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    The Good, The Bad and The Undead
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    The Good, The Bad and The Undead
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    The Good, The Bad and The Undead
    Ebook536 pages8 hours

    The Good, The Bad and The Undead

    By Kim Harrison

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    About this ebook

    From New York Times best-selling author, Kim Harrison, comes the second book in her brilliant series, The Hollows; packed with vampires, werewolves and witches – don’t miss out on this sexy urban fantasy.

    During the last few months, former bounty-hunter Rachel Morgan has been rather busy.

    Having escaped relatively unscathed from her corrupt former employers, she's not only acquired a vampiric room-mate called Ivy, faced werewolf assassins and battled shape-shifting demons, but has also found the time to pick up a boyfriend (even if he is only human) and open her very own runner agency.

    But cohabiting with a vampire, however reformed, has its dangers. Ivy's evil vampire ex-boyfriend has decided that he wants her back, and views Rachel as a tasty side-dish. To make matters worse, Rachel's demon mark is the ultimate vamp-aphrodisiac; one that works both ways.

    The stakes are high, and if Rachel is to save herself and her room mate she must challenge the master vampire and confront the dark secrets she's kept hidden even from herself.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateJun 24, 2010
    ISBN9780007301874
    Author

    Kim Harrison

    The only girl in a large family of boys, former tomboy Kim Harrison invented the first Brigadier General Barbie in self-defence. She shoots a very bad game of pool and rolls a very good game of dice. When not at her keyboard, she enjoys lounging on the couch with a bowl of popcorn watching action movies with The-Guy-In-The-Leather-Jacket. She plays her Ashiko drum when no one is listening, and is hard to find when the moon is new.

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    Reviews for The Good, The Bad and The Undead

    4/5

    1,554 ratings63 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Trent Kalamack is a great villian, completely bad and doing those bad things for all the right reasons.

      Rachel's bravery is starting to grow on me, as is her reluctance to become involved with Ivy.

      The world remains fascinating, and the tomato joke/threat will never get old.
    • 4/5
      This review first appeared on A Weebish Book Blog.Rachel Morgan may have dodged a bullet when she beat a death threat three months ago, but her life is far from stable. There’s a serial killer loose in Cincinnati targeting witches and Rachel has volunteered as bait. Her old boss continues to make her life unbearable, the FIB refuse to investigate Trent Kalamack ‘s involvement in the murders, and her relationship with Nick has hit a rough patch.Rachel and Jenks continue to captivate as their plans continue to go awry in the most unfortunate yet humorous ways possible. Jenks and his family have become favorite secondary characters of mine. He’s such a snarky, mischievous pixie and I can’t get enough of him! They’ve also become quite important to Ivy and Rachel now that they’ve settles into their church’s garden. The two learn very quickly that pixies take home security to a whole ‘nother level. Which comes in handy when a certain troublemaking heroine is almost getting murdered every other day.Ivy, however, is not adjusting well to living with Rachel. She continues to struggle with self-hatred and our heroine is learning all to well that rooming with a vampire who hates being a vampire is not the safest way to live. I guess it’s a good thing for Ivy that she picked a stubborn adrenaline junkie to become pals with.Ever since his appearance in DEAD WITCH WALKING, I’ve had doubts that Nick would make a good boyfriend for Rachel. Those suspicions were confirmed when certain truths about his “hobbies” came to light. Things have irrevocably changed between Rachel and Nick and I don’t see their relationship lasting very long.THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UNDEAD left me anxious for more Rachel Morgan adventures as Harrison answered many unexplained questions from the first novel, and raised even more by the end of this one. The Hollows has quickly become a fast favorite and I encourage urban fantasy fans to add it to their TBR’s as well..
    • 5/5
      Interesting as usual. Rachel is getting just a tad bit evil here ^-^Don't worry, she still rocks.
    • 4/5
      After reading Dead Witch Walking I went out and got the next three in series. I started this one right after Dead Witch, but decided I needed some space in between the books. This one picks up where Dead Witch left off, and you really have to read them in order, because she builds on the story. Ivy just keeps getting better and better for me.
    • 3/5
      Good: strong characters and plot; Rachel Morgan is an interesting protagonist.Bad: clunky, overwritten prose drags down the pacing, lessening the impact of the plot; Rachel's impatience and impulsivity makes her annoying at times; poorly-proofed copy.
    • 4/5
      High paced fun. The motif is continuing with the Clint Eastwood titles... but I'm not seeing them as the movies quite.Mysteries resolved, new things opened, but things carrying on sufficiently enclosed it would probably read OK on it's own. The core story is certainly good enough to be read alone even if the person reading it for the first time wonders a bit about the references to being a mink and so forth.
    • 3/5
      Rachel is having troubles making ends meet after becoming independent runner in this sequel to dead witch walking. She is employed as an inderlander (supernatural population) expert by the FIB who is investigating a series of witch killings. The evidence points towards Trent - the big bad biodrug crimelord from DWW - being involved in the murders. During her investigation she commits herself to become a familiar to a demon, finds out that Trent is a - believed to be extinct - elver, and is attacked by several vampires, amongst those her roommate Ivy.The behavior of Rachel in this book is so stupid it became hard to stay engaged in the story. It seems as if the author couldn't come up with a more believable plotline, and then just took the path of least resistance and made her protagonist act stupidly and - I'd like to believe - out of character (If her character is that way I wouldn't want to read about her).
    • 4/5
      The continuing adventures of independent runner Rachel Morgan. In this adventure, Rachel must find who’s killing all the Ley line witches in Cincinatti. Fun book, reminiscent of early Laurell K. Hamilton.
    • 4/5
      The 2nd in the Rachel Morgan, bounty hunter series. Rachel is also a witch. Full of witches, vampires, pixies, demons, and more. This book was so much better then the first. It was fun, entertaining, suspenseful read. The last 100 pages you can't put it down. It's that good.
    • 4/5
      Not bad at all. Like the early Anita Blake book before they were turning into boring soft porn. Entertaining urban fantasy although not the most original.
    • 5/5
      This book was great! The characters remain engaging, the plots moves quickly and very well, and the ending satisfies :)
    • 3/5
      The Good, the Bad, and the Undead
      3 Stars

