Rating: 
Summary: Bye, Anita.
Review: Narcissus in Chains is an ego-bloated, sloppily written MESS and a huge disappointment for even this devoted fan. The series has been sliding downhill lately but NIC hits the pits. I won't even buy this one in paperback.The "zing" of the series was the juxtaposition of everday life that included the paranormal. Anita was a gutsy, principled woman in a high risk profession--raising the dead and vampire executioner--grouping her way through the new social reality. No more. She's now just a sex obsessed bimbo and manages to be BORING about it. Forget her growing as a character, slowly reconciling "monsters" as legitimate parts of world instead of targets. Nah, Anita's sole focus is sex. She's now the baddest, indestructible necromancer of legend with a few dollops of wereanimal and vampire powers tossed in. She gets slashed, hacked and her innards ripped out by claws but heals up in a jiffy. Richard gets shuffled aside. (Too human.) Jean Claude is a lap dog. (Undead French poodle variety.) A hunky new wereanimal (Micah) appears just in time to service her.(Cardboard stud.) She has an S&M orgy with 3 guys, including vulnerable Nathaniel. (What a pal!) The baddie--popping up in the last 50 pages--is motivated by uncontrollable lust for her. (A lot of that going around.) She's surrounded by panting males, all willing to share her if only she'll...It's too depressing to even write. Even the trademark [...] action scenes are derailed by Anita's dreary rubbing of errogenous zones. Sad to say, I burst out laughing several times. Big fight coming up, gotta work some risky magic to save a friend and BAM! the action screeches to a halt for Anita to toss off clothing and groupe someone. Anyone. But not without a lot of unconvincing teaser "moralising". (Game: count the lame devices for Anita to get naked.) Good series let characters and worlds develop. In NIC some great characters have been reduced to little more than inflatable dolls. What a waste.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for the faint of heart
Review: I started reading the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series when I picked up Dark Moon, which is the 8th book in the series. I found the characters and the fictional universe compelling enough that I went back and read the entire series. I must say that I enjoyed the earlier books much more than the last two. As Anita falls deeper into the world of the monsters, the sex and blood and gore become more intertwined and, IMHO, more gratuitous. This is particularly the case with Narcissus In Chains. The characters continue to be fascinating, and I was interested in how the story would end -- but I felt like I needed to take a shower when I finished the book (and not a "cold shower"). This book was *not* fun.
Rating:
Summary: Last and so far least
Review: I've loved the Anita Blake books since I discovered them, but
with the last one and especially this one, it seems
Laurell Hamilton has fallen into the abyss of on-going
series. She is a good writer and the early books were
wonderful, which makes it sad that the books seem to
be going downhill. I'm not a prude but I don't know
that all the graphic sexual description is necessary to
get the points across. When she stuck to the story
and the characterizations it was up to her usual level.
I was really disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: The wait is over!!
Review: I have been waiting at least six months for this new book and have been wondering what happened with Anita, Richard and Jean-Claude. And I was very glad to once again see all my favorite characters come back into play somewhat... There were several different variations than from Mrs. Hamilton's other books. I hated to see that Jean-Claude and Richard we're only after the fact characters. And though she brought in several new possible players into the spotlight with this book it was sad to see some of the others go. Anita's best friend Ronnie only appoeared in the first few pages and poof was gone like a cloud of smoke! The very best part of the whole book had to be at the very beginning when Anita, Jean-Claude, and Richard where reunited at the club. It showed that they still had the chemistry to make sparks fly and the flames leap! But this being said after only those few tension filled pages you didn't get to see that chemistry. Jean-Cluade was thrown to the side lines and Richard was here and there through out the book. And I was very disappointed in how Richard and Anita's relationship fizzled. But the suspense of the story was very good and and had you guess who was really with Anita and who was trying to take her down the whole time. And the introduction to a new lover for her was also good considering she was dumped by Richard. So this being said I gave this book five stars for several reasons. One becuase I really enjoy all the Anita Blake series and second because it was a great read and made time pass quickly. I personally can't wait for the next book in the series to come out so maybe we can get something maybe some sort of absolution for Anita and Richard. I just don't think thats finished yet. And I think that with the next book to come out we're going to realize that not all of Anita's powers have been shown just yet and who knows maybe Hamilton will show us theres nothing to fear from a vampire but very much to fear from the Vampire hunter that we have yet to see. Happy Reading!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing! Laurell Hamilton Strikes Again!
