| Title | : | Kitty Goes to War (Kitty Norville, #8) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0765365618 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780765365613 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 334 |
| Publication | : | First published June 29, 2010 |
Meanwhile, Kitty gets sued for libel by CEO Harold Franklin after featuring Speedy Mart — his nationwide chain of 24-hour convenience stores with a reputation for attracting supernatural unpleasantness — on her show.
Very bad weather is on the horizon.
Kitty Goes to War (Kitty Norville, #8) Reviews
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A solid UF read checking off all the boxes for the time it came out.
You know, support the troops, even the werewolf troops coming back from Afganistan. Give them a safe place for when they might go off the handle and kill folks at home.
It's a decent feel-good novel but nothing all that special. Not really.
A little magic and a humorous new uber-villain (but not for the characters in the book) doing a bit of a murder spree spices up the tale. And then there's the new and improved Cormac the magic user.
I don't know. This is just fluff. It's fine and fairly entertaining but ultimately forgettable. -
Kitty Goes to War by Carrie Vaughn
Kitty Norville #8
Kitty is back with a possible lawsuit from Speedy Mart. She somehow dedicated an entire show on the supernatural going on that is happening at each speedy mart locstion. She once again made enemies while talking on her Kate night radio show.
While she is facing a threat of a law suit she is being asked for help from the United States Army. Apparently the army is experimenting with having werewolves in the army. It was working till their alpha got killed and the rest of the men have PTSD.
Does kitty figure out what is going on with Speedy Mart locstions? Does kitty still get sued? Or does her hubby lawyer get her out of legal trouble again? Finally was kitty able to help the troubled werewolf soldiers?
Raiting: 5 stars 🌟 -
Full disclosure: I won this though the First Read Giveaways and being a winner made me happy.
Kitty Goes to War continues the adventure of Kitty the werewolf, her family, friends, and pack. It is a good installment to the series.
Many UF writers, many series writers in general, tend to set their books in unspecified time.
P.D. James' detective has been the same age for more years than I've been alive.
Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden exists sometime after Star Wars and LOTR, but more than that I don't know. Who knows exactly when Women of the Otherworld and Anita Blake take place?
There are stylistic and other legitimate reasons for such a choice, and I'm not complaining about it.
On the other hand, however, you have writers like
Ian Rankin who not set their stories in the modern time, but age their characters year after year (Scotland Parliament was debating changing the retirement age of detectives just so Rankin's Rebus could keep working).
I thought Vaughn was in the first group, but with this book, she seems to have found a happy middle ground. Kitty must help three vets of the war in Afghanistan come to terms with their werewolf nature while they are suffering from PTSD. While the book is not a comment on the political debate over the war (the book is non-political), it does address the after effects. Any reader comes away knowing that Vaughn, for good reason, cares about soldiers. The use of the werewolves as army figures doesn't come across as a cheap plot device, and in fact, the werewolfism makes a good symbol for how returning soldiers might feel as they have to merge back into society. In this tight, fast paced novel, Vaughn looks at that issue as well as whether is acceptable during war time. Instead of making the use of werewolves in a war look silly, Vaughn has really thought though the question, not just in terms of what a werewolf could do, but what the cost to the person would be and how higher ranking personnel would react to that.
Of course, this is not the only problem Kitty is dealing with. There is the matter of Speedy Mart and the chain's link to various hurricanes, natural disaster, UFOs, and vampires. She also is getting sued. Then there is Cormac who has something going on, but he won't say what. I find this plot point to be very interesting and wonder what Vaughn will next with it. I just hope, she is as funny with it as
Clive Barker.
Vaughn also gives more play to the other female members of the pack, showing Kitty interacting with more than just Ben and Cormac.
Many of the Kitty reviews touch on her relationship with her husband, Ben. While I see the relationship has being developed too quickly and suddenly, I have discovered that I like it for one very good reason.
If you look at the UF genre, heroes with really tragic pasts dominate.
Anita Blake lost her mother in a car crash, her father couldn't take it like a man (whatever that means), her stepmother doesn't like her because her first zombie was the dead family dog, her first serious boyfriend dumped her because of his racist mother, and she was almost killed by a vampire who left her with major scars.
Harry Dresden lost both his parents, his first teacher tried to kill him, and his first girlfriend seemed to have died in the battle for his life.
