Kitty's Big Trouble

Kitty Norville, Book 9

By: Carrie Vaughn

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's Summary

Kitty Norville is back and in more trouble than ever. Her recent run-in with werewolves traumatized by the horrors of war has made her start wondering how long the U.S. government might have been covertly using werewolves in combat. Have any famous names in our own history actually been supernatural? She's got suspicions about William Tecumseh Sherman.

Then, an interview with the right vampire puts her on the trail of Wyatt Earp, vampire hunter. But her investigations lead her to a clue about enigmatic vampire Roman and the mysterious Long Game played by vampires through the millennia. That, plus a call for help from a powerful vampire ally in San Francisco, suddenly puts Kitty and her friends on the supernatural chessboard, pieces in dangerously active play. And Kitty Norville is never content to be a pawn....

Leader of the pack: listen to more titles in the Kitty Norville series.

©2011 Carrie Vaughn, LLC (P)2011 Tantor

Critic Reviews

“Vaughn's top-notch paranormal series is as strong as ever. Readers of Kim Harrison's ‘Hollows’ series and Jim Butcher's ‘Dresden Files’ will appreciate Kitty's sarcastic wit, ingenuity, and independence.” ( Library Journal)

Not one of her best

This was clearly not one of the best books in this series. Kitty seemed silly looking for historical figures who were also werewolves. She looked even sillier on a quest fro a magical object. Really!!!??? The story was a complete departure from what I like about the books: the relationships of the werewolves, and the relationship of Kitty, Ben, and Ccormac. The story wasn't very interesting, but I listened because I kept hoping it would get better. It didn't. The narrator was great. If it had no been for her I wouldn't have been able to get through the book. I hope the next book returns to the Kitty of previous books.

Not one of her best

This was clearly not one of the best books in this series. Kitty seemed silly looking for historical figures who were also werewolves. She looked even sillier on a quest fro a magical object. Really!!!??? The story was a complete departure from what I like about the books: the relationships of the werewolves, and the relationship of Kitty, Ben, and Ccormac. The story wasn't very interesting, but I listened because I kept hoping it would get better. It didn't. The narrator was great. If it had no been for her I wouldn't have been able to get through the book. I hope the next book returns to the Kitty of previous books.

Marguerite what happened???

How could the performance have been better?

There are very few story tellers as good as Marguerite Gavin! She is a true gem in her field, however it is not fair to her nor her listeners if she sounds HORRIBLE with flu and jacked up on pain pills! Did editing not notice all the slurring? It is so distracting and uncomfortable to listen to I can barely deal with the story.

Very good addition to the series :)

4 stars

This was a very good story and addition to the series. This story takes place mostly in San Francisco after a short detour to Dodge city. Kitty is trying to track down which famous people from the past had dealings with the supernatural or were supernatural themselves. When she hears a story about Wyatt Earp being a hunter who cleared out a group of rogue vampires in the Dodge City area in the past, Kitty has to go check it out and see if she can find any clues that the story might have been true. Kitty, Ben and Cormac go on the trip (Cormac having gotten permission from him parole officer to travel) so when Kitty gets a call from Anastasia (a vampire she met and allied with in [book:Kitty's House of Horrors|6620129]) needing help, all 3 of them end up heading to San Francisco to meet up with her.

Anastacia called Kitty because she is trying to keep Roman from getting a talisman of great power. They all meet up in Chinatown and proceed down into mystical tunnels that require a guide to navigate. The situation isn't the best and Anastacia's vampire arrogance doesn't really help matters any. They run into some interesting supernatural creatures in the tunnels, as well as some chinese "gods". Things are pretty much constantly on the move and Kitty and company have some difficulties to get past before things are finished. Things do turn out well though and Kitty, Ben and Cormac are able to go home and continue their lives.

This was a very good story. I still like Kitty as a heroine and Kitty and Ben are a good couple overall. The story itself was very good and progressed the series storyline pretty well. I'd recommend this story and series.

What happened to Marguerite?

I love Marguerite Gavin, I don't understand what was up in this book, maybe she had a cold and they were in a time crunch.... the rest of the story was okay, I am getting tired of Kitty acting really stupidly, she should know better by now.

Big Trouble In Little China!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you could sum up Kitty's Big Trouble in three words, what would they be?

Interesting, Entertaining, Fun!

What other book might you compare Kitty's Big Trouble to and why?