Review: A lot of people started telling me how BAD this book was and that I shouldnt waste my money on it. So I was a bit biased going into reading it. But that made the icing on the cake all that much more sweet.
New characters, old loves, violence and yes, erotic passion. I wont deign to demean the episodes that most people think turn this book into a porn novel.
The whole thing was put together VERY well! I had a hard time trying to pry myself away and be with my family this Thanksgiving. Everyone in my house wants to read the book when I'm done. I can hardly wait for the paperback to come out!Laurell K. Hamilton puts a new twist on Anita Blake while actually keeping true to the storyline. I'm only saddened that Richard never actually stayed true to Anita and Jean Luc. But that's neither here nor there.
Despite what everyone but a few people think, Hamilton is still one of my favorite authors and I look forward to more of her mischief in future years.
Rating:
Summary: Brave author
Review: The main theme in NIC is about Anita's development; how she learns to accept that she is a part of the 'monster' world. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and have re-read it already. The author is brave in the way she questions our society's ethics and values, especially when she lets the characters act in a way that is against the American morale. And no, sex is not the only reason, even if the majority of the reviewers have focussed on it. Through the book there is a continuous discussion about what is driving people, what people can accept and where the line goes. For example, in earlier books we have got bits and pieces about what is driving Anita to kill so coldly, but in this book it is explained explicitly. To me, this is interesting and enjoyable to read. What makes these books so good is that they are never predictable; the characters make difficult choices, and as in other Anita-books, these choices are not always what we readers expect from them. But then, that is why the books are enjoyable to read. I look forward to the next book in the series!
Rating:
Summary: I want the "old style" Anita back!
Review: I absolutely love this series and was so excited to crack the binding on this newest edition. Unfortunately, it is pretty awful. Ms. Hamilton has abandoned the formula she used for the first 8 books, the formula that made me such a loyal fan. The writing itself is pretty bad and the characters are superficial and not terribly likeable. And why are all the guys skinny with long hair?! Please give the rest of us a man with another body type so we can stay interested too (Richard doesn't count anymore). I miss the police work. I miss her job as an animator. I miss the wit, the morality, the other characters I'd grown to love. I do sincerely hope the next book will be better than this one!
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put it Down
Review: I just bought this book two days ago and I couldn't stop reading till I was finished. It left me dying for more. I really wish books like this came out as fast as I can read them. For any Anit Blake fan, especial those of us Partial to Jean-Claude, this is must read NOW! All the pieces of stories you've been dying to have developed are here. It has all the romance, violence, and emotional tug of war I've come to expect.
Rating:
Summary: I'm so sad......
Review: I first got into the Anita Blake series when a friend insisted. The first few were relatively intriguing. Too much soft porn for my taste, but excellent characterizations. Then I bought this one. I couldn't believe it was the same author. Porn seems to have replaced plot for the most part, the few plot devices she had were telegraphed long before they happened, the characters she has built lovingly are gone, the few parts of AB that were interesting and catch your attention are gone, replaced with self pity, selfishness, nymphomania and cruelty. A monster who longs for the good old days of just being a sociopath. The "no sex before marriage" heroine of prior books is now doing her best to qualify as the ... of Babylon, preferably TODAY. She cannot seem to keep her hands off ANYONE anymore . Of course, it's not her fault, it is just taking her over, she's not responsible....gag.None of the characters were anything like the prior books, it was a rotten novel. I think it pretty much re-convinced me of my first impression of the series - lame, Gothic, soft porn. Teenager fare. Harlequin romances with violence, gore and actual sex. That's the last LKH book for me. If I could get my money back on the grounds of lack of craftsmanship, I would.
Rating:
Summary: The Worst Yet
Review: I too have been a reader Ms. Hamilton's "Anita Blake" books since the beginning. Somewhere around the middle of the series, things began to slide downward. Beginning with the hardcovers, things got really bad, but "Narcissus In Chains" lands at the bottom of the slagheap. It's so poorly written that one is never just quite sure what is going on, who's speaking, or just why the hell one should care. Do her publishers think she is so big now that she needs no editorial guidance? Any editor worth his/her salt would have sent this one back on a rail. Absolutely not worth reading, much less buying. Stick to the first five of the series, then pretend to yourself that Anita Blake went off to live in the tropics or something. Better than what we're getting here.
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