The Witch With No Name by Kim Harrison
What a fantastic finale to a series that I've really enjoyed!
This was the 13th book in the series about an unlikely trio of bounty hunters set in an alternate world where witches, vampires and demons are real and have to be policed and sometimes hunted down by "runners".
I can't not compare it to Kelley Amstrong's Women of the Otherworld series which also had 13 books. I really loved that series, but the last one was a bit of a let-down for me, and part of it was the narrator - there are a few different main characters throughout the series, and I didn't particularly like Savannah, who ended the series.
Thirteen (Kelley Armstrong's finale) brought all the major players from the previous books together for a battle with the bad guys, but Kim Harrison didn't have to do that - her characters have been together the whole way through.
This book in particular is almost a microcosm of the series - Rachel starts off at odds with the vampires and with a little help from her friends saves the world. Actually, that's pretty much how most of the books go. But they're still worth a look!
I actually didn't love the very early books quite so much, but I was interested enough to keep going and the characters really developed well, even if those developments were often glaringly obvious. Sometimes obvious is good - it feels right. I particularly enjoyed the interactions between Rachel and Al, and the way she gradually won him round. It was clear from pretty much the beginning that it was going to happen, but even so it was lovely to see him humanised.
The exhilarating climax was a natural development given where Rachel's powers have been heading, but with a twist I didn't quite see coming to keep it interesting. The last chapter was actually more of an epilogue, rounding off the story and giving us some closure.
A satisfying end to a really enjoyable series. Can't wait to see what Kim Harrison does next.
