Rating: 
Summary: Setting up new plot lines.
Review: I'm leaving my original review intact(see paragraph below)because it makes sense only if you've read the book. My only excuse is that I wrote it right after finishing the book and I'd been up all night. That being said, my recommendation is that you read all the books in this series first. All of these books can be read by themselves, but a lot of the storylines and characters stop and start between books. This book makes more sense and you get a better feel for the story if you do that. Now, why should you read this story? Because it's a great read with characters you can care about/hate/love/root for. This is Dark Fantasy/Erotica/Horror, depends on how you see the story. Yes, it's about vampires, wereanimals, zombies, and other stuff, but done so well and differently that it is all new. Try it.Great story, great sex. I'm sorry for Richard, but hey, he had his chance. Some of the other reviewers have stated that the sex is overtaking the storylines, not so. What this is doing is giving us reasons why humans 'go over'. Jean-Claude develops new powers, so does Asher. I really like Micah, he is probably one of the better characters in the whole series. He does what needs to be done, no whining. This book sets up possible storylines; Mother of Darkness, baby vampires, Belle Morte (again-Anita needs to be able to get this broad), Richard's choice for lupa, and more cooperation among the shape shifters. Good, fast, tight read. Here's a question--since Sylvie has lost her challenge, is she still number 2 in the pack and if not, can she become Richard's lupa? I like Sylvie's character and she has what it takes to be tough, without hurting the pack. Also, Asher has a new power so why can't he also get an animal to call--how about Christine (weretiger), she was briefly in NARCISSUS IN CHAINS and another book I can't remember just now. If Ms. Hamilton is waking the Mother of Darkness, Anita is going to need all the help she can get, and Asher needs someone just for him, no sharing.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than Narcissus in Chains
Review: I have enjoyed all the Anita Blake novels, though I liked the first few the best. As many long time fans have remarked, things have gotten a little out of hand, and no more so than in Narcissus in Chains. I'm glad to say that they have calmed a bit in Cerulean Sins. Though there is a plot about someone murdering women, and some international terrorists drop in, the novel is primarily about many of the characters working through their neuroses. While this may be off-putting to some, I was relieved to feel at the end of the novel that some of them had actually come to terms with what they are (Anita, Asher, Richard, for example). If so, thank God! I hope in the next one we can move forward without all these hang-ups to revisit yet again... That said, I am looking forward to the next Anita Blake with real hope that we are now past the intensive psychotherapy phase and back to vampire politics, vicious monster crime, and yes, lots of sex (I kind of like it, as long as it is not followed by all those neurotic regrets). And maybe Jean-Claude, Anita and Richard can come into their true power. With what seems to be on the horizon, they're going to need it.
Rating:
Summary: Cerulean Sins=Steamy and Hot
Review: As usual, LKHamilton keeps us panting for more with Anita, her love life, and her work life. I was glad to see that Anita is coming more to terms with her special abilities and her needs. (I was getting tired of her always being so wishy washy and "oh no what have I done"). She should be a little tougher emotionally, accepting the fact, that her lifestyle has certain needs, let's accept it and move on. And with this story, I think she might actually be on the way for such attitude adjustment. The book held a few surprises for me (in relation to her friendship with the police) and some new anticipation of a new 'man' in her life (the assassin, maybe he'll be back). It also looks like Anita may be going "international", depending on what Jean-Claude's, Belle Mort, is going to do. There's diffidently going to be a big brouhaha with that story line. Over all, Cerulean Sins lives up to my expectation of Anita Blake, and as always, leaves me panting for the next in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Not her best
Review: As a fan of the Anita Blake series I believe this is definitely her weakest novel. She clearly set things up for multiple plot lines and then neglected all but one until the very end.
It's not a bad book, exactly, but she went off track early on. She set us up for an interesting and exciting monster hunt and a mysterious client and then abandoned them to focus entirely on Belle Morte's entourage visiting for almost the entire remainder of the book. Problem is that visit wasn't all that exciting or interesting, certainly nowhere near as tense and well done as the visit by the Vampire Council a couple of books back. Anita enduring repeated psychic/magical attacks gets dull after a while, too. By the time that plotline was wrapped up there wasn't much time for her to get back to the earlier ones, so she just wrapped them in a very hurried fashion. Frankly, she'd have been better off focusing on them and not Belle Morte, as they sounded like they could have been far more exciting. Hope she gets back to her old style next book.
