The good, the bad, and the undead is the second book in The Hollows series so this review contains ***SPOILERS***if you have not read the first book in the series. I highly recommend that you read this series in order, so if you haven't read the other books in the series start with Dead witch walking before reading any more of this review.
Life has been rather interesting for Rachel Morgan since she left her position as a Runner for Inderland Security - not particularly profitable, but it has been interesting. Her run of bad luck since she left the I.S has continued, with her latest run turning into a big fat disaster and way more work than she intended (not to mention risky). It wouldn't be so bad if she was out on her own, but Ivy came with her and is depending on Rachel to do her share and pay half the rent. When she is picked up by a detective from the Federal Inderland Bureau (FIB) so she can help with a case, the last thing Rachel would have expected to see was Trent Kalamack's personal assistant crying over a missing boyfriend.
If she was smart Rachel would turn the case down, especially when she finds out Captain Edden wants her to go back to university to study ley line magic - but no one ever accused Rachel of being smart. With pressure rising in her professional life, the last thing she needs is for Ivy to go all weird on her, pushing her towards becoming bonded to Ivy. It's a step too far for Rachel, and when Ivy pushes the matter too far Rachel's boyfriend Nick starts applying all kinds of pressure too - for Rachel to move out. As Rachel tries to balance her personal life with the task of tracking down the person killing powerful ley line witches, she finds herself dragged towards Trent Kalamack as a suspect. As if things weren't bad enough, Rachel makes the disturbing discovery that when the demon bit her in the form of a vampire it left her open and vulnerable to vampires - because if they can bite her they can bind her, and there is nothing she can do to stop them. It is a race against time for Rachel to figure out who the killer is, and how to stop them.
The good, the bad, and the undead carries on from the explosive start in Dead witch walking - running with some of the same themes, while introducing others. It has been a long time since I read the series the first time around, so it has been a real pleasure getting to know all the characters again and to rediscover all the things that make the series so great. I love the mythology of the world, there are rules at work and a logic that make it easy to get lost in the story without being jarred out by wondering what is happening or why. Rachel is more an anti-hero than hero which makes the series more enjoyable because she has flaws and faults that make her more relateable and human.
You can feel the different strands of the story twisting and floating into place, and there are some little hints about what is to come. This is a fantastic urban fantasy series, on the darker side but still fantasy, and I look forward to working my way through them over the coming months as I catch up to the where the series is at now.
If you like this book then try:
- Omens by Kelley Armstrong
- Summon the keeper by Tanya Huff
- Eight million gods by Wen Spencer
- Dark descendant by Jenna Black
- Moon called by Patricia Briggs
- Angel's blood by Nalini Singh
- Cry wolf by Patricia Briggs
- Spiders bite by Jennifer Estep
- Alien taste by Wen Spencer
- Blood price by Tanya Huff
- Kitty and the midnight hour by Carrie Vaughn
- Children of the night by Mercedes Lackey
- Born to run by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon
- Knight of ghosts and shadows by Mercedes Lackey and Ellen Guon
Reviewed by Brilla
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