The Good, the Bad, and the Undead

After half of the human population was wiped out by a bioengineering mistake, humans were forced to accept that they have always lived cheek-to-cheek with vampires, weres, and witches. Rachel was a witch working for IS, Inderland Security, the police force of the paranormal, until she and two others formed their own agency, Vampiric Charms. Rachel, along with Ivy, the living vampire, and Jenks, the pixy, have been trying to keep their fledgling company solvent. Ivy and Jenks aren’t having the problems Rachel is though. Finding a fish that wasn’t really missing and being grabbed by an FIB, Federal Inderland Bureau, agent are just a few of her issues. The FIB would like Rachel to take a class for ley line witches to see if the teacher has been slowly killing off the ley line witches. When Rachel connects a few dots in the case and points her finger at her arch-nemesis, Trent Kalamack, all-around slimy councilman, she’s given the heave-ho from FIB headquarters.

Along with her merry band of friends, Rachel embarks on a danger fraught mission to prove that Trent is behind these murders and in an ironic twist, ends up doubting his guilt.

This was a great follow up to a fabulous first novel. I absolutely love the tongue-in-cheek humor when it comes to inderlanders’ attitudes towards humans. Some of the names they’ve been given are hilarious! Ms. Harrison does a wonderful job creating a plausible alternate reality. Her characters are flawed in the way real people are and it makes them that much better. I can’t wait to read Every Which Way but Dead, coming in the Fall of 2005. Great job Ms. Harrison!

Reviewed by: Serena