Rating: 
Summary: Not the Best, But still good
Review: This was different than the past 8. Anita is still the kick butt herione that we all know and love, but the story wasent as good. You kind feel let down, You need to read all 8 befor this one so you don't get the wrong idea.
Rating: 
Summary: what a book!
Review: This one was worth the wait. I think it is the best book in the AB series since the 1st book. This one had me on the edge of my seat reading until 3am to find out what happened to Anita and Richard and Jean-Claude. You must read this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Oh, Yeah? Yeah! Sez You!
Review: I have to preface this review by stating that this is the only Laurell K. Hamilton I've read to date, Anita Blake series or otherwise. I plan on giving her another shot, because I suspect she's capable of better than this piece.Vampire hunter Anita Blake leaves her St. Louis home to help out her sociopathic bounty hunter friend, Edward, and the police, on an alarming serial murder case: victims are being flayed alive, and kept alive - more or less - by means of some supernatural nastiness. Anita's expertise, and that of a criminal team assembled by Edward, are necessary to figure out the origin of, and cure for, the specific evil involved. I'll start with what works, which is Hamilton's sense of humor, prevalent throughout in her first-person narration of Anita Blake. Hamilton's other characters - at least the criminal ones - are well-drawn, interesting, and generally appalling. Unfortunately, virtually everything else doesn't work, starting with the fact that all Hamilton's well-drawn characters are appalling. None of the characters, Anita Blake included, has an emotional maturity level above age fifteen, tops. There's more testosterone-driven male-posturing in this book than in the entire World Wrestling Federation on steroids, most of it - inappropriately and comically enough - being done by Anita Blake. The plot is paper-thin, and moves slower than a lame mule across the Andes. Much of the violence in this book - and I am not opposed to violence in books - goes beyond the measure of good taste, even for the type of piece this is. The entire book is essentially a series of pissing contests between Blake and every other character - the entire police force, Edward and his entire psychopathic cadre, underworld vampires, underworld werewolves, and anyone else she comes across. She's also pathologically self-absorbed, diminishing her appeal. The ultimate payoff is terribly anticlimactic, and isn't worth the trip getting to it. It took me literally months to finish this book, and I only completed it out of sheer stubbornness. Hamilton is not a bad writer, however. If this, or any other of her Anita Blake novels stick in your craw, you might well enjoy her Princess Meredith series, beginning with A Kiss of Shadows - it's similar, but much lighter-hearted.
Rating: 
Summary: More disturbing than usual
Review: I think I'm getting tired of Hamilton's vampire series, or I don't like the direction she's going. Famous for writing erotic stories (both the vampire and faerie series), this book veers off in a disturbing new direction that I really didn't like. I don't know how to mention it without giving away spoilers, but one scene towards the end really bothered me and turned me off of the whole book. The rest of the book was fine, as Anita travels to the Southwest to help out Edward. You'll get to see a whole new side of Edward, which is really cool, and it totally shocks even Anita. No Jean-Claude or Richard really in this book--it's mainly about Anita and Edward. After further disappointment with Narcissus in Chains, I think I'm going to leave Anita and join Meredith and the Faerie instead.
Rating:
Summary: The man behind the mask....
Review: This is the ninth book in the Anita Blake series. It is mainly about Anita and Edward together instead of Anita with her "boys". In OB, Anita heads to Santa Fe to fulfill her commitment to Edward (from a previous book). While there, she has to deal with a mixture of Aztec rituals performed by werejaguars and skinned or mutilated humans. Edward is completly lost as to what or whom is doing all this so he calls Anita and two others in to help. On top of all this, Anita is having to deal with the "new" Edward who turns out to be engaged to a woman who has kids and that makes her think about her own relationships. Also, Anita is shown to be doing a bit more soul searching in this book concerning her "new powers" and how they are going to affect her life. We are introduced to a few new characters, one of which we are likely to see again, namely Bernardo and Olaf. They were the other two "friends" of Edwards who were brought in to help solve the mystery behind the deaths. This book was a little different from the ones that came before it in the fact that Anita gets her butt kicked a bit more than normal. That, alone, added a nice twist to the story. I dont think I would say this was my favorite but it is up there. It didnt really focus everything on Anita so it was a bit different than the first 8 books. But I would definatly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Edward does it all!
Review: I am flying thru the Anita series and Laurell Hamilton has one active imagination. This time Edward calls in a favor and Anita answers. It's great ride. Over the top and the last is so exciting you cannot put the book down. Edwards business associates are so scary Anita has to really stay on her toes as well as fighting the bad guys. I never thought this genre would interest me but Laurell Hamilton is worth the try. Anita definitely needs a vacation after this one. Nail biting time!