      The first book in the series was entertaining enough to continue on to the second, but Rachel and Ivy’s creepy relationship had me putting the book on the back burner halfway through. Nevertheless, a buddy read pulled me back into the story about a year later and I’m grateful to my buddies as the book improved a great deal in the second half.

      Harrison’s world building is very engaging. The dichotomy between humans and supernaturals and the distinctions between the various species makes for interesting reading and raises intriguing questions for future installments.

      The plot revolving around Rachel’s investigation into the disappearance and apparent deaths of several ley line witches develops slowly as new characters are introduced and the suspect pool expands. That said, the action heats up at the halfway mark and the climax and resolution are ultimately exciting and satisfying.

      Rachel is an intelligent and resourceful heroine, but her relationship with Ivy is seriously disturbing. Although Rachel’s sympathy and loyalty toward Ivy is understandable, Ivy is constantly overstepping the boundaries ostensibly out of a desire to help, but its seems more like an attempt at seduction. Moreover, Ivy’s aggression and Rachel’s feelings of guilt and remorse reek of abuse and a form of battered wife syndrome. All of this has a rather distasteful feel to it and puts a damper on an otherwise compelling story.

      Nick and Rachel’s romance is another problematic issue. Nick definitely has his own suspicious agenda and the developments in his characterization in this book do not bode well for the future nor do they endear him to me one iota. Hopefully, he is on his way out.

      On a more positive note, the mystery of Trent and Rachel’s connection, as warped as it seems at the moment, is the most captivating aspect of this book (and the first). Trent is a fascinating character. The more I learn about his enigmatic identity and morally ambiguous business dealings, the more I want to know. Thus, getting to the roots of his contentious relationship with Rachel and discovering what lies ahead for them both is what keeps me interested in continuing with the series.

