Kitty and The Midnight Hour

Kitty Norville, Book 1

By: Carrie Vaughn

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 7 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Kitty Norville is a midnight-shift DJ for a Denver radio station---and a werewolf in the closet. Sick of lame song requests, she accidentally starts "The Midnight Hour," a late-night advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. After desperate vampires, werewolves, and witches across the country begin calling in to share their woes, her new show is a raging success. But it's Kitty who can use some help. With one sexy werewolf hunter and a few homicidal undead on her tail, Kitty may have bitten off more than she can chew.

©2005 Carrie Vaughn, LLC (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Fresh, hip, fantastic.... Don't miss this one. You're in for a real treat!" (L. A. Banks, author of he Vampire Huntress Legends series)

Pleasantly surprised

Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I went into this expecting a cookie-cutter urban fantasy. I was pleasantly surprised. Though this predates many of the current genre standbys, it manages to avoid many of the tropes that have made some aspects of the genre seem tired.

Kitty Norville is a radio DJ on KNOB. She's also a werewolf. One night, she wonders aloud about Bat Boy, the tabloid staple, and asks people to call in with their stories. Calls pour in, and her boss asks her to make it an ongoing theme. Soon, she's syndicated across the country, doling out advice about dating a werewolf, and pissing off the local vampire and werewolf leaders.

The werewolves in this series are about more than just furry animalism. The pack politics that make it so hard for her to disobey her higher-ups highlights several points in our world about consent, power, and bullying. Carl, her pack leader, is adamant he doesn't want her to continue doing the show, because to do so shakes the very foundation of his authority. But she continues, because she needs the show as much as the callers need her to continue putting it on.

Kitty's strength isn't always in her fighting, though she does make a point to take a self-defense class so she can take care of herself. The two most tense moments in the book are defused through her words.

The book sets up a lot of subplots for later exploration, but that's also a weakness. So much of the book is setup, with so little payoff, that it's hard to feel invested in any of the plots at all. The ones that end up getting addressed this book weren't the ones I would've guessed.

I plan on listening to the next book in the series. I'm looking forward to hearing what else Kitty can get up to.

I listened to this book on audio, narrated by Marguerite Gavin. She has an excellent radio voice, and I could believe that Kitty would have her husky alto. But her cadence was sometimes off, changing the meaning of some of the dialogue, and I'd have to mentally fix it.

Kitty book 1

Ms. Marguerite Gavin made for a enjoyable narrator and the book an enjoyable listen, the end.

Very Good

I bought this because I like Marguerite Gavin's Narration on Kim Harrison's Hollows Series Books so much. Anyway, I have enjoyed the first two books in the series and plan to listen to the rest.

Good solid entertainment

Maybe I'll get around to writing a review for the next three in the series, but they probably would be just more of the same. I bought this book more on a whim than anything. Quite frankly I've listened to so many vampire and werewolf books that I swore them off for awhile.
Anyway, I got sucked into the series and listened to 4 out of the 12 in the series - I bought them one after another. So yes, I was highly entertained by the series but I am making myself stop and moving on to other genres. Maybe when i can't find a story that catches my ears, I'll come back to the series. So far the series is a nice easy listen. I am not in love with Marguerite Gavin's narration but she is good and won't drive you nuts.

Not a typical paranormal romance.

I like the overall story and I enjoyed the way the author doesn't let you lock in on the love interest immediately.

Good story, bad narration

I’ve listened to the first 5 books and I really like the story. I should have read the books though. Just an fyi, if you’re going to listen to the audiobooks, prepare for a terrible performance. Every word is over acted and super dripping with too much emotion. It’s very annoying but I still listened to them so idk what that says about me lol.

Gripping!

A beautifully written take on a new wearwolf finding herself in a world that is just accepting their existence! can't praise it enough the narrator couldn't be more perfectly suited!!!

Entertaining - give it a shot

This was an easy read (and I always enjoy Marguerite Gavin). Although it wasn't the most intense or sophisticated read in the genre, I'm interested and will try the next novel in the series. I think it has potential.

A Fun Listen

I also got this book because it was on sale and I wanted something light and easy to listen to. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. I was pleasantly suprised at how much fun it was to listen to and look forward to hearing the sequel.

Loved it!

Simply enjoyable paranormal fantasy, I greatly enjoyed the premise of a DJ werewolf. I will be continuing the story, well written characters and plot