Affliction

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #22

by Laurell K. Hamilton

Micah’s estranged father lies dying, rotting away inside from some strange ailment that has his doctors whispering about “zombie disease.”

Anita Blake makes her living off of zombies—but these aren’t the kind she knows so well. These creatures hunt in daylight, and are as fast and strong as vampires. If they bite you, you become just like them. And round and round it goes…Where will it stop? Even Anita Blake doesn’t know.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Fiction

570 pages, Hardcover

First published July 2, 2013

About the author

Laurell K. Hamilton is one of the leading writers of paranormal fiction. A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Hamilton writes the popular Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels and the Meredith Gentry series. She is also the creator of a bestselling comic book series based on her Anita Blake novels and published by Marvel Comics. Hamilton is a full-time writer and lives in the suburbs of St. Louis with her family.

Reviews

[Liv · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have broken a new reading record with this book - it wasn't the longest book I've ever read, but it certainly took me the longest to finish.

Two whole friggin' weeks!!!

I normally read books in the evening, because that's the only free time I have since I have to work during the day. Reading has become such a habit that I must read something every day, no matter the time. I followed my usual reading patterns with Affliction - reading it every night and reading only one book at a time, and it took me two whole weeks to finish.

For benchmarking purposes, a paperback with 300+ pages or so would usually take me about 3 nights to finish. A hardcover one with 400+ pages may take me 4 nights or so.

It took me this long with this book (hardcover with 570 pages) because not only was it long in length but it was really that painful to read.

First, I have to give credit where credit is due. It was obvious that LKH had put some thoughts and efforts in this book. Comparing to the previous few installments, this book was actually refreshing - heck, it had somewhat of a plot and some semblance of a story!! It was definitely an improvement, without a doubt.

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this book going into it. In truth, after reading the first two chapters (10 pages in total), I was actually intrigued! I thought to myself - "hmm, this seemed like a good start... there might be something here for a change..." So I forged ahead, thinking that this would indeed be a sort of different Anita Blake novel.

And indeed different it was! I wasn't entirely sure if the change was for the better, and it was so different that I no longer knew what to make of it.

If you are reading this, please stop right now if:
(1) You'd like to read this book but don't want any spoilers. Let me warn you, there will be spoilers and I will not even try to keep it to a minimum. I will say whatever that comes to mind and the story will be spoiled for you if you plan to read it.

And/Or,

(2) You're a big fan of LKH and her books and don't particularly appreciate others' potentially negative interpretation or comments on her works.

So you've been warned.

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PLOT

What baffled me most about this book, was the fact that LKH had an interesting idea for plot, but fell flat on her ass in the actual execution. The overall plot was so poorly structured and boring that I literally fell asleep three times out of my two weeks of torture.

I kid you not - I really did nod off three times during the course of this book - I will explain about this further below. But right now, I must get the whole plot thing out of the way first.

I looked up the definition of plot and here was a quote from what I found on Wikipedia:

The plot, or storyline, is the rendering and ordering of the events and actions of a story. Starting with the initiating event, then the rising action, climax, falling action, and ending with the resolution.

Affliction indeed contained all these elements. Some of the actions portrayed even brought some reminiscence of the old Anita Blake back. What was bad about it though, was the fact that the book's plot development was completely derailed by the over-abundant and boring dialogues between Anita and whoever else was present at the time. Some of these dialogues may not even be relevant to the events and actual plot, but rather the author's pathetic way of showing a more philosophical and self-reflecting Anita Blake in the midst of chaos. While I appreciated her attempts in offering us a different and perhaps "changed" Anita, these dialogues were often out of place and they were totally distracting the reader from the main story.

Imagine yourself driving on the highway thinking that it was free-flowing traffic, but when you got there it was a stop-go-stop-go situation all the way to your destination.

Frustrating!

To demonstrate, let me present you with an outline of the book (I've kept this section hidden in case you don't want to know):


(1) Anita was informed by Micah's mom that his dad was dying of a preternatural rotting disease. This was the key event that set things in motion in this story. (up to pg. 10)

(2) After a lot of talking and making arrangements, they finally flew out to visit Micah's dad and his family. There was a lot of family drama, and because Micah's dad was a cop, there were also many cops at the hospital. As expected, some pissing contests ensued (because everyone had to question Anita's reputation both as a badass federal marshal and as a slut). All of this stuff took up the next 150 pages or so of the book and had nothing to do with plot development. This was the place that I fell asleep twice while reading since it was absurdly boring.

(3) Finally in Chapter 21 (pg. 156), something happened and the police consulted Anita due to her being an undead expert. Anita began helping with the preternatural investigation. Meanwhile, there were a few more pissing contests.

(4) Zombies! Vampires! Fights! Some people were hurt. Anita and team had no idea why the zombies exhibited very different characteristics than what they'd normally encountered. Anita was stumped. More talking and talking and talking.

(5) After some research and serious thinking, Anita finally figured out that a rogue master vampire was behind the zombie attacks which caused the rotting disease. They finally had a plan of action of sorts to hunt this vampire (pg. 415).

(6) Smarty Anita finally had an awesome idea to destroy the villainous vampire (pg. 550).

(7) The story climax and final showdown finally took place on pg. 564. It lasted less than one page in length and finished on pg. 565. The falling action and resolution were all wrapped up in the next five pages with the book ending at a whopping 570 pages in total length.


Apart from a handful of key events which actually moved the storyline forward, everything else was filler material, primarily made up of one or more of the following:

- Extensive physical descriptions of every character that made an appearance on the page. We would have the pleasure of knowing everything about the character such as his/her height, hair color, hair length, hair waviness, skin tone, eye color, lip size, physical build, muscularity, shoulder width, etc. This applied to EVERYONE, regardless of importance to the overall story or events occurring at the time.

- Unnecessary and seemingly poetic dialogues (which in my opinion, were of eye-rolling quality) that often had no relevance to the plot. It was often a forum for Anita to self-reflect and have philosophical debate with her partners.

- Pissing contests, or rather, other people giving Anita shitty attitude for just being her.

Now that I've seen you in person, I realize a lot of it's jealousy. You're as tough as you are beautiful, which means a lot of women must hate you on sight, and the men can't decide whether to try to compete with you or sleep with you. (pg. 413)

Yeah, really, Anita just couldn't seem to make friends because she was more badass than the officials on the force and women were jealous of her outward beauty or possibly even her collection of beautiful/handsome men.

This same theme was repeated, like, only a gazillion times in the book. But I supposed LKH wanted to make sure that the readers knew this so she had to explicitly state this through the mouth of one of the characters.

(Nodding) Yes ma'am, I got it. It's been a while so it might be good to remind readers about this point, repeatedly.

Good Lord!!!

In the face of all the filler material as described, whatever thin plot that existed just seemed to fade into the background even more.

Since we're still on the subject of plot, I'd love to explore the build-up to the final showdown.

For the 50 pages or so leading up to the final showdown with the villain, there were more dialogues. This was the place that I fell asleep for the third time. At the final fight where the villain showed up (pg. 564), the whole fighting scene was wrapped up in less than 400 words, with these as the last sentences:

He tried to run then for the edge of the circle, but when he got to that invisible line he could not cross it. He stood on the edge of it and screamed and burned and died.

Talk about anti-climactic.

I actually laughed out loud upon reading this because it was funny given that it was all we got from the bad guy after 565 pages of stuff. Seriously, that was all that happened - the vampire got trapped, burned and died. I wasn't sure what to say other than that it just felt ridiculously hasty and poorly delivered.

CHARACTERIZATION

My main focus for review would be Anita Blake because I really don't have the time or motivation to talk about anyone else.

Anita was many things, but the one thing that I least expected and didn't realize until now was that she was selfish, oblivious, shallow, inconsistent and conflicting in so many ways!

When Anita received the phone call from Micah's mom at the beginning of the story, she was shocked and concerned. You'd think that she was concerned because she loved Micah and worried about his dad or how Micah might take the news of his dying parent. But no, the first thing that came to mind for her was whether his dying dad (who was a cop) knew about Micah escaping from Chimera's clutch was due to Anita's doing - she'd be in trouble legally speaking because she didn't have a warrant of execution.

WTF? Would this be how you showed concern for your loved ones? Not to mention the fact that she apparently knew very little about Micah's family history and it wasn't until the visit they made in this book that she learned more details.

Furthermore, despite the fact that Micah had been heading up the Coalition for a while now, she had failed to notice that he was slowly becoming the American shifter leader due to his involvement. Also, she had no idea that he actually had to fight some of the pack leaders to gain their support.

So supposedly you had fallen in love and lived with that person for three years, would you not have considered talking to that person about his past and family matters? At least that was what I would expect under normal circumstances.

I supposed Anita was anything but "normal".

In various occasions throughout the book, LKH would write about Anita noticing some interesting tidbits about the people around her. She'd wonder about those things in her head, took notes, and filed those away for asking later.

Guess what? There was no later, because those observations/questions were never answered or addressed in anyway.

Seriously, if LKH had no intention of answering those questions, then she shouldn't leave those sloppy loose threads around. Perhaps they were meant as rhetorical questions, but they didn't appear to be that way to me. All that I noticed was Anita being oblivious to the people around her.

Additionally, there was a whole section dedicated to exploring shapeshifter abilities and how Anita learned a lot about shifters.

Seriously?!? She was lover to two lycanthropes and was the queen of tigers and and a bunch of other different types of weres, and it never occurred to her to learn more about shifter abilities?

To be honest, the topic itself was interesting and enlightening even, as it was nice to learn more about lycanthropes in the Anita-universe. However, this book was #22 in the series, not book 2, or 12. Heck, this should have been explored to certain levels and details in previous books already. To be talking about this in book #22 was neither the place nor time for it and again it just showed LKH's sloppiness and neglect to the overall growth of Anita and the series over the past several installments.