Kelley Armstrong's first main character, Elena, lost her parents, was abused physically and raped in foster care all before her one true love turned her into a werewolf, and it might not have been accident. Other characters in Women of the Otherworld have equally tragic pasts even more connected to their powers, though they are in committed relationships.
And this doesn't include the hurt the hero game in each series (which is why we read). Or the fact that some heroes have tragic relationships. Additionally, these characters are unique because of their tragic pasts and the fact they have more power (or different) power than similar beings in the series.
Kitty, it is true, was date raped; however, date rape is real. Kitty's reaction to it is also real. Kitty's recovery from it is real. This recovery is not something that you see very often in other UF. Kitty is not even a super powered werewolf. Kitty comes from a good family, all of whom are alive, none of whom was abused. She even has a real job. She has a good marriage.
Kitty is the most well adjusted and normal werewolf in UF writing, though she didn't start out this way. In a genre where bearing your angst from book to book and rehashing it every two pages seems to be the normal, it's nice to see Kitty - normal, everyday, but still kicking butt. I think that this aspect of the series gets over looked. It shouldn't. In many ways, it makes the Kitty series more hopeful than other UF. Kitty had something bad happen to her, but she worked though it and came out whole.
We shouldn't disregard that message. -
This is the eighth Kitty Norville book, a series that I've been reading in a most hit-and-miss, out-of-sequence fashion, some via audiobook and some in prose editions, but one that I've been enjoying nonetheless. There are two storylines in this one, both of which are entertaining on their own but that I didn't think fit together too well. Kitty attempts to rehabilitate (or reintegrate) werewolf troops who've just returned from the war in Afghanistan, while simultaneously coming under attack by a weather-wizard she's offended via her radio call-in show. (I guess that if I think the stories didn't mesh well, Kitty must've thought it was really messed-up.) One of the highlights is that Cormac returns and Kitty and Ben meet Amelia; Ben is still a bore, but Cormac is one of the best developed changing characters I've encountered. (He was -really- unlikable at first...) There's no real advancement to the overall arc with Roman and Rick, but it's still a fast, well-written, and entertaining mid-book in the series.
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In this installment, Kitty is called to aid three returning war vets who tend to get furry every month. I liked that Kitty was able to pull from her past experiences as a new werewolf adjusting and apply it to help these vets transition from the frontline to regular life. The soldiers also seem to suffer from a terrible case of loyalty rolled up in PTSD which makes it even tougher for them to acclimatize.
I enjoyed that Kitty's plate continuously grows with each book as she is also juggling the issues of Speedy Mart suing her and the possibility of supernatural interference, and the fact that big bad Cormick is back in town. This on top of simultaneously trying to deal with the drama of the previous books makes Kitty one busy werewolf.
The slight references to events of past books and Kitty's inability to fully adjust enhance the overall feel of Kitty- a real werewolf, with real problems. I adore the sneak peek convos of Kitty with her mom as it just gives me the warm and fuzzies all over!.
One aspect I relished was that the author did not just turn Cormick into some side character, or tried to play off the connection between him and Kitty. I shipped these two from the beginning, and though Ben has continued to grow on me throughout the series, at my core, I always vote for the misunderstood bad boy rebel *sorry, not sorry Ben*.
As with all my Kitty reviews, I must commend the magnificent Marguerite Gavin for continuing to be the most important factor in my decision to continue this series. Her talent is incomparable to me in the world of audiobooks so kudos to her!!!! Her voice is spectacular and insanely versatile and she weaves an undeniably addictive web to both the story and her storytelling.
While I won't be calling this my favorite book of the series anytime soon I do look forward to reading further into Kitty's life to see how everything unfolds. -
As a writer, I'm impressed by how Vaughn has developed each book in the series. She sprinkles in just the right amount of back story. Info dumps aren't an issue. Instead, each book flows quickly and can stand well on its own--more like episodes of a TV series than a book series.
Here, the action pushes along at a fast pace as two major plots converge: Kitty addresses the weirdness of Speedy Mart stores on her radio show, leading to an odd confrontation with the CEO, even as the Army pulls her in as an advisor in an effort to rehabilitate rogue werewolf-soldiers whose pack leader died, leaving them bereft and homicidal. Also, the character of Cormac plays a bigger role than he has in several books, and some surprising developments emerge. In all, a fast and good read, just as I expect in this series. -
Kitty faces two challenges in this newest adventure: a libel lawsuit and werewolves with PTSD.
