Released: 5/26/09 240 pages
Publisher: Harper Collins
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0061718165

The wit and depth that Kim Harrison has brought to her Hollows series is superb, however a young adult series.... I have my reserves. The short story that introduced us to Madison and her death, was good and showed plenty of promise, but was it enough to kick off an entire book? An entire series?

Ye of little faith. This is Kim Harrison we're talking about, and if there was any doubt, with a few strokes of her mighty pen she demolished all my fears.

Madison is equal parts determined, and scared. She's willing to risk herself to protect someone else, all while trying to be a regular teenager. Well, almost regular since Madison is anything but normal. She's dead.

Reapers, Grim and otherwise, Guardian Angels, Seraphs, and Time Keepers all come to play in this fun romp where the lines between good and evil are blurred. Madison just wants her body and life back, but she may get more than she bargained for.

This book is about as perfect as first books can be. There's realism in the characters, you actually care what happens to them. The struggles are not so far fetched even blanketed in fantasy. It's a great read.

Released: April 1, 2007
Publisher: Harper Collins
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0061253096

One of five short stories in the collection, introduces us to Madison Avery. It's Prom and she's just figured out that she's been set up by her dad, her date is only there as a favor. So what's a girl to do, but leave with a handsome stranger of course.

But this stranger has a secret and a job, he's a reaper and Madison is his mark. In a clash between dark and light reapers Madison may have escaped with her life, but not her body.

The story is fairly quick paced, with a likable protagonist bumbling from one mistake to another. The entire Reaper would is very complex, with its light and dark, timekeepers, and amulets. The writing is not as clean as what's come to be expected from Kim Harrison, but it's a good glimpse into the world she's about to immerse the reader in, in the upcoming Once dead, twice shy.