Rating: 
Summary: Padded
Review: Like so many others here, I found this book to be a major disappointment. And for many of the same reasons. If I had to use one word to discribe this one, that word would be "padded". It seems like once she'd written it, Hamilton came in 200-250 pages short, so she began having Anita start repeating herself. How many times did she tell us about what had happened up to this point...in detail? And the sex scenes got old real fast.I've read every book up to this one, and enjoyed every one (including Obsidian Butterfly, which others found disappointing, as well). And what I find most disturbing is the stuff that's missing. Is Anita even still working for Animators, Inc. or the police department? You'd never know it from this book. I'll be around for the next one, of course. I won't let one stumble chase me away. But more like this one, and I'll be gone. Sad, but still gone.
Rating:
Summary: The weakest link.
Review: A huge step back for Laurell K. Hamilton, the newest Anita Blake novel seems to lack a lot of things. The character development we've all learned to love disappears into thin air when contradictions galore appear with old characters and new characters just seem to pop out with no back story. While it's fine and dandy to have Anita take a 90 degree turn in her personality, we as the readers want to see the turmoil happening. You don't just jump from point A to D without explaining B and C or putting some depth into the story. It ruins the moral climactic moments readers love. Bad guys are thrown into the mix sloppily so it seems like they were just attached onto the story for no good reasons. The plot is secondary to the all mighty sex, so we're left with a soft porn feeling. Most of the sex scenes sounded like they were recycled from the old books anyway. Sorry, if I wanted to read half a book full of sex scenes, I would have bought an erotica.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the Plot?
Review: I finished NiC in a day. Good Points: The were-relationships and Anita's realization that cooperation instead of in-fighting is the solution. Richard's characterization and weaknesses are consistent, if frustrating. Bad Points: The bulk of the book is about Anita's sexual woes as a result of more tightly bonding with Jean Claude and Richard -- it seems that Jean Claude's incubus is contageous, you see. . . . And the sexual scenes mean Anita leaves Nathanial and Gregory in considerable danger while she has sex. Not the Blake I prefer. There's a plot under there somewhere, trying despirately to come out -- why Nathanial and Gregory are threatened in the first place, for example -- which Anita totally ignores while in the midst of her sexual adventures. As it stands, the plot is basically a thread between sex scenes - like a bad porn movie. Too many new characters. You'll probably need a score card to recall who's who, who's sleeping with who, and why you should care about the casualties of various fights. Too many loose ends and minor digressions. The subplot with Belle Morte, for example, seems to be foreshadowing for the next book - and could have been much shorter. I second the folks who say this series badly needs better editing. There are some clever ideas here. An interesting universe. But less sex, more plot!
Rating: 
Summary: Anita Has Lost Her Compass
Review: I am so tired of a great character, Anita Blake, being obsessed with sex, sex, sex. She was fabulous and now is totally one-dimensional. I think she would consider jumping a turnip if she walked close by one. And all this back-and-forth between Jean-Claude and Richard is BORING. How did Anita sink into this morass?
Rating:
Summary: Porn with fangs
Review: A complete waste; of time, of money, of paper, you name it. Unless, of course, you enjoy voyeuristically wallowing in someone else's fantasies. It must have been difficult for Amazon to find six pages from this book to display that DON'T consist entirely of turgid sex scenes. And, even those weren't well written, in my opinion, though some of the female reviewers here seemed to like it. So, maybe it's a guy thing. The fact remains this book is basically porn, occasionally interrupted by other events.
Rating:
Summary: Umm - Not QUITE an Anita Sequel...more of a Merry Sequel
Review: Well - I have been reading the Anita Series for about 3 years now...and after reading the other 9 books I never thought I would dread reading the next one....I did. *sigh* I wouldn't say that my reaction was enough to turn me off buying the next book, but it was close. I was expecting a nice, good Anita book - with Necromancy, Killing, and good Vampire-Hunter action...instead I feel like I got a Sequel to Kiss of Shadows. (...) The only thing that I can think of is that LKH saw how well the Merry Gentry book was received and it just bled over to this series. (Pun intended :-> ). (...) I know that I myself enjoyed her "suffering" with her sexuality (or celibacy) and to see her abandon all that now....*sigh* ah well. Thank you
ME
Rating: 
Summary: Anita for Better or Worse?
