Kitty and the Silver Bullet (Kitty Norville, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Carrie Vaughn, Mercedes Cook, Detective Hardin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Kitty's radio show is as popular as ever and she has a boyfriend who actually seems to understand her. Can she finally settle down to a normal life? Not if this is just the calm before the storm. When her mother falls ill, Kitty rushes back to Denver--and right back to the abusive pack of werewolves she escaped a year ago. To make matters worse, a war is brewing between the city's two oldest vampires, threatening the whole supernatural community. Though she wants to stay neutral, Kitty is again drawn into a world of politics and violence. To protect her family, her lover, and herself, she'll have to choose sides. And maybe become what she hates--a killer.

About the Author

Carrie Vaughn had the nomadic childhood of the typical Air Force brat, with stops in California, Florida, North Dakota, Maryland, and Colorado. She holds a Masters in English Literature and collects hobbies---fencing and sewing are currently high on the list. She lives in Boulder, Colorado. Her website is www.carrievaughn.com.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446618756
• ISBN-13: 978-0446618755
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #69,026 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 4 in The Kitty Norville Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best series in current urban fantasy (4.5), January 3, 2008

By	R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Kitty Norville, werewolf and radio talk show hostess, seems to be doing very well. Her new book "Underneath the Skin" is just about to be released, her radio show "The Midnight Hour" is still a big success, and she's now got her own boyfriend--and built in pack in Ben.

Then she gets the call from her Dad. Her Mom's got breast cancer and is due for surgery. She and Ben drop everything and head back to Denver.

The old saying "you can never go home" is literally true for Kitty. Her old werewolf pack, led by Carl and Meg, is in Denver. If she returns, Carl will consider it an invasion of his territory and act accordingly.

Add to that, Kitty's approached by her friend Rick the Vampire. Rick's planning on taking over the city of Denver from the current Master Vampire, Arturo. Will she take sides with him in exchange for protection?

As usual, Carrie Vaughn has created a pageturner. "Kitty and the Silver Bullet" kept me up til 2:00 AM to finish.

In my opinion, Ms. Vaughn does some of the best world-building in urban fantasy today. She's taken very logical steps with cause and effect to generate some very plausible scenarios in how a post-paranormal world would develop. In "Kitty and the Midnight Hour," Kitty's radio show introduced the world to paranormals. Following in logical order, "Kitty Goes to Washington" has Kitty lobbying Congress to get vampirism and lycanthropy acknowledged as diseases to obtain research funds and help for sufferers. In this book, she carries that to its next logical step. Denver, CO is going to have a Paranormal Division in its Police Department and Detective Hardin is going to head it.

Her character development is also stellar. Kitty starts out as a beta wolf, abused by her pack leader, Carl. Now, she's a strong woman, capable of helping other victims and taking care of a pack of her own.

Plotting--well, let's just say you need to have the time to finish the books when you sit down to read them because they're hard to put down. Ms. Vaughn puts very likable characters into some serious situations and makes you want to know what's going to happen to them.

"Kitty and the Silver Bullet" is the 4th in the series. What I particularly like is each novel is stand alone in relation to a particular issue, but there are continuing life issues for Kitty and the other characters. Below is a list of the three previous Kitty books in order. They are all well worth the read.

Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Book 1)
Kitty Goes to Washington (Book 2)
Kitty Takes a Holiday (Book 3)

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kitty slinks home. Kitty grows a spine. Kitty fights back. Finally!, February 4, 2008

By	melindeeloo (sb,ca) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Kitty has been on the run after escaping a confrontation with her evil alpha in the first book, now her mother's illness draws Kitty home into a Denver on the verge of a vampire turf war with her old pack leader and his dirty tricks firmly supporting the status quo. While the apparent loss of control over the vampires of the city by current vamp leader is the reason for the attempted coup, it is the deterioration of Kitty's former pack that draws Kitty into the battle. The last time Kitty battled her alpha, she was firmly entrenched in her submissive role as low wolf in the pack and barely left with her life. Now her wolf has grown up and though her human half is still a little slow in catching up, when Kitty tries to aid an abused new wolf Jenny to escape from the pack, Kitty finally grows a spine and becomes the alpha her wolf knows she can be.

I loved this latest installment in Vaughn's Kitty Norville series and really all the books leading up to this one have served the purpose to develop Kitty's character and support group to bring her to this point prepared to take the final steps that complete her growth and strengthen Kitty's resolve. I loved how Kitty's transformation brings closure and clarity to so many areas of her life, including her relationships with Ben and Cormac, and now I can't wait to see where the new and improved Kitty goes from here. Vaughn does a great job of bringing this character and series to life. The books have such a 'reality' to them that it seems like I should be able to tune Kitty in at midnight and hear her give common sense advice to 'weres' and 'vamps'. I am glad Kitty finally took some of her own advice here.

If you haven't read the rest of the series don't start here, while the book stands alone pretty well, you'll want to witness Kitty's transformation and growth yourself, so go back to the beginning.

Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Kitty Norville Series, Book 1)
Kitty Goes to Washington (Kitty Norville Series, Book 2)
Kitty Takes a Holiday (Kitty Norville Series, Book 3)

And if you've already read these and are looking for another series, while no other series I can think of is quite like this one, if you like female shapeshifters and this kind of urban fantasy feel give Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson (werecoyote) a try:

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson Series, Book 1)
Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson Series, Book 2)
Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson Series, Book 3)

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars facing up to the past, December 23, 2007

By	duchess "duchy" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

Kitty Norville, werewolf and radio dj, was once a part of an abusive werwolf pack in the Denver area, whose alphas liked to keep the young woman/wolf in a low ranking victim role. In the first book of the series, Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Kitty Norville Series, Book 1), we learn how Kitty comes to leave the Denver area and pack.

In the two subsequent books, Kitty Goes to Washington (Kitty Norville Series, Book 2) and Kitty Takes a Holiday (Kitty Norville Series, Book 3), Kitty travels around the country, and grows quite a bit, both as a woman and a wolf.

Now, in the fourth book in the series, Kitty's mother has a medical crisis, bringing Kitty home to Denver. She only wants to spend time with her mother and keep out of sight, but there are some big problems going on in the Denver area supernatural community. There is a potential vampire war between two masters for control of the city - and there are problems in the local werewolf pack as well, as more members want to challenge the two abusive alphas. Despite her wishes and efforts, Kitty is going to be pulled into both very dangerous situtations.

Kitty has changed and grown in the year she had been away - but will it be enough for her and her loved ones to survive?

Well written book which brings in characters and plot points from all three previous Kitty novels. If you wish to read about Kitty, I would advise you to read the four books in order rather than starting here. If you have read the previous novels amd like them, I think you will probably like this one quite a bit as well.