Review of DAUGHTER OF HOUNDS by Caitlin R. Kiernan (see her website)

Roc, January 2007

'Soldier' kills for a living. She doesn't take joy in it, but she doesn't mind much, either. She stays alive because she's good at it, and because she has a little trick--she can create a do-over when things don't work out right the first time. Emmie Silvey has always been odd--with her yellow eyes and her ability to learn and understand so much beyond her eight years of age. But when Emmie sees a strange woman on a train and that woman gives her a warning about horses--a warning that saves her live a couple of days later, Emmie learns that there's something strange going on in the world and that the bright line between dreams and reality is really not so clear after all.

Although they don't know it, Soldier and Emmie's lives are bound together, both by their unusual histories and by their shared need to create a different future. First, though, they need to stay alive, and second, they need to figure out what to do. Because nobody is telling them what they need to know and there are far too many secrets.

Author Caitlin R. Kiernan creates a powerful and beautiful story. Both Soldier and Emmie make fascinating characters, caught between forces they don't understand, lacking true understandings even of their own natures, and yet intent on keeping on going despite the odds against them. Kiernan's writing is engaging and vivid, pleasing the reader with its texture as well as with the story.

DAUGHTER OF HOUNDS falls somewhere between urban fantasy and horror. There are no sexy vampires or earthy shapeshifters, but there are ghouls, demons, and lost children forever dreaming of finding parents and families, and forever denied the hope of doing so. I am happy to recommend DAUGHTER OF HOUNDS.

Four Stars

Reviewed 4/22/07

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