For a Few Demons More (The Hollows, Book 5)

In many ways, Rachel Morgan's problems come full circle in this fifth installment of the Hallows series. With enemies drawing closer than they ever have before, her palette of choices is fast becoming slim to none. In one power play after the next, Rachel's about to fall behind enemy lines, instead of the one step ahead we've been seeing.

It's back to Cincinnati after her desperate attempt to save her pixie partner's son and her ex-boyfriend, Nick. Rachel harbors a rather nasty curse trapped in a bone prison, the focus, which threatens to twist the realities of Weres and vampires alike, both of whom squabble over it like children. With Trent vying for it, someone killing for it and our favorite demon Al lusting after it, Rachel once again has to find a way to undo another problem forced upon her. As the delicate balance between her and Ivy begins to come to a roiling boil, it's all the earth witch can do to stay this side of good, acceptable magic. With her special blood and desire to help others though, it's near impossible for her to deflect the trouble that comes looking for her with a vengeance. Unable to unload the focus on just anyone, she'll have to decide who's the best choice...and none of them are looking particularly stellar.

The first of Harrison's series to be offered in hardback, it's a worthy installment for it, tipping the scales even further towards excellent. For a Few Demons More wraps up some of the problems that Rachel has been having over the course of the other books while of course unraveling others even further. Trent comes back into play and it's a totally different side of him than readers have read before. Ceri, the powerful ex-demon familiar, shows Rachel just how much she respects her and Rachel's pack mate David takes on a major role. The demon Newt is back and we get some interesting information and insights into that character too, though whether they help or hinder the outlook on Newt is the reader's choice. Ivy's dilemma with Piscary is excruciatingly dealt with and it was a struggle at certain points to get past the powerful emotions Harrison has written surrounding Ivy and Rachel. As always, Harrison manages to insert a shocking twist, one I never saw coming, involving Rachel and another of her closest friends. For a Few Demons More is inundated with its fair share of pain, angst and utter despair and readers most certainly may feel closer to Rachel than ever before because of it. It's not without it's glimmer of hope though and some very interesting new characters are introduced that I hope will continue to make appearances in the next book, most notably a mysterious organization of demon practitioners and Dr. Ford Miller, a psychiatrist for the FIB (Federal Inderlander Bureau, the human division to deal with Inderlanders). In the end, as much as Rachel has had to deal with, she's never appeared stronger to me. As always, the once-a-year release of Harrison's Hallows series just can't come fast enough and I only hope that there will be many, many more to come.

Rachel Morgan is a red-haired witch, bounty hunter, and talented street-fighter. Rachel owes favors to several demons--the resulting demon marker she wears on her wrist make other witches flinch. Fortunately she has earned the respect of the FIB, the local police force, which assists her to earn some money as a preternatural consultant.

This installment starts in the middle of the action when Rachel is dealing with an unexpected visit from Newt, one of the demons to whom she owes a favor. Rachel's unwilling dealings with demons and her employment as sometime body guard for local business man/drug lord Trent Kalamack, cause her to spend more time with Ceri, an elf who used to be the slave of a demon and therefore has the inside scoop. We see more sides of Ceri in this book which enhances the story. Rachel's business partner Jenks continues to harass Rachel about her slutty clothes but always has her back in a pinch. Her other business partner, Ivy, has earned Rachel's friendship and perhaps bi-curious love. The sexy vampire boyfriend, Kisten, plays a small but hot part in this installment.

Ultimately this book is a continuation of the former book, as the plot revolves around how to dispose of the Focus, a magical artifact that could cause warfare between vampires and demons. Reading the previous books is a must due to the complexity of the characters and the world they inhabit. Harrison remains true to form, with a believable fun hero and sidekicks, a fascinating mystery to solve, plenty of romantic angst and risky negotiations with demons to avoid being dragged off into demon slavery. Keep them coming Kim!

