This book was much better than the first. I liked the first book but I found it wasn't anything special. In The Good, the Bad, and the Undead we finally get to see the little things that set this series apart from the other urban fantasies. We dive deeper into the different supernatural races and we learn more about this crazy world. I'm actually really looking forward to reading the rest of the series now!

I think Jenks will forever be my favourite character. He's great and adds a little humour into the whole book. I also love that the author incorporates his family in some small scenes which makes them all come to life a little bit more. Rachel is also a great character, though she doesn't think before she does anything. I suppose it makes for a great story but it drives me insane a little. She's finally starting to notice that about herself so hopefully she dials it back from now on. I'm also really interested in the new characters we met in this book! I can't wait to see them more!

The plot was fast paced enough that I didn't want to put the book down. It still could have done with fewer pages because this was a pretty big book. Luckily it's full of action so you don't really need to worry about becoming bored. ( )

twists and turns ( )

I am glad that I finally got around to reading this book. I enjoy the chaos that is Rachel and her life. She makes a LOT of bad decisions but she eventually gets to where she wants to be. Trent is an interesting contradiction. I can't decide if I like him or not. In book 1, he was obviously the bad guy but now it is hard to tell. The lines have been blurred. The demon has also made things interesting. Rachel's decision regarding him can't have good results. I am curious to see where this leads her. I am intrigued by this series and can't wait to read more. ( )

I thought this would be another fun and intense supernatural detective series like some others I have enjoyed. The first book showed a lot of promise. Unfortunately, this one devolved into much darker realms. There are violent sex/rape scenes that, while maybe necessary to the storyline (a point I am not yet willing to concede), certainly did not need the graphic description to make their contribution.

A more minor criticism is the seeming unrelated storylines tagged onto one another. They are tied together near the end, but since this is a series, might have better served the story arc had they been presented as two books. Having them crammed into one makes it difficult to stay focused on the main character’s development over time. ( )

A magical freelance consultant makes poor life choices while dealing with vampires, demons and the police. There's a murder mystery too, but it's peripheral to the protagonist's relationship issues. The plot is unbelievable but the characters and situations are fun. ( )

I figured out the Trent thing in the last book...
I'm sad about the whole Nick ordeal.
And really upset about Ivy ( )

I give this about 4 1/2 stars. I love Urban Fantasy. I admit the first book was a bit cumbersome, but i liked and realized that everything was based on the world created in the first book.
This is the second book and the story continues. Rachel Morgan and her friends Jenks the pixy and Ivy the Vamp getting all worked up in Cincinnati. She learns more about her history and her father. Her mother is introduced and some other Inderlanders. Rachel like in the first book gets in to trouble.....
No spoilers here. You want to know more, you gotta read it.
It is quite fast paced story, totally Urban fantasy and very little PNR (which i like). I can only recommend it. Kim Harrisons writing style reminds me a lot of Kaylana Price. Good strong characters and story line. ( )

I enjoyed the book even more than the first one. Kim Harrison has a great voice and writes interesting characters, who often make poor choices. Great humor throughout.

This book was featured on Cocktail Hour episode 11. http://www.cocktailhour.c-spot.net/archives/50 ( )

Kim Harrison is the Janet Evanovich of urban fantasy. Her Hollows series, which began in 2004 with Dead Witch Walking, has had regular additions that routinely give their readers exactly what they want: sex, violence, spell casting and potion mixing, and a version of Cincinnati that is replete with witches, vampires, and snarky pixies. The novels profit from being read in order, but they do OK as standalones. In this one, Earth witch Rachel Morgan dabbles in black magic, has to do a lot of informal therapy on her vampire roommate, and save the Hollows of Cincinnati from a dark arts serial killer. Her usual day at the office. 4 stars. ( )

Spennandi og oft húmorísk frásaga af áframhaldandi glímu nornarinnar Rachel Morgan við undirheima Cincinnati þar sem galdramenn, vampýrur, varúlfar, menn og fleiri kynjaskepnur takast á um völdin. Rachel uppgötvar tengsl á milli forns fjandmanns og raðmorða sem hafa skilið lögregluna eftir ráðþrota. Heltekin af hefndarþorsta einsetur hún sér að sanna sekt glæpamannsins og kastar allri varkárni fyrir róða - sem hún hefði kannski ekki átt að gera. ( )

This is a better written book than the first one – a tighter plot, a (slightly) more likeable MC. But I’m still giving it 3.5 stars because I find the whole situation with Ivy deeply disturbing and the author hasn’t justified it to my satisfaction. I don’t dislike Ivy, but the dynamic – even with the story-line geared toward engendering sympathy – just feels really exploitative.

