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Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - Dead Witch Walking (Rachel Morgan, Book 1)
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List Price: $7.99
Our Price: $7.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Eos
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780060572969
ISBN: 0060572965
Label: Eos
Manufacturer: Eos
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 432
Publication Date: 2004-04
Publisher: Eos
Release Date: 2004-04-27
Studio: Eos
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Editorial Reviews:
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All the creatures of the night gather in "the Hollows" of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party ... and to feed. Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining -- and it’s Rachel Morgan's job to keep that world civilized. A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she'll bring 'em back alive, dead ... or undead.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Silly
Comment: This books start out interesting enough, but what a let down a few chapters in. Don't bother.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very good novel
Comment: Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Each character was written smoothly and with rich personalities. The plot is fun with lots of layers that set her up for other novels and will hopefully will be pursued and answered(ex. who sent the demon after Rachel and Trent; what exactly did Trent's dad do to Rachel at the camp).
So if I liked it so much, then why did it give it only 4 stars? That has to do with Rachel. Her character shows a lot of immaturity in this book. I don't have the book beside me, so I can't cite specific examples, but Rachel's stubborness to do it exactly her way or no way and not to listen to what anyone (even those with actual experience in the field) says leads her to do things that being an adult, she should not do. This is also shown in the next book, which I've also already read.
But, to me, that is easily forgiven. After all, who wants the heroine of this book to be a Mary Sue? That just wouldn't be fun and she wouldn't get in or get out of some of the situations she has. I would like to caution the author, though, to definitely have a plan for this series. Have a definite beginning, middle, and end. Do not try to continue to write this series forever and go the way of LKH and more recently Sherrilyn Kenyon/Kinley MacGregor. Brilliant authors, who, for one reason or another, have had a tremendous decline in the quality of their books. A great many of their fans have become so disappointed in them they refuse to buy or even read any more of their books. Let's all hope Kim will not eventually be added to that list.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mindnumbing.
Comment: Inderland Security is the FBI that monitors all the things that go bump in the night. As a runner, a bounty hunter and a white witch with attitude, brass balls though no sense at all, Rachel Morgan is having it bad.
She's screwed up so much in the past 3 years as a runner, her boss has put her on the most lowly of jobs: catching and arresting magical citizens for petty crimes. Sad, but true, and she's spitting piss and mud.
Dressed as a hooker, Rachel is on the hunt for her latest criminal, only to wind up with her catch--a leprechaun--who tantalizes her with 3 wishes. With her are her sidekicks, Ivy, a living vampire who buys her way out of her IS contract and a pixie, Jinks with enough spitfire and children to make you cringe, Rachel forfeits two wishes in order for the three of them to join up and form their own business. And leave IS for good.
Problem? Leaving the IS is like leaving the mob. You don't do it unless you want an early exit out of life in general. While Ivy manages by bribing and using her wealth to buy her life back, and Jenks, who never signed one in the first place because pixies are a dime a dozen, come up with roses. Rachel? Death arrives at her doorstep within minutes after her egress from headquarters. And it ain't all hand holding and singalongs afterwards.
While the three move into a church in The Hollows, the other Other side of normal, Rachel is finding a lot about her new roommates and partners that she wasn't sure she wanted to know, but hell, now that she needs help in getting the death contracts off her back, she's got no choice but to grin and bear each of their own problems and personalities. Especially if she's going to bag the largest distributer of an illegal substance called Brimstone, she's gonna need all the help she can get. Especially since she keeps getting caught, over and over and over...again. It made me want to chuck the book across the room, but I was determined to finish it. It couldn't be that bad, right?
Clever quips and a few interesting bylines can only take a series, the main character and the writer so far. Apparently I missed out on that special element that has propelled this first book into the stars and a series that is expanding.
For this first try, it does have a few entertaining hooks that, if you actually find the patience to get through, not a wholly bad book. The science is kind of lame--genetic foods carried a mutant virus, etc--and the backdrop to Rachel's hunt for the person behind Brimstone. This created world, and its mechanics, is well done, expansive, very complicated and gutsy. She tends to smash a lot of myth and folklore together but that was actually not badly done. However, the problems that abounded will make you scratch you head. There are so many, that I tended to just blink, shake my head and move on. The plot is weak, directionless with slow momentum--Rachel leaves the IS, finds the bad guy who's not what he appears, so that she can get the death threats off her back, not to mention that it is so meandering and ridiculous as points that you'll wonder if Kim H had any ideas as to structure, limits and feasibility for this world. Or logic.
Everything is described in minute detail, dialog that tended to get long and pointless, scenes fitted within because it seemed charming or cool (but really wasn't), and not very exciting. Characters, while consistent and were distinct, had little development, and lacked any real direction and purpose. The ending was pretty disappointing and standard, and dull. Ivy the Vampire is sexy, Tony the Bad Guy is evil, they wear a lot of black, Jenks (though the most fun in this book) dresses like a clown, etc. There were descriptions of what everyone was wearing and how they looked/appeared than actual action or anything relative to the scene at hand. Kim H's writing ability is pretty shotty, though this being her first book, typical and her only excuse. Here style tends to jump around, use cliched prose, phrases and lacks any real depth to grip you. The story telling itself, well, while interesting at certain points, dragged, stilted, stopped, muddled. It made me want to pull my hair out.
Also, this is nothing like the Anita Blake series and the many remote comparisons surprise me. AB was never a sweetly flavored series--it was classic horror. And exciting. DWW is a lighter romp through the supernatural and the strange, and in no way as original, or chilling, though longwinded in most parts. It took me two times to get through this tepid and bland stereotypes story. I'd heard such great things about it--how could I miss? But too much fluff and not enough substance will make you grimace continuously throughout and it still doesn't make me itch to grab the second one. So take it with a grain of salt--and for me, I had to throw boat loads over mind just to get through this first one. I'm not tempted to read the second one much at all, but you never know, sometimes a long read is a good thing, but in most cases, unless it's near perfect, not worth its salt.
Customer Rating:
Summary: If you love paranormal, you will love this book
Comment: I happened to stumble on this book. I have loved it from the first page. Rachel Morgan is an IS (think FBI) runner. She tracks down misbehaving paranormal creatures and hauls them in for punishment. Unfortunately she is not good at following the rules and putting up with the office politics. But, when her friend, living vampire Ivy, quits so does she. Sadly, no one quits the IS because the put a hit out on you.
She moves in with Ivy and pixie, Jinks, tries to stay alive with the hit out on her, and take odd jobs just to pay her half of the rent. She also is targeting Trent, a multi-millionaire who is not what everyone thinks he is.
There is a good story that keeps you turning the pages, I liked the character development, great humor, and Jinks. This is a definite must read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Comment: As a fan of early Anita Blake, I was very happy when I stumbled across this series. It's finally nice to see a female character who can take care of herself, but doesn't have everything figured out. Or who feels the need to have sex with everything that moves... but that's another rant all together. Rachel, with her menagerie of friends, stands out as a very sympathetic character you cant help but like. While I liked the first book in the series, I've liked the others even more. Fans of early L K Hamiltion, Karen Chance, Christopher Golden, and Sherrilyn Kenyon will likely enjoy Rachel and her world.
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