strain. - Yes, attack of the Killer Tomatoes.)
Second, the treatment of the supernatural is well, droll. The main character mixes her spells with all the excitement and zeal of a pharmacist mixing up cough syrup. We don't get a feel of anything exciting or mystical. Why are these people magical? They just are. Where do the Vampires and Were comes from? No where special, they just exist. Accept it. The Vampires' bite & how they attract their victims is reduced to a chemical reaction. There's no awe, no "wow", its all very humdrum.
Nothing that happened in either of these books surprised me. If you are a new reader, I assume they're ok to cut your teeth on (ok, bad pun) but if you are a long time genre reader, this is the Dresden Files with a witch instead of a Wizard. This is the NightStalker with a gender change.
The main character, Rachel, is the least interesting of all. She's an average witch turned private eye. She runs her own private eye agency with a half Vampire. She plods along, throwing tantrums when she can't get her way. She escapes death only by the intervention of her friends and partners - not by any skills of her own. I dunno which came first Dresden or this character but she's a mystical private investigator (like Dresden) that works with the police as a consultant (like Dresden) and has a supernatural partner (like Dresden) and is alway broke and down on her luck (like Dresden) and her father died under mysterious circumstances (like Dresden).
There's some pseudo vampire erotica also for those who are bored.
Maybe the books get better after the first 2. I'll try the 3rd sometime down the road and see how it is. So far, its an effort to finish book 2.
Book Review: Simply LOVE IT!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This series is a wonderful surprise. I read this in one gulp of fresh air - it's humorous, very real and the characters are so detailed that you actually feel that you know them in your real life!
So many reviews here compare it to Anita Blake, but I read the first few books in that series - and NOTHING compares to Rachel Morgan.
First off, Rachel Morgan is a much more complex individual, and Harrison creates a world of characters that you actually care for. In Anita Blake, I didn't feel any sympany for her or anything bad that happened to her . Moreover, the story is so stupidly plain and simple that leaves no room for imagination.
I also tried to read the Dresden files (read 2 books) - AWEFUL!!!!!!
The closest I could find to the style of writing and the intricate little things that happen all around in the book is the Sookie Stackhouse series which I also am thorouly enjoying right now. Can't wait for the next book in the Rachel Morgan series!!!