The Outlaw Demon Wails

By: Kim Harrison

Narrated by: Gigi Bermingham

Length: 16 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

To save the lives of her friends, Rachel did the unthinkable: she willingly trafficked in forbidden demon magic. And now her sins are coming home to haunt her.

As Rachel searches for the truth behind a terrifying murder, an even greater menace threatens, for the demon Algaliarept will stop at nothing to claim her, and the discovery of a shocking family secret throws Rachel's entire life into question. If she is ever to live free, Rachel must first walk willingly into the demonic ever-after in search of long-lost ancient knowledge.

But when you dance with demons, you lay your soul on the line...and there are some lines that should never be crossed.

©2008 Kim Harrison (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

Wonderful, Best Yet....Yet....

I loved the audio book. I believe this was Rachel and Kim Harrison at their best. I have listened to the whole series 7 times (itunes count says so, except this one 4 times) and am still awestruck at the characters and depth Mrs. Harrison gives them. I would recommend this whole series to any of my friends interested in the "Inderland" community.

The only problem is the narrator in this installment. Gigi Bermingham hurt my perception of Rachel by making her seem more whiny than she ought to be. Rachel is conflicted with her emotions, not 13 and whining about love and death. I constantly had to turn down the volume on my ipod, because Gigi would use a high pitched "Moooom" or "Raaaacheel." I beleive that Mrs. Bermingham is more suited for a different style of books.

I would loved to have heard the voice Marguerite Gavin would have given Biss (the gargoyle) and I am glad to hear that she will be back for the next installment and looking forward to "White Witch, Black Curse."

If Mrs. Gavin would re-read this book, I would repurchase it in no time flat.

Thank you for Reading my Review.

Skip this audio, read the book instead

Please note: I'm only rating the quality of the audiobook here.

I'm disappointed with the change of narrator for the 6th book in Kim Harrison's Hollows series. I don't like the change in pronunciation which comes with this narrator. After five books of hearing "ley" pronounced as "lay", instead of "lee", it jars every time she says that word---which is a lot!

Then there's the quality of the recording. The first half of the book or so, there's a very noticeable "open room" sound, like the microphone is picking up the whole room, not just the narrator. And what's with the music lead-ins and bumpers? The placement of the bumpers isn't consistent: some mark section breaks, others mark a chapter break---even though she says, "Chapter X" at the beginning of each chapter.

But finally, the thing that annoys me the most is the characterization of Ivy, Jenks and the demons Al and Minias. Due to GiGi Bermingham's narration, Ivy's own sultry tones are gone. I never would have suggested a narrator needs to read all the books that come before until this audiobook.

Ivy has changed a lot in the series and this was a good book to see her progress in---but the narrator puts the usual emotions (ones Ivy usually doesn't permit herself to express) in everything Ivy says.

Ms. Bermingham pitches Jenks too high. She sounds too much like she's trying to fake a kid's voice---and Jenks isn't a kid.

With the demons, there's too much snobbery in her voices---especially with Al. She sounds like a bad actor trying to do a British accent when she's doing Al.

As much as I have loved listening to this series (I read it the first time), I'd pass on this audio and read the book. I'll definitely be very cautious in choosing any books Ms. Bermingham does in the future.

Here's to hoping Marguerite Gavin comes back for the next book---and perhaps even re-records this one! *THAT* I would pay for!

Poor narration and tired feel of story

There is a new narrator for the book series. I'm not sure why the narrator was changed. I have enjoyed listening to this series, but the new narrator doesn't have the range of voices that the other narrator had. And oddly enough, she pronounces some of the names of characters in an entirely different manner--I didn't recogize them at first. I would have thought an editor would have caught such inconsistencies in a listen of this book. This book in the series also introduced musical pauses. While I usually enjoy a musical pause to break up a book, the pause music in this book is dramatic and seems like a soap opera-ish touch. The text, too, seems sort of repetitive, in terms of Rachel Morgan rehashing the same thoughts and concerns over and over again. I would like to see fresher writing in Harrison's next book. This story doesn't seem to have the fun touch in it that the other books have.

The new narrator only a little annoying

I read that the new narrator mispronounced words etc. and she does, but the story has so many suprises that will blow your mind, you have to read it to keep going with the story. Loved it.

Good one

Not my favorite, but still an entertaining story.
Found myself laughing as usual.

Finally!!

The two of you that follow my reviews know how I feel about Rachel Morgan (to summarize for the rest of you- lets just say... its bad. She is not on my Christmas card list- or winter solstice... whatever).

This, which is like the 12th book in the series, (6... whatever... these books are SOOOOO LONG that it feels like more), is the first book where Rachel actually THINKS about what she does before she does it. The first time. Ever. In 6 books and at least 50 times her life is at stake. The first time she stops and thinks before she does something. She does it anyway, but at least she THINKS about it this time. And that's progress. (Do you see why I get frustrated with her????).

Anyways- without giving too much away, this book means BIG THINGS for Rachel. Lots of secrets exposed and other day time drama stuff. If this was the first book, I wouldn't have such mixed feelings about Rachel.

I am, by the way, Team Jenks. Always.

This narriator is good.

Sure, Gigi says a few of the names/terms slightly different, but it is nowhere near as bad as the other posters have said. I had to post this because others are doing this reader a great disservice. While she is no Kate Reading, her tone and style with Rachael's voice is spot on. Her Jenks voice needs a little work, but her reading otherwise kept me more involved than I had been in any of the other books. You can hear the snarkyness(best word to come to mind) in Rachaels voice when she reads this one. I'm actually a little disappointed the other narriator did the rest... overall I will say this series is developing slow, and all the books have felt like the same story with different filler. If it were not for Jenks I would have stop "reading" after book 1.

The Narrator is so distracting...Story Great

I can't agree more with the rest of the reviews on the narrator. I would have given this 5 stars otherwise. I too would have opted for the paperback if i had listened to the recorded preview first. Never thought about it as i have so love all of the Hollows books on audio. The narration really does take away from the story as i found myself hurrying thru the story just to get past the narration. So sad as i love this series. Glad to see Marguerite Gavin is back and can't wait to start the next one! She should be the only one to narrate the Hollows series.

New narrator is not great.

She says so many words incorrectly. Her voice for Jenks is TERRIBLE. I don't understand why Kim Harrison didn't correct her.

book is good narrator sucks

I enjoyed the book but the narrator mispronounced half the word and have bad accents