Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand

Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand
- Carrie Vaughn

Publisher: US – Grand Central Publishing

Why I picked it up: I’ve been following Kitty’s adventures over the last year and this the latest one I hadn’t read yet

Back Blurb: Kitty Norville, the country's only celebrity werewolf, thinks she's finally got her life sorted. Her radio show is as popular as ever, and she and her cute lawyer boyfriend are the alpha pair of Denver's werewolf pack. Now she and Ben plan to tie the knot human-style - by eloping to Vegas. And just to make things more fun, she's going to do her midnight radio show live from Vegas - and on television. In between getting wed and going live on TV, she's also planning on sipping fru-fru drinks by the pool while she works on her tan. So what can possibly go wrong? Well, their hotel is the venue for a werewolf-hating bounty hunter convention. Elsewhere on the Strip, an old-school magician might just be wielding the real thing. The vampire community is harbouring a dark secret . . . and the irresistibly sexy star of a deeply suspicious animal act is determined to seduce Kitty. Sin City has never been so wild, and Kitty has never had to fight harder - to save not only her wedding, but her very life.

What I thought: What I’ve always liked about the Kitty books is just how ordinary Kitty is. In comparison to a number of other heroines in the Urban Fantasy genre she has no big over-arching storyline. She has no mysterious past to repent off and no secret destiny to prepare. She’s not the only one who can save the world – again and again and again. She’s just happens to be a werewolf and a radio host. Kitty is breathe of fresh air in the crowded fantasy genre and Carrie Vaughn makes it seem how ordinary it can be to be a werewolf. That ordinariness both works for and against the series at times. In Dead Man’s Hand – Kitty and Ben run off to Las Vegas to get married and end up tangled with magicians, lycanthrope stage shows and rigged poker matches. Considering the number of extra-ordinary things they find in Vegas, it’s amazing how ordinary the book is. Not much happens and there is little to connect the threads unless you include Kitty herself. However, some interesting things are brought up and it ends on a bit of cliff hanger. And as ever the most ordinary Kitty book is still miles better than the best book of some other authors.

Recommended for: Kitty & Kelley Armstrong fans. Fans of Patricia Brigg would also enjoy it.

Rating: 7 out of 10