Rachel’s personality, while improved, still failed to click with me. I have to believe, still, that future books are better; there’s an “Extras” at the end of this ebook (from the library) that had two “articles” written by Rachel Morgan about vampires and fairies/pixies, and her voice in these – dry, funny, a little snarky – is what I expect her voice to be in the books, and so far, it’s definitely not.

In both books so far, Rachel is rather strident about the line between white and black magic and her morals appeared to be set in stone, but when the rubber hit the road in this one, she crossed that line in order to achieve a greater good. But boy, she caved quick; she didn’t waste any time offering and accepting a rather dark deal. View Spoiler » She has a massive fear of ley line magic, but once she figures out she can do it, she starts playing with it in a scene with the pixies that was great, but didn’t do a lot to establish her creditability or integrity as the heroine.

None of this is to say I didn’t enjoy the book; as I said at the start, it’s a much better story. I just haven’t found my groove with the characters yet, and I’m definitely up for book 3. I continue to see hints that future books are going to be more my jam. But I’m glad I can get them at my library; if I’d bought these first two, I’m not sure I’d be willing to go further. ( )

Good fluff. ( )

Another funny and quirky installment in The Hollows series.
I love characters and like the development of Trent Kalamack as a bad guy. Also like the extra info on Ivy, Piscari and the history involved.
Removed a star from my original rating due to authors tendency to add racist phrases. This time we have Glenn pretending to be an 'angry black man'. How about we include characters from traditionally marginalized backgrounds and treat them like every other character. Thanks ( )

This is my buddy read of the Hollows series with Moonlight Reader.


As it stands I only like two characters at this point, and one of them is a murderer. The other characters are not smart, keep doing increasing dumb things, and are just awful. Besides the characters, the world building at this point makes no sense. We have another mythical creature coming out to play, and it makes no sense in the larger context of the world that Rachel lives in right now. Maybe if I cared enough I would have re-read some passages. However, there comes a point when you just want to be done with a book. I hit that point around 12:30 a.m.

Told in the first person by Rachel Morgan, The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, still has Rachel reeling from the events in the first book. Now working alongside vampire Ivy as an independent agency, she is still focused on bringing down businessman Trent Kalamack. When some witch murders start popping up in Cincinnati, Rachel thinks this is her chance to tie the murders to Trent, and bring him to justice.

The plot should have been fairly simple, but there were all these other plots (B, C, and I think a D in there as well) that were supposed to be part of the larger plot, but ended up making everything hang together badly. We have Rachel investigating a missing case, that then ties into some witch murders, which leads to a revelation about a demon, which is kind of linked to why Ivy keeps hulking out on Rachel, which turns to Rachel finding out about a friendship her father had with someone she hates, which is the house that jack built. I am being facetious here, but seriously, it was a long winding road to the end.

It always sucks when you don't like the main character in the book you're reading. I really don't like Rachel at this point. Maybe it's because she's not that smart, and keeps apologizing to the wrong people when situations arise either of her own making or the other persons. And I can't stand to keep reading these books if every time Rachel gets out of sorts, it sets off Ivy, and then Ivy tries to feed on her by force and Rachel manages to save herself or someone else comes along and saves her. Long story short we have Rachel once again apologizing to Ivy once she vamps out and tries to force/kill Rachel. If it wasn't for Rachel's boyfriend Nick riding to the rescue, Rachel would be toast. And how does Rachel repay him?

Are you sure you're all right? he asked, his hand buried deep in my hair as he held me.
I pulled away to look at him.
Yes. Thanks. Where's Ivy?
He didn't say anything, and my face went slack in alarm.
She didn't hurt you, did she?
His hand dropped from my hair.
She's on the floor where I left her.
Nick! I protested, pushing myself away from him so I could sit straight.
How could you just leave her there?

If Rachel was a real life person and I knew her, I would probably be arrested for shaking the life out of her. Seriously? You don't have a problem that for the third time in three months your roommate has tried to force you to accept her enough so she can bite you? Bah to you.

And I honestly don't know what Ms. Harrison was going for her in the longer context of this novel. Rachel is like a 2 year old that can be distracted by a bright shiny thing. Every few seconds I felt like she was feeling drawn to someone else and she was in a relationship. The ending with her having some sort of revelation about what happened to some mythical creatures just made me roll my eyes. Even broken clocks are right twice a day. I am sure that is going to be followed up in some subsequent book.