Similar to Cat and Bones....

Which scene was your favorite?

When Ben turns wolf and comes and finds Kitty....very sweet!!!

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

I kinda did! lol

Any additional comments?

Love this series...Highly recommend!!!!! And this installment was very good....kept my interest from beginning to end!

It was okay--

I love Kitty, but I just didn't not get into this one the way I have in the previous books. (The last couple have been off for me.) I was really interested in the historic bent that the book started on - then we derailed to San Francisco and Roman... and I only half-listened through the last couple of hours so I'd know what happened. Hoping the spark is back in the next book! :) PS: Love Marguerite Gavin as always!

Har, har :)

Kitty Norville is back in Kitty???s Big Trouble. In this installment, Kitty, Ben, and Cormac try to keep a powerful artifact out of the hands of the dreaded Roman-not an easy task. This volume is a great addition to this series because we actually learn more about some of the vampires. Of course, many characters comment on the fact that Kitty is a werewolf with a feline name and all the preternaturals find it knee-slapping. I love it when Carrie Vaughn writes this joke into her books. It is a horrible joke and invokes that ???har har??? feeling in the reader but the preternatural cast, excluding Mr. Kitty and Kitty herself, genuinely find it amusing and relatable. So, the use of this joke adds an ???old quippy friend??? element to the tenor of this series that is endearing and brings a sympathetic and loyal smile to a reader???s face. Marguerite Gavin is still great!

huh?

don't get me wrong, I luv the series and can't wait to listen to the next book, but this was my least favorite of series so far..too many characters that came in n out,too many unexplained events.

Big Trouble in Little China

In San Francisco’s Little China, Kitty learns that there are more supernaturals in her world than she ever dreamed of.

I can’t say it enough; I’m so happy to be doing a re-read of the Kitty books, especially of the later books. It’s like NetFlixing a TV show all at once instead of watching an episode a week (or even less frequently!)—the experience is much richer when all the details of the previous stories are fresh in my mind. I know some people don’t care for rereading, and that’s okay. I’m learning that, for me, rereading is essential to my enjoyment.

Kitty’s Big Trouble (as in the movie Big Trouble in Little China), introduces Kitty to some of the Chinese supernaturals that have manifested in the New World. Kitty, Ben, and Cormac travel to San Francisco to help Anastasia, who we met in House of Horrors, retrieve a powerful Chinese artifact before Roman, the “big bad,” can get it.

I liked Anastasia when we met her in House of Horrors. Her rivalry with Odysseus Grant was a little annoying, but ultimately understandable. Her love for her companions, vampire Gemma and human Dorian, was admirable. In Big Trouble, we learn more about why Anastasia is so paranoid about Roman and his machinations, and the lengths to which she’ll go to fight him.

Roman isn’t just the unseen “boogie man” in this novel has he has been since Raises Hell. He is in San Francisco at the same time as our heroes, actively seeking the artifact for a nefarious purpose. Our heroes tangle with him a couple of times, and he delivers an ominous message at the end of the book that is meant to make them, and us as readers, understand that our heroes live for now ONLY because Roman doesn’t feel they’re significant enough to bother with. Of course, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing that ignites Kitty’s stubbornness, so you know it’s only going to make her fight harder.

I enjoyed the supporting characters in this book. Grace Chen, a psychic in San Francisco, helps our group because of a promise made to Anastasia by Grace’s ancestor; one Grace thought was more myth than reality. The San Francisco vampires were interesting as well. I’m not sure if any of them will return in a future story, but they serve to expand what we know of Kitty’s world. We also get a brief conversation with Allette, who we met in Washington, and get a new but tiny piece of information about Rick’s past. Amelia gets to shine a bit more as well, as Cormac casts spells to help the group find the artifact and fight Roman.

I think Marguarite Gavin does a great job of narrating Kitty’s stories. The vocal distinctions between characters isn’t always great, but her voice has a good radio quality that is perfect for Kitty. Gavin also narrates The Hollows series by Kim Harrison, which I enjoy as well. In Big Trouble, Gavin’s narration of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, reminds me of Jenks, which just made me smile. Since they are both “trickster” type characters, the similarity is completely appropriate.

Finally, though they didn’t get explored near enough in this installment, I think the questions about General Sherman being a werewolf and Wyatt Erp being a hunter are really cool! I think those are some great seeds for future stories.:)