Throughout the book, I'd read about Anita talking/thinking about how much she loved her men, whether it be Jean-Claude, Micah, Nathaniel, or even Nicky. As romantic as it sounded, it was nothing but lip service. There was a whole lot of talking - too much actually - where she'd explore about the meaning of love, whom she loved truly blah blah blah and not much showing. Yes, she showed us that she hugged them, kissed them, and told them that she loved them, but it just felt really superficial. It was almost as if LKH had gotten carried away by telling us how much Anita had changed and cared for her men, that she neglected to do more showing than telling. Some of her love did come through in her actions, but not enough and a little too late.

STYLE OF WRITING

I wasn't planning writing too much on this because there was nothing exciting to write home about. I think one word would pretty much cover it - REPETITIVE.

If you have read LKH's previous books, you should expect similar style of writing as before. She liked repeating herself over and over and over again on the same old things...

Like physical descriptions of Anita's gorgeous men.

Like how badass Anita was.

Like how everyone else (men and women both) saw her as competition - as mentioned above already.

Also, the flow of the plot was interrupted countless times throughout the book because LKH had to make room for useless dialogues that I imagined was meant to develop the characters and show their emotional journey. However, everything was so disconnected from everything else it was as if she wrote a bunch of the chapters separately and independently from each other and then meshed them together. There was no continuity and the flow of events was awkward and inelegant. Some of the conversations were also non-sensical in the context of surrounding events. For instance, Anita would have a lengthy discussion with Jean-Claude about Asher while people were literally dying all over town because of the zombie attacks. First off, Asher's whereabouts was irrelevant and talking about Asher at length in the middle of an investigation was just inappropriate and unprofessional.

This was just one example; there were many more.

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As I said at the beginning already, this book was a noticeable improvement over the last few books in the series. However, it was still the same old thing. Yes, Anita had evolved over the course of the series and it showed in this book, but I no longer cared for her as a primary character. I had lost whatever tiny spark of hope that I had in her because she was ultimately the doing of the author - and really LKH's creative juice was running short and thin. So again my prediction for this series would be down - downhill downwards down.

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BONUS TIME!

I forgot to mention about the editorial issues with this book. First off, I wondered who the author/publisher used as editor(s) for this book. Whoever they were, they clearly had no idea about the difference between quality and quantity.

This book was 570 pages in length (hardcover version) and quite frankly, I'd say the story would have been much more entertaining if it was cut by half.

I wondered what sort of editorial advice LKH received?!?

Also, there were numerous editorial errors/oddities in the book that I was surprised that no one caught them. Some examples:

I'm promise not to walk off with your stuff if you let me carry it. (pg. 260)

The reverse was also true, but Dev's would be sensual and Nicky's would be more violence. (pg. 390)

Then they both wrapped their hand around the softness of my breasts, mounding them up so they could a better mouthful... (pg. 464)

Oh, and here's my favourite one:

If she could destroy his original body, and I could trap him in whatever body he was inhabiting at the moment here in town and destroy that one, we could kill him, and we had to kill him, because we had to stop him, and dead is the stoppest stop of all.

Talk about run-on sentences...

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ADDENDUM

I borrowed this book from the city public library. Because it was a newly released book, I had to put a hold on it and waited in line for it for a few weeks before I got it in my hands to read. In the past years, some of the new Anita Blake books would have hundreds of people waiting in line . It was sometimes unsurprising that I'd have to wait months before my turn if I was last in line. This time around, with Affliction, I noticed that I was the 36th person in line and the wait was relatively short. Additionally, our library also had a circulation policy that with newer and more popular books, instead of the normal 3-week lending period, they'd only be on loan for 2 weeks. In the case of Affliction, even though it was brand new, it was on loan to me for 3 weeks.

I wonder why?

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To Ms. LKH:

Really, seriously, please stop inflicting pain and frustration to your readership by writing trash and repetitive books that talk nothing of plot, action, characterization or mystery aside from the non-stop-rabbit-envy, non-sensical sex that Anita seemed to be unable to extract herself from with her various lovers. It is really time to end the so-called Anita Blake legacy, because there is really nothing much for you to milk from it and you're just asking for more strikes against your name!!

End it now, while you can still walk away from it with dignity, please.

No matter what I say though, it is ultimately up to you to decide this, as this is your choice and freedom. I'm just doing my part in expressing my honest opinion.

Thank you kindly.

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What more to say, other than that I've had enough of this silliness already?!?

[Lorena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hello, and welcome to another group therapy session for people who can't stop reading these books even though they are awful. Or rather, because they used to be not awful, and it is fascinating to see just how awful they are now. I don't mark spoilers, because the plot is really irrelevant in these books at this point, so proceed at your own risk. In this latest chronicle of the doings of Anita Blake And Her Merry Band Of Polyamorists, we learn many things:

1. Laurell K. Hamilton has jumped onto the zombie apocalypse bandwagon, presumably because zombie apocalypses are popular now, and she has kind of run out of plot material that does not involve intricate descriptions of hair color, eye color, and sleeping arrangements. The zombies in this book don't behave like any other zombies in the LKH universe ever before, but it's not really important why. The important thing is: zombie apocalypse! Kids these days like zombie apocalypses, right?

2. This does not mean that LKH is going to start skimping on describing the physical characteristics of everyone in this series - fear not. Every single character will still be described in minute detail every time they enter a scene, regardless of whether they have been a part of this series for years and you presumably know what they look like by now, but even regardless of whether they have made a previous appearance (or appearances) in this book. Because, apparently, the reader is not trusted to remember what Nathaniel looks like, even on his 14th appearance in these pages. Since Laurell clearly dislikes having to waste time thinking of new things to say about her characters and must resort to using the exact same phrases every time they appear, I'm going to propose that she move to a shorthand solution, in which she gives the precise Pantone shade numbers of every character's hair/eyes/skin color immediately after their name, thus saving time and effort for all concerned. We can add height, weight, length of hair in inches, and some kind of code number that rates musculature on a scale from lean to bulked up. We'll just agree that we can assume that penis size is "prodigious" across the board.

3. Every single "good" person in these books is involved in a non-traditional relationship. It is not enough for these relationships to be recognized as co-equal with a "traditional" relationship. No, you can be polyamorous, or you can be gay/lesbian/bi (and preferably, all of the above), but you may not be in a straight, monogamous relationship unless you are a horrible, judgmental person who is living a lie, and also fat. But only a specific kind of fat - apple-shaped people come in for serious body shaming (it's so unhealthy, not to mention unattractive!), while a large hour-glass figure (on a poly woman, natch) is deemed to be "plump in all the right places." So we know that LKH has been gleaning important info about health and well-being from the "Health News U Can Use!" section of her daily paper.

4. Anita's menfolk still like to refer to her boobs as "creamy goodness" as often as possible. This is still gross and not sexy. Also, Anita wears a size EEE bra, while still maintaining a trim figure. I have to tell you that, as a boob-possessing and bra-wearing person myself, I have never even HEARD of a size EEE. As in, that's not the way I have ever seen any brand of bra (and I am familiar with many) label them. But as near as I can figure out, that means she wears what would conventionally be styled a "J" in cup size. Meaning that I must now picture Anita in my head as looking like:

Only short. So...take that picture, and make it stumpier, somehow. And with black curly hair, and less smiley. You can see why Anita is clearly the hottest individual in the universe.

5. Anita still doesn't know/believe this, though. Despite the fact that everyone tells her so, all the time. We even get a lovely scene towards the end, where a woman who started out as an antagonist reveals that it was really only because she was so very jealous of Anita's supreme beauty and her numerous bedfellows. Here's a fun life hint for you: any woman who says "other women hate me because they are jealous" is describing her own feelings about other women. Other women actually hate HER because she is a bitch who won't talk to another woman unless there is a man present to see it, and then only if she thinks it will make her look good to that man. Just like how any guy who says, out loud, "I'm a nice guy!" when complaining about his lack of female companionship is never actually a nice guy. This knowledge will take you far in life, my friends.

6. Anita still cannot remember to eat, sleep, pack the right equipment, or have sex so she won't kill everyone without a whole crew of people to remind and nag her about it. Ugh, who can keep all that difficult stuff in mind, amirite?

7. Anita is not to blame when the minor zombie apocalypse gets a bit out of control, despite the fact that she is wrong about nearly everything the entire time, including the decision to not kill or otherwise disable one of her redshirt-equivalent bodyguards (never seen before this book) even when he tells her repeatedly to do so because he is about to turn into a rabid, zombie-mind-controlled werehyena and crash the helicopter she and several other people are on. Which is a thing that just happened to a bunch of other people they are fleeing and caused them to all be on the helicopter together in the first place. Then, in a shocking twist, he turns into a rabid, zombie-mind-controlled werehyena and crashes the helicopter she and several other people are on. But everyone reassures Anita that she is not to blame! How could she have known?

8. Oh, and Anita is a non-shifting werehyena now, too, FYI.

9. Officious officials who hate Anita because of jealousy and narrow-mindedness are to blame when things go haywire with the little zombie apocalypse because they do not take Anita's advice on one point seriously, just because she turned out to be totally useless and wrong about everything else up until that point.

These are the things we did NOT learn from this book:

1. The name of the city where Asher has been spending all of his time. Maybe if the city had a distinctive hair/eye color combination, we would know more about it.

2. Why everyone is SO INTERESTED in talking about Anita's sex life, just because that's the only thing she ever talks about.

