• The Undead Pool

  • The Hollows, Book 12
  • By: Kim Harrison
  • Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
  • Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (4,158 ratings)

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The Undead Pool  By  cover art

The Undead Pool

By: Kim Harrison
Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
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Publisher's summary

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Kim Harrison returns to the supernatural adventures of Rachel Morgan in the penultimate book of the Hollows series.

Witch and day-walking demon Rachel Morgan knows magic - earth, ley line, even the forbidden demon magic - and that knowledge has saved her life more than once. But now something - or someone - is attacking Cincinnati and the Hollows, causing spells to backfire or go horribly wrong while living vampires attack humans and Inderlanders alike.

The pressures build when the city is quarantined to contain the unreliable magic, and Rachel must stop the attacks before the undead vampire masters who keep the rest of the undead under control are lost and it becomes all-out supernatural war.

The only way to do so is through the ancient elven magic, but that carries its own perils - for magic always has a price, and gods do not come lightly when called.

©2014 Kim Harrison (P)2014 HarperCollinsPublishers

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What listeners say about The Undead Pool

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

THE WAIT IS FINALLY OVER!

If, as I have, you've been following this series from the beginning, this book has been a long time coming. Rachel Morgan has come an enormous distance -- professionally and personally -- since she first decided to leave the I.S. and become an independent runner. She has transformed from witch to day-walking demon and repeatedly saved the world.

Not that the world has been particularly grateful. She keep pulling the world's bacon out of the fire and they keep whacking her over the head. A simple thank you would do!

Ivy has moved on to a genuine relationship -- fragile but real -- with Nina. Jenks has (apparently) finally recovered from the death of his wife, Matalina. Bis, the baby gargoyle, isn't such a baby any longer. He's coming into his own and may just live up to the name he bears amongst gargoyles -- Worldbreaker.

Then there's Trent. Rachel and Trent have been dancing around each other through a lot of pages. Approach, back off, sashay left and do-si-do. Finally all the waiting pays off and we get some long hoped-for romance.

This is a deeply satisfying book on many levels. Kim Harrison not only gives us what we've waited for, but she does it so deliciously. The characters -- even background characters like Trent's irritating fiancé Ellasbeth -- are fully fleshed out. Great characters who have been MIA for a while, such as David and his were-pack, are back and ready to mix it up. Hail, hail! The gang is here!

Will Rachel save the world again? You bet.

A quick summary: Living vampires are rebelling. Their undead masters are asleep, apparently unable to waken. The world is being overwhelmed by wild magic Elven magic and Rachel is at the center of the maelström. There's no question she has been chosen by the Goddess. Why? For what exactly? Where does Newt fit in?

Although not every question is answered in this next-to-last book in The Hollows series, it answer a great many of them. Things you've been waiting for through eleven books finally happen in this, the twelfth volume. It is about time and was absolutely worth waiting for.

There's a lot of exposition in the first half of the book. Action explodes in the second half. The momentum picks up to such an extent I found myself backtracking and rereading to make sure I didn't miss a critical event or piece of information.

I have loved every book in this series and it was inevitable I would love this, too. Unlike many long running series, there's nothing tired about this book. It's as fresh, exciting and rich as it was in the beginning and in many ways, more so. I'm going to read it again. And probably, again after that.

Do not -- please -- read this if you haven't read the rest of the series. You need the background of the characters not to mention a lot of development of relationships. And history. If you haven't read the series, read it. It has been my favorite series for all the years I've been following it and has never disappointed me. It won't disappoint you, either.

As usual, Margeurite Gavin does a perfect job with the narration and if you liked earlier, book you'll love this one -- maybe even more.

This is, in my opinion, the best urban fantasy series. Period.

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Unbelievably Satisfying!

I waited a long time for this (it seemed like forever!) and Ms. Harrison delivered as always :) I totally enjoyed the book. I always like the idea of Rachel and Trent being together, even way back when he put her in the rat's cage! (I think it was a rat, hamster..or rodent of some kind...humm may have to start back over and listen to it again :)) I was really pulling for Ivy....never felt good about Rachel and Ivy hooking up, lol but it was tempting :) Who I was excited about was Nute (sp?) I liked her/his role in the story a lot better than past ones. It seemed like everyone was content or happy except for Al, poor demon. And for all the action junkies, yes we had shoot-um up, blow-um up and knock-um down action. Oh, and I LOVED the mystics! Just imagine what trouble Rachel could get into with new powers from the mystics? ( hint, hint, and a wink) This addition to the series was a good as gorging on chocolate and almonds and finding out you lost 5 pounds because of it!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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My Favourite Hollows Addition!!!!

What can I say here, This book was amazing all the way through.. Its beginning was good and different and the whole book was different than usual, I have really enjoyed this book.. It was full of everything (action, love, hate, and everything)!!!!

Much much development to all the characters, all of them, and too many things got fixed and corrected.

Narration is as good as always.

Really loved this book.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Best Yet!!!

Wow, the fans finally get what we've been waiting for in this one. The entire series is great, but this one is epic! Perfect performance as always from MG. Not into spoilers, so trust me and just get it now. Well worth a credit.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Changing Voices....

