Anita's friend Jason has just suffered a bad breakup with a girlfriend, and on top of that he receives news that his father is dying of cancer and has only a few weeks to live. Anita agrees to accompany Jason home to visit his estranged father. Even though she's not actually his girlfriend, she's a girl, and she's his friend, and Jason thinks her presence will help things go more smoothly.They don't count on the fact that Jason's cousin, whose father is on the brink of running for president, has picked that weekend to get married - nor on the fact that Jason looks almost exactly like his cousin, enough to be his twin. They stumble into a media frenzy, and, as is usual for Anita, things quickly spin out of control. Soon the wereanimals from the nearby are involved, and Anita has not only stepped on the toes of their packs, the master of the Jason's hometown city, but has also jeopardized Jean-Claude's position of power as well. To complicate matters, Marmee Noir, the big bad of big bads, decides to get in on the action, with the usual complicated results.
Laurell Hamilton is, as always, a true master of pacing. I know better than to start her books in the evening, because then I'm up in the wee hours of the night reading, saying to myself, "Just one more chapter. Just one more page!" and reading and reading until I'm absolutely no good for anything the following day. But somehow I am always unable to resist, and it happens every time. I have been enjoying watching Anita come into her own - there is less angst in this installment in the series, and while she continues to be required to make difficult decisions, she is easier within herself. Meanwhile, the tension continues to build, with Marmee Noir's increasing powers leading ever toward the fulfillment of her mysterious plans for Anita...
And here I am again, waiting for the next book to come out. Sigh.
Books in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series:
1. Guilty Pleasures
2. The Laughing Corpse
3. Circus of the Damned
4. The Lunatic Cafe
5. Bloody Bones
6. The Killing Dance
7. Burnt Offerings
8. Blue Moon
9. Obsidian Butterfly
10. Narcissus in Chains
11. Cerulean Sins
12. Incubus Dreams
13. Micah
14. Danse Macabre
15. The Harlequin
16. Blood Noir
17. Skin Trade
Blood Noir (#16 in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series) by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley, 2008)
Also reviewed at:
All Booked Up
The Good, the Bad, the Unread
Laura Likes...
Sounds like a good one.
ReplyDeleteGabbi - I did enjoy it! Too short, though. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt drives me crazy how long we have to wait between each book! I just loved this one.
ReplyDeleteMe, too - to both things you said!
ReplyDeleteI need to catch up with this series. Last year I read the first 6 and have the rest of the paperbacks waiting on my shelf for next year. I hear the middle ones go a bit downhill, but it sounds like they are worth sticking with in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I'd say they went downhill, but they certainly took on a new direction. The first ones were more mysteries, catching-the-killer books, and then they suddenly become more about Anita and what is going on with her, and how those changes affect her life (and the lives of those around her). They become way more explicit and violent, and that has turned some of her fans off, from what I've been reading. But I've come to love the characters, and there's a sense of things building up from book to book, so I'm dying to see what happens! I'm looking forward to hearing what you think if you decide to continue with the series.
ReplyDeleteLinked your review from mine, as I finally got around to reading Blood Noir.
ReplyDeleteHave you added Skin Trade to your TBR pile yet?