      All in all, not a bad read despite its problems and the unanswered questions have me eager to read the next one.
    • 4/5
      Urban Fantasy of the Romance Genre - explains it all. It follows all the tropes: Kickass heroine, world full of supernatural creatures, pretty much everything you can think of is here. However, this is one of the better series. Witty repertoire, interesting plot, not too many plot holes, and a really interesting side kick. Its a fun read, but not very deep. Perfect for an afternoon read.
    • 4/5
      A great series with believable characters who beat Anita Blake hands down for sheer believability.I want to know what happens next!
    • 4/5
      Another great read in The Hollows series, though you do start to pick up on certain repetitive phrases and situations at this point. It gets a little annoying at times.
    • 4/5
      My opinion: I thought the first book in the series was good, but wasn't sure when I would read this second book. But lo and behold it was one of the few books on my "want" list that I could actually find at my library, so I figured it was meant to be! This book finds Rachel struggling to make ends meet. Business is relatively slow and then she gets stiffed on a run she did so she can't even pay rent! She then gets pulled into a case by the FIB; someone is killing ley line witches and they think they know who. Their main suspect is a professor in ley line magic and "hire" Rachel to take her class and try to find out any information she can. One of the victims is the boyfriend of Sara Jane (the new receptionist for Trent Kalamack that he hired in the last book). She feels she owes this woman, since she was the only one who was kind to her when she was trapped as a mink at Trent's house. So she agrees to help, but it doesn't take her long to figure out that the professor is not the murderer. She becomes convinced that Trent is actually the killer, all signs point to him, but she can't prove it...yet. With the help of Ivy, Jenks, and Detective Glenn she sets out to find the truth. Will she make it through this run alive? I thought this book was pretty good. It's easy to like the characters (especially Jenks) and it's hard not to develop a connection with them. I liked the story line; it seemed so open and shut, but I know that would have been too simple. And yeah, maybe the ending was kind of predictable, in a way. But it did keep my interest and make me want to read the next book in the series. I really don't care for Ivy too much. Hearing about her fighting her nature all of the time gets old. And Rachel gets annoying at times, she keeps making it hard for Ivy and doing things she shouldn't to provoke her, but she refuses to move somewhere else (which would basically solve her problem). Ivy attacks her a couple of times in this one and she just refuses to change the situation by moving in with her boyfriend. Very frustrating. Plus Rachel continuously puts herself in ridiculously dangerous situations without backup...who does that? Oh well, it makes the story more interesting at least. So, while not as good as some series I have read, it definitely sucks you in anyway and want to read the rest of the books! My rating: 4/5 stars
    • 5/5
      I thought this book, the second in the Hollows series, was a great improvement over the first book as you start to learn more about Rachel's background and how the backstory of her and her arch-nemesis, Trent Kalamek, intersect. She starts to feel more like a real person in this book. This book is just a lot of fun to read, from the start when Rachel is trying to retrieve the supposedly stolen mascot for the local baseball team to the end when she is facing down the witch hunter. After reading this book, I'm convinced that I will continue to read books in this series.
    • 4/5
      There is a lot of pseudo-angst around Ivy and Rachel's living arrangements that I could have done without. It's like Harrison was trying to put in some lesbian tension without actually having the characters be lesbian. It fell short and felt kinda... greasy... because they'd have their pseudo-lesbian spat and Rachel would run off to have detailed sex with Nick (who, by the way, is as flat a character as I've ever seen in these kind of novels).That being said... the story does pick up just after the halfway point and the plot actually becomes quite interesting and the author at least attempts to explain the weird relationship between Rachel and Ivy... though I never did end up liking Nick at all. Rachel can and should do better than that sad sack.I will certainly be reading more in the series since I'm beginning to quite like the dynamics between Rachel and the rest of the recurring characters.
    • 4/5
      I finished this book last night - it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I did enjoy it, but it seemed a bit forced to me. I did find the plot twists to be interesting enough to keep my attention to finish it. I will continue to read the series.I do like Rachel for the most part, but I find her to be incredibly selfish and careless. I also find the relationships to be contrived, forced in a lot of ways. I hope that she gets better as the series goes along because I do like the premise of the series and it has a great potential to be fantastic.
    • 5/5