3. Why it is a big deal that Anita and her pals remember to call Edward "Ted" in front of other people, and not "Edward," because...well, that's a stumper, actually. Edward being the full name that "Ted" is generally a nickname for, and not a terribly uncommon name/nickname combination at all. But apparently, calling Edward "Edward" in public will cause every one of the normally-dim-and-uneducated-to-the-point-of-absurdity people in the policing community to immediately guess that he is actually the one and only beyond-black-ops-super-secret-assassin Edward, and not just some other random law-enforcement dude named Edward who also goes by Ted.

4. Why, when Jean-Claude finally makes an appearance in this book, he and Anita have to immediately have sex...in a hospital shower. Ew. I mean, I get that water sex is kind of their thing, but has LKH ever SEEN a hospital shower? In the first place, they are not large. Certainly not large enough to make any of the varied positions described possible, as a pure matter of mathematical calculations of body lengths vs. cubic feet of space. Secondly, I guess maybe MRSA isn't much of a threat to a couple of supernaturals, but still...a hospital shower? Ew. It stinks like hell of bleach, at the very best. Not sexy.

5. Why, when Anita finishes yet another round of zombie killing and comes back to the hotel entirely covered in assorted sticky zombie bits, she gets pulled into at least 5 different conversations about various emotional, vampire politics and shape-shifter politics discussions, totaling at LEAST an hour (according to the book) before she finally makes it to another shower. Especially when we have learned that these particular zombie bits are totally catching and turn everyone into mind slaves if they touch them. But no, by all means, take your time chatting with the lady covered in drying, super-infectious zombie brain.

6. Why every conversation in the book (starting on page 12 - I checked!) must be conducted in the following format: "I am saying a thing right now." "So...you're saying...thing?" "I'm saying, thing." "What are you saying?" OMG JUST SAY "THING." THEN PROCEED WITH THE STORY, IN WHICH THE NEXT PERSON SAYS SOMETHING NORMAL IN RESPONSE TO "THING."

7. Why Anita has to spend 9/10ths of the book running from, shooting, burning, and thinking about zombies before she remembers that she is Teh Most Awesomest Necromancer EVAH, and should maybe just try thinking at them for 10 seconds with her Super Necromancer Mind Powers to make them stop. It turns out that, yeah, that makes them stop.

8. Why the book makes a big deal of setting up this whole "the call is coming FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE" plot line that looks to be setting up someone in the local police department as complicit in starting this whole thing, and then...just drops it with no resolution. Anita uses her thinky powers, zombies die, we all go home without really bothering to clear that up or even think about whether we might, in the future, want to look into clearing that up.

What about you, boys and girls? What did YOU learn from this book? Was it, by chance, how and why Edward, of all people, knew to call Anita from a totally different location just as she was getting into a fight with some of her men, just so he could tell her that she knew she was about to get into a fight with her men, and give her relationship advice? Because I'm still stumped on that one.

[Shay]

OMG?! There may actually be a plot?! SAY IT ISN'T SO!
why have people rated this book? IT AIN'T OUT YET. oh I no understand. :/

you know...I've been reading this series for almost...5 years now? (Oh lords was I a prevy curious teenager) and even though the books have pretty much become all about SEXSEXSEXSEXSEX plot SEXSEXSEXSEXSEX pregnancy scare SEXSEXEXSEXSEXSEX dear gods RICHARD get your head outta your ass SEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEXSEX new charcater? has sex with him SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEX (i think you get the point) I am still slightly excited for this book. Whether it is just as I described - SEEEEEEEEX - or it actually has a legit plot line with our strong independent Anita that we read about forever ago and fell in love with, I am the idiot that will still buy the damn book and read it. Sigh.

I just realized that I never read Kiss the Dead...

[Jessie Potts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Affliction a poem

How many guys can you abuse
How often can your v be used

Does plot count when it is dull
Bloat between a sexual lull

Is Edward dragged back
To take up some of the slack

Or face time with old friends and flames
Trying to prove there’s more in this game

The Zombie Virus plot is a bust
Nothing can dominate Anita’s lust

So in the end my friends you must choose
Are these 570 pages something to peruse

Mmmmmmmm NO

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just when you thought it was safe.

It’s not a stretch to say that we’re sold a bill of goods on this one. After months of promos and teasers about an unknown zombie disease ravaging people, there came a teaser trailer where the villain was clearly identified as Lover of Death, a Master Rotting Vampire, who’d been presumed dead. Except there was never any mention of him dying before. As I recall, the last word on him was killing seventy people in Europe at the end of Bullet. Yet the premise of Affliction is that he’d been thought dead along with Mother of All Darkness, so his appearance is a surprising twist. Except it’s not, since we’ve already been told about it. Plus it feels like it was kind of thrown in at the last moment; Hamilton has a history of milking the latest trend; with zombies the hot property nowadays instead of simply returning Anita to her zombie-raising roots, she pulls a lame bait and switch and then shows her hand anyway. In a nutshell, what was thought to be a zombie affliction is LoD resurfacing to try to stake out a territory of his own so he can kill everything.

What’s Good: There are flashes, instances, glimpses of Hamilton actually trying to write a story. Every so often you’ll get a decent passage, a zinger that’ll make you smile, an insight that makes you pause for a second. The greatly diminished amount of sex is glaringly apparent- 3 or 4 scenes total- and once again belies her protests about not paying attention to criticism of the series. It’s a giant step in the right direction. But as it’s Hamilton, one step forward results in two steps back.

Some will consider this good: there’s a veritable roll call of characters trotted out for this book. JC gets some face time, even Asher and Richard get some mention here. Underserved folks like Lisandro, Ares and Bram get some time as well, and there’s a few spots of actual continuity brought in.

What’s Bad: Once again, you almost don’t know where to start. From the beginning, LKH dishes up a few quotes about acquiring power and poetry balancing out excess power. If that don’t make much sense, don’t worry- it’s all about foreshadowing and justifying all the powerups Anita acquires in the book, including hyena and what’s left of Mother of All Darkness, and the ability to enthrall even vamps now.

Since there’s a lot less sex and Hamilton is allergic to the plot, something else has to fill up the pages. You got it- Haterz! Page after page of ridiculous, borderline insane rants and diatribes about Anita’s sex life…all right in the middle of a potential zombie invasion. They literally get prevented from interrogating some vampires because Hamilton drags out a cavalcade of nobodies to complain about who Anita’s sleeping with. Plus it would’ve cut out about a third of the book if they had talked to them. Gotta have your priorities in place.

Anyone, even LKH herself, who says she’s not writing PNR (paranormal romance) need look no further than this doorstop. It’s all about the lovey-dovey here, so much that it overwhelms what’s supposed to be the plot. Let’s start with Micah: for someone whom Anita’s been so in love with for years she knows jack-all about him. His mother calls, asking for him by his childhood nickname- Mike- and Anita has no clue what’s going on, even though the woman specifically called because Anita’s with her son and he’s one of the few strays she’s picked up that has a family, it never registers. In an almost 600 page book, it takes damn near 200 pages just to get out of town, meet Micah’s relatives and sort out some family drama and most of them disappear soon after anyway.

Micah’s family dynamic is so goofy it’s a cartoon, running the gamut of every stereotype and trope Hamilton can shove in to take up space- including, of course, haterz and religious zealots. He comes home for his dying father, hasn’t seen them in 10 years, and worries about explaining his bisexual threesome to his parents only to find they’ve got their own going, with a couple extra kids as a result. In short- he gets it from his parents.

Got a couple of questions for you all: when you discover a dangerous master vampire setting up shop in a city, shouldn’t you inform the Master of the City so he can deal with the problem? Wouldn’t they feel its presence anyway? When a homicidal master vampire has an animal to call shouldn’t you inform said clan about the danger? Rally the troops to help flush it out, maybe ease some tensions between paranormals and humans? When a horde of zombies is set loose on a killing spree shouldn’t any of the above groups be involved in the situation to help protect the city? Answer: you do know what series this is, right? What’s really funny about that is there was all this drama about who the MotC was and how to properly deal with him… and he never even appeared in the book. You see some of his flunkies when Anita and the boys are met at the airport, and never again. Oh, and didja know that vampires can become doctors now? Wonder how that even works, let alone if he’s allowed to operate on patients and what’ll happen if he’s stuck in ER when the sun comes up.


You could almost count how many pages it would be before someone would start on Anita for her sex life or her furry friends, or because it’s 2 o’clock. Whenever there was a spare moment, there was a pissing contest to fill it. I swear I was actually noticing when we’d go a few chapters without anyone complaining about Anita and her… oh, wait- there’s another one.

The biggest development here is that Anita gets engaged… to everybody. Yep; first Micah, then JC proposes to her so now it’s about who to legally marry and who to handfast or whatever with. Which becomes just another thing for the haterz to hate on Anita about. All the women who are slim and slender are mannish and waspish; if they have any curves or noticeable breasts that’s a dead giveaway they’ll be on Anita’s side. And Hamilton still can’t resist injecting sex into nearly every situation. Ex: Nathaniel agrees to shift into his panther form to help track some missing people. To make the locals more comfortable he consents to wear a collar to show that he’s under control; the collar he uses is his bondage collar with his nickname “P-Cat” (Amazon Edit) etched into it. And the point is…?

