Review: A Perfect Blood (The Hollows #10) – Kim Harrison

A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison
Series: The Hollows #10
Published by Harper Voyager on 21 February 2012
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 438
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Purchase
Buy on Amazon |

If you thought the most scary thing Rachel had to fight were the demons and the witch council, think again! There is something even more sinister out there in good old Cincy, and both the FIB and the SI need Rachel's help to solve a new case. And if she doesn't solve it, they just might blame everything on her - just because she doesn't want to give either of them a list with her powers.

A Perfect Blood is as close to a perfect story as any I have read in The Hollows series (so far – yes, I need to say so far, because this series keeps getting better and better). The story starts with Rachel being called in to a crime scene – which kind of surprises her, as both the FIB and the IS usually don’t really want her around until the dusters have finished getting all the evidence they possible can. As she arrives, a very disgruntled Trent is leaving – and he tells her to please answer her phone when he calls her. What she sees at the crime scene had me thinking of this painting by Salvador Dali – only worse:

I won’t say much more about that, apart from the fact that just reading about what had happened to that poor person was really creepy, and everything Rachel had to go through to try and find the ones responsible made A Perfect Blood a very intense read. Ivy and Jenks are a big part of the story, as they help Rachel even more than usual, and they all agree that something very strange is going on with the FIB. A special task force is working with the police at one point, and Rachel has no idea who they are – or if they are even on their side as things go from bad to worse.

Everything that can go wrong with the case does, and a scary organization that has both man-power, weapons and science is fighting against our lovely heroine. Because they don’t even see her as human, they don’t have any qualms about hurting her… or worse. Rachel’s bravery and smarts is what helps her the most in A Perfect Blood, especially when she can only count on herself to get out of a very bad situation.

I never stop being amazed at the wonderful character development Ms. Harrison is able to bring forth in all the characters that inhabit The Hollows series, and the way A Perfect Blood unfolded is no exception. Rachel finally is becoming more sure of herself, not caring that some people see her as a demon, she is finally embracing all sides of herself, and it really suits her to be more confident! Ivy has come such a long way since Dead Witch Walking as well, and Jenks, well you know – he’s Jenks! I have always enjoyed Trent (yeah, that light blond hair that moves on it’s own might have a tiny bit to do with that) and he really stepped up his game as well. However, Trent was the most unpredictable character in A Perfect Blood – he stole the first place from Rachel, and if he continues like this, he’ll likely stay in first place for a while.

A Perfect Blood manages to still maintain the humor and the innuendoes, the strong friendship and sense of family, all the while being quite dark, and definitely very creepy. The balance between the creepy and the funny is well done, and Jenks is always there for some comic relief. I enjoyed how some relationships developed further, trust is hard to gain, especially in a world like The Hollows, but it is still possible to have hope, and to change.

As usual, I can only urge you to start The Hollows series  if you haven’t yet, and if you have, but you’re still waiting before reading A Perfect Blood, please just pick it up! You’ll love it! The world-building is still very well done, and I love that I can picture Rachel’s street in my mind, and ‘see’ where her church is, where the graveyard is at, and even Jenks’ stump. The imagery is just as good as in prior books, if not better, thus my need to use some actual images myself to get my point across. Words aren’t enough for me, but they are plenty enough for The Hollows!

“Don’t do that,” I said, my gaze going everywhere but to him. “Do what?” He sipped from his mug, one long leg draping to the floor, the other pulled up slightly. “Sit on your desd and look sexy.”

His eyes touched on mine, and he smiled. “Like your dad. He’s like the ass of a black hole, spewing the universe’s guts to the world.”

Magic, technology – sometimes I failed to see the difference.

 

 

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