Kitty and the Silver Bullet

Kitty Norville, Book 4

By: Carrie Vaughn

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Kitty's radio show is as popular as ever, and she has a boyfriend who actually seems to understand her. Can she finally settle down to a normal life? Not if this is just the calm before the storm.

When her mother falls ill, Kitty rushes back to Denver - and right back to the abusive pack of werewolves she escaped a year ago. To make matters worse, a war is brewing between the city's two oldest vampires, threatening the whole supernatural community.

Though she wants to stay neutral, Kitty is again drawn into a world of politics and violence. To protect her family, her lover, and herself, she'll have to choose sides. And maybe become what she hates - a killer.

©2009 Carrie Vaughn, LLC (P)2009 Tantor

There’s no place like home

“You can never have too much family.”
Kitty’s chickens come home to roost as she heads back to Colorado. On the one hand, it gives a better ending than in book 1, where Kitty essentially tucked tail and ran. There’s a slightly larger group of returning characters and we get to see Kitty surrounded by family instead of being a solo operator.

On the other hand, this plot line was the weakest of the books so far, with the power players and Kitty repeatedly making stupid decisions. For example, given her former pack’s sense of smell, how could Kitty believe she could just hang out in town and stay under the clan radar? Of the detective who keeps charging in without factoring in vampire mesmerism? And, now that the world, and the legal system, are aware of vampires and weres, wouldn’t many conflicts be easily diffused by cameras and recordings? (For this last, the author attempts to give vampires the selective ability to fry technology, however, it didn’t ring true).

“I thought you’d be taller.”
I was also disappointed in the ways that the various bad guys were so easily defeated after so much buildup. Finally, it was really aggravating to have all the power players talking about Them, while explaining absolutely nothing. I found it unrealistic to think that the vampire King of Colorado wouldn’t explain the importance of control, how worldwide supernatural politics worked, or what the mysterious external threat was. It seemed needlessly cryptic and for the sole purpose of making money by spreading the reveal over more books.

Nice addition to the series, added a deeper plot

Ok, something about the name "Kitty" turned me off this book for about a year, finally I gave into to all the recommendations. I am glad I did. She is funny and so unlucky, it reminds me of Stephanie Plum in Janet Evanovich series, but much much more unlucky. I got hooked quickly and I only have one book left in the series. Each book builds on the last, and average about 7 hours a piece just enough time for Kitty to get herself in trouble and right back out of it again. This is not a deep book but enjoyable just the same. It's light at times, funny, and then serious but not so overwhelming that you can't set it down and come back to it. Its a good light read and the narrator was just perfect for the book, she tells the story in a light enjoyable way, and she has become the voice of Kitty in my mind.

Kitty grows up

What did you love best about Kitty and the Silver Bullet?

This time you get to see Kitty start to grow up. She returns to Denver (not the best idea, but had to be done) and the stakes are higher than you think - pun intended. This is the first time you get to see a contrast between the young girl you meet in book one and the mostly self assured woman in this book.

What other book might you compare Kitty and the Silver Bullet to and why?

Probably The Hallows series by Kim Harrison. It doesn't hurt it's the same narrator (a big reason why I chose this series originally actually). The paranormal feel is similar. There is less of a variety of "beings" but the idea of danger and running for your life (and law enforcement on one scale or another) is present. Plus there is clear character development going on for all.

Which scene was your favorite?

I didn't have one.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Kitty is taking a bite out of Denver, and life! (Cheesy!!)

Any additional comments?

Normally I don't care for werewolf books. They don't sit right with me. I like the series, and thought it was different enough to continue. I thought most of the books were something to pass the time. This was better and probably my favorite book so far.

little too YA for me but good

little too YA for me but guess but guess who's downloading the next book...yup gotta see

This means war!

My rating: Teen (violence)
Favorite character: Kitty's mom

It'll be difficult to write about this book without spoilers, but I'll give it a try. Kitty's family is dealing with personal hardship, and Kitty decides to return to Denver to be with them. She has been kicked out of Denver by the local pack alphas, so she has to keep a very low profile.... You can see where this is going. Kitty? Low profile? Hah!

The vampires are behaving strangely, or MORE strangely, and there is a new vamp in town. She's a famous actress/singer, and she's been on stage for more than 40 years...without aging. She wants to out herself on Kitty's show, so Kitty does the radio show out of the Denver office while the vamp is in town for a concert. The vamp seems so nice, so easy to talk to, so accommodating; fake much? Oh yeah! And Kitty gets mixed up in the middle of it, taking Ben with her. She also decides to help a young wolf with daddy issues, and that can't be good either. Needless to say, Carl and Meg find out she's in Denver, and they're out for blood.

The whole story gets royally mixed up, until it's hard to tell where the good guys are, and Kitty's group of friends have to straighten things out. We even find out more about vampire culture in this one. It's a rip-roaring ride! Very fast-paced and exciting.

Love Kitty

And live Carrie Vaughn. Keep writing books and I’ll read every one of them. I’m ready for the next Kitty book!

Boring

This was my first Kitty Norville book and after finising the Sookie Stackhouse series I was looking forward to beginning another series of vampires and werewolves. Thank goodness I bought this one on sale; if I had used a credit for it, I'd be really annoyed. The book begins in the middle of a scene and there's no exposition of the characters or things that happened in the first 3 books. After an hour and a half, I'm still not any more into the characters or the plot, just bored. Maybe if you know the back story from reading previous books, this book will work for you. But even the werewolves and vampires couldn't keep me engaged.