The Outlaw Demon Wails (Book 5) by Kim Harrison

Rating: 4 out of 5

Mass Market Paperback: 544 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager; Reprint edition (November 25, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780061149825
ISBN-13: 978-0061149825
ASIN: 0061149829

First Sentence "I leaned over the glass counter, squinting at the price of the high grade redwood rods, safe in their airtight glass coffins like snow white"

We are back for the fifth installment of the Rachel Morgan series. Rachel's exploits are finally catching up with her. Someone is summoning a demon, who should be in demon jail, to kill her and it is a rather long list of contenders of who would want Rachel dead. There is a new big boss vampire in town, Ceri has a secret, a Gargoyle now lives in the roof of the church, and Trent is well Trent. There is also a possible love interest in Rachel's life because her life is not complicated enough.

There are some big story developments in this book and lots of revelations about Rachel and her family. It has been hinted at in the previous installments that perhaps Rachel has been living in a bubble her whole life. What did Trent's father do to her? what is her heritage? Why can she do the magic she can do? A lot of these questions are finally answered. Some of the answers were kinda obvious but it was still a surprise on the how and who.

The romance side of Rachel's life is played down in this book. I think it was good as we focused on Rachel and her inner turmoil as she deals with what her life has become and the need for change. I found this refreshing for this genre of book where the heroine usually just careens from disaster to disaster and never seems to take responsibility for themselves. Rachel frequently thinks and says "something has to change, things can not continue this way".

I was glad to see more of and learn more about Rachel's mum. She seems like a really interesting character and refreshing breath of air amongst the cast that are normally involved. She is both sweet, bad ass, funny, and a little crazy. I hope she features more in future books, and takes more of an active role in Rachel's life.

If you are a fan of this series you will want to read this book. A lot of the puzzle pieces fall in place and you get a better picture of the characters and the world the inhabit.

Extras
Head over to Kim Harrison's website to read and excerpt of the fist chapter.