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Sunday 26 September 2010

Review: DEAD WITCH WALKING

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
Book 1 of the Rachel Morgan series

Genre: urban fantasy, chick lit

About Dead Witch Walking:
Forty years ago a genetically engineered virus killed half of the world's human population and exposed creatures of dreams and nightmares that had, until then, lived in secret alongside humanity.

Rachel Morgan is a runner with the Inderland Runner Services, apprehending criminals throughout modern-day Cincinnati. She is also a witch.

Used to confronting criminal vampires, dark witches and homicidal werewolves, Rachel's latest assignments - apprehending cable-stealing magic students and tax-evading leprechauns - have prompted her to break her thirty-year contract with the I.S. and start her own runner agency.

But no one quits the I.S.

Marked for death, Rachel is a dead witch walking unless she can appease her former employers and pay off her contract by exposing the city's most prominent citizen as a drug lord. But making an enemy of the ambiguous Trent Kalamack proves even more deadly than leaving the I.S.
Source: Info in the About Dead Witch Walking was taken from the back of the book cover.

Review:
This book reads like a female Harry Dresden by Jim Butcher. And just like the Dresden Files, delivers a wonderful reading pleasure!

It took a while to get into the story but I eventually did. The story telling quality while superb is not quite a masterpiece, a 4 out of 5. The story itself while not exactly an original is still quite good, another 4 out of 5. Character development is very very good! I would give it a 5 out of 5. The female protagonist is "human" enough to feel tired and defeated but still hero enough to still want to do the right thing. Makes the readers feel like, "hey I'm not perfect like that but maybe, just maybe, I could be a hero too". I will not say how or what the ending was because that will give out spoilers, but I would rate the ending a 4.5 out of 5.

Here's the kicker. My paperback copy is the UK edition with the ugliest cover ever!! The publisher's UK art department so needs to be fired! Holding that yellow book in my hands is even uglier. A yellow cover for an urban fantasy book?!? In the sales & marketing grid, this cover art will get a rating of zero in a scale of 1 to 5.

I enjoyed this book and would read another Kim Harrison work again. Overall, I would give this book a 4 out of 5.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

8 comments:

Blodeuedd said...

Ugh, what the heck is up with that cover? It seems like some kind of trashy zombie novel

Straylights said...

eww that cover is gross!! I wouldn't have even picked that book up if I saw that horrible cover. btw I <3 Jenks

Cherry said...

Blodeuedd - zombie book did cross my mind too...

Straylights - I don't know if you've read this yet or not, but, my favourite character in this book is JENKS :)

Straylights said...

Oh I've read them all. I'm a hardcore fangirl! I can't wait till the next one comes out in February weeee!!

Cherry said...

Ahh... so you know Jenks ;)

Juli D. Revezzo said...

I'm still needing to get through the rest of the series soon, but yes, love Jenks. It was one of the first books to make me love UF! I

Tales of Whimsy said...

Awesome review and you are so right about the art!

Ladytink_534 said...

I just can't get through her White Witch Black Curse so I've been thinking about going back and re-reading all of them to give me that push. I loved the first few for various reasons but I adored Kistin. Really icky cover! The US one is MUCH better.

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