'Kitty's Big Trouble' Kitty Norville #9 by Carrie Vaughn

From the BLURB:

Kitty Norville is back and in more trouble than ever. Her recent run-in with werewolves traumatized by the horrors of war has made her start wondering how long the US government might have been covertly using werewolves in combat. Have any famous names in our own history might have actually been supernatural? She's got suspicions about William Tecumseh Sherman. Then an interview with the right vampire puts her on the trail of Wyatt Earp, vampire hunter.

But her investigations lead her to a clue about enigmatic vampire Roman and the mysterious Long Game played by vampires through the millennia. That, plus a call for help from a powerful vampire ally in San Francisco, suddenly puts Kitty and her friends on the supernatural chessboard, pieces in dangerously active play. And Kitty Norville is never content to be a pawn. . . .

Kitty Norville is one curious werewolf. When she gets wind of a rumour about Civil War icon, William T. Sherman’s possible wolfy side, she turns into a dog with a bone. Kitty becomes desperate to pick the brain of every vampire and find out which other historic legends had a supernatural helping hand.

But Kitty gets side-tracked in her mission when the vampire Anastasia calls asking for help. She’s in San Francisco and on the hunt for an artefact of extreme power – and she needs to find it before Roman does.

So Kitty, with her alpha mate Ben and their unofficial human pack member, Cormac, trot off to San Francisco to get caught up in the usual vampiric Long Game and put an end to Roman once and for all.

‘Kitty’s Big Trouble’ is the ninth book in Carrie Vaughn’s ‘Kitty Norville’ urban fantasy series.

I have been a big fan of Vaughn’s ‘Kitty Norville’ series for a long time now. Her books are the quintessential urban fantasy – based around a werewolf radio host who uses her own struggles with lycanthropy and the supernatural community to reach out to like-minded and curious listeners. I like Kitty best of all because her books have been a real journey. She started out as a down-trodden werewolf, low on her pack’s pecking order – but over time and with growing courage, Kitty has risen to become alpha of her own pack and has forged strong bonds with two very important men – her husband Ben and his hunter cousin, Cormac. I am a fan of this series – but recent books have blunted my enthusiasm somewhat, and ‘Kitty’s Big Trouble’ is more of the same.

This ninth book starts off with an interesting premise. Kitty is doing some digging and discovers Civil War transcripts that discuss William T. Sherman’s werewolf background. This, of course, kicks our curious Kitty off on a gossip quest – she speaks to her closest vampy friends and tries to pick their brain about famous supernatural icons. Of course, the famous supernatural’s storyline has been discussed in other book series – most notably with the adorable character of Bubba in Charlaine Harris’s ‘Sookie Stackhouse: Southern Vampire’. But Vaughn takes such discussions to the slightly higher-brow, theoretical. This is an interesting bent, and I hope Kitty pursues this interest in the future. . .

But then the vampires step in and side-track Kitty’s hunt. The infamous bad-ass vampire, Roman, is on the hunt for a Chinese artefact, so Kitty and Co. have been called in to help keep it out of his hands. Once again, I really liked the Romance storyline – especially as it’s tied in with some fascinating Chinese mythology. Roman is also a notorious villain in the series, and I was happy to see his storyline revisited with such damning results.

Carrie Vaughn excels in writing high-octane action scenes. Her fights and brawls read like live-action movies on the page and the tension levels are always on a heart-palpitating high. The actual drama storyline is sinister and superb, and I cannot fault the detailed inner-workings of Chinese tradition and vampiric games.

What I have a problem with (and have been disgruntled by for the last few ‘Kitty’ books) is Carrie Vaughn’s determined avoidance of emotional development for her characters. The ‘Kitty’ series started off with such vibrant and complicated emotional relationships. Kitty first met Cormac when he was sent to kill her – a monster hunter with his sights set on the famous werewolf Kitty Norville. But what started as animosity turned into bewildering chemistry – and many fans were waiting with bated breath for Cormac and Kitty’s relationship to progress to the next level . . . and then Cormac’s lawyer cousin, Ben, entered the scene. At first he was nothing but an acquaintance, sometimes lawyer and then a sort-of friend to Kitty. But with a werewolf bite and sudden transformation Ben quickly came to mean a lot more to Kitty and the two soon embarked on a romantic relationship . . . while Cormac still seemed to be battling his feelings. When Cormac was sent to prison, Kitty and Ben’s relationship heated up – they become alpha mates and then husband and wife. And Cormac all but admitted his regret over not staking his claim on Kitty when he had the chance.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” he said, matter-of-fact, instantly – like a defence mechanism.

“Yes, I do,” I said.