Rating:
Summary: Return to reality....
Review: I'm a big fan of this series, but Hamilton does seem to have gotten carried away with herself lately in some respects. What was a fascinating sci-fi series--an alternate world in which vamps have civil rights--and an interesting action series, and an occasionally erotic series, had begun to swerve into, well, porn, and kinky porn at that. Every monster seemed to wear skin tight leather pants with no underwear, and drop them rather randomly. Sex was their way of saying "Hi," the kinkier the better, evidently. The sex scenes, esp. the first with Richard, got more and more graphic. Now, I'm not a prude. This is more a practical observation: are we writing porn here, or erotically tinged Sci-Fi? I can get better porn. The plot lines sagged as Hamilton tried to write soft, and sometimes pretty close to hard, core porn, and it sometimes felt like she was losing her way. Blake went from chaste prude to wanton hussy in a hurry, all described in fairly minute detail. Obsidian Butterfly takes a welcome step back. It's not that I want the erotic nuance eliminated. Let's just remember what we're doing here. In Ob. Butterfly, Anita still ogles guys' butts, but not much else. She still projects occasionally tiresome and strident feminism (does anyone else really care if the door is held for them these days?), but backs off occasionally, too, and shows some balance. Mostly....there is good clean plotting, and the type of witty repartee fans have come to know and love. The series was almost in a rut--even though the books were well written and the dialog and inner thoughts cleverly wrought. It needed this turn, and it's very well done.
Rating:
Summary: Gutwretchingly Fasinating
Review: This was the first book of the series I had read. Even thou at times I was freaked out, I still loved it. Now as I go back and read the whole series from the start, I see the process Anita Blake has made from tough and stoic, too her starting to show her feminine side more often, and that she's starting to develop traits that she may not think are entirely admirable but traits that show she's a person first. I love this series and will recommend it to all I know..
Rating:
Summary: Returning to her roots . . .
Review: Obsidian Butterfly is a good book, let me make that plain right from the beginning. The story is solid, the characters are as interesting as ever, and it was really really nice to read an Anita Blake book that was BASED on her and not her relationships. Not to say that I don't like reading about her various issues with Jean Claude and Richard and Micah and Nathaniel and every other monster that finds her attractive, but still . . . it's nice to read a story that leaves all of them behind and concentrates more on Anita. Obsidian Butterfly does that beautifully. This book is the story of Anita helping out her old, cold blooded killer friend Edward. Edward is as deadly as ever, but lately, has found himself involved in a relationship with a widow and her two children. The cold blooded killer now actually CARES about somebody else, and has quite a time trying to balance that life (the pseudo-life of his alibi Ted Forrester) with his daily job of killing monsters and bad people. Not to mention that, but lately a monster has been ripping people to shreds around his neighborhood, and he fears for his new lady love. Thus, he calls in Anita to help him solve the case. The story is interesting, and the characters are lively. The two henchman Edward has working with him are quite impressive in their own ways, but fortunately (for the reader AND for Anita) she doesn't get involved with either of them. The remainder of the supporting cast (Obsidian Butterfly herself and a rival necromancer mainly)are great characters, and there is plenty of action for adrenaline junkies scattered throughout the story. Honestly, I think this is the best book Hamilton has written since Lunatic Cafe for those very reasons . . . great supporting characters, LOTS of action. I'll read this book again, and I'd recommend it to any Anita Blake fan. I think she's got a great story going with a great finish. More books like this please, Ms. Hamilton.
Rating: 
Summary: Familiar and boring.Will someone please edit these books.
Review: This woman needs to hire an editor. I love the concept of Anita Blake. She's tough and she can kick some serious ass. The problem with these books is that the character always has to tell us that she's tough and that she can kick some serious ass. Anyone familiar with comic book writing can relate. Every time a new character enters a room, the character announces his or her name, lists all his or her superpowers, and gives us a brief personal history of his or her life. Anita Blake is always telling us that she is a sociopath. Less talk. More action. If this were a comic book, they would be huge bubbles filed with this character's thoughts, but nothing would ever happen. Anita always gets called to the gruesome crime scene. The stuff she sees always give her nightmares. Anita's reactions to the crime scenes in this novel are almost identical to the scenes in "The Laughing Corpse." Also, if you are going to write pulp fiction, then you should have more exciting, erotic sex scenes. This heroine is a prude. She dresses badly. Actually, all the characters dress badly. All the cops hate Anita. All the monsters want her. She keeps getting newer and newer powers. Enough.
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