Book Review -- Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand

Title: Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand
Author: Carrie Vaughn
Genre: Urban fantasy
Pages: Paperback, 382
Published: 2009
Opening Lines: "This was embarrassing. I never thought I'd become a victim of tradition."

Honeymoon In Vegas?

"Already the alpha pair of Denver's werewolf pack, Kitty and Ben now plan to tie the knot human-style by eloping to Vegas. Kitty is looking forward to sipping fru-fru drinks by the pool and doing her popular radio show on live TV, but her hotel is stocked with werewolf-hating bounty hunters. Elsewhere on the Strip an old-school magician might be wielding the real thing; the vampire community is harboring a dark secret; and the irresistible star of a suspicious animal act is determined to seduce kitty. Sin City has never been so wild, and this werewolf has never had to fight harder to save not only her wedding, but her very life."

~ Jacket copy

Thoughts: To say that I love the Kitty books would probably be an understatement. First, you have a kick ass heroine, find out she's an English major, she has her own radio show, and she's a werewolf. How could you go wrong with that?

Even though I toyed with the idea of Kitty and Cormac getting together, I knew it could never work. While he had a great understanding of her, there lives were too different. Further, she could never fit into his lifestyle of being a supernatural bounty hunter. When Ben was turned into a werewolf and Kitty's Wolf viewed him as her mate, I wasn't sure how to take it. However, after reading Kitty Takes a Holiday and Kitty and the Silver Bullet, Vaughn really won be over to the whole idea. While working as her lawyer, you could see a spark between the two that was just amplified once their Wolves made a decision.

In the previous book, I felt Ben really stepped up to the plate and proved himself to be capable of being an alpha. However, it did feel strange him becoming one of the alphas for the Denver pack with so little werewolf experience under his belt. So, I was pretty excited when the couple decided to take the next step. After the Wolves decided they were mated and the two became the head of the Denver pack, the logical next step was to get hitched. And what better place than Las Vegas!

Admittedly, this book was all over the place! But I felt that was Vaughn's intention with this book. Even though things seemed to settle down a little after the vampire/werewolf battle, it couldn't stay that way for long . . . Not with Kitty involved. And, of course, things are bound to get crazy when Ozzie wants Kitty to put on a live show in Vegas!

My problem with the book is that so many things were happening at one time that it was hard to focus. However, I really do think that was a plot device. That being said, I wish there would have been more time spent with the weird troupe of lycanthropes. I imagine, however, that we might get a bit more in the next book, but I'm not sure. Honestly, a lot of the stuff Vaughn introduced in this book could easily be subject matter for later books. The whole weirdness with Dom and the vampires could be explored, Grant and his guardianship, etc.

Even though this book was a little crazy, I really enjoyed it. Honestly, when I got married, I would have rather just gone to Vegas and screw everyone *sheepish grin* So it was nice to see Kitty do that ^_~

Vaughn was able to have a really action packed book while still maintaining a level of humor that I expect from the Kitty books. My favorite conversation in the whole book:

"A werewolf isn't supposed to have parents," Brenda said, grumbling. "They're not supposed to have mothers. How am I supposed to shoot you now, knowing it'll upset that really nice woman?"

"You're not supposed to shoot me at all!" I glared

"Sorry. Figure of speech." (179)

All around, just a fun book! It was a quick read and never bored me.

Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Currently: The Taba Convention by Stephen Ayres
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