Jenks and family were the only bright spots in this book. Can we get a spin-off with them? Maybe there is one. I will investigate. Jenks has more heart, more intelligence, than either Rachel or Ivy. And I love hearing about how pixies and fairies have been warring for centuries. I am way more interested in them, then the witches, vampires, and demons running around in this book.

Nick who I was rooting for initially, is just as dumb as Rachel. (Spoilers for book one) In the last book Rachel found out that brainiac was summoning a demon. Because of this they both have demon marks on them due to Nick using the demon to save Rachel and the marks are seen as debts until repaid. Well we find out that Nick is still trying to learn from the demon and get it to do what he wants.

And Rachel who has the common sense God gave a gnat knows this is a bad idea but you know, just kind of sits back and let's Nick do what he wants. Because of a mess-up because neither of these two are intelligent, there is a change to Nick and Rachel's relationship. The book leaves things up in the air, however, I don't care enough to see if they work it out.

Trent from the last book is the only other character besides Jenks that I liked. Readers know (spoilers for book one) that Trent was behind a death in the last book. However, he's not an idiot and we find out what has actually been going on and it links back to the goings on in book one.

The world building got a bit clunkier in this book. I think the problem was there were too many creatures to keep track of and what their triggers were. We had weres, vampires, pixies, demons, witches, etc. We also had some explanations of ley lines, and familiars. After a while I felt like I was being force fed an instruction book on witchcraft and got bored.

The flow from chapter to chapter was a bit off in places too, and I think that things would have been better if there had only been that one plot that may have led to some revelations, but not everything that was thrown at us in this book.

I have no further urge to read what happens in the Hollows. I am sure that somehow Rachel will get bitten by Ivy. Rachel will apologize for it. Rachel is probably going to end up with someone totally unsuited for her. And she will almost die like a million times. ( )

Didn't hold my interest as much as the first in the series. Maybe too much focus on vampires for me.

Will continue the series though - after taking a break first :) ( )

This was the make or break book for me for this series. The first book, "Dead Witch Walking" showed promise but left me wondering if I really cared what happened to the main character, Rachel Morgan. The second book, "The Good, The Bad And The Undead" sealed the deal for me.

It is better written, faster moving and has a much better plot than the first book. It starts with an action scene, Rachel on a Run to capture... a koi? Fast action mixed with dry humour set the tone for the book. At least I thought it did. Then, about halfway through, things got darker and much, much better.

What cranked up the quality was the relationship between Rachel and her vampire roommate. In the first book, this had been stylish and cool and intriguing. In this book, it becomes central to the plot and becomes much more about an intense relationship between two strong women struggling with secrets kept and confidences betrayed.

In this book, Rachel has finally stopped whining and started to take responsibility for herself and deal with her situation. She starts to accept that she should be using her abilities as a witch and not just stumbling along.

Unfortunately, she does this just at the point that witches are being killed across the city.

Just about everything I learned in book one is revisited in a new context with more information and shifts into a new pattern. This is very well done and the final pattern is much stronger than I expected it to be.

The baddies in this book are less black and white and the goodies turn out not to be who or what we thought they were.

Overall, "The Good, The Bad And The Undead" is a step up from its predecessor and delivers a solid but still stylish piece of Urban Supernatural Fantasy.

As usual, Marguerite Gavin does an excellent job with the narration. Click on the SoundCloud link below to sample her delivery

https://soundcloud.com/harperaudio/the-good-the-bad-and-the-undead-kim-harrison ( )

loved this book! So much better than the first one. But now I'm wondering what's going to happen between Nick & Rachel, or is there something in the works between her and Kisten or even trent??? Both seem very plausable, (no one tell me though I want to find out for myself). ( )

Ley line witches are being murdered in Cincinnati. Rachel has been hired as an Inderlander consultant to help track down the killer. But Rachel will have to use magic she loathes in order to discover the truth. And where it leads her, there is no coming back from. If she isn't careful, she may just end up in debt to a demon and lose her soul.

The dynamics of Kim Harrison's characters have always been the reason I continued this series. Rachel alone would not be enough to carry the story. Her impulsiveness makes her wind up in entertaining situations, but she isn't a strong enough heroine. She's still learning, fumbling about and without Ivy and Jenks, I doubt she would make it far. As a character, Rachel has a lot of development to go through, but that's the point of reading a series right?

I do have to admit Ivy is my favorite character. I always fall for the torn and conflicted ones, and Ivy fits that bill. She is the strong female character I always gravitate towards, and seeing her in a secondary character role makes me savor the moments she is on the page. I also love the friendship between Rachel and Ivy. Rachel won't abandon Ivy, despite any hiccups that may happen between the two of them. This makes me appreciate Rachel more as a character. Kim has built a world where living vampires are slaves to their instincts, and watching Ivy continue to struggle against her basic instincts, all in a fight to just be a normal friend to someone tears me up.