With 20 years of stories under her belt, a veritable mine of lore and worldbuilding behind her, Hamilton always leaves you wondering why she’s so adverse to storytelling. Probably because if she did, most of the stuff she writes couldn’t possibly happen. It’d simply make no damned sense and take the focus away from what’s important- Anita. During the book it’s info-dumped that JC is the Head of the American Vampire Council, which makes him- and therefore Anita- all kinds of extra-powerful. Now who wouldn’t want to read that story- JC making out like Michael Corleone as we witness the rise of a new American dynasty. Instead it’s glossed over in favor endless declarations of love and pissing contests about the sex life of a blow up doll with a badge. Boulder, Colorado is noted from being one of the most progressive, eclectic places in the country- except when Anita’s around, then it’s a hotbed of racism against weres- even though the hospital has a vampire for a doctor, go figure- and a woman can’t have multiple sex partners in peace while killing zombies and vampires to help them out. And if they treat weres as potentially dangerous, especially after one gets possessed by a vampire and goes berserk on some cops, they’re a bunch of losers.

Oh, almost forgot: someone dies. In an effort to create tension one of the bodyguards bites the dust. Don’t worry; about two dozen new ones are already floating in and out of the story, so you won’t even have time to miss him.

What’s Left: An unedited mess of contradictory information and a meandering storyline. Can’t even really get snarky about it; the thing is just plain bad. 600 pages worth.

[Ravyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the author's blog: "Micah is called back home by his estranged family, because his father, a county sheriff, has been attacked and is terribly injured. Anita and Nathaniel are going with him for moral support and to meet his family under very trying circumstances."

Can I just say, HELL YEAH!! This plotline with meeting Micah's family is pretty much EXACTLY what I was hoping to see in a future Anita book. And here it is. Seriously, I could not be happier. (Unless the book were published tomorrow, but alas, I will have to wait until next summer.)

[T00zday · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will no longer fool myself with hope for any LKH writings.
Dead series walking.

To quote Holy Terror: "Hamilton doesn't need an editor, she needs a paper shredder!"


Update: it wasn't *total* suckage, but its still a million miles from what we all once loved.

[MischaS_]

Okay, time to be mature here and go Marie Kondo.



I loved this series very much when it started, but slowly I became very disappointed with it and kept reading it because I hoped it would once again go back to the good old days of Anita chasing the bad guys, investigating crimes and even vampire politics.
The turning point in this, for me, was the moment when I started to see more and more problems with this series. Not only regarding the plot. But, honestly? Anita is kind of toxic.
I do not consider myself a sensitive reader. But I really, really dislike how other women, except for Anita are shamed in this series. (This is not my only problem with this series but the only one I add today. I may add more because I need to place the rest of the series to "never to read" shelf)

None of them is as pretty as Anita, not as curvy as she is, not as smart, not as confident and certainly it's their fault that they dislike Anita. Or whatever.

But the fact that shaming skinny women is a bonding topic between Anita and another female hunter?
A big no!

So, going Marie Kondo. This series does not spark joy anymore, so, it is time to finally let it go.

[Lexxie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, so I'm only 14% into this book (according to my kobo), 80 pages in, and I'm having some serious problems.

I gave up on Anita a couple years ago. I, too, was one of the fans that got tired of the repetitive, gratuitous sex, but admittedly I stuck it out longer than most people.

A couple months ago I ran out of things to read and was in one of those apathetic I'm-tired-of-looking-for-new-books moods and decided to re-read Anita. I had heard that the last few books had gotten back to the old plot-driven type of stories that I loved, so I caught up. And I was pleased, especially upon the return of Edward.

So anyways, I'm 80 pages into this book. I would assume that anyone that was picking up book 22 in a series would know the background of the main characters. But, apparently not, because we are given heavy, clumsy, several-chapters-long dialogue that rehashes several years of background, what every single character looks like in extreme detail (we KNOW ALREADY OKAY?!) and get to hear more about Anita's hangups and giant boobs.

The writing is killing me. It's so heavy handed. It's way too wordy. It's cramming way too much information into simple conversation, it's repetitive.... I feel like getting to a basic plot point takes pages and pages and pages of delays. Things like the choosing of her guards...could have been done in a paragraph. Not several pages. We start the story out with the immediate presentation of a conflict: Micah's father is in the hospital. 80 pages later, and we haven't seen his father yet? Isn't he dying? Shouldn't we, you know, get to the point? Why did we need 80 pages of back story and packing and picking guards and conflicts with guards and standing around talking in parking lots where we learn how big someone's pores on their face are....TOO MUCH DETAIL!

I'm going to stick it out because I hate paying for a book and not finishing it, but this book needs some serious editing.

Oh and for the love of crap I am so finished with the million tigers and their craaazy hair that is totally natural and their ridiculous names. It's like LKH has dreamed up a gothy raver 20 member boy band and wants and excuse to write about them, so she goes to great effort to cram them all in there.

UPDATE: about 65% of the way through, and while the story has gotten better, it is still so bogged down with explainations and clarifications ("so what you're saying is..." "yes Anita, that's exactly what I'm saying" "so by that you mean...." "yes, you're right" "but don't you feel such and such a way about it?" "no Anita, i feel THIS way about it". "so what you're saying is..."). EXAMPLE: every time Nicky has any emotion at all we have to hear once again about how he is a sociopath and only gets emotion from Anita or for Anita and then we have to hear Anita talk about how bad she feels and ask him if he feels bad too and then he says that he's never been happier and he loves her so it's okay she essentially mind-raped him and then she's guilty a little more.

And the repetitive use of phrases and descriptors is killing me too. Dicks are "velvet muscle" and a pulse is "like a trapped thing" and Jean-Claude has black lace eyelashes....and on and on forever.

UPDATE #2: finished it. My initial feelings still stand. Way too clunky. And I agree with everyone else on how quickly the ending cut off.

And with what seems to be in store for the next book...all I can see coming is more emo man whining and Anita talking about how she soooo isn't the girl. Joy. I can't wait.

[Carrie (Book Fairy) Fort · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite Lines I am putting a couple because I couldn't make up my mind!
“If you’re doing it right, love makes you more of who you are, not less,’ I said.”

“Real ghosts are so much easier to deal with than the kind we carry around in our heads. Most people haunt themselves more effectively than any spirit.”

“Real ghosts are so much easier to deal with than the kind we carry around in our heads. Most people haunt themselves more effectively than any spirit”

“Get here as soon as you can, and let me know which of the guys with you pissed you off and I’ll help you play with him, between killing zombies.”

“Whose the biggest, baddest motherfucking necromancer?’ I smiled at him, and said, ‘This girl.’
‘Damn straight,’ he said.”

“Love is not a one-size-fits-all emotion; there are as many different kinds of love as there are people. We’ re trying to find a size that fits everyone in our life.”

OH YEAH BABY IT WAS FABULOUS!!!
I have seen other people say the series has gone down hill, to those people I say YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT HAD EVERYTHING NEEDED TO MAKE A KICK A$$ ANITA BLAKE BOOK!
Micah's dad has been bitten by a zombie and his body is slowly rotting. Anita and Nathaniel go with him to see his dad and maybe say goodbye but, when Anita gets there (after all the drama of her being with Vampires and Lycanthropes I LOVE HOW SHE DEALS WITH IT) meets his oh so crazy family. Then all hell breaks lose and Anita does what Anita does best. Turns out its a vampire they thought long dead, this one can jump bodies, he can infect others with a bite, and then take over there body! Freaky!!
Oh and did I mention there is talks of a group wedding!! SO AWESOME! I love the group Anita and her men make. I couldn't do it but she can!
Can Anita defeat the Lover of Death?

[Sharon ∞❥ is an emotional book junkie ❥∞ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dear Anita,

Well, it was an interesting zombie story. I enjoyed the fresh spark that the zombies brought to your world of paranormal creatures. It was also refreshing for you to not know everything for a change.

However, that didn't apply to other things in general. Even though you have gotten better by a teeny tiny bit...you still come across as a know it all and it's extremely frustrating. Factor in the continual (and I hate this term but it's so apropos) "pissing contests" and the story starts to wear me down. You even stated:

"I could have argued that I wasn’t technically one since I didn’t change shape, but I let it go. It was beginning to feel a little like the lady protesting too much."

It's really distracting! And while I'm at it...I think we know what everyone looks like by now. I could do without the constant descriptions of everyone's "curls" and their muscles and oh yea...their guns (the non muscle ones).

I almost gave up on you for good. The first fifteen percent drove me crazy...and not a good crazy! But I decided to give you till twenty percent and I'm glad I did - because it really did get better!

I liked how you and Nathaniel were there to support Micah when his dad got bit by a zombie although I was a little surprised at how much you stayed away. It didn't seem to bother Micah so I guess it all worked out.

I do have to admit that one of the reasons I continued is because I had read in a review of problems between you and Micah and that kept my interest. However, what I was hoping was a problem, wasn't a problem after all! I'm glad you're okay with what I had read was a problem....it is only fair.

Another positive was getting all the updates of everyone - something that would seem hard to do with all the characters we've come to know and love (for the most part). But I think it was handled well - even if I would have liked a bit more on a few of them.

The sex scenes were toned wwwaaayy down which I think was a bonus because it made some of the (only four or five) scenes more meaningful. I especially loved the one with you and Jean-Claude. I thought it was amazing how he came to you when he felt you needed him. And what happened between the two of you made me a very happy camper.



And I was really happy to get more Nicky! For some reason, I really like him and so I was happy with the way your relationship has progressed. I hope he gets included in the "you-know-what."

Asher will be interesting. 'Nuff said.

I was really impressed at how supportive Edward/Ted was. I know your relationship has been headed that way but Wow! It was great seeing someone always have your back and you theirs especially when I remember how he was always threatening to kill you!

The zombie case was intriguing and a little garish. It does bring me back to the old Anita days so I really can't complain. You were able to work your magic and not do anything too weird so I couldn't be happier.

Overall, a decent story that has great potential. I do hope you continue on this path because I see nothing but good things in the future. (P.S. As long as Olaf is kept to a minimal!)

