Review: Haunted by Kelley Armstrong

Title: Haunted
Series: Women of the Otherworld #5
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Random House of Canada
Format: Trade Paperpack, 464 pages
Published: January 26, 2010
ISBN #: 978030735838 / 0307358380
Genre: Urban Fantasy
My Copy: bought

THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF THE SMART, SEXY — SUPERNATURAL — WOMEN OF THE OTHERWORLD


Eve Levine — half-demon, black witch and devoted mother — has been dead for three years. She has a great house, an interesting love life and can’t be killed again — which comes in handy when you’ve made as many enemies as Eve. Yes, the afterlife isn’t too bad — all she needs to do is find a way to communicate with her daughter, Savannah, and she’ll be happy.

But fate — or more exactly, the Fates — have other plans. Eve owes them a favor, and they’ve just called it in. An evil spirit called the Nix has escaped from hell. She feeds on chaos and death, and is very good at persuading people to kill for her. The Fates want Eve to hunt her down before she does any more damage, but the Nix is a dangerous enemy — previous hunters have been driven insane in the process. As if that’s not problem enough, the only way to stop her is with an angel’s sword. And Eve is no angel. . . .

I can’t remember what were my original thoughts on this book; no doubt I enjoyed it because it is Kelley Armstrong after all but, Haunted made quite the impression on me this time around. I’ve always been a fan of Eve Levine’s character. She’s not a clear cut good guy or bad guy which makes her POV interesting to read because you never know what to expect. Armstrong’s creativity really shines through in this installment by opening up an all new supernatural universe, that of the afterlife.

The world-building in this book is outstanding and limited only by Kelley’s imagination which is pretty much boundless. Both of the main characters are dead so obviously the regular rules of engagement don’t apply. Eve’s assignment takes her to hell and back, literally, but only after she visits the pirate dimension first of course. Armstrong makes good use of this series’ supernatural cast by having each character play a small but important role. The spotlight obviously belongs to Eve and Kristof but I liked how she found a way to include almost everyone.

The Nix steals the cake as this series’ ultimate big bad to date. Every couple of chapters readers get to go back in time and relive one of this demoness’ past atrocities, each more gruesome than the last. This girl thrives on chaos and has honed her evil ways over centuries. It takes a monster to hunt a monster so the fates send Eve Levine.

Eve’s one of the more entertaining narrators of the Women of the Otherworld. I always expect that Paige and Elena will do the “right thing” but when it comes to Levine you never know. She’s a bad guy turned good, kinda. Eve’s a little more practical than most heroines and doesn’t share their moral qualms. She fiercely protects those in her inner circle but the rest of the population is expendable. Levine will throw an old lady holding a baby in front of a bus to protect her daughter without a moment’s hesitation. That’s just the kind of person she is. Ooh, I forgot to mention that she’s a half-demon / black magic witch on top of being a ghost and a potential angel contender. It’s always all or nothing with Eve, she doesn’t do anything half-assed, just another one of the reasons why I adore her so.

Haunted is one of the darker, more gory installments of this series but that’s what makes it so exceptional. I’m happy that the story’s going to veer back to the werewolves in the next book, Broken, but I enjoyed my stay in Eve Levine’s world.

Books in this series:
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Recommendation:	Perfect for readers who enjoy a good ghost story and like their heroines slightly twisted.
Like this, like that:	The Hollows series by Kim Harrison and the Arcadia Bell series by Jen Bennett.

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