Wow, that was traumatic. Not surprising (it is as advertised) but upsetting. Hate it when characters die, but it does make sense for the series. Audio book was decent. ( )

Nifty. ( )

For me, this is a big year for resuming old series. I think I read up to the current installment of the Kitty Norville and then ... completely forgot about it when new books came out.

Oops.

Well, here I am and I'm back to say... it's fun! Not the best UF I've ever read, but for all you folks who like to see your favorite Werewolf Talk Show Host get invited onto a Reality TV show that then becomes an all-out classic horror/mystery with peeps dying off like supernatural fleas, then this is definitely the book for you.

Truly, it's light, fast, and fun. No major entanglements, but there are old bit-players from earlier novels who get some screen time. Some dead time, too. It's a whodoneit! With shapeshifters, psychics, and magicians!

Can everyone get along long enough on or off the camera? :) ( )

Kitty'a House of Horrors"Kitty's House Of Horrors" restored my interest in this series. This is a solid Urban Fantasy novel in its own right and it moves the series along in interesting directions.

Kitty's participation in a Reality TV show, filmed in a remote mountain lodge, inhabited by various supernaturals who have gone public and a sceptic who believes they're all faking it, provides an opportunity to bring some interesting people together. When things go wrong and people start to die, we move quickly from "Big Brother - the supernatural edition" to "Supernatural Hunger Games."

I liked the plot in this book. It was more thought-through than having Kitty antagonise a bunch of powerful people in situations that she barely understand and then having to cope with the consequences. In "Kitty's House Of Horror" there are plots within plots and Kitty has to think as well as act.

The Reality TV show brings together just about every supernatural and psychic that Kitty has befriended in the series and adds some new weres and some intriguing vampires. Many of these people are present because of Kitty although she seems not to understand the impact that she has and the trust she's created.

I was pleased to see the return of two of my favourite characters, Tina the psychic ghost hunter and the mysterious magician, Odysseus Grant, who is there for the third book in a row. I was also glad to see that Cormac will be returning to us. He will add some grit to future books.

I was also pleased to see that Kitty's sense of humour is back. She takes some fun swipes at the lack of reality in Reality TV and, when the situation starts to feel more like a classic horror movie, she reminds her friends that "The reason most people in horror movies get killed is because they haven't watched enough horror movies."

During the "Real Worldish" section of the book, Kitty positions herself as talk-show host in residence, bouncing off the people around her and pressing to get at their secrets but once the killings start, she automatically starts to take on the mantel of leader.

This is one of the darkest books in the series so far. The death toll is high and characters I like die. Kitty is in the shadow of The Long Game and is being pressured to take sides in a conflict where she doesn't know the game or even all of the players.

For the third book in a row, both Ben, Kitty's husband, and her Pack, are mostly absent from the story but this time with more justification. Still. I'd like to see more of both in future books.

"Kitty's House Of Horror" is a fast-paced, witty, entertainment wrapped around a dark core that takes an uncomfortable look at violence produced by hating someone and classifying them as not human. It was a fun read and I'm back on board for the rest of the series. ( )

I am continuing to hide from the modern world by diving into the world of urban fantasy, with lycanthropes, vampires, psychics, and hunters of same. This book is a setup for the standard horror story of people trapped in a house, being hunted by the monsters outside. The twist is that the hunters are the monsters, and the ones trapped in the house are the supernaturally enhanced folks.
There was a lot of character development, a few deaths, and easy reading. ( )