Review: A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison

A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison

My Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati, terrifying amalgams of human and other. Pulled in to help investigate by the FIB, former witch turned day-walking demon Rachel Morgan soon realizes a horrifying truth--a would-be creator is determined to make his (or her) own demons. But it can't be done without Rachel's blood. - GoodReads

The Hollows series by Kim Harrison has been a must read for me for the last 8 years. She introduced me to the world of Urban Fantasy which resulted in opening the doors to Paranormal, Dystopian etc. etc. I was torn on what rating I wanted to give this book as my love and respect for her books should have immediately rated it 4+ stars. However, I settled on 3 1/2 for the following reason: The 2nd half of this book is fantastic. Easily 4 1/2-5 stars. Unfortunately, the 1st half is about 2 stars and I found myself wanting to put the book down so I could go into the other room and watch paint dry.


I won't go deeply into the plot as this is the 10th book in the series and most people reading this review will be Hollows aficionados and will know where Rachel left off in Pale Demon. The book starts a few months after that book and Rachel is wallowing in self-pity because of what happened to Trent, Al and well, just about everyone else. She has chosen to wear a charm bracelet to keep her from tapping a ley-line, ergo, keeping Al from knowing she is still alive. The Rachel Morgan Pity Party is in full swing and I caught myself putting my adoration for this character aside and wishing she would GET THE FUCK OVER IT.  Unfortunately, a by-product of this storyline is the ommitance of several of the things that make this series so awesome, namely, AL, ley-lines, AL, The Everafter, Oh, AND AL  .....

Fortunately, her resident pixie, Jenks, manages to save the first half of the book with the following lines:

"Tinks tampons, Rachel, let's gooooo."

"...They came at 4:30 in the morning, strung the guy up, finger-painted from blood in a bag, and left in a blue car. A guy with a dog found him 37 minutes later and the I.S. flunky responding hit him with a forget charm and sent him on his way. He's fine but the dog is going to need MASSIVE amounts of therapy.."

...and about a dozen more quips that make Jenks so entertaining. I equate him to a chihuahua who thinks he's a great dane.

Trent makes a brief appearance in the first half of the book but makes up for it in the second half, appearing in all-black and driving his fancy cars and of course, rescuing Rachel with his adorable elf magic. *sighhhhh*      Trent and Rachel continue to ignore what they feel for eachother but I have a theory on how this will play out  (see below). 

Finally, AL (Algariept) makes an appearance at the end of the book but fans of this book SHOULD NOT have to wait 294 pages to hear Al say"Hello, Rachel Mariana Morgan."

A Perfect Blood seemed more like a transition book to me. Almost like Ms. Harrison is setting us up for something big. She has announced that there are only 2 books left in the series (sniff,sniff). I have a theory that the next book will be about Al and Rachel and an eventual hook-up between the two. Trent will find this out and realize his true feelings for Rachel which will be the main storyline of the last book.(fingers crossed).

I still enjoyed this book and will eagerly anticipate February for the next installment of this fantastic series and I'll mirror the wise words of our dear Algariept..... " Welcome back, Itchy Witch,"