Customer Reviews

Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (Kitty Norville)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Kitty and Ben decide to head off to Las Vegas to get married. The supernatural in Vegas is only rivaled by the gun show (not to mention the slew of bounty hunters) at the same hotel that our alpha werewolves get booked in. Ben learns a new skill based on his hypersenses only to go missing. Kitty must now seek out Vegas' Master vampire Dom for help, all to no avail. Balthasar's cat show is more than it seems and just how far do Odysseus Grant's powers reach into the realm of magic?

For this fifth book in the series, there is really nothing here this time around. Slow going, no tension, little action, and a dead story. However, this does seem to be heading into something big for the next book, Kitty Raises Hell, where hopefully we'll see more of Odysseus, Evan and Brenda. Overall, this book is flat and just seems to be filler and set-up for the next book. Even though I enjoyed this book, it falls far below the standards set by the previous four books.

I'm bewildered! I thoroughly enjoyed the first four books in Vaughn's Kitty Norville series, and I completely trusted her to turn in another competent installment. What happened to this book?

Dead Man's Hand is too hastily paced. The character's observations are superficial when they're not cliched, and her interactions with other characters feel flat and obligatory, the dialogue empty of anything but basic generalities. The protagonist meets the master vampire of the city, and an illusionist who might be a real magician, and an animal act that might be employing lycanthropes. As intriguing as the ideas are, they don't go anywhere for the first half of the book. She meets the characters, they tell her they won't give her an interview, and after shaking hands, she leaves! There's no sense of menace or foreshadowing or even wonder; these are basic introductions. This novel reads like inept fan fiction.

More irritatingly, the book takes place in Las Vegas as Kitty performs her first live show the same weekend she intends to marry. The author unnecessarily reinvents Caesar's Palace and the Luxor with brand-x replacements (the Greek-themed "Mount Olympus" and a ziggurat pyramid-shapped "Hanging Gardens"); as though the readers or maybe the real casinos would be offended if she didn't use coy symbolism to reference them. It gives the book's Las Vegas setting a weirdly foggy, distancing effect, unlike, say, the more precise and recognizable rendering of Rachel Caine's Las Vegas in the Weather Warden Series. For all that Vaughn says she researched Las Vegas in her dedication, the setting doesn't feel authentically Vegas.

Moreover, the heroine is staying in the same hotel and casino she's performing in, and - gasp! - there's a gun show convention in the same building! And it's filled with supernatural bounty hunters who all want a werewolf hide! And they're all carrying big, bad, scary guns around!

Except, um, no, because virtually every Las Vegas casino on the Strip does not allow concealed carry by anybody but active duty law enforcement, and they certainly don't hold gun show conventions (Mandalay Bay hosts an antique weapons show, but that's different). So the hordes of packing maniacs coming in and out of the convention floor right outside the elevators to Kitty's room OMG! are every bit the fantasy that werewolves are. Between the shoddy research and bastardizing existing iconic casinos, the book is just...bad.

I don't know if this was a rushed first draft, or an artificially shortened final draft, or if the writer's heart is no longer in it, or what. Dead Man's Hand and the next book in the series are being released a month apart, so I'm trying to figure out if there was some kind of rush to conclude a publishing contract that explains this amateurish offering.

I gritted my teeth through this one, but I'll certainly be taking a few hours to vet the next in the bookstore before I go home with it.

Kitty and Ben, the werewolf alpha pair, have gone to Las Vegas to get married. Kitty is also going to do a televised version of her radio program while in Sin City. She meets the vampire Master of the City, encounters a magician and an animal act that both seem to be more than meets the eye and her hotel has a gun convention populated by werewolf and vampire hunters. If that is not enough, Ben wins a place to play in a poker tourney and potentially win a million dollars. All creative ideas and seems like more than enough to keep the reader interested and on the edge of their seat, but it doesn't turn out that way.

