Elitist Book Reviews

With all the trouble Kitty has gotten into since she was turned into a werewolf, it's hard to imagine that it could get any worse. But there's a reason why book #9 is named KITTY'S BIG TROUBLE--by the end you'll understand.

But, instead, let's go back to the beginning. In the last book, KITTY GOES TO WAR, she learned about the U.S. government's use of werewolves in combat, and she asked herself: how long have they been doing it, and who else in U.S. history could have been hiding their own supernatural origins?

These questions lead her on a strange chase across state lines and eventually points clues to Roman, a very old vampire she's crossed paths with before. So is it coincidence that vampire ally Anastasia calls Kitty the very next day asking to help stop Roman from acquiring an ancient and powerful artifact?

Vaughn does stretch the connections here a little thinly, as Kitty, her husband Ben, and friend Cormac, traipse through Kansas and then San Fransisco. But once they get to California, and Anastasia explains why she asked for their help, then things really get moving. And from there on out the pace moves quickly, and in a direction you won't expect.

Set in San Fransisco's Chinatown, most of the action actually happens underground, in a series of mazes that shouldn't exist. In rooms that shouldn't exist. That houses people who Kitty once thought of as myths.

But it's less the setting than the people who will keep you reading. I enjoy Kitty and Ben's relationship more and more. We get to learn more about Cormac and the sorceress spirit he houses in his body, and their unusual partnership. Anastasia and Roman, as vampires, are old and mysterious and rather self-absorbed, so it's hard to really enjoy them as characters. There are other, new characters who are fun to read about, but I don't want to spoil your fun.

Sure the title alludes to the movie Big Trouble in Little China, since they are both set in the same city/neighborhood. But it's more than that. Something happens, and Kitty is given a new responsibility that's bigger than ever. Sure KITTY'S BIG TROUBLE is a good, consistent addition to the series, but in a lot of ways it's really a segue of what Vaughn promises will follow. And Kitty doesn't disappoint.

Recommended Age: 14+
Language: A handful of instances
Violence: The usual smattering, but not particularly gory
Sex: Vaguely referenced by a married couple, otherwise just some cuddling