~ Your still-hanging-in-there-fan (even though I'm really still there for JC and Richard!)




Favorite quotes:

♥ "I love you, Jean-Claude; I wouldn’t know what to do without you in my life, my bed, my heart."

♥ "True love means you love the real person, not an ideal that you have in your head and superimpose over them. That's illusion and lies to me.”

[It's just me Shelly B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not even sure how to start this review.....but I will say that this book was by FAR my favorite in last couple years.





LAST couple years...huh....EXACTLY.........this series has been on a downward spiral for many years but I love these characters so I've stuck it out to see........WHAT could possibly change...CAN this series be revived.....YES it can!!!!!!!!!



OMG I loved this book!!!!!!!!


I truly didn't think that this series would ever go back to the way it was in the beginning.....bc remember this is book 22 in this series and I've stuck in there and read every damn one of them!!!!

I was so happy to have most of the main characters back in this book.....however I WANT...i need....more Jean-Claude. Yea he was here this time but NOT nearly enough for my taste!!



I freaking love Jean-Claude...I need that vampire in MY LIFE!!!!!!!!





The things that still bugged me was all the descriptions of what people looked like.....damn I get it.....I got it the first time they were described and I still get it....please quit telling me over and over again. Also the rehashing of things that have happened in the past......once is enough we don't need it re explained 3 times in a book.


However those were my only problems.....we got Anita back! She's gotten more control of her powers and she brought out her necromancy like a BOSS!!!!




LOVED LOVED LOVED this installment in this series and I'm crazy excited about the next book because Asher is back and I love his jealous ass!!!!!

[Eduardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

No, I haven't read the book yet but I will read it. At this point I'm too invested in the series to not read it. I'm of the opinion, like many of you, that the soft porn ruined the series even though LKH dialed it down a lot after many readers complained. For that reason I would like to share with you a technique I HAD to develop in order to read past book 10.

To put it simply: Once you get to a sex scene, skip ahead until it ends .

It has worked for me so far. Once I read the book I'll properly review it below.

REVIEW:

Well, I finally managed to finish the book and as promised here are my thoughts.

There is something about Anita's books that has been bothering me for a while: You might know that most authors that write sequels to their books end up referencing events that occurred in the prequels to let the reader understand/remember about it. But the Anita Blake series is 22 books long and LKH ends up referencing QUITE A LOT and it gets tiresome to read it. I mean, I wouldn't have a problem with it if it were just a few references, but they are way more than just a few. This book in particular had some references that weren't even needed and could be skipped. LKH should understand what is happening and start picking her battles, some references are indeed needed, while others, to me, seem to be added just so they take extra space.

There were some comments that were said once, and then were said again later in the book. It was repetitive and I saw no point in doing that.

The drama, a good chunk of this book was drama about Anita's love life. I don't consider that plot, just the author making the book bigger.

The group engagement: I don't understand why LKH did this, Jean-Claude proposed this thing that will end up in even more drama of who is marrying who and why some were left out. It doesn't seem something someone as smart as Jean-Claude is, would propose. It's just asking for trouble.

The battles were great, at least most of them. The most important one, the one that took 550 pages to get to, though, lasted less than some zombie fights. It's disappointing and I think I'm not the only one that thinks so. I guess the author herself was tired of her own book and just wanted to get it over with. I guess that should tell us something.

CONCLUSION:
I gave this book a 3 star rating, only because I can't give it 2.5. The book itself was entertaining and the author seems to have added more plot to the story than her previous works, but she's still far from writing a great book like her first ones. She seems to be trying though, I'll give her that. The book has its pros and cons and it is up to each reader whether they want to give it a try or not.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

finally we get to meet his family!!

holy shit. I knew Anita was busty but Nathanial let it slip her size: triple E. DAMN

[CEGatling · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I won't buy it, but Anita can be entertaining and the series has been getting better (from 0 stars to 3 stars) with the past couple of books. Here's to looking for less angst and pointless sex, and more plot." ~ December 2012

Completed review: Some spoilers below

*
*
*

So I finally read this book. I didn't buy it (yay! Libraries!).

I must admit she got better. There was less angst, less pointless sex, and more plot just as I asked. The story revolves around Anita's specialty, necromancy and zombies, mixed with the rotting vamps which we haven't seen as main adversaries in some time, if I recall correctly. I think the last time was pre-Obsidian Butterfly in Bloody Bones.

We get some sex but it is pretty clinical and treated in an "Anita needs to feed the ardeur so let's get this over with" sort of vein. Folks enjoy themselves and no one seems out of control. Most of the angst is fairly justified: Micah's dad is very sick and it's the first time Micah has been home in a decade, but Anita doesn't wallow in it. She also has to kill a friend--justifiable angst. I appreciate that Anita finally found her big girl panties and quit acting like a high school brat.

I think my only issue with the book is that that once they came up with a plan to defeat the vampires, it kind of wrapped up in less than 10 pages in a nice neat package. All it needed was a big, red bow on top. Can you say bit of a let down? I would like to have seen the conclusion and defeat of the bad guy stretch out a little longer. And the fact that I wanted this means something. I haven't wanted an Anita book to stretch in...wow, at least 10-12 books, maybe?

It was a very fast read which is something I have always appreciated about the Anita books that I enjoyed. LKH's pacing is very good. Anita gets in, kills stuff, and gets out usually within a week or less. The rest is background. There are some changes to her relationships but not too much--no random additions, thank God--and I only saw one instance of the "Anita things-someone else speaks her thoughts" thing LKH had been relying on for so long. And there was NO "creamy goodness"! I so hated that description in the last books. Ugh. There were no glaring grammar misses either.

All in all, an enjoyable book, straight up brain candy with no redeeming literary value but WAY better than the last five or ten. I gave it four stars but it was more like a 3.5/3.75.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! LKH blew it out of the water with this one.

For all you haters out there who gave this book a one star rating on GR and refuse to read it, you are missing out (and don't you think it's a little unfair to rate a book you haven't read anyway?) If your complaint was that LKH went too "erotica" with the previous books in the series, you gave up too soon- you are going to love this one.
There were four, yes, 4 total "sex" scenes in the entire book; and the first one didn't even come into play until almost 50% thru reading the book. Out of the four scenes, the longest lasted 3-4 pages.

Personally, LKH has kept me as a fan of Anita and the gang because I love Anita's world, her cast of characters and everything that involves; including the ardeur and all "her people."

This installment of the series really had bought all my emotions to the surface while I was reading.
There were certain scenes that were really touching and brought the tears pouring. We see a more emotional aspect of Anita's relationships, versus more sexual.

"True love means you love the real person, not an ideal that you have in your head and superimpose over them. That's illusion and lies to me."
- Anita

LKH also does really well bringing the current issue of same-sex marriage into discussion here.

"Love is not a one-size-fits-all emotion; there are as many different kinds of love as there are people. We're trying to find a size that fits everyone in our life." - Anita

The "old" Anita (the one who used to kick ass and take names later), seems to be back in the forefront and may I say Anita- it's good to see you, it's been a while! The shit hit the fan and went down so many times in this book, I felt like I just ran a marathon the way my heart rate was going crazy. So much action here I was waiting for Anita to pull a "John McClane" and yell Yippie ki-yay motherf$&@er!

Edward/Ted is back and I love these two as assassin BFF's.

'Whose the biggest, baddest motherfucking necromancer?'
I smiled at him, and said, 'This girl.'
'Damn straight,' he said.
- Edward & Anita

The plot here is really unexpected especially knowing the past books, deaths, vamp/zombie/ghoul logistics that we discovered in previous books. You know that saying "you learn something new every day",?, yeah well, that was Anita in this book along with everyone else, including me! Expect the unexpected my friends.

The only question I was left wondering and really excited about is a personal question about "tummy issues." And I'm sure LKH will answer it until the next book. And maybe we will see more wedding talk.
Patience will be my new friend here.
On a final note... I love that Anita is a triple E bra size. I'm just glad that she never developed back and neck problems like I did. That could be a real bummer when trying to kick some ass.

[Suz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. More engaging than the last several, although the people who whinge about missing the early Anita will be happy with it - IF they can let go of their prudery because there is perhaps 3 or so graphic sex scenes in the book and I know how you folks who love the sociopath Anita hate sex and love to bitch about it.

Today's Anita is a much more self actualized Anita and it's a refreshing thing to see. She's not perfect and still prone to falling into old habits but she catches herself now and makes choices to not do those things that used to keep her stuck. I like it. A lot. Even her relationships are growing and she's growing with them.

The mystery was ok. It's interesting to see how LKH works "new" into "old." She does a fairly good job of it here although it did ring a bit of retread.

I've heard some folks comment that Edward was a bit OOC and I suppose that's true if you're committed to keeping him the same as he's always been, but I personally like thinking that the man can grow and change, too. I like the direction the relationships are going in, I liked the way Asher was handled albeit minimally, I REALLY liked that Richard was only mentioned in this book.

If I have a negative about it then I was disappointed that the headway made with establishing the American Vampire Council was made off the page. I have been hoping to see that. I am still hoping to see that. But it was referenced a lot and we weren't left wondering if anything was happening on that front or not, so it wasn't an entire bust - just a personal preference.

I liked this one better than the last two.

[Mykesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does anyone else think the series went downhill since all this romance/soft porn appeared? There used to be a greater plot line... now it just 50 page descriptions of how she gives a blow job and what moral implications that act hold for the entire world.......

lame money milking, thats what this book is going to be :/

*it was ok. i think she cut down on sex :D anticlimactic ending though

[Sarah Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm very much looking forward to meeting Micah's family. Nathaniel and Anita along for the ride as well. I couldnt be more excited! I'm hoping the dashing Jean Claude doesn't hurt too badly that he doesn't have family to take Anita too. But from what laurell wrote, Anita reassures Jean Claude that she loves him. Counting down the days! :D

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how there are people who haven't even read this book yet but either give it fantastic reviews or trash it completely. I just finished this book in one 8 hour session and I enjoyed it immensely! We're seeing an Anita more like the one we fell in love with. Yes, she still has lots of lovers and is trying to deal with all the fall-out from having that many people in her bed, but this book isn't just sex, sex, & more sex. There's actually a pretty good plot involved. Micah's father has been bitten by a new kind of zombie that no one has seen before & is rotting from the inside out. Is the zombie apocalypse upon us? Can Anita & Edward with some help from their friends save the day? Read the book and find out...
As a side note, I'd just like to say something to all of those people who hate the direction the Anita Blake books have gone in since the ardeur was introduced... "If you don't like the books, quit reading them!" I am sick to death of people who apparently have nothing better to do with their time than wait for a new Anita book to come out so that they can trash it. We get it, you think they suck, and you think we're idiots for still liking them. Well, just as you are entitled to your opinion, I'm entitled to mine and I DO like them. I don't have to justify that to you because it's my opinion. We don't all like the same things and that's what makes this world an interesting place. But seriously, if you don't like the books why don't you just quit reading them. Wouldn't that make us all happier?

[Ivie dan Glokta · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meet Anita Blake, Necromancer, Vampire Hunter, Shapeshifter But Not, Executioner, Federal Marshall.....

Now what is the most impressive thing about Anita, she manages to be all those things at once even with a penis shoved in each and every single orifice she has, and more....

I would rather eat nails, shoot myself in the foot, stick needles underneath my fingernails, and go down a slide filled with razor blades BUTT NAKED!!!!! then read this book.

What once was and edgy and unparalleled PNR series broke down into a bleak and below average story line. It is like Hamliton lost all her will to work on a plot and just decided to write 50 pages of story line and shove 650 of unrelated sex scenes to fill a book cover to cover.... Nah thanx....

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just because you can write enough words to fill 570 pages does not mean you should.

If you do, your editor should be required to show some tough love and edit out about 250-270 of those pages.

There was a plot line to this book. If you looked hard enough, you could find it. However, the action ground to a halt due to unneeded, lengthy descriptions of:

1. The height, weight, build, length of hair, color of hair, style of hair, and clothes worn by anyone who was close to/spoke with Anita.

2. A rehash and lengthy discussion of of Anita's unique relationship with the men in her life every time she met someone new who questioned it.

3. Needless dialogue between Anita and someone else to remind the reader who a particular character was and how they did or did not relate to Anita. I particularly loved the telephone conversation between Anita and Jean-Claude early on in the book. "Hey, Anita, did you know that Richard is the Ulfric of the local wolf pack and my wolf to call?" "No way, Jean-Claude, is that why he's a part of our triumvirate of power?!?!"

4. Descriptions of Anita's guns. To people who don't go to shooting ranges and have no concept, this comes off as boring OR with a sense of know-it-all-ness.

5. Asher and his relationship with Jean-Claude, Anita, Devil, Richard, etc. Too much time was devoted to the plight/relationship status/relationship implications of a character who didn't even appear until the second to last page of the book. I would have left this out entirely and included it in another book if it's that important.

Things that surprised me:

1. Despite the fact that the book was supposed to be about Micah and Anita going back to meet Micah's family, that part of the story felt like an afterthought. There was a lot of potential there, but it was never tapped.

2. Edward was pretty much useless. It was kind of like when George Lucas added Boba Fett into A New Hope after Han talked to Jabba in the hanger on Mos Eisley. Legions of fans love Boba Fett, but having the bounty hunter stop and look at the camera did nothing to advance the story. Edward brought some cool toys to play with and maybe once told Anita to stop being an idiot, but it really wasn't essential for him to play that role.

3. The amount of sex was lower than previous books. The first scene with Jean-Claude was remarkably brief and lacking in play by play details. I have to say though, I'm so tired of Anita needing to "scream out her orgasm" into the floor, or into his mouth, or into the gag, or around someone's parts...the phrase is so overused. It's like LKH finds a phrase she likes and uses it over and over again until she finds a new phrase. The one that seems to be phasing out is "the look that men give you right before you have sex..." That one has been in both the Merry and Anita books...though...

4. I was waiting for the "Gallic shrug that means everything and nothing." I don't think it was used in this book, or if it was, I skimmed right over it because it was probably used in some discussion of the implication of this or that.

5. Tough as nails Anita describing her men as yummy. I just don't see it.

I keep telling myself that I'm not going to read the next book... But I always do. Is it hope? Or maybe some kind of self flagellation? I'm not quite sure. I'm excited as hell for the next Merry book to come out. I'm so glad LKH has decided to stop being a whiny, pouty baby and will not withhold Merry from her fans because they've become increasingly dissatisfied with her baby, her reflection of self - Anita.

I have to say, this blog post from LKH is a main the reason I have such a problem with her books lately. Written 7 years and 8 books ago, she basically belittles anyone who doesn't like the turn the Anita Blake books have taken by insinuating they want simple, non complicated, books with flat characters. And TOO BAD if you don't like the books, because there are too few of you to even think you matter. See my sales figures? I'm a big, bad, bestselling author! I'm not sure if you've watched the best seller's list, LKH, but being on it does not make the book a literary masterpiece.

Here are the lines that get my goat the most:

"Life is too short to read books you don’t like, so if you’re not having a good time, stop doing it. ... There are books that don’t make you think that hard."

"If that’s not want you want, then stop reading. Put my books away with other things that frighten and confuse or just piss you off."

"And if you don’t think you are the minority, well, sorry, guys but you are. I have the sales figures to prove it."

"There are series out there that have many fewer characters. Go read them. There are series out there that it’s obvious the writer sees the character only as a plot device, a means to an end. Go read those people, and you and that kind of writer can have a good, non threatening time."

"It must be some failing in the writing, in me, but whatever the cause it does not speak to you. Go, and find someone who does speak to you. Someone who’s characters are plot devices, so the books are neat, understandable, clinical, and utterly organized."

It's as if she's saying, people who dislike the later books are mature/educated/deep enough to like them. I take great offense at that. I was a very big fan of the series through Obsidian Butterfly. I keep reading because of that fandom. It's because of that fandom that I'm disappointed. I don't always read GREAT AND POWERFUL books, but I know one when I see it.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been my favorite Anita Blake book in a long, long time. Interesting action, actual relationship development between several characters, and some interesting issues for future books.

At this point in the series, I view the inevitable diatribes between Anita and various small-minded, petty, strangers much like junk DNA. As long as it is skippable without causing me to lose the flow of the story, I'm fine. There were a few instances where I had to flip back to the beginning of a conversation to figure out who is talking to Anita. Ernest Hemmingway style, Hamilton doesn't break up her dialog with a lot of "Anita said/Nicky said" tags, but unfortunately, the content of the discussions rarely offer any context clues as to who is speaking (Meaning, Anita always sounds like Anita, but most bodyguards/lovers/police officers are interchangeable cyphers and hard to keep track of).

I enjoyed how some of Anita's lovers are starting to distinguish themselves from the pack, and the action side of things (minus the repetitive ego-stroking and head-butting with law enforcement), was interesting. For the first time in a long time, Anita suffered a loss that made me sad.

Viewing this book in the context of recently re-reading the Meredith Gentry series, I'd say the Anita Blake books have become all about mechanics. Whether it be the nuts and bolts of police/SWAT procedure or the Do's and Don'ts of group sex and polyamorous relationships, Blake has become very cut and dry. I prefer the revelations of Meredith screwing Fairy back into being than Anita's emotion fueled day to day.

[Haiku Reviews · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anita Blake's new story
One of the worst books
No I lied, that's Dance Macabre

There's a zombie virus here
A rotting vamp too
And a lot of angry peeps

They think AB is a slut
Are they wrong? Could be.
But how many is too much?

We do get Edward and kind
I think it's a ploy
Trying to win us over

But the attempt was so lame
I dodged it real fast
Using my anti skank shield

[Kimberly Monaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay.....I will admit that Laurell K Hamilton is one of my guilty pleasures. I use her books to relax and escape and they are my version of television. I say guilty pleasure because there are so many people who bash her books for not being this or that but in reality, I find the books they would recommend BORING and just plain uninteresting. I have tried to read the books that are "recommended reads" and they just leave me scratching my head and wondering what all the fuss was about.

This Anita Blake book had an interesting story line and I really enjoyed it. There was further character/relationship development and I felt the characters really settling into their roles. I love Anita's world and I have reread these books many times. This one contained a lot less of her sexual escapades than usual but it was still an enjoyable romp and it hit on the hot subject.....ZOMBIES! (sort of!) Just like an action movie, this book followed Anita and Edward into another crazy scenario and kept you guessing.

Thanks for 20 years of Anita! She rocks!

[Soraia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Affliction is installment #22 in a series that has been going downhill for years. The last few books were so terribly written maybe that's why I felt this one deserved a 3 star rating (more like 2 and a little something). Low expectations and all that. In truth, if I could have given negative stars for other books in the series then this one would have gotten a positive one star, does that make sense?

The positives (yes, there are positives for this one hence the stars):

- There's a plot. No, I don't mean it's a good plot, but there is one and that's an improvement.

- Laurell K. Hamilton finally managed to focus a bit more on the characters she used for this book. Instead of having Anita going around her endless list of lovers, we get to focus on a few of them, Nicky specially. From using them as nothing more than sex dolls into seeing them as individuals, it gives me hope she'll finally start managing the overwhelming amount of characters she's maintaining in the series. For the first time in years, she got me involved enough to care what happens to a character or another, and Ares is a good example.

