Kitty Goes to War

(Kitty Norville #8)

Written by: Carrie Vaughn
Pages: 334

Kitty Norville, Alpha werewolf and host of The Midnight Hour, a radio call-in show, is contacted by a friend at the NIH’s Center for the Study of Paranatural Biology. Three Army soldiers recently returned from the war in Afghanistan are being held at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs.  They’re killer werewolves–and post traumatic stress has left them unable to control their shape-shifting and unable to interact with people.  Kitty agrees to see them, hoping to help by bringing them into her pack.

Meanwhile, Kitty gets sued for libel by CEO Harold Franklin after featuring Speedy Mart–his nationwide chain of 24-hour convenience stores with a reputation for attracting supernatural unpleasantness–on her show.

Very bad weather is on the horizon.

The eighth Kitty book doesn’t sound good just from the title. War? Yikes. It was definitely an adventure and a half.

Eight books in, and I still love this series. It’s complex and yet not complex. I like the fact that Kitty is a leader, is awesome, but she isn’t a person that set out to be all of that. She’s just a plain girl and she just worries about making her bills and keeping her people safe. She’s not trying to be something she’s not, and she is upfront about her shortcomings.

She’s a likable heroine.

This story played on military conspiracy big time. Werewolves in the military, not taught the way to behave, trained killing machines – ACK!

Thank goodness for Kitty. She tears in, cleans up the Army’s bad mess, and during an epic snowstorm from an angry wizard type gas station guru. All in a day’s work.

Things seem to be heating up, or maybe cooling down if you want to take into account the blizzard.  What could happen next? Kitty doesn’t really need to go looking for trouble as it seems more than willing to find her. I thought, with the title, this was going to be something else entirely. I think that Kitty is headed towards a great big showdown in the paranormal world, but she’s busy fighting battles with non-para entities.

One thing I like is the sound track listing. It goes well, what with Kitty being a DJ and all. I enjoy reading through and thinking about the songs. Some I recognize, others I don’t. Thankfully, this is the digital age. I can grab snippets online.

I feel like after this many books, sometimes things can get repetitive or rote, but not so with Kitty.

The latest books sees a return of former para-hit man, and that makes me happy. He is an interesting character, and I like seeing him attempting to use his former skills in a far more legal method. I think that opens up the ability for future story lines and will keep things fresh.

If you haven’t checked out the Kitty Norville yet, do it. You won’t be sorry!

–Lady O