Audio Review: Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

Dead Witch Walking 

by Kim Harrison 
(The Hollows #1)

Narrated by Marguerite Gavin

The underground population of witches, vampires, werewolves—creatures of dreams and nightmares—has lived beside humans for centuries, hiding their powers. But after a genetically engineered virus wipes out a large part of humanity, many of the "Inderlanders" reveal themselves, changing everything.

Rachel Morgan, witch and bounty hunter with the Inderland Runner Services, is one of the best at apprehending supernatural lawbreakers throughout Cincinnati, but when it comes to following the rules, she falls desperately short. Determined to buck the system, she quits and takes off on the run with an I.S. contract on her head and is reluctantly forced to team up with Ivy, Inderland's best runner . . . and a living vampire. But this witch is way out of her league, and to clear her name, Rachel must evade shape-changing assassins, outwit a powerful businessman/crime lord, and survive a vicious underground fight-to-the-death . . . not to mention her own roommate.

REVIEW:

I've had this series on my TBR pile for years now after seeing people rave about it in one of my Shelfari groups. So when I saw books 1-5 in a used bookstore I picked them up for a cheap price. And they sat on my bookshelf for over two years. I figure I'll get to them one day. I loaned out Dead Witch Walking to two friends and when they both brought me the book back saying they could not finish it I pushed it down my reading list. But after challenging myself to read as many of the books on my physical as possible in 2013 I decided it was time to finally start this series.

I thought since most people have warned me that Dead Witch Walking was a little slow due to all the world building that I would give it a try on audio to see if I could get through it faster than reading it. And I'm glad I did listen to it. I think if I read it I would not have liked as much. The narrator took a little getting use to because at times she made Ivy sound like a drag queen, she made her voice too deep in some places. But I learned to just over look her Ivy voice and I enjoyed the audio more once I did.

Honestly I didn't really know what to expect going into Dead Witch Walking other than the main character was a witch. I was pleasantly surprised by how much snark and humor was in the book. It really helped lighten the dark mood from time to time. One of the best sidekicks I've enjoyed was Jenks, the pixie that works with Rachel and Ivy.

The three team up to make their own company after Rachel and Ivy quit their jobs as runners for the I.S. Rachel's boss is now happy when she quits and takes Ivy with her. In fact her ex-employer is so unhappy that they put a hit out on Rachel. Ivy was able to pay off her employment contract so she's safe but Rachel spends the whole book evading attempts on her life while trying to take down the bad guy in hopes that if she can take him down that it will cancel her contract and the I.S. will leave her alone.

Dead Witch Walking was a nice mix of action and snarky humor. I'm excited to continue the series to see what other trouble Rachel and her gang can get into.


Narration Note: It took a few chapters for me to start enjoying the narration but by the end of the book it grew on me and I will listen to the next book on audio.