Ever After by Kim Harrison
Rachel Morgan has been through a lot since she left the IS and went private. She’s lost love, found love, been betrayed over and over again, made friends with demons, found out that she’s a demon and now she has to save her friends from the clutches of the demons one more time. It’s nothing she hasn’t done before, except that this time she faces a demon that all the rest of them are afraid of which is truly ironic since he is their creation.
The exact biological issues that are all tied up with being a witch or a demon and the genetic disease known as rosewood syndrome are the major theme of Rachel’s childhood. She should have died just like all the other babies with rosewood. The bio engineering and the cure that were developed at the behest of Trent Kalamack’s father are still illegal according to modern law. So, when babies who are destined to die from rosewood’s begin to survive and then are stolen, it’s a matter of strong emotion for Rachel.
Rachel does what she does best in Ever After and lets her heart lead straight into the face of sure destruction. The admirable, often self-damaging, trait of remaining loyal to her friends makes Rachel more than just a fun, sometimes sexy main character. Sadly for Rachel, her loyalty has also allowed people who have made bad choices to cause her problems over and over again. Wouldn’t it just be easier to put them out of her misery??
I really liked the exploration and development of the demon’s past. Rachel’s visions of what the Ever After once was and the detail of the past make for interesting backstory. It’s fascinating to imagine how an almost genocidal war that led to permanent imprisonment in a hostile environment would lead to a cultural degradation. What lengths would you go to in order to be free from hell if you were trapped there? If saving your people meant sacrificing the life of few small children? Am I reading Dostoyevsky?
Ever After is full of thought provoking themes. How far would you really go to save a friend and her child? Could you learn to trust someone who has betrayed you over and over in the past? Ever After is not just another fun flighty urban fantasy novel, but you will need to pay attention or you could miss it.
Rachel Morgan (The Hollows) — (2004-2017) The Outlaw Demon Wails has also been published as Where Demons Dare. Publisher: All the creatures of the night gather in “the Hollows” of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party… and to feed. Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining — and it’s Rachel Morgan’s job to keep that world civilized. A bounty hunter and witch with serious sex appeal and an attitude, she’ll bring ’em back alive, dead… or undead.
Should I know from the review what IS is? I’m guessing it’s some government law-enforcement group the character worked for, and this is a book in a series.
Lively review, John!
It’s like the 10th or 11th book in the Hollows series. The IS is the paranormal version of the FBI. I really enjoyed some of the depth to this story….it was otherwise a pretty typical Hollows installment.
I should know that! I do see Kim Harrison’s name now and then. Thanks for responding, though.