I'm glad to say I am enjoying this series just as much as I did ten years ago when it first hit the shelves. If you want a series filled with action, friendship, sarcastic comedy, and demons, pick this one up. ( )

Ley line witches are being murdered in Cincinnati. Rachel has been hired as an Inderlander consultant to help track down the killer. But Rachel will have to use magic she loathes in order to discover the truth. And where it leads her, there is no coming back from. If she isn't careful, she may just end up in debt to a demon and lose her soul.

The dynamics of Kim Harrison's characters have always been the reason I continued this series. Rachel alone would not be enough to carry the story. Her impulsiveness makes her wind up in entertaining situations, but she isn't a strong enough heroine. She's still learning, fumbling about and without Ivy and Jenks, I doubt she would make it far. As a character, Rachel has a lot of development to go through, but that's the point of reading a series right?

I do have to admit Ivy is my favorite character. I always fall for the torn and conflicted ones, and Ivy fits that bill. She is the strong female character I always gravitate towards, and seeing her in a secondary character role makes me savor the moments she is on the page. I also love the friendship between Rachel and Ivy. Rachel won't abandon Ivy, despite any hiccups that may happen between the two of them. This makes me appreciate Rachel more as a character. Kim has built a world where living vampires are slaves to their instincts, and watching Ivy continue to struggle against her basic instincts, all in a fight to just be a normal friend to someone tears me up.

I'm glad to say I am enjoying this series just as much as I did ten years ago when it first hit the shelves. If you want a series filled with action, friendship, sarcastic comedy, and demons, pick this one up. ( )

Miles better than DWW! I enjoyed it very much.

I still don't like Nick, there's something off there.
I WANT to like Kalamack...
Al is hilarious.
Jenx is still my favorite.
Ivy, oh Ivy... ( )

Trent Kalamack is a great villian, completely bad and doing those bad things for all the right reasons.

Rachel's bravery is starting to grow on me, as is her reluctance to become involved with Ivy.

The world remains fascinating, and the tomato joke/threat will never get old. ( )

Urban Fantasy of the Romance Genre - explains it all. It follows all the tropes: Kickass heroine, world full of supernatural creatures, pretty much everything you can think of is here. However, this is one of the better series. Witty repertoire, interesting plot, not too many plot holes, and a really interesting side kick. Its a fun read, but not very deep. Perfect for an afternoon read. ( )

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead
3 Stars

The first book in the series was entertaining enough to continue on to the second, but Rachel and Ivy’s creepy relationship had me putting the book on the back burner halfway through. Nevertheless, a buddy read pulled me back into the story about a year later and I’m grateful to my buddies as the book improved a great deal in the second half.

Harrison’s world building is very engaging. The dichotomy between humans and supernaturals and the distinctions between the various species makes for interesting reading and raises intriguing questions for future installments.

The plot revolving around Rachel’s investigation into the disappearance and apparent deaths of several ley line witches develops slowly as new characters are introduced and the suspect pool expands. That said, the action heats up at the halfway mark and the climax and resolution are ultimately exciting and satisfying.

Rachel is an intelligent and resourceful heroine, but her relationship with Ivy is seriously disturbing. Although Rachel’s sympathy and loyalty toward Ivy is understandable, Ivy is constantly overstepping the boundaries ostensibly out of a desire to help, but its seems more like an attempt at seduction. Moreover, Ivy’s aggression and Rachel’s feelings of guilt and remorse reek of abuse and a form of battered wife syndrome. All of this has a rather distasteful feel to it and puts a damper on an otherwise compelling story.

Nick and Rachel’s romance is another problematic issue. Nick definitely has his own suspicious agenda and the developments in his characterization in this book do not bode well for the future nor do they endear him to me one iota. Hopefully, he is on his way out.

On a more positive note, the mystery of Trent and Rachel’s connection, as warped as it seems at the moment, is the most captivating aspect of this book (and the first). Trent is a fascinating character. The more I learn about his enigmatic identity and morally ambiguous business dealings, the more I want to know. Thus, getting to the roots of his contentious relationship with Rachel and discovering what lies ahead for them both is what keeps me interested in continuing with the series.

All in all, not a bad read despite its problems and the unanswered questions have me eager to read the next one. ( )

This book was great! The characters remain engaging, the plots moves quickly and very well, and the ending satisfies :) ( )

Not bad at all. Like the early Anita Blake book before they were turning into boring soft porn. Entertaining urban fantasy although not the most original. ( )