I love the story. The changing names and voices, however, really take away from the listening experience. "Edden" has become "Eden" (as in the garden of Eden pronunciation) and Newt's voice is now all high and girly. Margurite has done an amazing job, and Rachel and Jenks still sound the same. Ivy is a bit off... I get the distinct impression that clips from the previous books aren't listened to prior to recording a new book. Not exactly best practices for the consistency of the characters. Not as bad as a whole new narrator, but irritatingly distracting all the same.

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    3 out of 5 stars

A little disappointing.

If you could sum up The Undead Pool in three words, what would they be?

Good, not great

Would you be willing to try another book from Kim Harrison? Why or why not?

Always, she is a very talented writer

What does Marguerite Gavin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Accurate voices, easy to keep up with ready and very fluid work

Any additional comments?

This was a bit of a let down. So much was left unfinished in the end and so many relationships were lost, broken or changed for the worst.
The issue with the vampires immortality never really got touched
The issues with repairing the ever after never got looked at.
What happened after the ever after leak was fixed? Did it recover to its old size? Is it still shrunken? Why would the demons be okay with that if it is still smaller?
What about the demon babies? What happens with them now? Doesn't Rachel care about them now?
Why is she so bloody obsessed with Trent now? She used to be a kick-ass witch and ever since she got rescued from the HAPA group caught them she has gone boring.

A lot of things were left unanswered which were things I wanted to know about. So I was very disappointed in the finale of this series.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Everyone coming full circle

Great book, 16 hours long and I listened to it in two days, that's how good it was. If you are following this series, you won't miss this installment and won't be disappointed. It brings together many of the characters we haven't seen in awhile, such as David and the pack, along with reminders from previous books, not forgetting Tristen and Ceri. The vampires play a heavy role in this one, with Ivy having a larger role. Jinks is at the top of his game, keeping us in stitches with his blunt outbursts of life as he sees it. Al seems to be the heartbreaker of the book, as we see where his torment lies (demon or not, I felt sorry for him) Things seem to be coming to an end as some of the lives of our friends get settled one way or another. The story mainly folds around Rachel and Trent though with yet another adventure to save the world, as they both struggle with personal emotions for each other.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • LV
  • 12-10-14

A strong Heroine sets a terrible example

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend this book, especially to anyone already familiar with the series which is likely to is reading/listening to this already. M. Gavin does an outstanding job, as always.

If you’ve listened to books by Kim Harrison before, how does this one compare?

This book is very much a throw back to the first couple of books where the plot, story and character development appear to take a backseat to the harlequinesqe love story. I thought Kim had worked this out of her writing with Kisten's storyline ending, but clearly she had not and the teen angst returns in full force. Recent books had included love interests and romantic/sexual tension as a plot device, which generally added to the story, but this time it just distracts from it.

Which scene was your favorite?

Newt catching 'fire flies'.

Did The Undead Pool inspire you to do anything?

Discuss with my friends reading the same series why authors must write love scenes where 'no' secretly means 'yes. See below.

Any additional comments?

I'm sure Kim did not mean to undermine the positions of women everywhere who say no and expect a man to understand it means no, but she did. I was simply shocked and appalled at the scenes where Rachel would say 'no' to Trent's advances and then the mental dialog would make it clear that Rachel really wanted to say 'yes' and when Trent forced the issue, sometimes through physically overpowering her, it was OK. If this were my daughter who was saying 'NO' to someone who then pushed her back into a counter and grabbed her arms to force the issue I would hope she would knee this assailant in the private parts and call for the cops. Rachel is a strong enough character, and woman, for Kim Harrison to have put her in as an equal partner in the development/movement of this relationship onto a physical footing. The way it was done makes Rachel seem like a weak woman who really wants it even though she is saying 'no'. Male chauvinists everywhere can read this book and know that they can take what they want when they want it since 'no' clearly means 'yes' to this author. Very sad to see this from this author and I'm very disappointed.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Uncommon Stupidity

Any additional comments?

As with several of the other books it's all Rachel's friends that save the day. I was literally wishing Rachel would just die so Harrison could continue the series with the not beyond idiotic "fool me 52 times" characters Ivy, Jenks, and basically everyone else.I have no problem with the main characters being outwitted or out maneuvered but epic idiocy is inexcusable. She's a daemon now, she should be tried and convicted of "Uncommon Stupidity". I am not sure if Harrison is just that bad a coming up with how to set up the rest of the story or what, but the "trusting" the guy who has out right told her countless times she should be dead because she is a demon... Maybe this time he will be a nice guy and (I cannot even call it a scam it was so obvious) not hurt me had me yelling out loud with no one around, "you have to be kidding me."

All that said, still a really good book, but not because of Rachel. Thank you Ivy, Jenks, Newt, Al and Trenton for making this book worth listening to and bringing me back for the next episode of uncommon stupidity.

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Good

What did you love best about The Undead Pool?

Learning more about the history of the goddess entity and how it all works.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have dropped the Trent romance line. I know a lot of people love this pairing, but I still remember how he was introduced as a drug running murderer and while he had his reasons to keep his secrets, the secret of the survival of the elven race he in my mind is still a murdering scumbag.

Which character – as performed by Marguerite Gavin – was your favorite?

Jenks

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

mostly

Any additional comments?

I hope the final books answers more.

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