- About character development, I have to say I can finally look at Nathaniel as an adult man. Throughout the series I've always considered him as Micah and Anita's kid (in a very twisted way, obviously). But now it seems he can actually be considered an active member of their threesome. He has a personality, you can see glimpses of it and all it needs is Hamilton's attention to become something interesting.

- Slightly less repetitive. Slightly because, different from Kiss the Dead for instance, you don't get the same description for everyone every time they appear. A few characters were still described more than once or twice, but if you read the previous ones (don't personally recommend it) you'll notice how L. K. Hamilton managed to cut it down a bit.

- If you haven't read the last 6 or 7 books, you can just skip them and read this one and everything that has happened will be mentioned for you. Not in great details (most of it didn't have great details anyway) but you'll know the short easier version of everything.

The negatives:

- Back to the plot, it starts out as something with potential. There's a mystery, there's action, but in the end the solution for it all was the very first thing I thought when it all started. She's a necromancer, we all know how powerful she is and she's fighting flesh-eating zombies with guns? Why? Wouldn't it be reasonable to at least try to use the power to see if she can hold them back? It's too obvious to be the last thing they try after a long suffering brainstorm. Then justify it by saying Anita is still scared of who and what she is? That kind of drama has been milked dry, move on!

- It's been a long time since Ms. Hamilton wrote a story with a plot, maybe that explains why it was all over the place. She still wasn't quite able to connect everything. It starts with Micah's father being infected by a preternatural disease and dying fast, in order to get to the hospital in another state we're prepared to face a lot of vampire politics, which is completely forgotten and not mentioned again. Anita ends up being part of the investigation surrounding this mysterious disease so Micah and his family, which seemed the most important thing for the first chapters, almost disappear as soon as the investigation starts. Jean-Claude comes and is nervous about meeting the leopard's family, how he's going to be introduced etc, and I still don't know how it went, if you're not going to write it then why even mention it? The investigation continues and it's basically useless considering the solution for everything always comes from Anita's slow brain deciding to work. I believe Ms. Hamilton thought of a plot, started writing and didn't know how to end it, so she stalled and stalled then rushed to the simplest solution she could find.

- Some non-sense is turning into a mark for Ms. Hamilton's writing, this one specially caught my attention:

"It's beyond survival mode; it's mechanical, exhausting, with moments of breath-stealing terror sprinkled like chocolate chips in a cookie, reminding you how much you want to live and how much you have to make the other guy die to do that."

Really? "Terror sprinkled like chocolate chips in a cookie"?
Besides, in every odd page you'll find "that's what cops do", "that's how we do it" and other horrible catchphrases.
Chapter 69 is entirely about making a metaphor for vampires and how lions hunt. It's like a bad trip on expired acids. Then, on chapter 70, the entire metaphor is explained again in the most inappropriate conversation for two people to have inside a hospital room with an attack victim laying on the bed The whole Anita with angel's wings that happens right after is pushing it too hard, I know angels are the new vampires in paranormal, but no, JUST NO!.

- I read a review about another book of this series where it was mentioned how L.K. Hamilton has a tendency to stick to a word or expression for an entire book and then completely forget to use it again. The previous one was about alligators and this time around I noticed it is Freud. Everything is "too Freudian" for Anita to think, everyone has mother issues and projects somehow. Our author probably read something on Freud and mothers or has been visiting a Freudian therapist. Probably the latter considering therapy is turning into a recurring theme as well.

- Misogynistic. Anita insists one of the reasons why some guys hate her is because he's a misogynist, but honestly I feel like she is more than any of them. At every opportunity you'll read about how she's not girly, how it would have been annoying to deal with a woman instead of a guy, how she can't show any sign of femininity for her co-workers because they'd think less of her. I'm personally starting to find the insistant remarks offensive, it implies that being a girl automatically makes you too weak to deal with any of the things Anita faces. Not to mention how every single man she meets thinks of women the same way. As I recall Belle was one of the hardest enemies she faced and also one of the most feminine of them all. I keep waiting for the moment Anita will spit on the floor, scratch her crotch and belch just to try and prove she's not girly.

How pathetic is it that all of Anita's personal dramas are based on her being too dumb to notice things or too domineering to accept the choices others make? "Oh, Nathaniel this is too dangerous for you to do, but I can go and get shot and get you almost killed by sucking the life out of you because I forget to eat or feed my powers." or "Micah, you liar, I thought you just had tea with all the shapeshifters you visit for the Coalition ! I am the only one who gets to fight every single one I meet." And we're supposed to like her, she's the heroine! Argh.

- Lastly, L.K. Hamilton's obsession with eyes, blue eyes specifically, and hair, specially curls, is still full on. Anita is such an expert she can even tell if a guy with a buzz haircut has curly hair. Her newest obsession is about work out and how said work out shapes the muscles. The fixation has been growing for quite some time, but lately it's so strong some parts you feel you're reading a physical work out guide. Going to the gym much, Ms. Hamilton?

Almost forgot, what was the point of Anita being sick and nauseous? I thought she'd be pregnant but then no explanation. Did I really have to read about her vomit in detail for nothing?

With all honesty, this is not a good book. It's mediocre, but when compared to the few previous ones is almost a master piece and how sad is that? The best thing about it is that it gives hope that L.K. Hamilton finally decided to put a little effort in her writing and maybe with a little more practice (20 years writing, I know, but if you do it half-heartedly for too long you get rusty) it might result in books almost as good as the first half of the series.

[ALPHAreader · Rating 1 out of 5]

‘Affliction’ is Book 22 in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series.

I’ve given up on a lot of series. The Black Dagger Brotherhood series? Gave up. Got sick of all the otherworldly vampire women of unparalleled physical beauty. Gini Koch’s Kitty Katt series was still enjoyable, but just got a little too outlandish for me. Kitty Norville by Carrie Vaughn – kaput for me. Got the feeling that there was no end in sight and no over-arching story to thrill and hook me. One series that I gave up on a long time ago, was Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series – that I loved in the beginning, but like many original fans I flamed out when it basically became a cheap erotica series with questionable consent. I bowed out in a big way, with a scorched-earth kinda-joke but also kinda-serious review of Hit List .

Well. That was 2011. Approaching the end of the decade I had a charitable moment of thinking *maybe* I should check back into the series (which has since gone on to Book 26, when I tapped out at Book 20). I thought maybe the series had realigned, course-corrected and I was just curious to see what these characters I once loved were up to.

Readers – I should have left well enough alone. I should have finished at the drinking-game, and closed the door on this series I’d given up on. Instead … I didn’t even get 100 pages into Affliction before I had to remove myself from the absurdity and injury of reading characters I once loved in such a degraded, disinterested and disastrous instalment.

I’m … I’m just going to show you the scene that made me tap out, put a nail in and then pour concrete on the coffin of this once-great series.

The only background you need is alluded to in the blurb – Micah is one of Anita’s permanent boyfriends, and one of two she actually lives with. She’s just been told that Micah’s estranged father is dying, and his mother has encouraged Anita to get Micah on a plane to come and see him one last time.

Anita goes into action-mode and starts coordinating flights, resources, etc…. she calls her other live-in honey, Nathaniel, to ask him to pack their bags, and this is their exchange;

‘I need some shirts that aren’t low-cut, okay?’
‘We love your breasts,’ he said, his voice holding that upward lilt that said he was smiling.
I smiled. ‘I appreciate that, I even approve, but let’s not overwhelm his family with my assets the first time.’
‘Would I pack so that all that creamy goodness was on display in every shirt?’ he asked in that false innocent voice.
‘Yes,’ I said, and laughed.
‘I promise to pack some regular T-shirts, but most of your dressy tops are low-cut.’
‘That’s because the plain silk shell blouses don’t lie right when I wear them,’ I said.
‘They aren’t designed for someone with a triple-E cup, Anita. I didn’t even know that you could have that big a cup size and be as lean as you are without surgical help.’
‘Genetics is a wonderful thing,’ I said.
‘Yay, genetics!’ he said with so much enthusiasm it made me laugh.
‘I’ll pack so we’ll match but won’t embarrass Micah. Promise’.

*** insert a Jim Halpert wide-eyed and horror-filled look-to-camera ***

I … I have no words for those words.

They are abysmal. And all the more insulting for what Anita Blake once *was* - an exciting and complex female superhero, frankly, in a paranormal-noir landscape of monsters masquerading as men. This series started out so interesting for being full of grey-areas and thrilling whodunnit’s … now it’s cheap, and nasty. Anita Blake isn’t a Mary Sue, she’s worse – coming across like a walking, talking example of a woman made for the male-gaze (in a series with a largely female fanbase?) and coming across like a cloying attempt to Make Men Like Me.

That’s what the above scene boils down to, for me – “look at my big boobs and little frame! Tee-hee!” She’s like a demented Betty Boop and it’s all the more saddening and maddening for the fact that Hamilton has increasingly alluded and aligned Anita’s life to her own.

I should have left well enough alone, it’s true. I’ve no one to blame but myself for dipping my toes back into this cesspool. I still own Books 1 – 10, which is about as much of the series as I’m willing to still claim pride in as a fan. But everything beyond that is a sad trash-fire that’s continuing to burn, inexplicably.

0-stars.
You get nothing. You lose. Good day, sir.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Spoilers

IN GENERAL: So, I didn't waste my money on this. I was pleasantly surprised. It felt more like classic Anita. There were only 3 short sex scenes; I guess because Anita has finally mastered the Ardeur.

