Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

For most series i start losing interest by book six. Authors tend to reach a point where they stall to fill the quota and to milk the popularity of the series for all that it is worth. Hollows was turning into one of these series. All the action, all the drama seemed to be the repetition of the same conflicts as previous books. In short, everything in the past couple of books was stagnant and I was getting bored! Pale Demon however (at least for me) changed all that.
I read it in one sitting. There was never any question of me taking a break to eat or drink, i literally could not put it down. The best part from the beginning was the redemption of the character of Trent. I have always felt that Trent, with his shifting loyalties and ambiguous morality is so interesting that he should be one of the more important characters. He is such a perfect companion for Rachel (romantic or otherwise) as she herself struggles to find the gray between white and black. The fact that he is pretty hot and Rachel drools a little every time she sees him suggests so much potential there for that relationship.
In this book we finally get a chance to explore some of that potential. Rachel, Trent, Ivy and Jenks decide to go on a road trip. Rachel has to attend the big Witch pow wow and Trent is assumed to be on some kind of elf quest. Trent being Trent will not say what the quest really entails. As predicted bickering ensues and that part is quite entertaining. I don't think I'll ever get sick of Jenk's tinkerbell inspired swearing. Pierce drops by and and so does a very interesting demon whose appearance provides some insight into Rachel's powers and potential as well as Newt's sordid past. Al as always provides a nice change from the witchy politics and Pierce's opining. Pierce as always says opine one too many times. Kim, i beg of you! please, give him a new word to use.
What i loved about this book the most is the sheer amount of progress that is made for all characters. Finally, i feel that the series is going somewhere. So many twists and revelations make it so more plot development occurs in this one book than in the last three combined. Trent overload also helps since i always felt that he was such a good character and Harrison was wasting him by not involving him more in the series. Some doors are closed (finally!) and a few are opened in the cliffhanger end to the book. Rachel is left with a very complicated choice to make at the end. Waiting a whole year to find out what she is going to do is going to be hard but i guess that is the mark of a good book. I finished reading it with a desperate need for more. The last couple of chapters left a smile on my face. My mouth hurt after a week of dreamily grinning about the kiss that i had been waiting for since book one. Thank you so much for that Kim! Can't wait for Feb 2012!