Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge
Oct. 20th, 2009 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
The first book in a thrilling, addictive new series by a talented new voice in dark fantasy. Welcome to Nocturne City, where werewolves, black magicians, and witches prowl the streets at night ...
Among them is Luna Wilder, a tough-as-nails police officer whose job is to keep the peace. As an Insoli werewolf, Luna travels without a pack and must rely on instinct alone. And she’s just been assigned to find ruthless killer behind a string of ritualistic murders – a killer with ties to an escaped demon found only in legend ... until now.
But when she investigates prime suspect Dimitri Sandovsky, she can’t resist his wolfish charms. Pack leader of a dangerous clan of Redbacks, Dimitri sends her animal instincts into overdrive and threatens her fiercely guarded independence. But Luna and Dimitri will need to rely on each other as they’re plunged into an ancient demon underworld and pitted against an expert black magician with the power to enslave them for eternity ...
As a nightshift detective in Nocturne City, Luna Wilder keeps her status as an Insoli (packless) werewolf a secret from all but her boss, Lieutenant McAllister. Humans are suspicious of shapeshifters and magic users, their natural prejudice intensified by the Hex Riots in 1969, which destroyed part of the City and left it a no-go zone. Helped by her witch cousin, Sunny, Luna tries to control her phasing, using tattoos and other magical techniques to survive without a pack’s support.
When Luna’s transferred from investigating a prostitute’s ritualistic murder to locate the missing son of the City’s DA, Alastair Duncan, she finds a connection between the cases in the form of prime suspect, Dimitry Sandovski – the leader of a werewolf pack. Even as she fights her attraction to Dimitri, Luna finds that she needs his help in her investigation, one that brings her into contact with black magic, violent death and a terrifying attempt to harness the power of demons.
Kittredge has put a lot of thought into Nocturne City and there’s much to admire in her werewolf and witchcraft mythology. The notion of a packless werewolf forces Luna to learn what she can about her condition without the support of a pack who can help her develop and control her ability and teach her more about it. The City itself is shaped by its history, giving it a feeling of reality. A map has also been included to help readers navigate around its key locations.
Although Kittredge sees Luna as a tough woman with a take-no-prisoners approach but a damaged past that gives her vulnerability, she comes across as a snotty cow. Rude and abrasive, she labels any woman who stands up to her a “bitch”, pushes away people who care for her and for an experienced detective, is naive and impetuous. Dimitri is similarly unsympathetic - arrogant and single-minded and brutal, it’s difficult to see why Luna is attracted to him for reasons other than his role as a leader.
A scene depicting the use of black magic to transform bodies is chilling and the love scene is spicy. However the editing is poor with random capitalisation and typos in places (in one scene a character takes out a gun twice) while the pacing sometimes lags. There’s enough backstory and mythology to keep me interested in the series, but the heroine needs to be a little less stereotypical.
The Verdict:
Although I found Luna Wilder to be an unsympathetic and sometimes irritating character, the inventive mythology and clear thought that’s been put into this world is enough to make me want to read more.
Among them is Luna Wilder, a tough-as-nails police officer whose job is to keep the peace. As an Insoli werewolf, Luna travels without a pack and must rely on instinct alone. And she’s just been assigned to find ruthless killer behind a string of ritualistic murders – a killer with ties to an escaped demon found only in legend ... until now.
But when she investigates prime suspect Dimitri Sandovsky, she can’t resist his wolfish charms. Pack leader of a dangerous clan of Redbacks, Dimitri sends her animal instincts into overdrive and threatens her fiercely guarded independence. But Luna and Dimitri will need to rely on each other as they’re plunged into an ancient demon underworld and pitted against an expert black magician with the power to enslave them for eternity ...
As a nightshift detective in Nocturne City, Luna Wilder keeps her status as an Insoli (packless) werewolf a secret from all but her boss, Lieutenant McAllister. Humans are suspicious of shapeshifters and magic users, their natural prejudice intensified by the Hex Riots in 1969, which destroyed part of the City and left it a no-go zone. Helped by her witch cousin, Sunny, Luna tries to control her phasing, using tattoos and other magical techniques to survive without a pack’s support.
When Luna’s transferred from investigating a prostitute’s ritualistic murder to locate the missing son of the City’s DA, Alastair Duncan, she finds a connection between the cases in the form of prime suspect, Dimitry Sandovski – the leader of a werewolf pack. Even as she fights her attraction to Dimitri, Luna finds that she needs his help in her investigation, one that brings her into contact with black magic, violent death and a terrifying attempt to harness the power of demons.
Kittredge has put a lot of thought into Nocturne City and there’s much to admire in her werewolf and witchcraft mythology. The notion of a packless werewolf forces Luna to learn what she can about her condition without the support of a pack who can help her develop and control her ability and teach her more about it. The City itself is shaped by its history, giving it a feeling of reality. A map has also been included to help readers navigate around its key locations.
Although Kittredge sees Luna as a tough woman with a take-no-prisoners approach but a damaged past that gives her vulnerability, she comes across as a snotty cow. Rude and abrasive, she labels any woman who stands up to her a “bitch”, pushes away people who care for her and for an experienced detective, is naive and impetuous. Dimitri is similarly unsympathetic - arrogant and single-minded and brutal, it’s difficult to see why Luna is attracted to him for reasons other than his role as a leader.
A scene depicting the use of black magic to transform bodies is chilling and the love scene is spicy. However the editing is poor with random capitalisation and typos in places (in one scene a character takes out a gun twice) while the pacing sometimes lags. There’s enough backstory and mythology to keep me interested in the series, but the heroine needs to be a little less stereotypical.
The Verdict:
Although I found Luna Wilder to be an unsympathetic and sometimes irritating character, the inventive mythology and clear thought that’s been put into this world is enough to make me want to read more.