The lawsuit is Kitty's fault. Someone, she decided to devote an entire episode of her call-in show to supernatural occurrences involving Speedy Marts without consulting a lawyer to find out if that would constitute libel. No one is surprised when Kitty gets served with papers. There are two defenses to libel--apologize, or prove that you weren't lying. Of the two, Kitty's path should be obvious to her readers.
The werewolves with PTSD are another issue. It seems that a werewolf serving in Afghanistan decided to make his own pack--by forming and biting a unit of Green Berets. After his death, the pack was left in disarray, and the three survivors are being brought up on charges of murder. Ever hopeful, Kitty tries to talk to them and tell them it's possible to lead a normal life as a werewolf . . . while still dodging how much her own change altered all of her hopes and dreams.
Through all of this, Kitty's pack lends its support, although few of them are fleshed out in any way. Someday, I'd like to get to know her packmates better--maybe then I'd understand how she could be their alpha when she herself is so beset by fears and uncertainty. Cormac is a solid, if shadowy, presence in the story as well. Finally, however, readers learn some of what his jail experiences were like, but it's just the basics.
I had hoped that this book would delve into the Long Game, but it does so only tangentially. As with learning still more about Cormac's many mysteries, I guess it'll have to wait for book nine. Or ten. Or maybe even 11. The only thing I know is that I'll keep reading them all. -
I mean, I get that there is a certain amount of suspension of belief we need to do as readers when we read Urban Fantasy, but my god...this was just annoyingly implausible.
So the set up is that Kitty finds out that something fishy is going down revolving around Speedy-Marts. Around the same time she is contacted by the Army (really?) because there was a rogue vampire unit whose Alpha was killed and they need her help. (hmmm) OK.
But then,
Maybe if this would have just dealt with one of the storylines, things would have fallen into place a little better, but the tying them together just did not work for me.
you know, I think my five year old could have made the story more plausible. ugh -
A decent installment in the Kitty series, but this one felt very rushed through. Kitty is thrown into two new situations - both dangerous, of course. Would have preferred a LOT more detail and backstory on both of them, the solution for each was way too pat.
And the Cormac thing - the story on that should've been it's own book, rather than two pages in this one.
Anyone know if there's a novella out there on the topic of what happens to Cormac while he's in prison? If you do, please let me know! = ) -
The plot thread about the werewolf soldiers was poignant and countered the lighter plotline involving the mystery surrounding happenings at Speedy Marts. The wolf elements were well-done as always. It was a bit of delicious fun knowing what was really going on with Cormac before Kitty and Ben were let in on the secret.
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I am a HUGE fan of the ‘Kitty Norville’ series. This is one Urban Fantasy in which the heroine has a very discernable character transformation – going from meek werewolf and runt of her pack, to Alpha of her very own werewolf family. Over the course of eight books it has been fascinating and uplifting to read Kitty as she comes into herself. For me, that’s been the most fulfilling aspect of the books – Kitty’s emotional journey. Especially her finding love with Ben, and entering into a complicated truce with his bounty-hunter cousin, Cormac.
But in this, the eighth Kitty book it feels like Vaughn has sacrificed emotional characterization for an action-packed plot.
In ‘Kitty Goes to War’ there are two major conflicts that Kitty is dealing with. One is a lawsuit brought against her by the owner of a chain-store called ‘Speedy Mart’, whom Kitty has accused on her show of being involved in cultish rituals.
The second is a werewolf-related favour she gets called in for by Dr. Schumacher. Turns out a unit of Green Beret US soldiers who were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan were turned lycanthrope by their commanding officer. This soldier thought to start-up his own, unofficial and unsanctioned, werewolf unit. All was fine until said commanding officer got blown up, leaving his pack Alpha-less and in a power vacuum. Dominance fights ensued and now only three remaining members need Kitty’s help if they have any chance to rehabilitation into civilian life.
Let me just say, the werewolf soldier plot is fantastic! It makes for really intense drama and a lot of werewolf ‘what if’s’ and questions are answered and explored in-depth. Such as – would werewolf soldiers be a breakthrough for the army? How much would pack hierarchy affect their combat training?
