Cerulean Sins

Rating:
Summary: Once More Into The Breach
Review: As much as I like the way Laurell Hamilton writes I've started to avoid reading her work. I'm not a prude, but I don't think scenes that are steamier than what could be found in the 'dirty books' section of the drug store (that's where you snuck off to when I was 13) add tons to the plot, or to the character development. A little is good, but a lot just becomes tedious. With Cerulean Sins out in paperback I decided it was time to test the water again.

For 135 pages I thought I was in luck. Hamilton builds a story line about the unexpected visit of a group of European vampires who are the emissaries of Belle Morte, one of the oldest vampires on the grand council and maker of both Asher and Jean Claude. There's a lot of "who gets to torture who" as the intricate politics and backstabbing of vampire society are laid bare (bad joke!) for the reader. But Musette and her cohorts are at least interesting as they try to work Belle Morte's revenge on her wayward children.

The other subplot is a series of murders that leave people looking like hamburger patties. Anita's issues with Dolph, the head of the preternatural investigatory team, come to a head as his hatred of occult creatures boils over. This is a bit of a shame, since Dolph and Zerbrowski, another detective, add what little human dialogue there is in recent volumes in this series.

This brings us to page 135, where we discover that the emotional triangle between Jean-Claude, Asher, and Anita (I'm not counting Anita's other bed partners) is going to become physical, and Anita's frequent state of arousal is the basis for a large part of the plot. One has to wonder what the next volume will have to offer in the way of erotic violence, since Hamilton seems compelled to escalate the titillation.

Between the bedroom theatrics, there is actually a good book here. Or rather, good as I measure good - complex plot, rising suspense, strong characters, etc. In a way it recalls some of the earlier Anita Blake books where the necromancer did less romancing and more raising of the dead. Cerulean Sins really is better balanced than some recent efforts so, perhaps, this signals that Hamilton hasn't given up writing horror stories.

Rating:
Summary: Book in search of a plot
Review: Ms. Hamilton has fallen into the trap of making each new book more sensational than the last, at the expense of the twisting plotlines that made us love Anita in the first place. The preternatural crimes in Cerulean Sins are relegated to a secondary role, while Anita's enthusiastic love life takes center stage.

The summary on the back of the book says Cerulean Sins is about a hitman who hires Anita to raise a dead relative. That happens in the first 30 pages then falls off the radar for 400 pages of Anita having sex with various vampires, werewolves and wereleopards...sometimes more than one at a time. I'm all for plenty of sex in a book, but as Richard the wereworlf, Anita's ex-boyfriend, says, "What is it with you, Anita? Are there any men in the world you haven't slept with?" At least she loves them all.

For a good Catholic girl who started out 10 books ago not believing in casual sex, Anita has certainly broadened her horizons. Richard is about the only male not on her list of bed buddies.

At long last, Anita crawls out of bed long enough to investigate the murders almost as an afterthought. C'mon, Anita, you've a better hunter than this!!!