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Kitty Norville is a late-night DJ who stumbles upon a popular idea for a talk show–“The Midnight Hour” in which she and her listeners discuss any and all thing supernatural. And the girl knows what she’s talking about. She’s a werewolf. Unfortunately, her new-found success brings her some unwanted attention. Her Alpha and the master of the local vampire family want her off the air. Someone hires a werewolf hunter to take her out. And Kitty has just found out that there’s a rogue wolf in town making everyone else look bad.
This was good. It was. My issues with it were purely my own and don’t even necessarily make sense. I admit it.
First, I personally didn’t care too much for the narration by Marguerite Gavin. It was very consciously cadenced and very staccato, even when that style didn’t feel appropriate for what she was reading. It just felt like she was trying too hard. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to stick with this at first, but I did and it bothered me less as time went on.
Now for the big thing, and the thing that makes the least sense. I didn’t like the pack dynamics. My head knows that a pack of werewolves would interact in exactly this manner. There would be an alpha and his female, and they would punish and reward as they chose. Strength would be a big factor in status. There would be power struggles. My heart just doesn’t like reading about any man slamming a woman around and then having sex with her as a reward. I just can’t get past it. That part definitely improved as Kitty grew more confident, and that was one of the points of the book, but it really did push my buttons.
That stuff out of the way, I did mostly manage to get caught up in the story. I would find myself speeding a little faster in my car when there was a fight scene or a confrontation. I wanted to know who the rogue was and what the pack was going to do about him. I wanted to know what was going on with Cormac (because there has got to be a juicy back story there). I honestly wanted to see Kitty kick some ass. There were some people–beings?–that were just begging for it. And what is up with the creepy faith healer?
I thought Vaughn did a really good job in exploring what would happen if supernaturals ever did “come out of the closet,” so to speak. Would our laws apply to them? How would you give a vamp life in prison? Would it be murder to kill one? She grounded the whole idea pretty firmly in reality by including the NIH and CDC and classifying these conditions as diseases. I found myself actually pondering some of these questions!
Despite an ending that I was very unhappy about, I’m not sure if I’ll continue the series. I’ve added it to my wishlist on my library’s small audio website, so I might get to it someday, but I’m in no rush.
If you’re less squeamish than I am about what I can only (unfairly) call violence toward women, and you do like paranormals, I think you’ll like this one.
Read an excerpt.
Find author Carrie Vaughn on her website and her blog.
Buy Kitty and the Midnight Hour at
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