I really enjoy the world Ms. Harrison has created, although I must admit Rachel makes me exhausted sometimes just reading about her crazed life. The beginning and middle of this book were once again enjoyable, I mean no matter how bad life gets who can be too upset when a pixy puts your life into perspective for you.

I like the dynamic between Rachel and Ivy, but to me sometimes Ceri's mood swings get annoying. The book was moving along well until, as a few other reviewers have mentioned, I got to the last few chapters. The ending was completely uncalled for. Although I really have enjoyed the series up until this point due to the ending I don't want to continue it anymore.

All the charaters that once-were interesting, are boring/anoying here. In the first few books I liked Ivy, and in the last book I liked her a little more, but here she blew. Her "girlfriend" is a bitch to Rachel, and they all know she's jealous of Rachel (erhm, why???) yet Ivy still lets her stay at their house (church, really). Jenks is just boring here, where he was absolutely FABULOUS in the previous book. Rachel is unbelievably self-pitying. I only got a little over half way through the book until i just had to STOP. the only thing that had kept me reading it was the hopes of reading some good Trent Kallamack scenes. After over half the book, we'd still only seen him, what, twice? for a very short time. I don't know why this book got so many good reviews. The writing is poor and it apears that no one bothered to edit it. example: "His eyes were blue - no brown" or something like that. Things like that appear ALL OVER THE PLACE. Also, Rachel acts like a whore by having to tell us how sexy EVERY guy is. really. yuck. Sorry to write such a negative review, but after seeing that its overall rating is 5 and a half stars (come on people, its not THAT good!!) I felt i had to share my opinion on how BAD this book is. I'm not going to bother with the next in the series, or anything else from this author, in the future. You want some truly GOOD WRITING? Go read Kelley Armstrong. She's earned her fame.

I have read all the books in this series but will not read any more. The first book in this series was slow to start but the story line was just different enough from other witch /wizard /vampire plots to make me curious. The second and third books were better and I was hoping that Rachel's character and the other main characters would develop and become more well-rounded. However, in this book an important main character is killed in brutal manner for no apparent reason. This character was one of the better characters and could have helped with the development of Rachel's character and believe me Rachel needs all the help she can get. She is in a very self destructive and dangerous relationship with her roommate, Ivy -- which is only slightly redeemable because Rachel wants to save her. Ivy's really needs professional help and Rachel can't decide whether to allow Ivy to bite her and have sex with her (because it is a package deal) but maybe she will just provoke Ivy into biting her instead so it will be an accident, and thus not her fault. I can't see how Rachel can help Ivy when she isn't yet able to help herself. The murdered character, on the other hand, chose Rachel above any others who had a prior claim on his loyalty and affection. Ultimately he chose her over his own life. His death made no sense. I wonder he was killed because whoever he represents in the author's real life ticked her off so badly she decided to kill his character in the book. Or did he have to be removed so that Rachel can be bitten by and have sex with Ivy? Or is this merely the Old Western Rules: All lovers of the protagonist must die or otherwise be removed so that they are always "available?" Whatever the reason, the end result is totally off putting and although I am a prodigious reader and can overlook many flaws, this was an absolute deal breaker.

I have loved the first four books of this series, but this one...I just struggled to finish. I even ended up skimming the last 100 pages.

First off I am SICK of the Ivy/Rachel in love subplot. I never really cared much for Ivy from the start but was willing to put up with a very boring character because I liked all the other characters. But with each passing book this romantic subplot gets more page time. And it's BORING. Ivy's in love with Rachel, Rachel may be in love with Ivy and therefore has to discuss her confused feelings with every other character in the book. I was so tired of the storyline that I just lost interest in the book. I didn't even care when there was a character death.

I hope this boring subplot fades from existance (wishful thinking) but it's ruining this fun series for me. I'm starting to find Rachel irritating and it's never a good sign when I start disliking the main character. The actual mystery of the book and the new storylines that are being picked up are interesting and intriguing. It's just too bad it got bogged down by a boring subplot.