It took me a while to get interested because even with all the things mentioned above, nothing was really happening that could keep me reading for any length of time. It is not until more than half way into the book that the story starts to get interesting. Things picked up, but even then there was something missing, that something that gets a reader anxious about what happens to characters. Cormac is mentioned several times and I kept wishing he was there. CV needs to parole him or break him out of prison, soon.

This story continues to the next book, which is out in March. I can't help but feel this was unnecessary. Dead Man's Hand needed to be tighter and then combine the next book with this one for one book. Hopefully this would have resulted in a better paced, exciting story.

I also thought the title didn't quite fit the story. Yes, there is poker but it is really just a vessel to put one of the characters in danger.

I almost skipped number five because the featured reviews are low stars, and that would have been a mistake. It's not that bad. Recently I've read a great deal of *really bad* urban fantasy, and oddly, Carrie Vaughn is a good enough author that even her 'bad' books are OK. What makes this low quality is a factual anomaly --- gun show in Vegas. Vegas hotels don't have gun shows; they handle tons of money, and concealed carries and other weapons are not allowed. Magical Vegas still handles the same cash, so it's hard to understand why Vaughn's Vegas would invite easy armed robberies.

If you can get past that, then the book still has Kitty's uniquely humorous take on the supernatural. The one-liners were great. The actual plot had Kitty running around being not very effective, but my expectations were exceeded. I don't read these to see Kitty be a hero, I read them for the 'Midnight Hour' supernatural spoofing. While definitely not in the top half of this series, I found enough inside to think it 'OK'.

I was concerned about this addition to the series because of some mediocre reviews, and wasn't that eager to read...but when I start a series I read every book. Well, my concerns were for naught. I give this one 4.5 and enjoyed it as much as the last two. Books 1 & 2 were the weakest to me but sometimes it takes the first book or two to get a series going. I feel that's been the case with this series...but I'd put this 5th book up there with books 3 & 4.....I really enjoyed!! It was fun having Kitty and Ben in Vegas and there was plenty going on to keep my attention. And I read purely for the entertainment... So I'm not sure if there would ever be a gun show in Vegas, and really don't care. It's interesting so I roll with it.

Decide for yourself, but with a Vegas wedding to pull off, a live Midnight Hour TV broadcast, a slew of werewolf hunters (some to embrace, some to avoid), a new vampire master, a super creepy animal act, and a true - meaning real magician..... What's not to like!!! 4.5 Stars.

KITTY AND THE DEAD MAN'S HAND
CARRIE VAUGHN
Contemporary Urban Fantasy Paranormal Romance
Grand Central Publishing
Sensuality Rating: Sexy

Rating: 5 Enchantments

Kitty Norville isn't your average radio personality. She hosts the talk radio show "The Midnight Hour" and she's currently the most well-known werewolf in the States, if not the world. Having someone film and televise her `change' will do that--but that's an earlier story. KITTY AND THE DEAD MAN'S HAND is author Carrie Vaughn's fifth book about Kitty's world and the special characters that populate it.

Kitty's life has become very complicated over the last few years. She's been bitten by and turned into a werewolf. She's been an escapee lone wolf from a crazy Alpha. She's been captured and filmed through her `change' to prove the existence of werewolves. She's been chased, cornered, and then saved by a bounty hunter who's now her friend. Her lawyer has been bitten and changed and is now her boyfriend. Her best friend died trying to save her. And her mother is dying of cancer. But life's not all bad news--her radio show is one of the most popular late night shows around and Kitty likes to think that she's helped both humans and `others' open a strange type of communication via her show. Now for the biggest news of all...Kitty's getting married!

Of course, Kitty's not exactly your normal blushing bride. So when the opportunity arises to escape the insanity and marry in Vegas? Well, Kitty's sure a vacation by the pool with Ben will be just the thing. But it doesn't take long for the vacation to become an opportunity for a little free advertising. It seems her boss has gotten wind of the Vegas trip and tosses Kitty the chance to do her show live in Vegas! How cool is that? Okay, it would be cool--if it weren't for: her hotel's convention of bounty hunters looking to score a werewolf, vampire politics, a magician who just might be the real thing, a suspicious shifter animal act, and a kidnapped groom. Maybe going to Vegas for the wedding wasn't such a good idea after all.