I was less in love with the ‘Speedy Mart’ storyline. My disgruntlement was mostly because it was an underdeveloped and second-fiddle storyline to the werewolf soldier’s – but also because it felt like ‘Speedy Mart’ took the place of emotional and relationship development in ‘Kitty Goes to War’.
At the end of ‘Kitty’s House of Horrors’ Cormac was released from prison and came home. This was such a huge event – because Cormac and Kitty almost had a romantic entanglement, until Cormac’s prejudice and Ben’s affections put that on hold. Then Cormac got thrown into jail and it seemed like behind the plexiglas, Cormac had made some profound realizations about his feelings towards Kitty. Then he comes home – home to Ben and Kitty in wedded alpha mate bliss - and lots of fans were wondering how this little love triangle would play out.
But in this eighth book that tension is barely even mentioned. Twice Ben and Cormac make allusions to a possible past romance between Kitty and Cormac... but for the rest of the book it feels as though everyone (Carrie Vaughn, essentially) are walking on eggshells around this triangle.
“You smell like his apartment,” he said and shook his head. “But you don’t smell like him.”
“Of course not, I didn’t even touch him,” I said, exasperated. “Did you really think I’d cheat on you? With your cousin?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think I expected to smell anything.”
“But you had to check anyway.”
“You two did have a thing.”
Yeah. A still undefined “thing.” Whatever it was. “That was awhile ago. A lot of water under the bridge.”
I don’t know if Ms. Vaughn has something big planned regarding this trio, but I went into ‘Kitty Goes to War’ with my fingers crossed for some confrontations and realizations and I got neither.
We don’t even get to read much affection (i.e.: smut) between Kitty and Ben. It took me a while to warm up to Ben, I thought he was just a minor secondary character and Cormac would be Kitty’s HEA... so when she mated Ben, I was thrown for a loop. But in subsequent books Vaughn really illustrated their affection and dependence on one another, and I really came to like Ben. But in recent books there hasn’t been the same warmth between him and Kitty, and I am again wondering if Ben is Kitty’s true HEA?
So ultimately this book was a disappointment for me. I may have been less upset by the lack of emotional progress for the characters if I’d had a big pay-out in the seventh book, ‘Kitty’s House of Horrors’. But in that seventh instalment Kitty was by herself in the wilderness, with no Ben and no pack for comfort. So it feels like we’ve been given 2 books now in which Kitty’s relationships and emotional development have been put on hold.
At the end of ‘Kitty Goes to War’, Kitty does ask a rather profound question of Ben, which may have repercussions for future books... but it is literally on the last page and a case of too little too late. -
The Army wants Kitty. Well her expertise anyway. There are 3 highly trained combat troops just back from Afghanistan who are werewolves. Trouble is their Captain, who was their Alpha, is dead and they aren't coping.
Kitty has another problem, the CEO of Speedy Mart, Harold Franklin, is suing her for libel. She enlists Cormac to find out about Franklin while she goes to meet the rogue wolves.
Turns out that one of the wolves has already killed 3 other teammates because they wouldn't acknowledge him as the new alpha. Kitty is pretty sure she can't help him, but the other 2 she is willing to give it a go.
Meanwhile Cormac uncovers evidence of Thunder Magic at all the local Denver Speedy Mart stores. But what does it all mean?
Kitty battles on both fronts whilst the blizzard of the century rages.
This one started off a bit slow but the second half was action packed. -
I've enjoyed all of the previous Kitty Norville books but found this one to be a step below par for the series. Still a fun read but it seemed to be a little rushed. Two plot lines intersected but I think it would have been better to devote a single book to each one of them and had a deeper story experience.
It was nice to see Cormac back in action after quite a long absence from the series. The military aspects could also have been more realistic and I fear the author shows her lack of understanding about how the Army functions. Still, despite these negatives, it was a fun read and I'll keep reading them. -
Well Kitty has gotten herself tied up in the leftover mess from the last book. Were-solders uber strong, uber angry, uber messed up, are back from the war and officials are looking for help. Wait** That was supposed to be stopped right, no more experiments ??!? When has the Gov. ever given up on "more power" reality check! Well, scat on crackers, somebody has got to help or else. Magical forces seem to be reeling havoc, magical forces? Weirder than all the above, Cormac gets the girl.
