The Undead Pool

January 6, 2014
Harrison’s slow but steady 12th and penultimate Hollows novel (following 2012’s Ever After) puts even more pressure on Rachel Morgan, a witch and bounty hunter turned day-walking demon. A series of magical accidents endangers Cincinnati and its undead community. On the personal front Rachel must balance her bodyguard duties for elf drug lord Trent Kalamack, who was once her sworn enemy, with her growing forbidden attraction to him. When Rachel becomes host to the Goddess’s sentient thought-entities, she holds the futures of elves and demons alike in her hands, but at a terrible risk to sanity and existence. The long-running romantic subplot makes substantial progress, with several cinematic action sequences and major world-building revelations interspersed among more intimate scenes. There’s a general sensation of closure and imminent climax as Harrison maneuvers toward the end, and patient readers are promised a substantial payoff. Agent: Richard Curtis, Richard Curtis Associates.

February 15, 2014

Day-walking demon Rachel Morgan has been through a lot in this series set in a Cincinnati where humans and various varieties of inhuman species coexist. In 2013's Ever After, Rachel learned more about the demon realm and got closer to Elf Trent Kalamack. This follow-up delves even deeper into the troubled history of elves and demons. Wild elven magic is loose in Cincinnati, and if Rachel can't find a way to contain it, the resulting chaos will destroy the city. VERDICT Readers who have followed this series will be overjoyed to have Trent and Rachel finally deal with their complicated history and chemistry, but there is a lot of backstory for a new reader to follow. Loose threads are gathered as Harrison prepares to end this series with one final volume, expected in 2015.

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