I love Kitty Norville. No, wait. I want to be Kitty Norville. Well, without the danger...and the bad stuff...and the...OK, how about I want to be buddies with Kitty? I can see the two of us kicking back with a drink or two discussing...ummm, life? Men? In any event, Kitty's the kind of heroine it's hard not to like. She's kind yet not afraid to `throw down' to protect herself and her friends. She's fully aware of how strange her life has become but still manages to keep a sense of humor about it. She's taken some very hard knocks and can still believe in love and struggles to do what's right.

Carrie Vaughn is a genius. No, really. When I think back to the first book in this series, KITTY AND THE MIDNIGHT HOUR, I'm amazed at how smoothly Vaughn has rolled out the events (so far) in Kitty's life. Her writing is crisp, her plots are tight, and her ever-growing cast of characters enchant. Even with all the reading I do, as soon as I pick up a new Kitty book, within a few pages I'm pulled right back into Kitty's world. I don't know how she does it and if I did I'd be banging out my own series right now!

I would caution readers, though. Once you pick up one `Kitty' book, you'll be hooked. You'll head for the bookstore to pick up her back list and closet yourself in a quiet room reading as fast as you can turn the pages. Then you'll hit her website, http://www.carrievaughn.com, desperately hoping the release date for the next book has been moved up. Oh wait...that's me J

JJ
ENCHANTING REVIEWS
April 2009

Kitty and Ben have decided to tie the knot. Unlike her older sister, Cheryl, Kitty doesn't want a frou-frou wedding. She'd just settle for some frou-frou drinks.

So, she and Ben opt to elope to Vegas. The story might have ended there if she hadn't told her producer, who suggested that Kitty have her first televised show in Vegas before the wedding. Then, Kitty told her Mom, who insisted on coming along. Oh yeah, and her friend Rick the Vampire wanted her to contact Dom, the Master of Vegas for him.

Between researching and putting on a show, dealing with family, and delivering messages, Kitty and Ben are determined to get married. But, wait--Ben wins a seat in a half-million dollar poker championship. And, Kitty meets a magician who may be the real thing. Let's not forget the gun convention going on with werewolf hunting bounty hunters in attendance.

The plot's definitely complex. Almost too much so, but Vaughn manages to pull the storyline off. The story's obviously continued in part as well, so "Dead Man's Hand" is not quite as satisfying as its predecessors. Still, the story's engaging and the series has enough life in it that I'm waiting anxiously for "Kitty Raises Hell" which is coming in March.

Rebecca Kyle, January 2009

Even though they're mated as wolves already, Kitty and Ben are going to make it official the human way. Getting KNOB to pay for a trip to Vegas where she can sip fruity drinks by the pool and do a televised Midnight Hour is the perfect time to do it. Or so Kitty thinks. Staying in a hotel where the gun show consists of werewolf hunters isn't a very good start to the weekend that's supposed to be fun. But then she has to go and get the attention of a group of potential shapeshifters and a magician who may or may not be the real deal. Needless to say Kitty finds herself in all sorts of trouble before she and Ben manage to tie the knot.

It's kind of hard to say much more about the plot of this one. To be honest I enjoy this series a lot but this story would have made a good anthology addition instead of a full novel. It's not that the story is bad--it's entertaining enough--it's just so transitional. It's more or less taking readers from Kitty and the Silver Bullet to the real storyline she wanted to do here... the one she sets up to be executed in Kitty Raises Hell.

I still don't like Ben. He's really boring as a hero to me as a reader and he's even less interesting this time around. I get why Kitty like him and that's all that keeps me from hating him. In fact, it took me months to read this one because it was pretty dull between Ben and the slowly progressing plot. Unlike Kitty and the Silver Bullet this one has very little action.