Fun and games with Kitty and the gang. -
Another solid entertainer, although the military angle could have been done better. Still, it was fun & did bring up some interesting points & had its share of twists. I'm impressed that Vaughn has kept the series going so well. I'll look forward to reading another some time.
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These tend to all be about 3.5 Stars. More than like, less than love.
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Two plot lines here. First in the A plot Kitty deals with two werewolves who’ve recently come home from war. They were turned over there and used as super soldiers, though in a great twist not by the government but by an overenthusiastic soldier who dies over there. And since they’ve lost their leader, and the one person who made the werewolf thing make since they go crazy. Out of the small squadron of six, only one of the soldiers makes it. I think this was a pretty harsh, if accurate, look at what happens when we send young men (and women) out to do terrible things and then expect them to come home like nothing happened.
The B plot deals with Cormac, the over arching plot of the Long Game in this set of books, and radio personalities and what they face. Kitty gets sued for libel, and honestly I’m shocked it hasn’t happened sooner. Of course, this being urban fantasy the libel suit isn’t what it appears and is instead an attack on Denver. Who is behind the attack is unclear, though Roman is certainly implicated. The wizard who instigates the attack, a major blizzard that would destroy the city, is the person who is suing Kitty for libel. We also find a little bit more about what happened to Cormac while he was in prison. I thought the fact that he’s now sharing his body with a dead British wizard was accepted a little too quickly by both Kitty and Ben. It’s weird and I thought that bit of information was dropped on the reader and then passed over as the book wrapped up. However, it’s also a plot point I figured out early on, and I was wondering if we’d get a story line where Cormac is actually possessed and there has to be an exorcism.
All in all, another enjoyable addition to the books, though this one felt a little more like a ‘gather the threads for the big showdown’ type book then one with any major plots. I was also a little sad that there wasn’t really a whole lot of Kitty dealing with the events of the last book. We sort of got in the beginning where she has nightmares, but that was dropped the moment the soldier werewolves, and thus the plot, showed up. I suppose you could argue that Kitty dealt with it by taking care of other people, but that isn’t really dealing with it, it’s shoving it down.
2020 update. I really liked the werewolf soldier plot this time around. It's such a tragic plotline. The way veterans are often treated as throwaways who just need to get better because society wants to forget what they put those kids through is so sad, and Vaughn does well highlighting that even if she does throw ALL the issues into this one book. -
I'm a fan of Kitty Norville and this was a pretty good addition to the ongoing series. I kinda guessed that it was pretty fitting for what is currently happening in the world and was interested to see that the author was one of the first (that I've seen) to introduce it into the world of their characters. I like any and every situation that Kitty finds herself in and love the fly by the seat of her pants way she lives her life. She is loyal and dedicated to her relationships and pack. She's a big believer in pack and I loved this adventure because she takes on helping werewolves that everyone else is ready to give up on and keep locked up for the rest of their lives. Kitty sees the best in people, is an optimist and saw these men as men worth fighting for. She makes a terrific Alpha. I loved Ben in this book (ok I love him in every book he's in) and I think he is the perfect Alpha/wolf/man to match Kitty. He helps balance her and I love watching how the affect each other. I love the image of Kitty turning to Ben for support and comfort and him having his wolf smell her and comfort her. There's that animal side that's incredibly sexy. I love how they reach for each other. Sigh .... what a great couple. The author included two stories within the one - helping the werewolves fresh from war and dealing with a CEO who has extremely shady and magical dealings. It's this second story that kind of had me going "Really?" because it introduces a new side to Cormac - the tough hunter now parolee. I gotta say though I'm a little iffy about what happens with him. In fact I'm a little disturbed. Cormac is a man's man, can't get more masculine than him and so what the author does to him just seems WRONG!! I guess it's part of her vision for the characters but honestly? Really? Just so wrong!! Other than that, this is classic Kitty and a definite read. If you haven't read the earlier books - read those as well :)
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Storyline: Kitty, the alpha werewolf of the Denver pack and host of a radio talk The Midnight Hour, is summoned to an army base to help with a werewolf problem. The werewolves in question were part of a secret project that infected soldiers with lycanthropy to make them more effective in the war in Afghanistan. When their alpha (Captain) was blown to bits, the squad imploded and went crazy.
The three remaining members, who have a murderous lack of self control, are facing extermination unless Kitty can teach them the ways of civilized werewolves, while dealing with her own problems revolving around a libel suit and possible wizard. and smart as can be in this fast-moving urban fantasy.
