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Kitty Takes a Holiday
3rd book in the Kitty Norville series
by Carrie Vaughn

The third installment to a series that just keeps getting better and better. After having been captured and subsequently forced to turn into a werewolf on national television Kitty decides to take some time off from her radio show and retreat to a cabin in the woods. As an English major she’s think doing the whole Thoreau bit might not be so bad. The thing is, the isolation isn’t doing much for her and hearing someone else making a radio show like hers doesn’t help matters any. To top things off dead and skinned animals start showing up around her place and then Cormac arrives with Ben after a botched assignment. Now Kitty’s got to help coach her new pack mate and find who or out what’s behind the animal slaughter.

Some people may not care much for this book if they’re just looking for hard hitting action, oh it’s there I kid you not, but the main focus of this installment is the emotional and mental development of Kitty and her “pack”. Kitty has taken quite a few knocks in life, and most of them are recent. Her perception and view of the world has been altered completely and she’s questioning not only herself but her way of life. She’ floundering about a bit, but it’s completely understandable and realistic. Before Kitty can fall too much into the “woe is me” bit though trouble arrives followed closely by Cormac, and you guessed it, more trouble.

Someone wants Kitty to leave, and they’re trying their damnedest to curse her into leaving. The arrival of Cormac and Ben seems to acerbatethe situation further. The interesting thing, and I don’t want to spoil this for readers so I’m going to really mince my words here, is that the two events are not truly connected. You have hints that they’re not but the source behind Kitty’s initial tormenting is separate from the trouble that follows Cormac and Ben.

Something I’ve found to be of particular interest is the fact that even though Kitty is a werewolf and has been one for a bit she was relatively clueless to the supernatural world. Each book, each adventure is a learning process for not just her but the readers as well. In the last book not only did we get a better understanding of the vampires in Norville’s world but we also got a taste of the fairy and hints of other supernaturals and supernatural abilities as well. Specifically of note was the brief taste of magic that we and Kitty got. Now in this book we get to delve deeper into magic and tackle it from not one but two perspectives as well. In Kitty Takes a Holiday we get a taste of magic from the Native American perspective and the magic practiced by witches. This is something not to be missed!

As if that wasn’t enough we also get to find out more of Ben and Cormac’s history. How they knew each other, how Ben became a lawyer and Cormac a werewolf hunter. Hell, we even get to know Cormac’s last name! There is a surprising depth to Ben and Cormac which is shown nicely in this book. For the most part the emphasis is on Ben and Kitty though as Ben learns to accept and cope with becoming a werewolf and Kitty gets the chance to step into the role of mentor and guide Ben through the transition as T.J. once did for her. This situation presents an oppurtunity for Kitty to do a more thorough evaluation of herself and to step out of her misery to aide a friend and prevent him (or Cormac) from putting a bullet to his head. The new relationship between Kitty and Ben was a bit of a curve ball I have to say. You’re expecting something to develop between and Cormac but instead…

And the ending, the ending will leave you crying and begging for more. The bad guys are thwarted but in the end the good guys can’t really count this on their column as a win either as the outcome forces a ridge between Kitty and one of her friends. That’s all I’ll say on the ending, for the nitty gritty you have to read this book. If you haven’t devled into this series yet I highly recommend that you do so ASAP.

Joana’s rating: