Kitty's House of Horrors (Kitty Norville, Book 7) [Mass Market Paperback]

Carrie Vaughn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2010

REALITY BITES

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'jam-packed with action from practically the first chapter and doesn't let up until the last page. ... A great addition to the Kitty series and one of the best' BOOK CHICK CITY --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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: 304 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (January 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446199559
• ISBN-13: 978-0446199551
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,583 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in California, but grew up all over the country, a bona fide Air Force Brat. I currently live in Colorado, with my miniature American Eskimo dog, Lily. I have a Masters in English Lit, love to travel, love movies, plays, music, just about anything, and am known to occasionally pick up a rapier.

I've never been a DJ, but I love writing about one.

Here's my website: www.carrievaughn.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Kitty so far, January 4, 2010

By 

S. McCullough "pacey1927" (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kitty's House of Horrors (Kitty Norville, Book 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book has tied Carrie Vaughn with Ilona Andrews as my favorite, never dissapoint authors. Kitty agrees to go on a reality show where a big brother type household of supernatural creatures try to convince Conrad, the world's greatest skeptic that there is magic and other creatures out there. It becomes apparent that this really isn't why they were brought together when one by one they begin to die. Kitty and the others are stranded in the middle of nowhere and without any means of contact with the outside world. Who is doing this to them and why? How can they use their otherly abilities to get out of there? This book was excellent, every page a turner, and not a word to waste. Ben is absent for much of the book as he has gone to try to will Cormac's good behaviour release from prison. We do get to meet up with some new characters in the 'house of horrors' as well as see some of the others we have met along the way. My favorite if the magician from Kitty and the Dead Man's hand, Odysseus Grant. What Carrie Vaughan has done is removed Kitty from the world we know already and has spiced things up by giving us a change of scenery and some different supporting characters. Sure we can't wait to get to more of Ben and Cormac, but thats the great thing! We know that there is more to them to come. This book is such a strong story with such a different feel that it just reminds us that Vaughan stands out as unique when so many other series are failing due to 'same old, same old' syndrome. Kitty's series is definitely fresh and in fact this book may be the most exciting yet. Kitty remains Kitty and reminded me several times in this story why I like her so much. I smiled many times when Kitty did some crazy, and Kitty-like in the story. A quick example: the supernatural group is hiding in the house and they know that they are surrounded by snipers, and Kitty literally jumps out to talk to them. She looks fear in the face, and yet she is so proctective and caring by instinct. And I love every bit of her snark.... This was an A+ tale from an A series and I hope that if you are an urban fantasy fan, you don't hesitate to start this series if you haven't already. It has grown by leaps and bounds from the first book, "Kitty and the Midnight Hour".

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good addition to the series..., January 2, 2010

By 

ReadingHobbit - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kitty's House of Horrors (Kitty Norville) (Kindle Edition)

This review will contain minor spoilers, so please keep that in mind before reading further.

This seemed to be a transitional book for the series, shifting from relationship/character issues (more typical of paranormal/urban fantasy/romance), to more of a urban focus (an upcoming war between good and evil - the "long game", if you remember this from a previous book). I've noticed this trend in the last couple of books, but the shift was complete here.

There were no relationship issues or tension in this book (both Ben and Cormac were absent for most of the book, and I missed them both). Instead, we have Kitty and several other characters we've previously met stranded in an isolated cabin where everything isn't as it seems, and where the situation goes downhill fast. I don't want to post too many spoilers, but the "monsters" are in a fight for their lives against unknown foes, and not everyone survives.

The plot was fast-paced and interesting, and not everything turns out well... which makes it more realistic than other paranormals I've read recently. That said, I enjoy character or relationship issues mixed in with my adventure - if that tension is missing, then the book falls a little flat for me. And, unfortunately, it was missing in this book. It was worth the time I spent on it, and the idea for the plot was great, but it could've been more than it was.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It sounds like the setup of a horror movie to me, January 4, 2010

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kitty's House of Horrors (Kitty Norville, Book 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

Kitty Norville is an "out" werewolf with a hit radio show... so it's not surprising that the next step is reality TV.

Unfortunately (for her), "Kitty's House of Horrors" quickly turns from a lighthearted satire on reality TV into a supernatural version of "And Then There Were None." Carrie Vaughn's seventh urban fantasy novel maintains her tongue-in-cheek approach to the genre, but it also takes her series into even darker waters -- there's a big nasty storm brewing, and Kitty is right in the middle of it.

Kitty is approached by a couple of Hollywood reps about "Supernatural Insider," a reality show about the newly-exposed supernatural. After she agrees, she ends up in a mountain lodge with a pair of psychics, a werewolf, a wereseal, two vampires, an annoying skeptic, and the magician Odysseus Grant. Unfortunately, Kitty soon begins to worry about the tensions stirred by the show... particularly since both Grant and the ancient vampire Anastasia suspect that this is somehow entwined with the vampiric Long Game.

Then the vampires' sidekick is found dead, the production crew is strangled, and someone is shooting silver crossbow bolts at anyone who tries to leave. Someone is apparently determined to kill off everybody participating in the reality show, and they've laid elaborate traps all around the lodge. And with no way to get off the mountain, Kitty and her motley band of uneasy allies must find a way to take out their enemies, or be picked off one by one.

"Kitty's House of Horrors" sounds like a pretty standard urban fantasy, except with an Agatha Christie twist. But Carrie Vaughn is picking up some darker plot threads -- the centuries-spanning Long Game, Roman, Anastasia, the prejudice against supernaturals -- and weaving them into a dark tapestry that will stretch into future books. So not only is it a solid fantasy/mystery, but clearly the beginnings of a much more complex, epic story.

And Vaughn does an excellent job with it -- at first there's a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor about reality TV and the contrived stuff they make up; Vaughn even has some fun with Kitty's phone calls, one from an Anita-Blake-style aggressive nympho and a teen vampire wannabe ("I have the innate sense of style and superiority! I feel the music of the night!"). But the tone shifts abruptly when the deaths start.

After that, it's all claustrophobic fear and mayhem, and as the whodunnit builds up to the Big Reveal and a harrowing woodland standoff, she packs the story with guns, booby-traps, bombs, and werewolf attacks. And Vaughn's writing is up to the task -- she has a brisk, steady style with lots of details, and some really beautiful little moments (such as Kitty communicating with a pack of wild wolves).

Kitty is her usual self in this book -- strong, kind, snarky and constantly balancing out her human self with her inner Wolf. The rest of the cast is pretty odd, but Vaughn handles them well, especially Anastasia and Gemma, a pair of vampires who still have very human emotions of loss. The best work is the less sympathetic characters -- Conrad initially seems like a whiny snotty skeptic, but Vaughn fleshes him out and makes you like him.

"Kitty's House of Horrors" serves as a solid whodunnit with lots of blood, bombs and claustrophobic fear, but it also paves the way for more epic stories to come. Nice piece of work.