Rating:
Summary: So-So
Review: Having finished the entire 10 book in the series weeks before this 11th book debuted, I could not wait for it to get here. Though I am glad I have read it, and I did find it better than the last book (NiC), I have to agree with others who have said that this book seemed chopped up and not to flow well, and end too quickly with everything unbelievably, and shortly resolved in the end. I have read elsewhere that the publishers cut out hundreds of pages - the story shows it. I also thought this book was going to give readers a lot of info on JC and Asher, I found not much new. It was a good read, enough to make me curious about the next installment, but not the best, and not what I was used to in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Strong Blake tale
Review: Vampires, werewolves and other preternatural creatures share the same civil rights as human beings, but when one commits a crime, licensed executioner and federal marshal Anita Blake kills them. Her lovers are Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire of St. Louis, and Micah her co-leader of the loyal shape-shifting leopard pard that looks to he or protection. The Regional Preternatural Investigation Team asks Anita to help on the case of a murdered man nailed to the wall in a mockery of the crucifixion with Nordic Runes painted nearby. Anita is positive that this is not a magical murder. When a woman is ripped apart, Anita knows that this is the calling card of a shape-shifter. Meanwhile, the woman, who turned Jean-Claude and his second-in-command Asher into vampires, Belle Morte has the sadistic Musette come to town to learn why her boys are so infatuated with Anita. Anita knows she must do something to stop Belle and Musette from taking vengeance upon her loved ones, but whatever she decides will leave her in peril. Anita Blake is a great character who has dramatically changed from a deadly vampire killer to a person who realizes that some non-humans are more humane than mortals are. In CERULEAN SINS, Anita realizes she is more comfortable amidst the vampires but especially with her pack of shapeshifters than she is among humans. However, the key that makes this novel a standout in a tremendous series is Belle Morte as frightening a villain as one will find since even her own species fears her. Fans of Anita Blake will want to read this tale and see the direction Laurell K. Hamilton is taking her heroine and readers. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Porn Book...
Review: Reading this novel, I couldn't help but be reminded of a porn movie that tries really hard to have a story along with it. It was like Laurell sat down and thought, "OK, what can I do to make Anita have sex with all these guys? hmmmmmm lots of "ardeur" and Vampire sex poltics...Brilliant!!!!" In all seriousness though, the sex stuff was just too much and compact all together that it was exhausting. When she is not haveing dirty sex (or dealing with her inner beast etc.) she's having boring conversations about her life with people...
....the good stuff appeared in the book when she's trying to solve the serial killer murders, she starts being stalked by foreign government people, and her conflicts with Dolph...but this came very few times in the book...
Obviously, I miss the tough ... Anita Blake who has to go through the struggles of killing the supernatural and dating a single monster ( the single has quickly become plural and very annoying), and worrying about everyone else trying to kill her...
Now she's just doing people...it's just too much...
...so in conclusion, more interesting plot and less fabricated ways of getting Anita naked with guys...
Thanks Muchly!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Hamilton's Lost it...
Review: How much can you flog the same formula and get away with it. This book is the same as the last four books of the anita blake series. It starts the same way and ends the same way. It has the same soft pornographic content all through. It potray's a really wrong role model in Anita - who though a hard nut and very independent has no morality and a twisted sense of everything.
Rating:
Summary: great character insights
Review: Fans of Jean-Claude and Asher will revel every moment spent with this book. I am, so I did. This is definitely their story. This book provides a lot of insight into both their characters--something LKH has only dropped intriguing hints at in previous books. LKH has also taken pains to develop Anita's character more and the result is a mature, thoughtful, and methodical heroine. I really liked the Anita in this book. She seems much more poised and capable of dealing with situations with a lot more finesse and intelligence than she had before--where normally she'd just pull a gun on anyone who [made her mad] and start shooting. Our little executioner is growing up. This book also sets up the plots for novels to follow and hints at trouble on the horizon, so I wouldn't advise skipping it. The pace of this book is fast and the plot intricate without being confusing. The story revolves around already established characters, which was a flaw of Narcissus in Chains, the previous novel. It's nice to have the main characters developed more thoroughly here. The sex within is explicit, but I didn't find it gratuitous...All in all, an enjoyable read for fans, but I wouldn't recommend anyone starting the series with this book. In order to understand the characters, their relationships, all the whos, whats, whys and wheres, you need to start with the first in the series, Guilty Pleasures. But be warned, once you start this series, you'll be hooked.
Rating:
Summary: Nice addition to the series
Review: Very enjoyable addition to the Anita Blake series. Leaves you looking forward to the next installment. A definite step up from Narcissis in Chains.
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