In Kitty Goes to War, I got to see her grow some more. Kitty is actually a very empathetic character in this novel. She reaches out beyond her own pack and family shows confidence and abilities she didn't reallize she had. She does everything she can to assist the soldiers, including assisting one into a pack where he lives.
Cormac is back and I'm so happy because I missed him. But he's got a new wrinkle in his personality and when it was finally revealed I was amazed. Astounded even because it's so wild and I got the greatest kick out of thinking how it can complicate Cormac's life. But nothing seems to faze the man. **A huge twist was thrown into the story line for Cormace, and it will be interesting to see where that leads to**
Meanwhile, Kitty gets sued for libel by CEO Harold Franklin after featuring Speedy Mart--his nationwide chain of 24-hour convenience stores with a reputation for attracting supernatural unpleasantness--on her show. Thanks to Cormac and the Denver pack, this storyline wraps itself up with a satisfied ending.
The romance between Kitty and Ben is still going strong and still maturing, but I still like Cormac's character alot better. Okay, call me a lover of bad men. -
This go around with Kitty has her hearing a lot of weird things about a chain of convenience stores, Speedy Mart during her call in show. When Kitty ends up being sued for comments made on her show, she decides to investigate the callers stories about Speedy Mart & the paranormal activities that have been reported. Kitty also is dealing with a bit of a problem, three soldiers have returned from Afghanistan & they are a huge problem. They were turned werewolf, the ultimate killing machine but they’re also suffering from PTSD & are unable to control themselves after the Alpha that turned them died. Add to that Cormac has a secret, one that freaks even Kitty out.
Kitty Goes to War is the eighth book in the series, fans who missed the lack of Cormac in book seven will LOVE Cormac in this one.
The story-lines in Kitty Goes to War were amazing, from crazy things happening at Speedy Mart to the freaked out military weres. I had no idea what was going to happen next & I was rooting for the Soldiers. Then Carrie throws in Cormac’s big secret & you are hellbent on knowing what else is going to be thrown in. No matter what Kitty does, she always ends up in the middle of the action even when she wants nothing to do with it. To me, the best part of Kitty is that she really tries to keep out of all the drama but she’s always dead centre trying to help someone, complete with snarky attitude.
There are some real out of left field moments where you are shocked, especially with Cormac who has changed so much since he’s been released from jail, to Ben trying harder to look like the Alpha male that he is. I loved it, non-stop action complete with snark! Carrie Vaughn is continuing to make this series one of the best out there, complete with a solidly written cast of characters you wish you knew yourself. -
I won this book through First Reads. This book was considerably less tense and awash-in-gore than the last one, but the story lines felt looser. The main plot features Kitty attempting to help war vet werewolves (who mostly, despite the back cover, don't seem to be that poorly adjusted or difficult to help, given the circumstances). I like the idea of examining what would happen with lycanthrope soldiers, but it might have been better to focus just on that and its complications, rather than throwing in a secondary plot involving a lawsuit, magic users, and whatever-really-happened-to-Cormac-in-jail.
It's not really that the plots don't mesh - I didn't feel whipsawed between them or torn out of the story - but I would have liked more detail on the secondary one. Its addition seems a bit arbitrary, and things are wrapped up very handily indeed, given the ominous warnings and conspiracies building around the Long Game in the last few books.
Overall, this felt more like a message book than something that ties into the mythology as a whole. It's not a bad message, and it's handled respectfully, but aside from further development of some internal conflicts and personal relationships, nothing much seems to happen that's going to affect the course of future books until the last couple of chapters, and even that seems kind of tacked on to the book as a whole.
I would have appreciated more than a single acknowledgment of everything that happened in the last one and more of a feeling of connection with the issues of the rest of the series.
Also, and maybe this is me reading too many of this kind of book or watching too many Joss Whedon shows, but Kitty's getting awfully stable and happy. I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, and I really hope it doesn't fall the way I'm thinking... -
It's been a while since I've read any of the Kitty books. I've been making sure we purchase each new one published, but I haven't read one since
Kitty's House of Horrors. I'm not sure what prompted the pause, but I finally felt in the mood... and ended up gulping down the three that have been waiting on my shelves in a matter of days.