I have enjoyed all of the adventures of Rachel, Ivy, Tinks, and the rest but somehow this one touched me the most. I actually cried at one point in this book. That rarely happens. There are alot of reviews and they tell you most of what the book is about. However, I just wanted to say I cried for the thing that broke my heart, I cannot tell you what it was cause that will ruin the book for you. But the interchange between Rachel and Ivy was stupid and I hope we don't get alot more of that type of thing.

If you have read the other books you will understand the reviews and book better. Rachel still has the Focus and must find a way to get rid of it. Ceri meets Trent which is something I have wondered about.

We learn more about the werewolfs and the vampires. I will look forward to her next book but now that they are hardbacked they will have to still be as good as the paper back ones.

Rachel wakes up to find that she has been possessed by the crazy but very powerful demon Newt (apparently the only female demon alive). Newt wants something of hers that she thinks that Rachel has but can't remember what it is. There are a number of complex interwoven plots here with a bunch of good characters. Because of the established characters and continuing plots I recommend reading at least "Every Which Way But Dead (Rachel Morgan, Book 3)" and "A Fistful of Charms (Rachel Morgan, Book 4)" before this one. Actually the series is best read in order and all of the books are very good reads.

There is some humor here and one brief sex scene. Rachel and Ivy still are working through their issues and AL (demon) is still making a nuisance of himself. There is good humor here as well.

One of the major plot elements involves the focus (a were artifact that allows weres to turn ordinary humans), this causes an imbalance in the Interlander (witches, weres, vampires, etc.) Power structure as only vampires can turn ordinary humans; the rest of the Interlanders have to have kids the old fashioned way (and they are not interfertile with humans or other sub species of Interlanders either). But with the focus the weres can rapidly outnumber the vampires.

Not quite and excellent read marred by some editorial inconsistencies; nothing bad but annoying.

There are already so many reviews on this book and what it's about I thought why put my two cents in? But then I thought, why not? I have read all the books in this series and like so many others, I have wondered about the fate of Rachel, Ivy, Jenks, Trent, David, Kisten, and Cheri. They have become my friends. Now that they are my friends, I was saddenend at the loss of one of them. As many have stated in prior reviews, there is one point where I actually cried, which I seldom do. This is a testimony to the impact good writing has on a reader. I felt as if I had lost a good friend. Nevertheless, isn't that why we read? To be moved or angered or have a good laugh? We would like to throttle Rachel for her spontaneous combustion of a personality. We do or do not want her with Ivy. We worry about Jenks getting older. We love Kisten and so want it to work out for him and Rachel. Those kinds of running plots make for a very interesting read. This book was no exception to that rule. Regardless of how you feel about the turn of events in each book, they still grab you and hold on to you until the very last page. I love these books, I love Kim Harrison's writing and no matter how they turn out, I will be a faithful reader.

I love this series. I keep hoping that Rachel will start trusting herself to lead more, just pick up all the dice baby and walk away! Harrison's writing just gets better, so they are a pleasure to read. But this book really left me hanging in the end. For all of you who read it, I know you must be thinking what I am, that the last 20 pages smells like 3 day old fish. Whole chunks of crucial detail are missing, the fate of crucial characters seems to be up in the air leading me to doubt what we are told when we are finally told what has happened, despite all evidence to the contrary. I just don't buy it, guys, and without the gut feelings and "experience" to buy into what we have been told, the ending feels unfinished and forced. It almost feels like a business decision to end it where it ended. Either it was just getting too long, or its a clumsy way to write a whole OTHER book about what REALLY happened....either way, it's a little irritating. I still recommend the book, I love the characters and in the early going of this book, I thought it was one of her best. I just hate the ending, and not because of what they say happened, I hate the ending because it didn't have the power or satisfaction of a great ending.

- Martha K