"A serial killer is hunting the Pacific Northwest, murdering victims in a gruesome and spectacular way. The local police suspect "monsters" are involved, and have called in Anita Blake and Edward, U.S. Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer."
(Description by Author on Amazon.com)
1000 + Books to Read Rating:
My Blurb:
Anita and Edward are called in by fellow U.S. Marshall's to help in a serial killer case. They suspect the serial killer to be a Were and only Anita and Edward can help solve this one.
As it turns out this is exactly where Anita and Edward need to be as they learn from the first crime scene that it is in fact a Were killing other Were's. That can only mean one thing.. The Harlequin.
Lets Talk About It:
Anita Blake is back.... almost.
I really really liked this book.. I stayed up til 3am reading, devouring it. Edward/Ted was in it, Olaf/Otto was in it and that means that there will be some nifty bloody killing going on right? WRONG.
Most of this book was tied up in getting to the bloody killing that never happened. Anita and Edward are working on a case, there are issues with the other Marshals not liking Anita's rep for sleeping with the 'Monsters' they track, then there's the big bad Mama o Darkness out and those who shall not be named (Harlequins) tracking Anita. That sums up this book and like.. the last two.
The first half the book, like I said, I devoured and all the while I'm thinking 'Yeah Anita's back!!' because we've lost her. Yes, the Anita in the first ten or so books is waaaaaay different than the Anita we have now. So I'm thinking she's back but then what... Edwards lovey dovey in spots, Anita is distracted and home sick... huh? What happened to solving the murders? Or defeating The Mother of All Darkness? Ahh... yes.. that we get to 20 or so pages before the book ends.. the rest is tied up in Anita's relationships with everyone. Olaf, Nicky, Domino.. you get the point.
And then the last 3 pages are dedicated to tying up all the lose ends.
Anita Blake stories are like... (and I think Anita and Laurell will LOVE this) getting down and dirty and NOT feeding the ardeur. Yes, all that foreplay with no climax leaving you frustrated even though you've enjoyed it all.. but without the proper ending it's still frustrating.
I also missed having some of the characters I adore being in the books. I swear Jean Claude, Richard (even though he's a drama queen), Nathaniel, Micah, Jason (and many more) who were huge parts of the earlier and mid to late books of this series have been MIA. I will say Laurell has an a way of making me adore the characters she creates. Ethan, the newest addition into the mix, has quickly put himself into the top 5 men of Anita's.
Overall this book is MUCH better than the last two, Bullet and Flirt. A lot closer to the Anita books that captivated me in the first place but still not quite there yet. Now I await the next in the series because love it or hate it I'm a fan!
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