Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows, Book 1)

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'sjob 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.

Rachel Morgan is a witch and an I.S. runner - similar to an FBI agent but for the paranormal world. Her career is going nowhere. It seems as though she can do nothing right and is given the lowest assignments available. Each day and night of work has become drudgery and Rachel is looking for a way out.

Dead Witch Walking quickly immerses the reader in a vibrant cast of characters. We meet Ivy, a living vampire; Jenks, a pixie with a lot of children; Trent, a businessman who may or may not be human and is believed to be dealing in Brimstone, a nasty drug, and so on.

Dead Witch Walking is a paranormal mystery that can easily be compared to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series or Laurell K. Hamilton's early Anita Blake novels. Rachel Morgan is a charming character that is very easy to like. She certainly has her issues, but she has none of the angst or brutality of Anita Blake.

Kim Harrison has created a fun book with laughs that are unexpected. The story line is not completely predictable and has many different twists and turns. I hope this is the beginning of a new series.

Kim Harrison describes herself as born in the Midwest. She has been called a witch, among other things, but has never seen a vampire (that she knows of). She loves graveyards and midnight jazz, and wears too much black. Please be sure to visit her website at: http://www.kimharrison.net/


Gripping Debut Novel   May 12, 2004
FictionAddiction.NET
196 out of 211 found this review helpful

White witch Rachel Morgan has been a bounty hunter for Inderland Security for the last three years and it's been a constant bumbling battle for good assignments to prove her worth. She's become bored and disillusioned with the job and she wants out. Problem is, retiring from I.S. means a swift and sure retirement from life. The I.S. doesn't take kindly to broken contracts.

She's got a risky idea that may get her around that, though...if she lives long enough to see it through. Rachel figures that if she can tag the largest brimstone dealer in the Hollows and Cincinnati area, she'll be able to get her contract paid off. However, getting the evidence to bring him down will be far from easy.

With the help of her pixy bodyguard and her living vampire roommate, she may just succeed. If she can quit getting caught.

Enter Kim Harrison's gripping debut novel and step into a world unlike any other. A world of vampires, pixies and fairies, witches and werewolves. A place where humans not only can no longer deny such beings exist, but in some cases, embrace the fact.

Harrison is sure to find success with this preternatural tale of intrigue. The individual characteristics of the bounty-hunting trio entwine to form a bewitching and mysteriously endearing partnership and add further depth to an already captivating tome. Welcome to The Hollows. Watch your back.


More fun than I've had with a book in a very long time!   October 3, 2004
MoniqueDelacroix (New York)
46 out of 50 found this review helpful

This book was one of the most enjoyable reads imaginable, an absolute delight. I positively cannot wait for the sequel. I'm shocked not to have found anything else by Kim Harrison out already, considering just how great this was. Amazing first effort. Amazing effort, period.

I was a huge Laurell K. Hamilton fan on the Anita Blake series, though recent efforts have been a disappointment. This was, for me, as much fun as early LKH. Similarly, it was a strong, funny, female character, in a supernatural alternate modern reality with fangs, and fur, and fey.

That, however, is where the similarities end, as this actually managed to be unique, with its own wonderful voice and style, and a whole new alternate world, like no other I've seen.

The book was strong on plot, with lots of nice twists and turns, had wonderful, enjoyable, well thought out and developed characters, well described scenes, and plenty of action.

The magic and magical beings were both impressive, and at times, hysterically amusing. (I will not post a spoiler, of course, on what her shape changing spell does, but suffice to say, it's original, and it's pretty darned funny!)

The Pixie that the main character, Rachel Morgan, partners with is a blast, and at the same time, sympathetic. I loved the blend. She gave the characters, even those other than Rachel, some real dimension. She also made the character Rachel come across as someone whose fate you could care about.

Overall, a terrific, fun read, that kept me up until done. I'm a pretty voracious reader, and I don't say that about too many of late.




A wild ride   October 30, 2004
Lois (New Orleans, LA USA)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

A friend recommended this book after I complained that all of my favorite authors were between books.

Oh boy! This book is one wild ride. I won't even compare Ms Harrison to Ms Hamilton, as some are doing. Ms Harrison has a style of her own and thank goodness.

Ms Harrison's universe is populated with humans as well as other creatures. It's Rachel Morgan's job as runner for Inderland Security to bring in the bad guys--witches who practice the black arts, pixies gone wrong, weres on the prowl, etc.

Because of a set of inauspicious circumstances, Rachel decides to quit I.S. Unfortunately for Rachel, no one quits I.S.

In a short time, Rachel has a price on her head, two new partners--a non practicing vampire and a pixie--and her own bounty hunting service.

Oh and I'll let the reader be surprised by Trent. I keep telling friends that there's more to this guy than we know. And maybe he and Rachel... Yeah, yeah, I know he's bad but...


I loved this book. Ms Harrison has written a well thought-out and well- written first book and I cannot wait for her second in the series--THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UNDEAD.


Vampire, witches, and wares, oh my!   August 3, 2004
Emily Flippin Maruna (Portland, OR United States)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

In Kim Harrison's debut novel, Dead Witch Walking, she has created an alternate reality where a terrible bioengineering accident in the 1950's killed most of mankind. When the survivors began taking tally of the living, humans were surprised to find themselves evenly numbered with creatures they hadn't known existed. Vampires, wares, witches, and all other sort of Inderlands were not only real, but they were also tired of hiding. Unable to beat them and not willing to join them, humans and Inderlands created laws governing all of society and established two agencies to police them - the human run Federal Inderland Bureau (FIB) and Inderland Security (IS).

Rachel Morgan is an earth witch and a disgruntled runner for the IS. Her cases haven't gone right for months and her ghoul of a boss, Denon, won't give her any slack. While on a run to tag a tax-evading leprechaun with her trusty pixie backup, Jenks, Rachel decides she's had it and convinced the leprechaun's three wishes can protect her from the IS death squad, Rachel breaks her contract. Before she can make wish number two, Ivy, a living vampire and one of IS's best runners decides she wants to partner up with Rachel and for a wish she'll protect her from any vampire assassins. And of course, Jenks the pixie wants a piece of the action too.

With two new partners and no more wishes, Rachel has to figure out a way to pay off her IS contract without getting herself killed. A corrupt and mysterious man, Councilman Trent, catches Rachel's attention when she discovers he heads an elaborate drug-running operation. Knowing the bounty from his head will pay off her contract, Rachel and her friends are on the hunt.

Kim Harrison weaves a story with plenty of humor, magic, adventure, and steam to delight any reader. If you like Charlene Harris or Laurell K. Hamilton, you'll love Kim Harrison! I thoroughly enjoyed this book (read it in one sitting) and can't wait for the sequel.