Carrie Vaughn, Kitty Goes to War

Kitty Goes to War

Carrie Vaughn

Tor, Jun 29 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780765365613

Midnight Hour talk show host Kitty Norville is also an alpha werewolf; perhaps the most visible in the country. On her show, she talks with callers about Speedy Mart and its owner Harold Franklin. The discussions focus on verified supernatural happenings at many of his stores. The final call-in for the evening insists Franklin is always there when a weather catastrophe occurs. Before she can react, his lawyer sues her. They meet, but accomplish nothing.

Meanwhile Kitty gets a call from the NIH Center for the Study of paranormal Biology. A werewolf soldier in Afghanistan infected other soldiers; they were successful as a unit until the alpha died. The squad falls apart as the new alpha Sergeant Vanderman kills those who opposed him. By the time they are stateside, only two soldiers and Vanderman remain. They are held at Fort Carson, Colorado as each is out of control suffering from a form of PTSD. Kitty arrives to save the two followers as Vanderman is too far gone. She takes them outside on runs trying to show them what a good pack is like. During a blizzard, one flees from Kitty in an attempt to rescue his alpha Vanderman. Kitty learns Franklin is causing somehow the blizzard. She can see clearly that she must end the storm and find the missing werewolf before feral Vanderman escapes and the storm becomes like another Katrina. Catching Franklin would be the icing on the cake.

Carrie Vaughn continues to expand her wonderful werewolf urban fantasy mythos with an edgy, poignant yet at times amusing thriller. The cast is solid as everyone wants to sue, kill or help Kitty. However, as always this is her tale as she struggles with helping werewolf soldiers suffering from PTSD. She and the audience will be stunned with a twist as Kitty Goes to War.

Harriet Klausner