Review--Low Midnight by Carrie Vaughn

Low Midnight spins out of the series on the wave of popularity surrounding Kitty's most popular supporting character, Cormac Bennett, a two-minded assassin of the paranormal who specializes in killing lycanthropes.

In his first solo adventure, Cormac, struggling with a foreign consciousness trapped inside him, investigates a century-old crime in a Colorado mining town which could be the key to translating a mysterious coded diary… a tome with secrets that could shatter Kitty's world and all who inhabit it.

With a framing sequence that features Kitty Norville herself, Low Midnight not only pushes the Kitty saga forward, but also illuminates Cormac's past and lays the groundwork for Kitty's future.

I finally manage to return to Carrie Vaughn’s Kitty Norville series! This was one of my favorite Urban Fantasy series back in the day when that was all I read. I remember waiting years and eons for this book, for Low Midnight is Cormac’s book!

I will admit I was a hardcore Cormac fan. Pretty much since he first stepped on the page being paid to kill Kitty, but when he didn’t, I knew he was going to be sticking around! My heart broke hard when Kitty went for it with him and he turned her down, then she ended up with Ben. Sigh, I like Ben, just not as much as Cormac. Lol.

Cormac has finished his parole time and is now a 100% free man. He also still harbors a ghost inside him by the name of Amelia Parker. Even with my fuzzy memory, I remembered Cormac encountering her in prison when a demon showed up and he agreed to host her, if you will. Now they’re together of sorts, where she’s the little voice in his head and together they can do great things.

The next great thing will be to figure out how to decode Amy Scanlon’s book, the one she gave Kitty before dying—fuzzy memories there. When Cormac gets a lead on a translator, he must first perform a task in order to get their help, he must solve a murder that is over 100 years old. Should be easy, right?

This book was a great inside look into Cormac’s life, it was surprising! We all know he’s had a rough life and we really get a better grasp on that fact in this book. Cormac’s past catches up with him in this book and it’s no stroll down memory lane.

Naturally, his past cohorts are connected with the mystery he’s trying to solve from the past. Honestly, things started to get a little muddled for me with that connection, but in the grand scheme of things, I understood the motivation, but in the beginning parts of it, it was rough.

I do miss that Cormac lost his chance with Kitty, and yet there’s still no one there for him in his life romantically. I wasn’t sure if he was meant to have anyone to be honest. There’s no characters about that would make a good match. But then there’s Amelia, and I am wondering, just what is Carrie playing at here. Lol. Cormac and Amelia are able to communicate telepathically with each other, but also in dreams. They have a sort of dreamscape where they can talk to one another face to face. And every once in a while, you will see something that gives Cormac pause and it makes you wonder, what is he thinking that we are not privy to?

Sadly, my memory didn’t even really let me remember who this big bad was. I could recall the name and that he is the Big Bad, but that was about it. I know this next and final installment coming up will finally bring him onto the page. I can’t recall if we’ve ever actually met him. Maybe once upon a time in the early books? It’s not important in the long run, but my mind always struggles to remember these details and continues to try to bring up some memory or other. This is truly a me kind of problem though.

Low Midnight was an exceptional read! I was happy to get inside Cormac’s head to a point—it’s third person point of view—and finally learn what makes this guy tick! I hope he plays a role in this finale I’m about to start! Only one way to find out! Since this is an older series and I am way late to finishing it, I can only recommend that you check it out from the beginning if you haven’t yet! It’s Urban Fantasy at its finest!



Overall Rating 4/5 stars