Review: I don't know what else I can add to the plethora of reviews already here, but I feel the need to defend this book anyway. Yes, the story has taken a heavy twist since Obsidian Butterfly. Anita's changed etc etc, but IMO I just sat back and enjoyed the book. Sure, I had my moment where I just had to stop and go, "What?" Not only has Anita become defender of the "monsters", she's become a complete superheroine. But as a female, I can't help but go "Yeah! You go!" no matter how cliche that sounds. It just seems to me LKH has taken the plot a big step further at what she's been hinting at. Plus, it is the tenth book in the series-- how long can a series go through a similar plot formula without some change? I do look forward to the next book anyway, and recommend to others who are hesitant to buy, borrow/preview first.
Rating:
Summary: terribly disapointing
Review: read and reread the anita blake series and enjoyed the parallel universe of vampires, werecreatures and the complex rules of the world they populated. the eroticism in the early books was appropriate and acted as a counterpoint to the prime character motivation. concepts of responsibility for dependent beings, unexpected and progressively unfolding "powers" added to the enjoymenty of unfolding maturity of the prime character. however the present book appears focused more on pornographic titillation than on plot development or character enhancement. it may be that ms. hamilton has either decided to milk the dollar by reproducing pseudosenusual s\m scenes or has run out of non sexual themes for her novels. at any rate am incredibly disappointed at this offering.
Rating: 
Summary: FINALLY!! Anita's getting down to business
Review: I read this book in one sitting, which for meant that instaed of my usual 2:00 a.m. lights-out, I stayed up to greet the dawn. Finally, Anita is getting on with her "life", and accepting what we've long known -- a necromancer that powerful, no matter what her personal prejudices and beliefs, CANNOT live within the human realm entirely! It was very nice to see Ms. Blake expanding her rules of conduct, though I still maintain that Jean-Claude is getting the short end of the stick here. As for Richard... well, I think this turn of events has been foreshadowed for quite some time, and his attitudes towards himself, and those around him, make this resolution inevitable in my opinion. (...) This is, first and foremost, a series about VAMPIRES, and the woman who hunts them; vampires are sexual icons,and always will be. I think that the erotica in this novel was handled appropriately in the context of the world Laurell Hamilton has created, and I think that it can only inhance the social and psychological metaphors that the characters are drawn from.
Rating:
Summary: Does it get worse?
Review: Narcissus in Chains is the tenth book in the AB:VH series and like all of the books it is never what you might be expecting. It's a lot more like riding a roller coaster than reading a book. A large part of the series sensuality has been the potential of dark deeds hinted at, implied but kept just out of sight despite the graphic levels of horror and sexuality that lay waste to the page. NiC marks an abrupt end to a reserve that many readers may not have realized was there. Anita returns from vacation after six months of learning to control her powers and a near death experience garnered while helping out her sociopath assassin pal. Anita wants to work it out with her boyfriends; Jean-Claude, master vampire and Richard, leader of the local werewolf pack. As if dating two men at once wasn't complicated enough, they are bound by Jean-Claude's marks that hold them together in a triumervate of power which goes far beyond basic romantic intimacy. Like most things in life or unlife, Anita has found that running away did little to solve any problems but only made them far worse. By separating herself from the boys she left herself vulnerable to mystical attacks. Not good since she's not only the world's most powerful necromancer but also human servant of Jean-Claude, queen of Richard's werewolves and protector of the wereleopards. So it's no surprise she's off to rescue said wereleopards from a DS club by chapter two and what better backup than your sex-in-a-coffin boyfriend, Jean-Claude. Thus beings the ride called NiC. AB:VH is a mix of fantasy, horror, mystery and paranormal romance. Narcissus however crosses a fine line from elements of erotic romance to scenes best described as erotica. The sexually explicit scenes are littered without thought across the pages possibly giving this book the highest body count in the series. Sadly, they have as much impact as another bullet-ridden body on Anita's porch. Some may wonder what happened to Anita from Guilty Pleasures who claimed she didn't date vampire but killed them. The erosion or evolution of Anita's morality, depending on your own personal point of view, has been a long process. Anita's B&W vision of the world is now putrid fog gray. The events within the pages of Narcissus in Chains forever alter the world of Anita Blake as readers have come to know it. The delivery of these events is over the top and always at the expense of the plot. The mystery is thin, used as a vehicle to introduce even more characters into Anita's world that is already groaning, full to capacity. Fans of the series are going to have to judge the events within this book for themselves. Like riding a roller coaster, you may feel a bit ill at the end or you may have had the time of your life, getting back in line for another go round. I found myself looking for the barf bag.
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