“Get used to it,” Ben said, amused. “You’re part of the pack.”

“The pack?”

I hesitated, then said, “Pack of three. That’s what I've been calling us. I figure we have to look out for each other.”

“Huh,” he said, settling himself against the wall, adjusting his grip on the crossbow. I kept waiting for him to say something else, but this was Cormac. The strong, silent type.

Where we are in the series now is Kitty and Ben firmly established as a loyal and loving union . . . while Cormac has recently been released from prison. And that’s about it.

Vaughn hasn’t revisited Cormac and Kitty’s old attraction for a long time now. Kitty and Ben are bordering on dull – and even a quick mention of adoption in ‘Trouble’ is skirted over and relegated to a one-line utterance. For a lot of people the Cormac/Kitty ‘will they or won’t they?’ was a big selling point of the books – some even had hopes that it would turn into a heated love triangle between Cormac/Kitty/Ben. But the old romance hasn’t been mentioned for books now – Kitty and Cormac don’t share a scene with just the two of them in ‘Trouble’ and Cormac is so steely tight-lipped that you almost forget his presence in many scenes.

I don’t know why Vaughn seems doggedly determined to avoid discussing any sort of emotional/character development in her series anymore. Considering that the first few books were all about Kitty’s growth from subservient to alpha – and she went through a rather harrowing character arc – I can’t believe that recent books have stunted her so much. Kitty and Ben don’t even share many intimate scenes in ‘Trouble’, nothing to remind fans that they’re not this boring, steady couple who are becoming exceedingly dull in their matrimony.

And the lack of Cormac/Kitty is atrocious. He is such a beloved fan-favourite character – I think readers could forgive his lengthy stint in prison if only Vaughn would have made his freedom interesting by revisiting his feelings for Kitty with a vengeance. No such luck, and mores the pity.

I do still love these books – Vaughn’s action scenes are unparalleled brilliance. But I am quickly losing steam with the series because Vaughn’s characters seem to have stunted emotional growth.

3/5

'Kitty Goes to War' Kitty Norville #8 by Carrie VAUGHN

From the BLURB:

K itty Norville, werewolf radio call-in show host, gets a call from an old friend at the NIH's Center for the Study of Paranatural Biology, a friend with a problem, who doesn't know where else to turn. Three Army soldiers who have recently returned from the war in Afghanistan are in custody at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs. They're also werewolves suffering from post traumatic stress, unable to control their shape-shifting, unable to interact with people. Kitty agrees to see them, curious and wanting to help. Meanwhile, Kitty gets sued for slander after featuring Speedy Mart - a chain of 24-hour convenience stores with a reputation for attracting the supernatural - on her show, and an old friend-and-adversary has just been released from jail.

I am a HUGE fan of the ‘Kitty Norville’ series. This is one Urban Fantasy in which the heroine has a very discernable character transformation – going from meek werewolf and runt of her pack, to Alpha of her very own werewolf family. Over the course of eight books it has been fascinating and uplifting to read Kitty as she comes into herself. For me, that’s been the most fulfilling aspect of the books – Kitty’s emotional journey. Especially her finding love with Ben, and entering into a complicated truce with his bounty-hunter cousin, Cormac.

But in this, the eighth Kitty book it feels like Vaughn has sacrificed emotional characterization for an action-packed plot.
In ‘Kitty Goes to War’ there are two major conflicts that Kitty is dealing with. One is a lawsuit brought against her by the owner of a chain-store called ‘Speedy Mart’, whom Kitty has accused on her show of being involved in cultish rituals.
The second is a werewolf-related favour she gets called in for by Dr. Schumacher. Turns out a unit of Green Beret US soldiers who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan were turned lycanthrope by their commanding officer. This soldier thought to start-up his own, unofficial and unsanctioned, werewolf unit. All was fine until said commanding officer got blown up, leaving his pack Alpha-less and in a power vacuum. Dominance fights ensued and now only three remaining members need Kitty’s help if they have any chance to rehabilitation into civilian life.

Let me just say, the werewolf soldier plot is fantastic! It makes for really intense drama and a lot of werewolf ‘what if’s’ and questions are answered and explored in-depth. Such as – would werewolf soldiers be a breakthrough for the army? How much would pack hierarchy affect their combat training?
I was less in love with the ‘Speedy Mart’ storyline. My disgruntlement was mostly because it was an underdeveloped and second-fiddle storyline to the werewolf soldier’s – but also because it felt like ‘Speedy Mart’ took the place of emotional and relationship development in ‘Kitty Goes to War’.

