Rating: 
Summary: Anita Rocks
Review: The latest installment of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series delivers all that we have come to expect from Laurell K. Hamilton and more. In this story we find Anita now dealing with the men in her life post-Richard. Narcissus in Chains the book prior to this ended with Anita and Richard calling it quits for good. But of course Anita cannot be without shapeshifters in her life, so the character of Micah, Anita's Nimir-Raj was introduced. Never fear loyal readers, because just when you think her love life is starting to straighten itself out it gets infinitely more complicated. I won't give away secrets of this book, but Anita gets lots of action, some from very unexpected places. As always there are plots within plots, the central one being Musette's visit on behalf of Belle Morte the sour de sang (founder)of Jean-Claude and Asher's line. We learn more of what Belle Morte is like, and Anita's powerbase is explored more. If you don't remember, Anita is now a Master Necromancer, and has Damien as her vampire servant and the leopards as her animal to call. There is lots more going on in this book, but this should be enough to whet your appetite. I am a huge fan of this series and each is more intriguing than the last. I can't wait to see what the next installment brings.
Rating:
Summary: Porn? What dirty minds some people have....
Review: As you get in to the last few books in the Anita Blake series they become more sexual in content (with Cerulean Sins being the most graphic, by far), but do not let this dissuade you or sidetrack you. Some readers find the sex to be too much. However, it is not 'porn' as others have unfairly charged, but something that fits with Anita's growing magical abilities and the 'fuel' that feeds them. Remember that as you read and it isn't as offensive when read and consumed with that understanding. For those calling Ms. Hamilton's writing 'porn', it is obvious you have never read TRUE porn. Instead of seeing it through the eyes of an observer of an orgy, see it as it is meant -- the 'fuel' needed by Anita and what she learns about what she needs and how she can use what she gets from the sex act. I have loved Anita Blake and her characters since the first book and I still do. This is a series that forces the reader to re-examine their own boundaries and grow with the main character. I highly recommend this series, but strongly recommend it be read in order to fully appreciate the eventual growth and changes that occur during the course of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost but not quite.
Review: There was so much I loved about this book and so much I hated! I am an avid reader of this series & always look forward to the new release. Pros: This is typical in that I could not put it down. Laurell has a fast paced style of writing. Jason was cheeky as ever, maybe more so. I can see the Black Ops and Mother of All Vampires coming in a future book. The plot itself was good. Much better than her last two books. Cons: Left the Black Ops and Mother of All Vampire loose ends just a little too lose. And here I agree with all the other reviews. TOO MUCH SEX! Don't get me wrong I love a good steamy romance novel, but this book jumped over the line from steamy to revolting. For those of us that know and love Anita it is just too far out there to be believable of her character. Yes she is changing with each book but this just goes against everything Anita is. She has had the arduer for many books now & was told that the longer she had it the easier it would get. This isn't what is happening. Instead it is getting worse and she has no control (despite the fact that she has in previous books). It's jarring. I think that Laurell is getting Merry & Anita mixed up as she jumps from writing one book to the other. I love the Fairy series also & Merry's character is in keeping with the lurid sex scenes so it doesn't bother me. ANITA IS NOT MERRY. Give us back our old Anita that we all love so much!
Rating:
Summary: Anita--YOU ...!!!
Review: While these books have become somewhate formulaic, this is still a rollicking good read. There is, of course, a monster reeking havoc in St. Louis that Anita must track down and kill. She must also deal with Vampire politics, moody lovers, and protecting her pard. Oh! and don't forget the Mother of all Darkness touching her psyche, too. Our girl is sleeping with just about anything, but she feels guilty about it (sometimes). As ever, Anita realizes a new power that neither she nor Jean-Claude knew she had. There seem to be more humans in this book, and some very interesting human reactions to situations. Not for everyone, but far better than the previous installment.
Rating: 
Summary: An Anita Blake fan no more...
Review: My first Anita Blake novel was, I believe, Bloody Bones. Bought it at the airport before a flight. I liked it so much, I purchases the rest of the series. Narcissus in Chains had just come out in hardback. I loved all of them, except this last, where I first realized that Ms. Hamilton was losing touch with the character Anita Blake. But I remained convinced that Cerulean Sins would redeem the character, and Ms. Hamilton. I am 3/4 of the way through the book, and am both bored and frustrated with lack of a coherent plot or a believable Anita Blake. I was sure that Hamilton's proclivity to write soft porn was channeled into her faerie series. Don't get me wrong, they're a hoot. But I expect more from this series and its characters. Where is our strong, ... heroine with her array of powers that have, until recently, grown and matured with each book? I'm sick to death of whiney, self-loathing Richard and psychotic Dolph, and I miss Edward. I am tired of a series that has turned into juicy romance novels, one that seems to be going the way of Robert Jordan's series... What I miss most of all is Anita, the preternatural detective and necromancer. I feel like I should say good-bye to someone who has been a long-time friend, but who has gone down a path from which they will likely not return. I don't know if I can get through the last quarter of the book, but I feel compelled after purchasing both the hardback and the audio set. What a disappointment...