This book is something of a transition piece for the Kitty-verse. Not so much for Kitty herself, mind, but rather for some of the world around her and especially for Cormac. I won't give any spoilers, but we get the return of Cormac after his period of unfortunate incarceration, though not in any way I would have predicted. This is a marvelous development and Vaughn managed to bring him back off the sidelines he's been relegated to, lately.
I also liked the evolution of the threats to Kitty in this book. There's not a lot for her to, uh, sink her teeth into—quite the opposite, really. She's tasked with trying to rehab some were-soldiers who are trying to figure out what civilian life is like while coping with their inner animals. Add Kitty's distracted by her city being under attack, again, and you have her juggling fiercely in arenas where she's not entirely sure of her footing.
So Kitty transitions her relationship with some of her allies in government. And her pack is seeing some payoff for being stable and all the things Kitty has hoped for in the pack structure. And did I mention that Cormac is finally back? All in all, a solid read and I'm glad I got to pick up the series again with this book. -
In this nitty-gritty war story, Kitty’s gotta deal with a few werewolf soldiers dealing with PTSD and their violent wolf sides while facing down a new bad guy who seems to be able to control the weather.
I like how it’s become a running gag that Kitty hates trouble but runs head first into it. I mean, trying to take on and coddle a small group of homicidal military guys? Even that seems a bit extreme, even for Kitty. But it’s Kitty. And even Cormac and Ben know she tends to get in over her head. But Kitty takes Tyler and Walters into her pack quite easily, forging a bond with them that’s very mom-ish. It shows a motherly side to Kitty that she won’t get to express later in her life.
I thought it was weird at the beginning when Kitty discovered the CSPB had lost the guys at first, only to find out that they were headed towards Kitty’s territory. I mean…why would you call Kitty away from her home turf, knowing the rest of her pack could be in danger? Right off the bat that seems kinda screwy but hey, Kitty’s used to people playing her.
Not that her luck gets any better.
Denver gets caught up in a snow storm caused by a magician who may or may not have been associated with notorious vampire Roman. Either way, he’s a wizard with a thunder-god flair capable of constructing massive storms. It even hints that he may have been responsible for Hurricane Katrina.
This had a lot of really cool action scenes. Lots of stuff to keep your heart pumping as you read. Kitty Goes To War isn’t my favorite book in the series but I enjoyed it nevertheless. I mean, it still gets a five, so hey. -
In this eighth series book featuring Kitty Norville, werewolf and radio talk show host, Kitty is asked by the military to help round up some soldiers who were also werewolves--members of an elite group specifically turned werewolf by their commanding officer in an attempt to develop a 'super soldier.' Recently returned from Afghanistan, now only three of the unit remain, the rest having been killed off by the dominant male, and they are headed for Denver right into Kitty and Ben's territory. Kitty hopes they can be helps, and with the help of her pack, will assess them to see if they can be rehabilitated back into society or if they are too far 'gone wolf' and would pose a danger to the public.
She also is dealing with a lawsuit from the owner of a national chain of convenience stores that she is investigating, since a lot of hinky things seem to happen at those stores. Kitty's callers on The Midnight Hour keep calling with examples of weird goings-on at Speedy Marts all over the country and she (with help from Cormac, now out of prison) hopes to nail down just what Harold Franklin is up to.
I enjoy this paranormal series very much--the stories have substance and aren't just thinly veiled romance/erotica in disguise but are more paranormal mystery. Kitty and Ben are married and obviously do have a sexual relationship and that's talked about both in human and werewolf terms, but it is not the focus of the stories. The writing style is smooth and easily read and the characters very engaging, too. One of my favorite series! A -
When I was a little girl, my friends and I would walk to our neighborhood Speedy Mart to get Slurpees and candy. By my teens, Speedy Mart had been renamed 7-11, but I still thought of it as Speedy Mart for years afterward. I wonder if Carrie Vaughn knew about the real Speedy Mart when she wrote
Kitty Goes to War and made her fiction chain of convenience stores the locus of some really bad magic.
The Speedy Mart story line is one of two plots that make up
Kitty Goes to War. The other story is of Kitty trying to rehabilitate a pair of werewolf soldiers who have returned from Afghanistan. The soldiers had lost their leader/alpha and just couldn't cope. I suspect that this is a turning point for Kitty and how she defines herself.