Should you bother? Well yeah, if you're a reader of the series and you want to be fully informed for the next in the series. I'm not 100% sure you could skip it completely. But on the same token maybe you can. This book leaves off in a sort of cliffhanger fashion that I imagine requires some recapping in the first chapter of the next book. I'll let my fellow readers be the judge.

This is book 5 in the Kitty Norville series. It was definitely not a strong book in this series. The book really spent more time kind of setting up a new story.

In this book Kitty and Ben decide to go to Las Vegas to get married. Only things start to get complicated. Kitty's boss talks her into doing a televised version of her radio show while she's in Vegas and Rick asks Kitty to deliver a note to the Master vampire of Las Vegas. Things begin to fall apart when Kitty finds out about the local Las Vegas pack and stumbles upon new types of magic and a secret that the local vampires have been keeping under wraps.

This was an okay book in the series. I felt like Kitty spent a lot of time running around sticking her nose in where she shouldn't and in general not really accomplishing anything. It was a bit frustrating to watch Kitty not have a clue what she was doing. She even had trouble getting guests for her radio show. In general the pace of this book was a bit frantic and not in a griping and engaging sort of way. There is also a large shortage of action scenes; I think there is one action scene in the whole darn book...maybe two.

None of the characters were really developed any further. A lot of main characters from the previous books are conspicuously absent for most of this book. Even Ben is only actually present for a very brief amount of time. Overall it seemed like the sole purpose of this book was to introduce some new characters and set up some big events for the next book; so let's hope the next book is better.

Which leads me to the positive points of this book; it wasn't a total loss. Balthasar and Odysseus Grant are amazing characters. New and interesting magic elements move throughout the story. The book is a quick and still fun read. It is somewhat engaging. This is an okay book about Kitty; just don't get too excited about it. See it as a necessary read to continue on in the series and hope that the 6th book is awesome.

Kitty and Ben plan on tying the knot. Kitty's mother, so excited that Kitty has found "a keeper" begins planning a large, ostentatious wedding. Kitty and Ben want something much smaller, so they plan to elope in Las Vegas. Kitty's producers even arrange a special live televised episode of Kitty's radio show "The Midnight Hour." When word gets out that Kitty's planning on making a trip to Vegas, she is approached by Rick, Denver's Vampire Master, and is asked to give a message to the Vegas Master, Dom. Kitty obliges, after all, she and Rick do have a special "partnership" as leaders of their respective "species." When Kitty and Ben arrive in Vegas, they discover their hotel is holding a gun show. They are surrounded by hundreds of gun-toting bounty hunters. Not exactly paradise for a lycanthrope!

Kitty begins searching for guests for her show. In a city like Vegas, it can't be that difficult. She soon learns about a show at The Hanging Gardens, one run completely by lycanthropes. But there's something off about the Vegas lycanthropes---no wolves.


While Kitty is off on her search, Ben has discovered that being a wolf has some advantages. He sits in on a round of poker, and soon learns that he can sense how his opponents are doing. He signs up for a poker championship. Kitty is thrilled for him--she's happy that he's accepting and taking advantage of his "wolf." But during the championship game, Ben outs a cheater, and is abducted. On his wedding day, nonetheless. Kitty reports him as missing, but everyone seems to believe that he's not missing, but simply has a case of cold feet.


As usual, Kitty finds herself in danger. She's discovered a secret behind The Hanging Gardens show, and an explanation for the lack of werewolves in Las Vegas. How will she protect her life, and save the man she loves?

Vaughn does another amazing job with this installment of the Kitty Norville series. As always, the character development is spot on. It's amazing to see how Kitty's character has grown, both as a person and as a wolf. The secondary characters add a great deal of interest to the book as well. So, once again, I'm impressed! Another highly recommended book!