"Dead Witch Walking" by Kim Harrison

Description:
Rachel Morgan is a runner with the Inderland Runner Services, apprehending law-breakers throughout Cincinnati. She’s also a witch, one of the many Inderlanders who revealed themselves after a genetically engineered virus wiped out 50% of humanity. Witches, warlocks, vampires, werewolves-the creatures of dreams and nightmares have lived beside humans for centuries, hiding their powers. But now they’ve stopped hiding, and nothing will be the same.

On the run with a contract on her head, Rachel reluctantly teams up with Ivy, Inderland’s best runner… and a living vampire. But this witch is way out of her league, and to clear her name, Rachel must evade shapechanging assassins, outwit a powerful businessman/crimelord, and survive a vicious underground fight-to-the-death… not to mention her own roommate!

My Review:

Harrison's first book is a solid effort. The Hollows are an interesting setting for the story and the back-plot with the description of how the world came to be is interesting and well thought out. The descriptions of the Inderlanders are engaging, compelling and well written. Unfortunately it feels as though this is the most flushed out area of the novel. The rest of the book, which is action packed but disjointed in areas reads quickly but leaves the reader somewhat lost in the 'intrigue'.

For about half of the book I really wanted to kill our narrator, the witch, Rachel Morgan. Rachel seriously suffers from some self righteous narrow mindedness. She also lacks consistency, at one moment feeling empathy for her roommate and in the next willing to betray her. And despite her self-proclamation about being one of the best runners out there, her investigative abilities leave me questioning whether or not she could inspect her way out of a paper bag. Another annoying trait is her constant whining about everything and how hard her life is. Yes, 'Cookie', life is tough. I get it, and would be more likely to empathize with your dilemma if you weren't constantly whining about how tough you have it. I assume these are areas that Harrison will address in the future as Rachel's character is more fully developed.

Secondary characters Ivy and Jenks are fun, and at times more pleasing to the reader. So much so that I found myself enjoying their presence as a welcome reprieve from the constant whining and confusion that passes for internal dialogue within Ms. Morgan's mind. The antagonists are a bit flat, and one-sided.

I kept having to remind myself of the main motivation of the novel, even though the concept is introduced within the first chapter. The constant side reels are distracting and the action at times leaves you feeling confused and scrambling to remember the mission. Nonetheless, the book is reasonably fun to read, and with any luck the coming books of in the series will improve in the area of Ms. Morgan and plot developement.

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