Rating:
Summary: mixed reception
Review: hamilton's still one of the very few authors who can keep my attention throughout the novel--i mostly have to force myself to read for many books. her writing style makes the novels interesting, but damn, can you say "gratuitous sex?" ...-- i miss the days of anita going to a showing of "guys and dolls" with him, and do NOT enjoy reading about every single sexual encounter (and there are quite a few, in the interest of quenching the ardeur). in hamilton's other novels, a kiss of shadows and a carress of twilight, the sex plot is thinly veiled-- no, not even veiled, as the entire premise focuses on getting Merry pregnant. she seems to have developed a similar plot mechanism here, and while the concept was nice for plot development, it seemed to have been at the expense of a plot. everything was shortchanged, every possible interesting plot development-notably the vampire banquet, for me. whereas the banquet was damn near the entire book in burnt offerings, it was given little screen time here. i didn't like gregory and stephen's father being treated as a sub-plot--perhaps she intend to further develop it in the next one, in which case i forgive it. i wish she wouldn't write for her widespread popularity-- namely, i wish she'd stop with the sex on every single page and get down to the witty banter and suspense of the early days. anita seems to have attained a status of invincibility, which makes the suspense factor nil. while i liked that the line between good and bad was blurry in the earlier ones, right now it seems anita and her crew are always good, always right, and thus will always win.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful wonderful wonderful
Review: I so loved it. I just wish she could write faster. I'm so happy that Richards starting to heal and their are so many ways she can take the next book. The series is great, we need more authors with her imagination.
Rating:
Summary: How disappointing!
Review: I used to be a huge fan of the Anita Blake series -- I single-handedly evangelized them to all my friends as living up to the title of the first book -- Guilty Pleasures. Alas, this series, which used to be so much fun, has sunk to new lows with this book. The bad points: -- The pretentiousness. The title seems to have no relevance to the book, other than having the color blue appear throughout. But we're never given any meaning behind the color. It's just there, some vague literary conceit. -- The sex. Don't get me wrong. The entire series has been about sex and sexual tension. But in the other books, they were mixed together with the plot and character development. Here, they stand alone, there for no reason other than to allow Laurell to write another porn scene. If I wanted that, I could pay a lot less, and get better porn, frankly. -- The editing. About two typos a page. Does anyone even edit LKH any more? It's unprofessional and lazy (although, to be fair, it's the editor's fault, not Laurell's). -- The plot. The main plot is, once again, a gratuitous mix of sex and violence, without any believable motives. New characters appear out of the blue to menace Anita without any acceptable backstory. -- The characters. Richard continues to act nothing like the man we first meet in book three. Jean-Claude has now morphed into a vampiric Jiminy Cricket, telling Anita what would be "wrong." Micah and the other assorted were-creatures are given about as much personality as chess pieces. Other than Jason and some of the were-rats, the characters are practically interchangeable. The good points: -- We finally get a plot (albeit a B-plot) with Dolph and the police force. It's far more interesting than the A-plot, and could have made the book worthwhile if it had been the focus. -- Jason has some good moments, and is probably the best character in the book. Not much in the way of good stuff to counter the bad, I'm afraid. I think I'll be dropping this series now; I certainly don't plan to buy any more hardcovers by LKH.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the Last One
Review: When I saw the low star rating this book got on Amazon, I wasn't expecting it to be good when I got to read it. Maybe that made me enjoy it more that I was expecting it to be bad, but I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a lot better than the last one, Narcissus in Chains, especially since Richard's appearances were kept to a minimum.
This book starts off with Anita raising a zombie, with Asher appearing at the end of the ritual to bring her bad news. The representative of Belle Morte, Musette, has arrived several months earlier, and both Asher and Jean-Claude are afraid of her. To make things even more complicated, Anita is having trouble with the ardeur, because even Micah, Nathaniel, and Jean-Claude can't handle her feeding twice a day. She ends up adding Jason and Asher to her list, which we all know makes Jason happy :). Of course, an Anita Blake book wouldn't be complete without a few other problems, so Anita finds herself being followed by assassins. Richard decides that he wants all of the werewolves removed from Jean-Claude's control, and a rogue shapeshifter is running around St. Louis brutally slaughtering women. Dolph's life is more complicated than ever, and he completely loses it in one scene, which results in us seeing more of Zerbrowski than Dolph. Anita also has several encounters with Belle Morte, and even one with the Mother of All Darkness, the first vampire ever, who is beginning to wake from a long sleep. I basically thought this book was great, a lot better than Narcissus in Chains. It's basically about the vampires, though, and appearances by the wereleopards and werewolves (except Jason and Nathaniel) are kept to a minimum. The main guys in this book are Asher, Jean-Claude, and Jason, so we don't see as much of Micah and Richard. Overall, though, you should definitely read this book, it's a true Anita Blake story!
Rating: 
Summary: Oh, how the mighty have fallen
Review: Laurell Hamilton is an excellent writer, so it's depressing that such talent is going to waste. The last two or three books have focused almost exclusively on sex. Sex, sex, and more sex. STOP IT! Laurell Hamilton seriously needs to get back to what attracted most of us to her books in the first place; a strong female character blasting the bad guys' heads off. Please, Ms. Hamilton, go back to writing about Anita as a detective and executioner, not a porno star.
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