Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station - and a werewolf in the closet. Her new late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged is a raging success, but it's Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew?
My Review:
Kitty Norville is a werewolf and a night DJ at a radio station. On a night when she is bored, she starts talking about whether the supernatural Bat Boy exists and suddenly she has an ever increasing audience, some interested in the supernatural and others claiming to be supernatural creatures. However, while her boss is delighted with the viewing figures, her local Pack and the Master Vampire are not happy about the exposure of their world. Someone has hired a bounty hunter to kill Kitty and with the added problems of a rogue werewolf on the loose, and fanatics trying to 'cure' vampires and werewolves, Kitty needs to work out who she can trust.
I liked Kitty. She is a submissive wolf, turned against her will by Zan as she flees from her rapist in the woods, and used by pack leader Carl whenever it suits him. Her best friend is fellow Pack werewolf TJ, who tries to look after her, and she has friends at the station. She is lonely and often unhappy but the sudden success of the show gives her confidence and she slowly starts to see herself as more than a Pack doormat, leading to an interesting confrontation when Zan tries to claim her. She has a healthy fear of Carl and his mate Meg, as well as terror of the local vampires led by Arturo.
As the show gains popularity, Kitty gives out advice to vampires and werewolves with nobody to turn to, those who have problems with their Pack or Master and those struggling with life after being turned. Arturo tells her to quit the show as does Carl until Kitty splits the extra money with him, but she is aware that this is a dangerous move. Kitty has been careful to hide her own identity but when werewolf bounty hunter Cormac calls into her show to say he is at the building and is going to kill her, she is outed live on air and her listeners are riveted as she tries to stay alive until help reaches her.
I liked the added element of the actual radio show, where there are calls to Kitty from all kinds of people with varied opinions on these paranormal topics. I liked this as it was different from what you usually get in urban fantasy werewolf books. Yes we see some Pack politics and how the hierarchy works but the main focus is on Kitty trying to have a human life. The side stories are also interesting. There is the rogue werewolf who is killing women around town and Kitty tries to persuade Cormac to look for him instead of killing her. She also needs to find out who ordered the hit on her. The other story is a religious fanatic who claims to cure werewolves and vampires but their worried families never see them again when they go to see Elijah Smith at his travelling camp. All of these stories collide giving plenty of interesting action throughout the book.
There are also good characters. Kitty's friend TJ is like a brother to her, trying to look after her when Pack law allows him to. He also believes she needs to stop doing the show as her added confidence is making her less submissive which is upsetting the relationships within the Pack and causing Kitty to upset her Pack leaders. The complex issues of Pack are nicely covered but I do admit I liked that the emphasis was more on the human side of things and not a wolfie sexathon!
I like the characters and the amount of action and emotion through the book. I am continuing with the series and I hope that it keeps up this standard.
Read January 2018
4 stars.
I read this years ago and in fact, if I ever plan on continuing I will have to reread the first few because very little in your review sounds familiar. You are really kicking it in January. Hope you love the rest of your reads as well.
ReplyDeleteI read this ages ago and had to re-read it before moving on in the series! I kept doing that...in 2010 and 2011 I read a lot of 'first books' in a series then never read on and that is always coming back to bite me!
DeleteThis is a different take on a werewolf book. I kind of like it. :)
ReplyDeleteI liked the focus on her human side and trying to deal with the issues in her life. I never listen to radio or chat shows but I did like the radio show parts of this book.
DeleteThis series has been on my tbr forever. I do hope to get to it soon. Glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteIt was a decent start to the series and I liked that it was a little different.
DeleteThis one sounds really good. Have to check it out!
ReplyDeleteI liked it...whether it keeps the standard through the long series is another matter!
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