Night Life
Caitlin Kittredge
Reviewed by Kat Richardson
Luna Wilder is a hard-nosed, hard-headed, hard boiled detective on the Nocturne City Police. She's also a werewolf — one of Nocturne's marginalized and despised minorities — a fact known to few of her coworkers. Ever since the Hex Riots of twenty years ago, being a were or a witch has been rough and they'll be the first ones blamed for any violence brought to the NCPD's attention. So it's not a surprise to Luna that her most recent homicide assignment is being written off as the werewolf murder of a street hooker. Except that to Luna's keen werewolf nose it's obvious that the victim was the werewolf and whoever — or whatever — killed her was a monster far, far worse. It's not long before there's another victim and Luna's instinct for trouble points toward political corruption, blood rituals, and the trail of a demonic serial killer that goes back over sixty years.
The plot is tight and just twisted enough to keep the reader on their toes, without being a conundrum of brain-numbing complexity. There is also an intriguing backstory and a building personal subplot that gave the story and its protagonist human depth and a great hook for future books. Luna is tough, smart, and fierce, hiding a conflicted and insecure nature behind her drive for justice and independence, without falling into cliche. It's also just a lot of fun to read.
NIGHT LIFE is a little grittier than a lot of Urban Fantasy — more a hybrid of Urban Fantasy and Police Thriller — but still chock-full of the fantastic elements and urban grunge that are the genre's hallmark. Kittredge's style owes a lot more to hard boiled mysteries than to paranormal romance, so those looking for a lighter read with a breezy ending will be disappointed, but readers who enjoy Simon R. Green, Neil Gaiman, Tanya Huff, Lilith Saintcrow, or Jim Butcher should be more than satisfied. For a first novel, it's a real winner. As Urban Fantasy, it's well above the average. I'm looking forward to the next installment in the series already and expect that Kittredge will only continue to improve and surprise with each new book.
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About the Reviewer:
Kat Richardson is the author of the Greywalker urban fantasy novels.
She currently lives on a sailboat in the Seattle area with her husband
and two ferrets, and is looking forward to publication of the third
Greywalker book, UNDERGROUND, in August 2008.
Kat invites you to visit her online at www.katrichardson.com.
Order UNDERGROUND from
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