At the end of ‘Kitty’s House of Horrors’ Cormac was released from prison and came home. This was such a huge event – because Cormac and Kitty almost had a romantic entanglement, until Cormac’s prejudice and Ben’s affections put that on hold. Then Cormac got thrown into jail and it seemed like behind the plexiglas, Cormac had made some profound realizations about his feelings towards Kitty. Then he comes home – home to Ben and Kitty in wedded alpha mate bliss - and lots of fans were wondering how this little love triangle would play out.
But in this eighth book that tension is barely even mentioned. Twice Ben and Cormac make allusions to a possible past romance between Kitty and Cormac... but for the rest of the book it feels as though everyone (Carrie Vaughn, essentially) are walking on eggshells around this triangle.

“You smell like his apartment,” he said and shook his head. “But you don’t smell like him.”
“Of course not, I didn’t even touch him,” I said, exasperated. “Did you really think I’d cheat on you? With your cousin?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think I expected to smell anything.”
“But you had to check anyway.”
“You two did have a thing.”
Yeah. A still undefined “thing.” Whatever it was. “That was awhile ago. A lot of water under the bridge.”

I don’t know if Ms. Vaughn has something big planned regarding this trio, but I went into ‘Kitty Goes to War’ with my fingers crossed for some confrontations and realizations and I got neither.

We don’t even get to read much affection (i.e.: smut) between Kitty and Ben. It took me a while to warm up to Ben, I thought he was just a minor secondary character and Cormac would be Kitty’s HEA... so when she mated Ben, I was thrown for a loop. But in subsequent books Vaughn really illustrated their affection and dependence on one another, and I really came to like Ben. But in recent books there hasn’t been the same warmth between him and Kitty, and I am again wondering if Ben is Kitty’s true HEA?

So ultimately this book was a disappointment for me. I may have been less upset by the lack of emotional progress for the characters if I’d had a big pay-out in the seventh book, ‘Kitty’s House of Horrors’. But in that seventh instalment Kitty was by herself in the wilderness, with no Ben and no pack for comfort. So it feels like we’ve been given 2 books now in which Kitty’s relationships and emotional development have been put on hold.
At the end of ‘Kitty Goes to War’, Kitty does ask a rather profound question of Ben, which may have repercussions for future books... but it is literally on the last page and a case of too little too late.

2.5/5

'Kitty's House of Horrors' by Carrie VAUGHN

From the BLURB:

Talk radio host and werewolf Kitty Norville has agreed to appear on TV's first all-supernatural reality show. She's expecting cheesy competitions and manufactured drama starring shapeshifters, vampires, and psychics. But what begins as a publicity stunt will turn into a fight for her life.

The cast members, including Kitty, arrive at the remote mountain lodge where the show is set. As soon as filming starts, violence erupts and Kitty suspects that the show is a cover for a nefarious plot. Then the cameras stop rolling, cast members start dying, and Kitty realizes she and her monster housemates are ironically the ultimate prize in a very different game. Stranded with no power, no phones, and no way to know who can be trusted, she must find a way to defeat the evil closing in . . . before it kills them all.

This is the first book to be released on my ‘most anticipated books of 2010’ list. I love, love, love the ‘Kitty Norville’ series – and this 7th instalment to the series definitely delivers.

About 60 pages into this 292-page book I was getting a little bit worried. The book’s plot has Kitty traipsing off into the Montana wilderness with a motley crew of supernatural celebrities to film a reality TV show, ‘Big Brother’ style. I was a bit put-off because the plot meant that Kitty was cut-off from home, hearth and all the secondary characters I have come to love. I had the same problem with 6th book, ‘Kitty Raises Hell’, in which Kitty and her mate Ben travel to Las Vegas. But at least in that book Ben was still around. In ‘House of Horrors’ there is only one small lovey-dovey scene between the two:

“I’m not going to wash the sheets ‘til you get back.”

I pulled away so I could look at him, and so he could see my goofy smile. “That’s so romantic.”

“It is? I was thinking it was another one of those creepy things that only a lycanthrope would say.”

“That, too,” I said. “Maybe I can get myself voted off the island early.”

“Hmm, cool.”

We kissed again, and again, and again.

I was also put-off by this books premise because very early on in the story it is announced that our favourite bounty hunter, Cormac, will be up for parole while Kitty is in Montana. I love Cormac, and he has been sorely missed since being thrown into jail back in book 3.

So, not a great start to one of my most anticipated books of 2010...

Boy, was I wrong to criticize.

I admit, the story does drag in the beginning while Kitty and the other celebrities make like MTV stars – but then things go pear-shaped and the novel kicks into high gear. Kitty and her cohorts are actually the targets of an elaborate hunting party – being picked off one by one for the cameras. The real story kicks in about page 100 and doesn’t let-up a fast and frantic pace until the very last page.

