The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison
I finally finished The Outlaw Demon Wails this evening, and I must say Kim Harrison has done it again. She continues the Hollows series with unexpected plot twists and new interesting characters. This sixth installment focuses on family, both by blood and her family of friends.
We find out about Rachel's true heritage and learn more about her parents. We see more of Rachel and Ivy working through their blood balance. This is shown in a scene where I had to put the book down, and walk away from the intensity of it for a moment. There is also a possible new love interest in Rachel's future when Marshall (the witch from Mackinaw Island) appears on her church's front steps. The Elves (Ceri, Quen, and Trent) are also heavily focused on as they try to save their species.

All of The Hollows characters slip in and out of the story. Even though they are not on the front burner, their presence is shown and their support for our favorite trio is evident. Like when David stops by to lend Rachel his duster, or when Keasley comes to Rachel's aid, yet again. We even learn more about the mysterious rockstar Takata!

Diving into the Ever-After was a suspenseful scene, and a scary view into the world where the Demons lurk. Kim describes this run down wasteland with such detail, that I can just taste the burnt amber in the back of my throat, and feel the murky air all over. I was nervous to visit the Ever-After, and now I'm excited to learn that we will be going back in the future. Of course it will be on our own terms next time!

Jenks as always lends his hysterical one liners, and witty banter with our girls and enemies. He manages to save the day once or twice, and he also has a new tenant in the church, a Gargoyle named Bis. There is still talk of Matalina's illness, and you can feel the pain every time it is mentioned. One can only hope that she will survive through the series.

I hate to give anything away, but I feel it has been out long enough that I can post this very minor spoiler. It was really refreshing when I got to the end of the book and realized that there was no sex at all. The story didn't need it to push along the plot, and it definitely wasn't time for Rachel to take that step with anyone so soon after her loss from For a Few Demons More. The story has fantastic dialogue that keeps you glued to the pages.

(I understand it's not a big spoiler, but some people might be miffed about the lack of sex in the book. Yeah, I'm talking about you Rachel and Ivy worshippers!)

Overall this is the best book in the series so far. I don't know how Kim will top it (I've said that before), but I have faith that she will. The Hollows just sucks you in, and once you're there you never want to leave.
If you haven't already, get out there and buy the book! If you haven't started this series I suggest you hop to it!

Shallow Yawning Sobs
This is by far the worse book of Ms. Harrisons to date. She once more features the same shallow characters who seem to all be bipolar misfits. A prime example is Rachel, who decides in this book that she cannot allow Ivy to bite her because she would lose her free will. Then she go'es on to sell herself (part time) to a demon? Come on its insane. Ivy of course continues to be the tormented sex kitten who can't control herself in most situations. Odd for a women who makes a living bringing in bad guys alive. Jenks is the only character with any depth, but he alone cannot carry this book. One last item, whats up with the author photo on the book jacket? Did Ms. Harrison not review it before publication, or was it her intent to come off a fashion reject? I know the wanna be goth crowd will eat this up, but Id advise you to buy anything by K. Armstrong, or P. Briggs, either have fully developed characters and well thought out plots.

Wish the Hollows were real!!!!
What an incredible book! Starting from book one of the Hollow series I have not once been let down. The characters are so alive and fun, the action so real and breath taking! The story line that is developing in this story has left me hungry for the next installment. Do not miss this book (or any other of the series).

Rachel's life gets even stranger -- a great reason to read the book!
Ordinarily, I don't read vampire novels, or gothics, or any of that stuff -- but I make a major exception for this series, of which this is the sixth outrageously-titled volume. Rachel Morgan, a very talented earth witch, is a sort-of private eye in an alternate Cincinnati in which witches, vampire, were-folk, elves, and other non-humans make up half the population. Blame it on the bioengineered tomato plague of 1966. The story is set at Halloween, a very important week-long holiday in the Inderland, and Rachel is having a helluva time dealing with Al-the-demon, whom one of her enemies keeps summoning up and turning loose in the hopes he'll take Rachel down. Perhaps if Rachel herself took over Al's summoning name? But her aura is already becoming depressingly smut-laden, and she still has those two (or maybe three) unclaimed demon-marks. And Trent Kalamack, one of the last remaining elves and also wealthy supporter of illegal bioresearch, is getting underfoot. And Rachel is feeling guilty over the death of her vampire boyfriend, who died trying to protect her. And her closest friend and partner, Ivy Tamwood, a living vamp, has been trying hard to separate love and sex in her hungry pursuit of Rachel, who's trying to be accommodating without entirely giving in to her urges. If all this sounds complicated, that's because it is. And while much of the book seems to be marking time in developing the long-term plots, the last quarter of the story, in which Rachel and Trent find it necessary to journey into the ever-after, is a humdinger. And at the very end of things, it appears Rachel and Al are going to be embarking on an interesting new relationship. On the other hand -- and I've commented on this in every one of my five previous reviews of Harrison's work -- she suffers from present-participle-itis and her word choices are frequently awkward, even wince-producing. Still, I will be waiting avidly for the next installment.

I can't stop reading
I just finished this book. And it always surprises how much this series has grabbed onto me. I started reading this series when the second book came out (I still haven't gotten a chance to read the first book.) I thought that I would start growing tired of this series and jsut give up on reading (That happens to me with a lot of series.) But Kim's books are so well-written that I can't stop reading them. She has created such great characters that I care about a lot. And her attention to detail is really good. There are some plot twists throughout the series that I never would've seen coming. Which definitely surprised me because I can usually figure out the twists in a book way before they happen. I just realized that instead of reviewing just this novel, I kind of reviewed the entire series haha. But either way, if you've never read a book in this series or started reading the books but quit, you sohuld seriously pick this one up.