Kitty Goes to Washington

Kitty Norville, Book 2

By: Carrie Vaughn

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

The country's only celebrity werewolf, late-night radio host Kitty Norville prefers to be heard, not seen. But when she's invited to testify at a Senate hearing on behalf of supernaturals, her face gets plastered on national television. Kitty has been in hot water before, but jumping into the D.C. underworld brings a new set of problems - and a new set of friends and enemies, including the vampire mistress of the city; a super-hot Brazilian were-jaguar; and a paranoid, Bible-thumping senator who wants to expose Kitty as a monster. Kitty quickly learns that in this city of dirty politicians and backstabbing pundits, everyone's itching for a fight.

©2006 Carrie Vaughn, LLC (P)2009 Tantor

Great listen

I've listened to this series several times. It is always an enjoyable read. I recommend it to those who enjoy paranormal mysteries.

Excellent narrator for an excellent story

The voice goes so well with this story. i love the layered plotlines and how it slowly gets more complex. I look forward to hearing the rest of the series

Kitty Has Grown On Me

My Initial Reaction...
I've grown to really love Kitty with Kitty Goes to Washington and I'm excited to be getting to know some secondary characters a bit better too! Some (Cormick!), though, remain too elusive!!

The Narration...
I feel about the same as I did with book 1 about Marguerite Gavin's reading of Kitty Goes to Washington - a solid B+. To reiterate what I said in that review - she's IS Kitty. Perfect. She has the voice you'd expect a radio talkshow host to have. And then she's ok with the other characters - the male voices inparticular sound like a woman doing a male voice, rather than a true male voice. But they're distinct and it's easy to get comfortable with her reading. I'll be continuing with an audio read of this series for sure.

The Characters...
When I first started book 1 I did not like Kitty, because she was just so submissive. But by the end of that book she had really grown and I'm happy to report that the new Kitty has MOSTLY stuck with Kitty Goes to Washington. I did feel like we saw a bit of her squeemishness rearing it's ugly head, but to be fair she spent four years as a submissive wolf and that's going to take some time to work out of your system. And she's not exactly in the best situation for building confidence. Kitty's been called to appear before the US Senate as a principal witness for their investigation into supernatural beings. So yeah, the girl's got every right to be a bit squeemish!

One of my complaints in the previous book was that I just didn't get a good feeling for secondary characters and I have to say, Kitty Goes to Washington did much better on that front. It helped that we saw some repeat characters - like her lawyer, Ben - who, BTW, can I just say I ADORE!! He's everything a lawyer should be but never seems to be, plus funny and so fiercely loyal. I remain, however, extremely frustrated about Cormick. I know the plot is gradually taking us towards them hooking up - it has to be! - but I really want to know this guy better. He shows up just enough to keep me interested and curious but not enough to really know him. I do like that he seems to be on Kitty's side and there was one moment in particular where I really liked him and Ben for being there for her.

The Story...
The story for Kitty Goes to Washington kept me glued from beginning to end. Kitty's been called to Washington to testify before the US Senate as an expert on things that go bump in the night. The politics and uncertainty about everyone's agenda kept me anxious, particularly about Kitty's testimony.

But, thankfully, Kitty Goes to Washington wasn't all politics. It was also Kitty trying to navigate being a lone wolf. Not having a pack is rough, particularly on full moon runs. But on top of that, Kitty constantly has to enter unknown territories - in Kitty Goes to Washington this element is heightened by a warning she gets from the local vampire queen, Giselle, that it's dangerous for a lone shifter in Washington. So Kitty's staying with a Vampire - not that she really had a choice - dealing with government bigwigs, and trying to navigate the shifter community. I really enjoyed all the new characters we were introduced to though her time in Washington and found those interactions some of the most enjoyable.

I do have one BIG complaint though. My favorite part of the first book was that HUGE sections of the book were told through Kitty's radio show. I loved that. It was so unique and fun. And it was so missing in Kitty Goes to Washington We still had her show, but it was really such a backdrop to the book, rather than front and center like before. To be fair, Kitty Goes to Washington covers a much shorter time-span, meaning less radio shows and a lot happens that doesn't make sense for the show. So I can't say this made me not like the book - but I did miss it, a lot.

Concluding Sentiments...
I'm loving Kitty and, like in book 1, Kitty Goes to Washington managed to grip my attention and pull my emotions all over the place. I'm looking forward to reading book 3!

Another in a fantastic series

If you could sum up Kitty Goes to Washington in three words, what would they be?

Kitty is sassy, aggressive, and sexy.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Kitty Goes to Washington?

Kitty can take a bad situation and turn it into a marketing miracle.

Conspiracy anyone?

My rating: Teen
Favorite character: Alette (sp?)

Kitty takes her show on the road, and since she is asked to speak at a congressional hearing about the existence of supernaturals, she plans to do her radio show from DC. Unfortunately, she hits a few bumps on that road. This episode takes us from vampires, to shady researchers, to crazed politicians, to lycanthropes, back to vampires, and around again.

Kitty ends up getting more publicity than she expected, and not in a good way. The congressional hearing offers up the most excitement CSPAN has ever had. Shady research goes too far, and vampires will surprise you. This book is even better than the 1st in the series.

Kitty plus DC equals trouble

Gotta love it when the book is set in my hometown. And in this case the author seems to actually have visited DC. I am really come around to Kitty. Beyond the amusement of a werewolf named Kitty, her character seems fairly consistent and is entertaining to me.
This time Kitty has been summoned to DC to testify to Congress. After the events of the first book, more of the supernatural is out and Congress wants answers. DC of course has it's own supernatural underground... A senior vampire with tight control of the city, were's who work for embassy's and a much more tolerant collection of were's.

The supernatural backstory of this world continues to grow, in this case we are introduced to the concept of elves (and magic that works).

Kitty's big mouth continues to get her in trouble, and her overriding curiosity doesn't help either.

Fun read and I am looking forward to the next book.

Entertaining and fun!

Entertaining and easy to follow. The writer offers great detail and the narrator really takes on the character. You can see it play out in your head.

I hate politics, but loved this

Kitty: “it could be worse.”
Ben: “yeah, you could be a communist werewolf.”

This may be the first book about congressional hearings, lobbyists, and politics that I’ve actually enjoyed. Even in fiction, the political mudslinging is often too aggravating. Thankfully here there’s a gripping, and decently credible, story about how congress might deal with the emergence of vampires and werewolves.

I like the addition of colorful characters such as the werejaguar and vampire Oletta.
Monster hunter Cormac and attorney Ben are fast becoming favorite recurring characters.
This book also improves on the tone, adding a smidge more humor and dialing back quite a bit on the pack-related triggers from book 1.

The pinnacle of oddities!

Found a book from an old series I hadn’t looked at in some time. Kitty Norville is a rogue werewolf who hosts a paranormal midnight radio show. She’s rogue because she couldn’t put up with the jealousy and in-fighting, so she was kicked out of the pack. As a well-known celebrity on the paranormal, Kitty is subpoenaed to testify at a Senate hearing on supernaturals. The underlying theme of the story has merit. The professor, using Kitty as an expert witness, wants to bring vampires and werewolves into society’s light; to research their “affliction” as a disease, treat it as such, and ultimately accept them as misunderstood people. That’s quite an enormous, if not improbable, objective to take on. But this is overshadowed by a boring Senate hearing and an all too strange kidnapping. Throw in some indiscriminate hookup sex, and there you have it. A rather odd mix of plotlines to be sure.

Exposure

Lotta let’s the world see her change. Good story line. Well paced. Kept my interest all the way through.