EDITING: I think the reason why people were upset about all the sex and supposedly lack of plot in the previous books is because Laurel OVERLY describes EVERYTHING. It's bitter sweet though. It works great when she's describing a fight scene because we get this great slow motion play by play of exactly what's going on physically and metaphysically. We know about the fire power, where people are etc etc. It gets irritating when she starts to DESCRIBE people. Every time someone is introduced we get WAY to much detail about what they're wearing, the body type, what type of workout they do to keep that body tpye, how that body relates to other body types. And then even after it's established we might get another long diatribe about (for example)

REPETITION/EDITING/POLICE: How many times will we have to read about police disrespecting Anita because of her "men" or doubting her skills and making her have to prove herself. I understand that this will happen, but the assorted policeman were unrealistically antagonistic. The name calling (blood whore, fur banger) and the amount of people who feel comfortable saying whatever the hell they want is annoying. I guess I get annoyed because then Laurel/Anita gets to spew out all the reasons poly love is okay and it feels like Laurel is just preaching to us about her own personal lifestyle choices...over and over again

ANITA-LAUREL: Before the book begins Laurel quotes and also makes some comments about mirrors and reflections. These are the things I find to be annoying and preachy in the books now. All the things she Laurel/Anita says about love and therapy take me out of the story and make me feel like Laurel is shoving her shit down my throat.

Harlequin: Some of them are obviously bitter and have no respect for their new Masters (Anita and Jean Claude). I think one of them will probably have to be killed eventually for pushing and disrepecting.

CHARACTERS: I've always liked Nicky, but now I love him. He's added to my long list of favorites. Edward was here and I love the friendship he has with Anita. Jean Claude, he's so... Jean Claude, you know? Nathaniel, Claudia. I missed Jason

Anyways, I really like the story/plot. It would have been fantastic with some editing but since I'm so invested I guess I'll just tolerate it. It's worth it to me. There's a lot of greatness in all the books, a lot of characters and events that were awesome, so I might as well not say I won't read anymore because I will.

[Brad Hall · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the last Anita Blake book that I will bother to read.

It is mostly recycled crap! Yes, I said it. Literally, the bulk of the book is made up of pissing contests between Anita and the cops, Micah's family, and others. Sex, of course there is sex, but at least not as much as some other of these books. The actual action adventure/mystery makes up about 100 pages or so of this 500+ page book. We have a new kink in this book--autoerotic asphixiation. Yes it seems that Anita is now a "gasper." Just when you thought these books couldn't get more depraved. We find out via info dump that Jean Claude is now the vampire king of America. Oh, and we find out that the furry coalition is really a sham for the protection racket that Micah is running. Anita is OK with that, just not happy that he has been lying to her for years about it. Still all is forgiven and Anita plans to "marry" several of her men. I guess in the next book they can all be on a reality show called "Sister Husbands."

Don't waste your hard-earned money on this book!

[Shadow · Rating 3 out of 5]

My three star review is relative to my other reviews of lesser works. In all, this is really more of a 2 star, but as I gave Kiss the Dead three stars, I could give this no less as it is a better novel. I have been reading Anita Blake novels for over ten years now and it is with a heavy heart that I think I finally understand what it is that grieves me so about this series as of late. I think I've surpassed my heroine. There is nothing left to learn from her and I can now see her flaws. That is frustrating and sad. More so that I would have thought though the series doesn't follow the years as we have received a new installment, I still expected that Anita and I would grow up together. That, has not happened. I still feel as though I've lost a good friend in reading this.

My reasons for not being overly happy beyond a general discontent and the realization that I may be a bit more mature than I thought which in and of itself is probably more to the point of my displeasure, I'll keep it about the story below and I'll do my best to not be too specific and spoil it for anyone.

First my Cons:

Cliched metaphors: It is not that the story is filled with cliches, it is more that the feelings they're describing are cliche and by book 22, just a bit old. You can only bring in new things to describe a perfectly mundane and expected reaction so many times before it starts to sound like it's trying too hard to be clever and as the voice is Anita's, it's hard not to think that she's trying too hard and makes me wonder what I'm dealing with. I generally don't like people who try so hard to be clever.

Flat (cliched in the Anitaverse)Characterization of Peripheral Characters: Seriously LKH? Every single woman Anita encounters is jealous and advancement hungry and tired of being in Anita's shadow? Hard to believe, mostly because as a woman who reads this, has worked in a male dominated industry and loves Anita, I know that's not true. It might work if it didn't feel like I'm reading the same scene over and over again anytime Anita meets a new woman. Anita's absolutely wonderful. She's beautiful and tough and has huge breasts. Yeah, we get it. Except she's not. We all know this and still love her for her imperfections. Why reduce every woman to such a silly stereotype when Anita is the antithesis to that, the example of a better femininity? Makes it hard to first of all buy that Anita is just so wonderful and actually sickens me that all these women are portrayed this way. It is little solace that they almost always come around. Not every woman, not even most women I've met are that catty on sight. Usually takes a few words for that level of shallow witchiness to come out. There are other examples, but this was the most egregious to me.

Boring Story: Pretty simple. We've already done this. In fact, we might have done this three other times with in total, very little variation. Even the climax was weak with no volume. I miss Raina, Harold Gaynor and Dominga Salvador. Can we raise them from the dead?

Useless reflection of Micah's parents relationship with Micah and Anita's own relationship: Pretty much says it all. This annoyed me more so that I don't think it's needed and actually seemed pretty damned cheesy to me.

Love: Why is there a new "love" and Anita's issue with it in every damned book? Stop the supernatural explanation. It's beginning to look more like a copout answer to why Anita isn't a whore rather than an alternative way to look at love. I was OK when it was Jean Claude vs Richard, I was OK when Asher was thrown in, actually thrilled with Micah, accepting of Nathaniel and then we went to porn heaven and I can't even remember every single person Anita's been with. It's not that she's been with them though, it's established over and over again that she must feel for them to feed the ardeur from them. And that's the thing. You can't have it both ways; either Anita can detach and not love these men even a little or she's stuck in what I would call utter hell. Either way, other than introducing more inventive sex stuff, the addition of a new guy every book or so that she's now gotta use and somehow loves them for whatever reason is annoying. Especially since they very rarely stay involved save Micah, Nathaniel and JC. So can we just leave them be? It would be just as interested if it were just them with you know Richard and Asher thrown in because well, you kind of have to.

Ticking off taboo sexual practices boxes: Yup, that's all we're doing now. So OK, I accepted that there's just going to be a lot of sex. It's impossible for there not to be, but I'm starting to feel like LKH has a list of "shocking sex acts for middle America" and she's trying to get through them all before she ends the series. I'm not against any of them. If that's your thing, then so be it. I personally could do with about a third of it in some of the more recent books and this book is actually much better on that front, but this book entered into an area not of uncomfortable-ness, but actual disgust. Some of it bordered on misogyny and there is nothing in my head that will ever be able to just dismiss some stuff as just a different flavor for your palette. Some things? Are always wrong no matter when or how or why. In the way a particular scene is portrayed, the words used by a male, crossed the line for me. The act I can understand, the emotion it evokes, not so much and that is what made it disgusting for me.

Of course there are other cons, but they're more of preference than actual complaints so we'll leave them out until I read it again.

I like to end on the positives though...

Pros

A plot: There is actually a plot! It's not a porn movie! And even though I wasn't all that upset about some of it, a few novels were more like a bunch of sex scenes with a loose plot around it to make it flow and less pervy. It doesn't class up porn and it didn't class up those novels. Actually, it kind of made it less erotic or sensual, new and exciting or provocative or whatever positive word you want to use here and made it more skeevy and well, kind of gross. Now, like I said, I didn't like the plot per se, but I liked that we had one again and it didn't revolve around the ardeur or other sex related supernatural hi-jinx.

More of Jean Claude: Well, he's there and yeah, there's FINALLY some level of payoff here, because can I just tell you? Though from the beginning I've always been Team Jean Claude, I've been hoping for five books he'd leave her ass. It's not perfect, no pretty little bow, but it's better and in this relationship, I see some growth. Not sure when it actually happened, cuz I wasn't quite feeling it for awhile now, but I'm glad we got to this point. At least for now. You know, until LKH blows it up again.

Nathaniel/Micah relationship: Warm and fuzzy and I can't say more without spoilers. Again though, I almost wish it were just them and they'd leave Anita. *sigh*

Setting: This has nothing to do with the story. It's just my personal payoff for sticking it out with the series. It's set near and around where I live and while there are some interesting depictions (hello, not all Rocky Mountain people are survivalists or PTSD sufferers or rich people, nor are there just a bunch of small town podunk farmers and ranchers around here. Well, not quite in the way you're painting the area you actually use at least. You're setting is within an hour or so of Denver for the most of it. Might have wanted to touch upon the amazing diversity here because it DOES spill north and into the mountains more than you'd see in this story, instead of these outdated stereotypes. Sorry, that's a con, just didn't realize it until now.)being able to touch where they were helped.

Final Chapter/Epilogue: As always, the wrap up is well written, insightful and leaves you with hope. Hope for the story, hope for love, hope for us all.

20 years of Anita: Longevity is nice and for the most part, it's been a wonderful ride.

I will not say don't read this, but I won't tell anyone to run out and pick it up either. It just doesn't work the way the earlier stuff did. I don't buy this story anymore. I don't believe in its humanity and finely crafted philosophy. It is not that I don't agree with it or that I've become narrow minded. No, it's that after all this time, I just expected more. It is however, better than Kiss the Dead. I can see that this direction of story could be interesting, and the shift is better, solid. and less annoyingly and senselessly chaotic.

It's not the same as it was 20 years ago, but then again, neither am I.
The problem though, is those two truths don't have to move in the opposite direction.