Kitty Raises Hell
Carrie Vaughn
Grand Central, Mar 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 9780446199544

Everyone who goes to Vegas understands the mantra that what happens there stays there; everyone except Kitty Norville as a piece of the Neon City followed her home to Denver. She first realized what happened when the word Tiamat is burned into the door of her restaurant the New Moon. In Vegas (see KITTY AND THE DEAD MAN'S HAND), Kitty tangled with the Band of Tiamat, a lycan group led by a vampire who sacrificed other lycanthropes to the Babylonian Goddess they worshipped. Instead off her Bbeing sacrificed Kitty defeated them and apparently the survivors seek vengeance.

When Paradox PI, a reality TV show that investigates supernatural cases, enter an alleged haunted house; something destroys the trailer they are in and the smell of fire, brimstone, and sulfur permeates the atmosphere. That same odor arises when they conduct a seance at the New Moon; almost immediately the restaurant is on fire. The cameraman taped the incident and catches on the video a humanoid shape in the smoke. Kitty and her pack are magically protected, but the monster kills one of her people who didn't use her potion and several innocents. Kitty has to find out what it is and how to contain it without help from Roman the new vampire in town or the city's master vampire Rick because she deems the price of relying on either of them is too high.

Urban fantasy fans who like the works of Kelly Armstrong are going to relish the latest supernatural thriller. The protagonist is a kick butt heroine similar to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake as both are the lead alpha of an extended family/pack. They each understand the responsibility of protecting their submissive loyal followers. Carrie Vaughn provides another enthralling and spellbinding Kitty tale although this time it pays to read KITTY AND THE DEAD MAN'S HAND first as this is a direct sequel.

Harriet Klausner