      This was such a fun audiobook! Years ago, I read the first several books in this series but never went any further for some reason. I meant to but I guess I got distracted by other shiny books or something. Since I knew I need a refresher before moving on with the series, I thought that a re-read would be a perfect choice. I am almost positive that I liked it even better this time around.This book starts with a bang. Rachel and Jenks are in the middle of a run....and things don't go as smoothly as they would have hoped. One thing leads to another and before you know it Rachel is in the middle of a much bigger case and has a new human sidekick to go with the gig. This book really has a lot packed into it with a pretty compelling mystery at the heart of the story. There are a lot of side plots that also keep the story moving.I love the characters. Rachel is just all kinds of awesome. I like she handles herself in really difficult situations. She keeps an even head and can think about things from different points of view. She also tries hard to do what is right. Jenks is nearly perfect. He is tough and always seems to add a lot to every scene he is a part of. Ivy is still a bit of a mystery but I like the tension she adds to story.Marguerite Gavin is the perfect choice for narrator with this series. She is somehow able to capture each of the different characters in this book flawlessly. Each character's voice was unique and fit their personality. I was able to stay completely focused on the story and had a hard time setting it aside to do anything else. I think that her narration really made the story come alive.I would highly recommend this series to fans of urban fiction. I do think that this is a series that really should be read in order since some of the story builds on previous books. I can't wait to move on to the next book in the series.
    • 4/5
      I am really enjoying this series. I find myself thinking of it like a female version of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. I'm not sure yet if I'll want to buy the series, but it could end up that way depending on if the books get even better later on. Rachel is a great female protagonist and I love all the secondary characters. The narrator of the audio version - Marguerite Gavin - really brings everyone to life. There's lots of subplots revolving around these characters and I'm eager to see how the all play out.
    • 4/5
      In this book (second in the series), Rachel (main character) again comes into contact with a Mr. Trent Kalamack (a.k.a the bad guy), as she tries to solve the murders of several witches in her city of Cincinnati . There are Master Vampires, demons, and all the other fun fantasy types of “monsters” involved. There’s even a troll. In short I think this whole series, so far. The use of a witch as the lead character is a kind of relief from all the other books of this genre. She’s flawed and more human then many other heroines I’ve read before, which in turn makes her more interesting to read. I enjoy the fact that the author doesn’t just stay with one or two types of mythical creatures but broadens it out to cover what I believe a more realistic view of this situation. I mean if all the creatures we always viewed as myths suddenly become a reality, it wouldn’t be just vampires or just were-animals now would it? Well either I don’t think so. The demon in this book sounds like he’d be a lot of fun to hangout with. All the sarcasm between all the characters makes it a fun and easy read. The only problem that I had with this book is the sexual content. Don’t get me wrong I love a good sex scene but it seems like these books might be slipping into the same thing that turned me away from the Anita Blake books. You’ll read the first couple books and think right on these are awesome but then down the road they turn more into romance novels where every other 10 pages you come across another detailed sex scene where you learn yet another synonym for the male genitalia. I can’t stand romance novels and I feel they are a stain on all types of literature everywhere. Anyways I hope I am wrong and this series stays to the main point of all the mischief Rachel gets herself into and out of. So far this series remains in a my good read category.
    • 4/5
      The Good, The Bad, and The Undead is the second installment of The Hollows by Kim Harrison. It is safe to say that I enjoyed myself more reading this book than the first- it was pretty damn entertaining! I should probably be giving it a 4.5 stars... not quite 5 stars for me, but close enough! The storyline was more exciting and totally intense at times.As the characters are coming together I'm starting to see some awesome development- I find myself enamored with Jenks! A little annoying with his nonstop jibberjabber, but I love that he has a million children and spats sarcastic remarks out all the time. I'm beginning to love Rachel in this book more too, even though I don't understand her relationship with Ivy. (One of my friends told me I'm cold hearted for not getting it, haha! But who wants to live with a friend if you constantly have to walk on eggshells? The perfume thing? Bah!) Ivy does have a wonderful story developing though... I'm on an emotional roller coaster with her in this book. Up, down.. Up... Down. Now, on with the plot! (I said that like... Off with her head! Yea, I don't know either.)So, there is a string of witches that are turning up dead- we've got a serial killer on our hands. The human cops turn to Rachel and hire her on as a consultant. After all, they've got no one on their team that knows much about Inderlanders and they want to catch the bad guy before the IS. But is Rachel the next witch on our serial killer's list?Rachel finds life more intriguing and confusing than ever in this book... Ivy begins to drink blood again. Nick, her boring boyfriend, becomes her familiar. We meet Piscary- a 400 year old powerful and dangerous vampire. Her former infamous enemy, Trent Kalamack, becomes her employer. Big Al is back for more fun and she's got that serial killer to stop. Miss Morgan is living in the fast lane, but that's ok, she doesn't like to slow down. ;]By the end of this book, I was literally DIEING to know more about Trent. IS HE A BIG VILLAIN OR NOT? I have a crush on this man. Ah, I also can't wait to get more information on Kisten Phelps. I already have the rest of this series, what am I waiting for? I need to read them! (And so do you!)