Carrie Vaughn has said on her blog that she is contracted for 3 more Kitty books after ‘Horrors’– ending the series with a total of 10 books. She has also said that she knows exactly how the series will end, but isn’t sure if the conclusion will come by book #10 or if she’ll be contracted for more books.

Whatever her plans, it becomes clear in ‘House of Horrors’ that Vaughn has a ‘long game’ plan for the series – and if the hints, twists and turns Vaughn drops in ‘Horrors’ are any indication, she is gearing up for one hell of a finale.

‘Kitty’s House of Horrors’ is a thrilling read – the drama is intense and the stakes are heightened for future books. And the ending is *amazing*, and makes me super excited for book #8. I’m not sure when book 8 will be released, because Carrie Vaughn has 2 Young Adult novels coming out this year. ‘Voices of Dragons’ is released March 16th and ‘Discord’s Apple’ July 20th – which probably means another Kitty book won’t be released until 2011. OH! The suspense!

5/5

I’m not overly concerned about waiting until 2011 for the next Kitty book, mostly because ‘Voices of Dragons’ sounds (and looks) amazing and I’m really looking forward to it:

No proper blurb has yet been released, but Vaughn describes the book thus;

Carrie's first young adult novel is just your typical "girl meets dragon" story. With bonus rock climbing and jet fighters!

'Kitty Norville' series by Carrie VAUGHN

Kitty and the Midnight Hour – from the BLURB:

VAMPIRES. WEREWOLVES. TALK RADIO. Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station--and a werewolf in the closet. Sick of lame song requests, she accidentally starts "The Midnight Hour," a late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. After desperate vampires, werewolves, and witches across the country begin calling in to share their woes, her new show is a raging success. But it's Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf-hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew…

One of the reasons I love this series so much is Vaughn’s fabulous character development. Over the course of six books Kitty has a complete personality overhaul, and it is a fascinating transformation to read. In the first book Kitty is living in a very bad situation – she is the runt of her werewolf pack, and subject to the carnal whims of her Alpha and constant battering by the werewolf who bit and changed her. Over the course of five books Kitty finds her moral centre and the courage to become a lone wolf and eventually her own Alpha. I can safely say that in every book Kitty reveals new facets of her personality, and the events in each new novel subtly alter Kitty’s perceptions and character. I, for one, hate it when characters stagnate and authors stubbornly refuse to let their beloved hero’s/heroine’s experience a personality renovation – it’s especially frustrating when those protagonists keep repeating the same mistakes, making the same choices as though the events of the past have had no impact on them (Anita Blake, I’m talking to you!).

Kitty Norville is a fantastic protagonist – mostly because she is flawed. In the first book she is very weak, she has outbursts of independence, but for the most part she plays doormat to the dominants in her pack. It is inspiring when Kitty finally stands up to her Alpha and exerts her own dominance. But what’s even better than Kitty discovering the depths of bravery is the fact that it doesn’t come easily for her. It’s not as though she wakes up one day and decides to grow a spine. Kitty struggles with the task she has set for herself, and she constantly battles moments of self-doubt. She is a fantastic protagonist because she is imperfect and entirely relatable. I especially loved the fact that Kitty doesn’t get saved by a knight in shining armour; she finds her own salvation.

I also love this series because of the slow-burn romance. Kitty fans are segregated into two camps – there are those who are rooting for werewolf hunter Cormac to end up with our favourite radio DJ. And then there are those who hope for a happy ending with Cormac’s lawyer and cousin, Ben. Cormac and Ben each started out in the series as secondary characters – as readers we witness Kitty’s first meeting the cousins and it is has been very interesting to read as Vaughn slowly inserted the two men into Kitty’s life and gave them a bigger role in the series.

The good news is that Kitty Norville will be around for a little while longer. Vaughn recently posted on her blog that she is contracted for 4 more Kitty books, meaning the series will end with a total of 10 books. It’s sad to know that one of my favourite series has a definite end in sight, but Vaughn mentioned in the same post that she knows how the series will end (apparently it’s going to be a doozy!). There is comfort in the fact that Carrie Vaughn isn’t blindly stumbling around her series; she knows its trajectory and the next 4 books will no doubt be an elaborate set-up for the conclusion. The 7th book in the series, “Kitty’s House of Horrors”, comes out January 4th 2010.

The front covers have a certain trash-factor and the kitschy series titles are reminiscent of the Ernest movies (‘Ernest goes to camp’ – ‘Kitty takes a holiday’). Don’t let these things put you off. This is a worthwhile series and if you love your Urban Fantasy you really need to add the Kitty Norville books to your TBR pile.

5/5