Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn

This is one of the series I have enjoyed reading over the past couple of years. I have always enjoyed this series because Kitty is the unlikely hero. It makes Kitty an appealing character and really easy to identify with as she progress through the series. Another reason why I really like this series is that it's just simply put, an enjoyable read. The writing is really witty and Kitty's personality in general makes me giggle. It makes this series the perfect books to pick up when you just want to sit down, relax, have a good laugh, and enjoy a good story. This is one of those books where it is really easy to just sit down for a few hours and read it from cover to cover.

But enough about the series and on to the specifics of this particular book. You're introduced to Kitty, who is a werewolf and a werewolf at the bottom of pack ranks. She has a job on a local radio station and accidentally finds herself with her own radio show after being bored one night and hosting an impromptu late night talk show about the supernatural.

This radio show really brings Kitty into her own, as a reader you can track Kitty growing into her own in both her professional life as well as within the pack. As a fairly new werewolf, Kitty has not really been involved in the inner workings of the pack, and throughout this book she finds that everything she thought about the pack was not necessarily true, and that she might really need to be watching her back more.

There are a lot of elements about the book I really like. Like I mentioned before the book is really witty and funny in parts. Early on in the book an assassin (Cormac) who was hired to kill Kitty, calls into the show to announce this. Instead of doing what every sane person would do and run, Kitty carries on a conversation with this would be killer for several minutes, creating a very sarcastic and amusing bit of dialogue. This type of dialogue is spread out throughout the book, and offers a nice release of tension in moments of high suspense.

I also like the other characters within the book. None of them play huge roles in this particular book (for me this book is really about establishing Kitty and revealing the world through her eyes). Even though no one side character stands out throughout the entire book, they all play important roles and together all play a big role in Kitty coming into her own. Cormac, the werewolf killer is brash in his actions and speech, but throughout the book he proves himself to be a genuinely good guy who is there for Kitty when she needs him to be. Hardin, the police detective, is both diligent in her job and willing to accept and learn about the things that go bump in the night.

The pack dynamic is well, interesting to say the most. There seem to be a lot of crazy people in the pack, and Kitty's reaction to this is what you would expect, "how did I miss this before". I can't really talk to much about the pack in detail without giving a lot away about the book. I will say that T.J. is really a true friend to Kitty, and there relationship reminds me of older brother to younger sister, and really its quite sweet even when T.J. is upset with her.

Vaughn really sets up the book for the sequels by exposing the reader to little bits and pieces of the supernatural, like the church cult and local vampire Family. Overall, I really like this book, it's one of those comfort books you pick up to read when you just need to escape. I would recommend it to just about anyone who enjoys Urban Fantasy.