Book Review: Pale Demon

Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It is no lie that I am absolutely in love with this series. My favorite memory is how I even found it. I was walking through Borders, intent upon seeing if a certain book was in stock, and this book just randomly fell off the shelf as I approached the aisle. Dead Witch Walking, huh? I automatically went to put it back and paused, reading the back of the book. I was instantly enamored and made my purchase. Two days later, I was finished with the book and found out that the second book was out as well as the third book set for release within a couple weeks. On top of that, Kim Harrison was going to be at a local bookstore doing a signing. What were the odds?

I find it very difficult to connect with characters because they are often two one-dimensional or have one track minds or are so set on something from their past that I get tired of reading about it by the middle of a book. Rachel Morgan is a spitfire redhead with a huge streak of bad luck. It’s an understatement, really. But she tries to do good. Even when forced to do magick she believes is wrong, cringing at the ‘demon smut’ that she has to take on in payment, Rachel sacrifices herself and everything she is to protect those she loves. And she grows along the way. She isn’t a damsel in distress. She isn’t the victim-turned-huntress. She is a woman, a witch, trying her damnedest to survive. And I can respect that. Hell, I can understand it and connect with it and I’ve never found myself rooting so hard for a character.

Rachel’s mission is simple: get to San Francisco and get her shunning annulled. Oh, and get an elf to Seattle. Within two days. With assassins abound and demons rampaging. The story mostly revolves around the actual trip, with the unlikely band of heroes barely scraping themselves off the floor time and time again to keep their too fast pace across the country. Why driving? Because Rachel has been unofficially attached to the No Fly list in order to make things more difficult for her. It just so happens that Trent’s Elf Quest requires him to travel by horse–a car, in the modern world, is an acceptable substitute.

It’s not exactly a spoiler when things don’t go as Rachel hopes in San Francisco. She is banished from reality and into the ever-after with the demons. This is where the story takes an interesting turn and I found myself staying awake far too long in order to plow through it all. But I’m not a spoiling type. You’ll have to read it yourself.

Favorite Part:
Jenks finding out that wearing the color red is not always safe wherever he goes. Whoops! Almost got himself married, that one. Followed by a trip to Disneyland mentioned in passing and Jenks going into the Tink History Museum, coming out calling her an Interland Pioneer.

Favorite Quote/Line:
“Hey, Rache!” Jenks buzzed close. “What’s it like being dead?”
“A lot like being a sixties housewife. What happened?” Trent said I’d been out for three days. Three days? Where was Pierce? And Bis?

Would I Recommend?
Absolutely. But seeing as how it is book nine in a series, I suggest reading the others beforehand–especially Black Magic Sanctum.