Here’s Carrie Vaughn’s take on her character, Kitty Norville: “She’s a werewolf who accidentally starts a talk radio show for the supernaturally disadvantaged.” Vaughn first wrote about Kitty in a short story that was published in a 2001 issue of Weird Tales. Vaughn wrote a few more Kitty short stories and in 2005 published Kitty and The Midnight Hour, her first novel.
Like many first novels, the narrative is a bit herky-jerky. Kitty deals with her sudden success as a radio talk show host for werewolves, vampires, and other supernatural creatures. Then, of course, someone is trying to kill Kitty. And Kitty is rebelling–as most young werewolves do–against her Pack leader, Carl.
This Urban Fantasy novel has a mystery and some drama. Some romance and suspense. But the character of Kitty, a young woman struggling to adapt to her new condition and to stand up for herself, powers this novel. And I suspect the entire series. GRADE: B
KITTY NORVILLE SERIES:
1. Kitty and the Midnight Hour (2005)
2. Kitty Goes to Washington (2006)
3. Kitty Takes a Holiday (2007)
aka Kitty Goes on Holiday
4. Kitty and the Silver Bullet (2007)
5. Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand (2009)
6. Kitty Raises Hell (2009)
7. Kitty’s House of Horrors (2009)
8. Kitty Goes to War (2010)
9. Kitty’s Big Trouble (2011)
10. Kitty Steals the Show (2012)
11. Kitty Rocks the House (2013)
12. Kitty in the Underworld (2013)
13. Low Midnight (2014)
14. Kitty Saves the World (2015)
15. The Immortal Conquistador (2020)
16. Kitty’s Mix-tape (2020)
Kitty’s Greatest Hits (2011)
The Aracane Art of Misdirection (2012) (in Hex Appeal)
Paranormal Bromance (2014)
No thanks. Too much else to read to bother with urban paranormal romance novels.
Steve, I just needed something different to read.
Good ones work for me. Bill Crider made a castle or two in Charlaine Harris’s very similar sandbox.
Todd, very true.
Not my thing either, but I will have to show this to Jackie. I guess it depends how much romance there is in it as to whether or not she’d be interested.
Jeff, there’s more action than romance so I was satisfied.
I have read her BANNERLESS and I am guessing that led you to other books by Vaughn.
Jeff, you’re right. Vaughn’s BANNERLESS and MARTIANS ABROAD led me to the KITTY books.
My wife thinks that any book with a character named Kitty who is not the upstairs maid or a hooker with a heart of gold is a worthy book. Nonetheless, I’ll probably avoid the series. My oldest daughter, however, likes the series.
Jerry, I have a few more Kitty volumes to resort to when I’m in the mood for something different.
Not interested, thanks.
Rick, Urban Fantasy novels are growing in popularity. I like to sample one every once in a while.
Enjoy! I won’t be reading it!