"Low Midnight" is the first book in the Kitty Norville series that ISN'T about Kitty. We see everything in this book through Cormac Bennet's eyes.

It was this fresh vision that I enjoyed most- The plot is slight but fun; a fairy-tale quest in order to win access to information about Roman and a shoot-out with characters from Cormac's past.¨

The story is unfolds with skill, keeping a nice balance between action and mystery.

"Low Midnight"is a pleasant read rather than a compelling one but it's a must for the fans.

Two things made the book for me: getting to see Kitty as Cormac sees her rather than how she sees herself and finally getting an insight into how Cormac deals with the having the consciousness of Amelia, a wizard executed for a murder she didn't commit, living inside him.

There are only a few scenes with Kitty in the book but they are what energises Cormac on his quest. Kitty has changed Cormac's world. First she talked him out of killing her, making him question his belief that all werewolves needed to be put down, then she folded him into the circle she thinks of as family, refusing to let him retreat back entirely into his silent-loner lifestyle.

When Cormac looks at Kitty he sees boundless energy, unconscious power and influence and inexhaustible altruism. She makes him want to be a better man. Despite her strength, she makes him want to protect her. Cormac brought Kitty into focus in a way that explains the impact she has on other people more clearly than Kitty has ever been able to explain it to herself.

Cormac has played a strange role in the past few Kitty books. Suddenly this silent hunter of werewolves and vampires has stopped hunting and started protecting and he's been using magic to do it.

I understood the explanation of how this came about - Cormac agreed to host the disembodied consciousness of Amelia, a dead  Edwardian English gentlewoman with magically abilities. In return, Amelia kept Cormac from harm in prison - but I had trouble understanding what it meant. Cormac didn't talk about it and Kitty couldn't decide whether Amelia was ally or parasite or friend or something entirely new unique.

in "Low Midnight" Carrie Vaughn does a great job of breathing life into both Cormac and Amelia. I was fascinated by their relationship. I loved the idea that they would meet "face to face" in the memory of meadow from Cormac's past, when Cormac went to sleep. The characters are so compelling that I could easily imagine a spin-off Cormac and Amelia series.

"Low Midnight" moves the "Long Game" story arc forward by gaining new information on Roman that should help Kitty.

We revisit the Long Game and Kitty finds herself up against familiar enemies. There is a strong  sense of the gravitational pull from the coming war dragging Kitty into a role she may not be equipped for, has little desire to occupy but is unable to walk away from.

 At the end of the book, we return to Kitty's talk show, which she is using as a platform to warn the world of the menace of the Long Game. One of Kitty's listeners asks her to remember why she set up the show: to help those who had nowhere else to go. That's the Kitty who hooked me into this series, not the uber-alpha werewolf leader. That's the Kitty I hope to see more of in the next books.

Audiobook

I think this was a perfect end to a great series. Yes, none of the good guys were killed although a bunch of bad guys were. And also the angels and the demons and the Chinese gods all mixed together left me a lot confused, hence the missing star. The ending was a HEA (happy ever after - ish) leaving open the possibility of another series. A good/very good series that I would recommend.

This is my least favourite Kitty Norville book so far. It was still a fun read but nothing that would have caught my attention if this was the only book in the series that I'd read.

"Kitty's Big Trouble" starts well enough: Kitty is trying to validate some contemporary testimony that General Sherman was a werewolf. Then she goes off to Dodge in search of a Vampire nest that was allegedly wiped out by Wyatt Earp. It was good fun and I was looking forward to more.

Then Kitty responds to a call from Anastasia for help against Roman who is "seeking an artefact of great power" in San Francisco and the most of the rest of the book is spent in one busy but not particularly entertaining night, running around in mystical tunnels in China Town.

Kitty's trouble didn't seem that big to me. The dive into Chinese mythology was handled well but didn't really go anywhere, ending in yet another inconclusive stand-off with the allegedly deadly Roman.

There were some good lines along the way and some interesting action scenes but overall this felt like a transition book: moving the story arc of the series along but not having enough substance to stand alone.