Black Magic Sanction

Rachel Morgan, Book 8

By: Kim Harrison

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

In New York Times best-selling author Kim Harrison’s most complex and nuanced adventure yet, bounty hunter and witch Rachel Morgan fights a deadly battle—mind, body, and soul.

Rachel Morgan has fought and hunted vampires, werewolves, banshees, demons, and other supernatural dangers as both witch and bounty hunter—and lived to tell the tale. But she’s never faced off against her own kind, until now. Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment-at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery. Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief.It takes a witch to catch a witch, but survival bears a heavy price.

©2010 Kim Harrison (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

I do enjoy Rachel's story

For this reread, I thought I would try audible. I have found that I really like that option for some of these stories. I can listen away while doing something else. Multitasking at its best.

love it

I love this series!! I have it in book and audio. Kim Harrison rocks!! I'll read anything she writes.

super great book

The Hollows series by Kim Harrison is a grown up version of Harry Potter....so GOOD and just as or even more imaginative as "The Harry Potter" series...this is probably my 3rd time listening/reading of this series....LOVE IT!

Great series

I hope this series turns into a mini series movie someday. I love it so much

Another great book by Kim Harrison

I just love this series and this book definitely did not let me down at all. I still miss Kisten but really enjoy all the characters in this book. I love Marguerite Gavin as a narrator she does an excellent job and this series would not be the same without her.

The first time I didn't give Harrison a 5 star

I have loved the hollows series. I'm a fan of urban fantasy, think Jim Butcher is great, and I honestly question if Kim Harrison is better at it than him. She does such a great job of putting her hero in a place where you know she won't die, but she won't come out of it ok, and how long is this decision going to haunt her.

This book did that as well, but there were some serious pacing issues for me. That, mixed with Rachel's heavy handed "I have to do it because nobody else can even if they are better at it than me, so I'm going to go mess everything up because I can't handle not doing something," really started to bug me. As for the pacing, there was a few chapters where a fight was coming, and she did everything wrong to get her friends hurt. Then, once they had injured the enemies and had them "somewhat" contained, instead of dealing with them she did something to make herself even more vulnerable so she could go off and fix another problem. This problem would have waited, for hours if not for days, and it was this kind of thing that really made me wonder if there was some strange editing at the end, because this just didn't flow well.

Gavin is still the perfect narrator for the series, and hope she does all of them.

Overall, still a great book, but it felt a little clunky compared to her other works. I still will suggest this book though.

Fast and Fun

I have to say that when I first started this series, I found the character's flaws and quirks annoying, but those same things are what I quickly began to find endearing and interesting about them. The series has been consistent in its own universe (a quality of genre fiction that is really important), and although it is a bit on the edge (wizards and witches and werewolves and vampires and pixies AND demons AND elves!!) that is what makes it fun. It's completely wacky and unlike any other series out there.

This installment doesn't follow the "formula" of the adventures we have come to expect from Rachel and her band of misfits, but to be honest, it was a refreshing break to just have lots of plot lines begin to wrap up and come together. There were so many things going on and left hanging that it was a relief to have an ending that mostly tied them up. Sure, there were loose ends, otherwise there wouldn't be anything for the next book to be about, but there wasn't the devilish cliffhanger at the end of this one that there was in the book before this one.

I agree with some of the other reviews that Rachel gets a bit whiny and sometimes staggers indecisively and doubts herself for so long that you want to scream, "Get on with it!" at her. But mostly, the story moves fast, you learn new things about the characters (especially Al, good news for those of us secretly rooting for the bad guy!), and all the action and suspense that makes this series fun is there in spades. Fans of Kim Harrison won't be disappointed. And the story is longer than a few of the others, so it makes a satisfyingly long listen.

Worth a mention as well is the wonderful narration by Marguerite Gavin, who so perfectly captures every character's voice and emotions in a way that completely brings them to life.

Another great read

loved it! loved it...I can not wait for the next installment. I wish she would put out two books for the hollow series a year instead of one. oh well i guess i'll try to keep myself busy until next year. A day and a half read for a year wait...

Best one yet!

Marguerite Gavin does an excellent job. I hope she narrates all future Kim Harrison novels. This novel is the best so far. Ms. Harrison just gets better and better with each new sequel and Ms. Gavin makes them enjoyable to listen to and nails the characters perfectly. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

An exciting rollercoaster ride

An exciting rollercoaster ride is the best way to discribe this book. From the start to finish, I was on the edge of my seat. Even if this books would have costed three credits, I would purchase it again....it was just that good!