    • 4/5
      I cannot tell you how much fun this series is. They remind me of when Laurell K. Hamilton could write a good story without all the purple prose and graphic sex. Don’t get me wrong, Harrison can write good, steamy scenes too but they’re shorter and leave a lot to the imagination. This book finds Rachel with a boyfriend, a crazed master vampire threatening her roommate if Ivy doesn’t bind Rachel’s unbound demon mark, a demon, the return of Trent, FIB, a troll and … oh did I mention the baseball game?
    • 5/5
      I thought the second book in this series read a lot better than the first one. Rachel finds out she's actually a very powerful ley line witch, which gives her some strength beyond charms and splat guns. We find out Trent's big secret, and learn more about Ivy's family. Rachel agreeing to to both become the demon's familiar and keep Trent's money was a solid capper to the book. I'm happy that Harrison is giving her heroine complex depth of character.
    • 4/5
      A good sequel to Dead Witch Walking. I missed Ivy within this book, I liked her as a character in the first book, and her diminished role in this one was unexpected. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.
    • 4/5
      I liked this book more than the first one. The world is starting to shape up a bit more, and I am enjoying the characters more. I especially am intrigued by Kisten. He is a character you just can't figure out yet. Is he good... or is he bad... but in a good way I like the direction of Trent. I love Jenks. I felt Ivy was better in this book. I am beginning to understand her character more. Rachel wasn't as annoying in this book. Nick, however irritates me. I liked Captain Edden and Glenn.
    • 5/5
      This is the second book in the series about Rachel Morgan, ex-IS runner, white witch and now paranormal investigator. The first book was a solid enough read, introducing the reason behind humans and Inderlanders and the characters which inhabit the Hollows, while being nothing spectacular. This book ramps up the action, suspense, excitement, eroticism, terror - it is a whirlwind of a story that doesn't let you breathe until the last page has been turned.Here Rachel is experiencing trouble meeting her rent payments and suffering from a lack of cases that would provide her income. So she ends up taking on a case through the FIB through necessity - someone is killing leyline witches in a gruesome manner and the FIB want to know who. Rachel finds it easy enough to accept the case, since it seems as though she'll also be able to return to her investigation of Trent Kalamack, a mysterious figure who managed to evade being taken in by the FIB in the first book of the series.In the course of her investigation Rachel manages to gain a familiar, find out Kalamack's heritage, come to the attention of the master vampire Piscary, take Nick to meet her mother and meet again the demon she dubs Big Al. There are a number of twists in this book that kept me guessing, and I was glad to see the characters gain more and more dimensions.I particularly love the little details that help to flesh out the world of the Hollows - everything from the fact that Jenks the pixy wears red if he is travelling across the territories of other pixies and fairies to show his harmless intentions; to the fact that humans have an innate distrust of tomatoes since they carried the Angel virus that caused a quarter of humanity to die out. Harrison has also created a menacing otherworld in the form of the ever-after, which lends power to leylines and happens to be where demons roam - I enjoy the way she turns fairytales on their head by showing that rather than finish 'and they lived happily every after', they actually finish 'and they lived in the ever-after'.As well as the excitement, the violence is ramped up in this book - and some of it is not for queasy stomachs. The descriptions of the witch deaths and Ivy's nasty experience left me with raised eyebrows.All in all, Harrison has produced a book that is heavy on the entertainment and light on any of the issues I had with the first book. The characters are intriguing, especially Al the demon and Trent, about whom we learn a great deal more in this book. In fact, a lot of the niggling little mysteries from the first novel are cleared up here in an outstanding fashion. I simply cannot wait to move onto the third in the series!
    • 4/5
      Just as good, if not better than the first book! Yummy!
    • 4/5
      Someone's killing ley-line witches, and Rachel's on the case, which will unfortunately bring her back in contact with bad-guy Trent, tempting vampires, and the demon in whose debt she may find herself, AGAIN. Good and fast-paced, though I am finding Rachel frustrating and a bit disturbing. Seems to be going in the Anita Blake erotic direction...