Kitty Goes to Waris nowhere near as good as
Kitty's House of Horrors, but it's an entertaining read. -
Like many of the other novels making up the Kitty Norville Series, there's never a dull moment with this one. Kitty, following one of her nighttime syndicated radio shows, finds herself being sued for libel from a powerful CEO of a nationwide chain of convenience stores. He takes exception to several remarks made by callers to Kitty's show about the various strange and disturbing supernatural happenings they claimed to have experienced in many of his stores.
Kitty also receives a call from an old friend at the National Institutes of Health (Dr. Schumacher), requesting her help with 3 soldiers (all killer werewolves who served as part of an elite Army unit, whose leader or alpha, had been killed in action by an explosive device), who were traumatized by their experiences in Afghanistan.
Just when Kitty thinks she has her hands full, she comes to learn that the CEO suing her is also a powerful wizard who can control the weather in such a way as to create storms that cause catastrophic destruction over any community (e.g. New Orleans via Hurricane Katrina) or region that suits him. The CEO (Harold Franklin) is set on destroying Kitty, her pack, and all that she holds dear.
"KITTY GOES TO WAR" offers lots of suspense and heart-pounding action that'll leave the reader breathless. -
I won this through the Goodreads First Read program. I didn't read it right off since I was slightly behind on this series - I had only read the first two books at that point. But, hey, I read the intervening 5 in about a month and a half. Not bad.
Proved that this series is written well enough to survive the marathon read. *g*
Great book. One of my favorites of the series. Loved the military werewolves half of the plot more than the Speedy Mart half, but they blended nicely in the end.
Spoilers....
The balance of saving one soldier, destroying one soldier, and having one selflessly sacrifice himself was nicely heartbreaking and bitter-sweet.
I was a bit bummed in the end that the soldier Kitty saved didn't stay and join her pack. Guess that would have messed with their internal dynamics, but that too would have been interesting to see.
Love the twist with respect to Cormac. Nice to see that he found resources beyond his gun collection. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.
Almost disappointed now that I've caught up with the series and have to wait another year for a new one. *pout* The double-edged sword of the marathon read.
Great book. -
I kind of had a hard time rating this one.
I dug Kitty trying to rehabilitate two army-created/trained werewolves. This entire series' comparison of lycanthropy to mental illness is why I stick around. Her encouragement of the guys to focus on one day at a time, one hour, one minute, then the next one, etc., is just spot on.
That said, I felt pretty dubious about this entire plot, as I work in human research administration professionally. I get that someone went rogue to create the werewolves, but the fact that all of this stayed somehow secret, *especially* in the VA, is ludicrous to me.
The Speedy Mart/wizard subplot was intriguing, although I could use a little more worldbuilding there.
& speaking of worldbuilding, Cormac's plot got laughably little screentime for how important his development was. I really hope that's further explored in future books.
I keep picking these books up when I'm feeling low, & Kitty is always inspiring to me. I hope I reread these many times in the future, but for now they're great on the first time through. -
In the 8th installment of the series Kitty has a new question for her listeners - are there supernatural things going-on around the Speedy marts all over the country? Seems like lots of people think so including one caller who says that the owner had been seen at the speedy marts in Louisiana just before Katrina and at other places before hugely powerful natural disasters. This line of questioning leads the owner of the chain not only suing her but coming to give her the look over, which raises her hackles literally and figuratively. On the pack front Kitty is called in to help locate and recapture a group of werewolves that were formed as a military unit and now gone rogue in her territory after escaping from a military holding facility. But Kitty is hoping for more, that she can help socialize these men into a normal life. Another roller coaster ride for Kitty and Ben and the reappearance of Cormac as an important part of the story line (with a twist) makes it even better.
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Kitty's latest research project for her radio show brings trouble to her doorstep in the form of a lawsuit for libel. Intrigued by the mystery and determined to prove that there is truth behind the rumors concerning a big chain of stores, she starts investigating.
On top of that, she finds herself involved in the rehabilitation of a few army vets who are also werewolves that have become unstable after losing their alpha.
Cormac is back and he helps with the investigation that turns out to be bigger than expected, while Kitty and Ben try to help the vets find a place in the world outside war.
Interesting mysteries with a touch of absurd thrown in, especially in the first case, and some evidence that Kitty is getting used to her role as Alpha of her pack.
Her adventures continue in
Kitty's Big Trouble.
