Review: Kitty Raises Hell

Kitty Raises Hell

by Carrie Vaughn

Format: Paperback, 311 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Cover Design: Craig White
Release Date: February 24, 2009
ISBN-10: 0-446199540

ISBN-13: 978-0446199544

“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...except when it doesn’t. Kitty and Ben return to their werewolf pack in Denver only to discover an invisible evil that smells of brimstone and plays with fire has followed them home. Stalking the whole pack, it leaves a charred trail of ashes and death across the city. Kitty seeks help from Rick, the master vampire of Denver, as well as from the paranormal investigators on a popular reality TV show. But when a mysterious vampire who claims to be a demon hunter – and the only one who can help them – suddenly arrives, Kitty and her allies won’t be able to predict what he really wants...or what they must do to extinguish the terror that can torch them all.”

As you can tell from the book’s blurb, Kitty Raises Hell quickly follows the events of the previous book. The ending of Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand was only a harbinger of things to come. Barely a week later, Kitty is scrambling to find a way to protect herself and the pack from an invisible force seems to be as much an element of fire as a being. A mysterious vampire offers to solve the problem, but for a high price, one that Kitty and her ally Rick are not willing to pay. In desperation she turns to the paranormal investigators to identify the demonic entity and find a way to end the terror it is intent on unleashing.

Apart from the spirit of a skin-walker in Kitty Takes a Holiday, this was the most supernatural story yet in the Kitty series. It certainly makes for scary storytelling. I like how Vaughn is fleshing out her universe with different kinds of supernatural entities and putting her own spin on the myths. Still, I do prefer a story with flesh and blood characters.

Another thing I like is how Vaughn is slowly extending the scope and background of the series. With more additions to the background, I think the author is starting to slowly build up a larger overall plot, namely how Kitty will fit into what the vampires in the book refer to as the Long Game. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Rating: 7.5/10.