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: Cerulean Sins
Review: Despite the fact that this was only the third book I read in this series I had no problem following the plot or characters. Anita Blake, Necromancer and Executioner is a kick butt kind of girl with tough guy attitude. The author manages to deliver a heroine who can compete with the guys, yet she is still all female.
Anita is a gal with lots on her mind. She is called to a murder scene which could better be described as a mobile butcher shop and yet the cops who are requesting her help (as a paranormal expert) aren't that friendly to her. It seems that they have issues with how she aquired her expertise. Namely by hanging out with all the dead guys and shape shifters. Her dialogue and banter with the law enforcement types is very well done. You can almost smell the pepper spray.
Anita is also trying to fend off some very old and powerful vampires with prior claims to Anita's significant vampire, Jean-Claude. These vampires are pushy and have no manners at all. They need a firm-handed approach that Anita is very willing to provide if she can just do so without getting herself killed or enslaved. She doesn't like vampire politics but she has a knack for leadership and manages to attract many useful allies.
Anita is trying to manage these disasters while juggling her very complicated love life (read that sex-life) with two undead lovers and a shape-shifter, not to mention at least three other contenders. If you don't like erotic then you should definitely stay out of the kitchen because it's hot in there. The steam does fuel the plot and the story would not be the same without it.
I did get a little tired of Anita's constant worrying and arguing with vulnerable non-humans about her rules and morality. All her lovers have to follow her rules and she is no good at compromise. Not only is that unfair but emotionally she does not really agree with the rules that she is forcing on herself and her loved ones. She is so slow with her decisions about her love life that sometimes the damage is done before she manages to get it right. If she had that kind of hesitation and confusion with her gun she would be dead and buried instead of getting the drop on her opponents. In other matters she is very practical and level headed.
All in all this was a very entertaining read. Enough to keep you up until four in the morning because the action is just that fast.
Rating: 
Summary: Actively Nauseous
Review: Having begun with Guilty Pleasures and read with constant enjoyment up through the first hundred pages of "Narcissus in Chains", I feel tricked and cheated. I had hoped with the last book that Hamilton would steer the series back on course, and that hope was hideously thwarted. Both "Narcissus in Chains" and "Cerulean Sins" are colossal disappointments for anyone who read for mystery, crime drama--or anything, really, other than sex.Almost all of the major relationships in these books have been destroyed or relegated to the back burner, and anyone who disagrees with Anita gets pages full of badmouthing. It's tiresome, tedious, poorly plotted, and not much more than an endless and emotionless sexathon. The edge Anita's tangled love life gave the books is gone. The promise of the TRI--the metaphysical and emotional entanglement between Anita, Richard the Ulfric, and the vampire, Jean-Claude--has been destroyed by Anita's unceasing selfishness and incredible demands. I adored Richard, and Micah, Anita's "soulmate" as introduced in "Narcissus in Chains", is a one dimensional, contrived, gutless wonder, and an absolutely pitiful substitute for the vastly fulfilling Richard and Anita dynamic. He is much more of a Stepford Wife than any kind of believable partner, with only one endowment to recommend him. Fans that look to "Cerulean Sins" for resolution of Richard and Anita's dilemma will be sorely, and bitterly, disappointed. Richard gets little page space, and most of that is spent with Anita's internal wondering of "how long it would be before she hated him." Less time than it takes for the devoted to begin to hate you, Anita. There are no good aspects of this book. The mystery is underhand, poorly developed, and is more an afterthought than any active device of the plot. It is resolved in a slipshod manner that is to me indicative of Hamilton's poor opinion of her readers. The plot devices are contrived, the vampire villainess less than believable. It is remarkable that a villainess can consume so much page space and still manage to accomplish so little. Most importantly, as far as being relevatory of Anita's abrupt personality transplant, is the destruction of her relationships with all of the human, or humanish, characters in these books. It is only the characters that embrace Anita no matter what that win Anita's and the author's stamp of approval; Dolph, Ronnie, and Richard in particular have been treated abominably. Dolph was throughout the series a rock, and his breakdown is poorly planned and poorly executed. Anita speaks repeatedly of getting rid of Ronnie, her long-time "best girlfriend," apparently for the dastardly crime of daring to question Anita's lifestyle choices. The characters have been reduced, almost in toto, to poor caricatures of what they once were. It makes for bland and occasionally offensive reading. With "Narcissus in Chains", I was looking for the book I had somehow missed between pages 100-101. With "Cerulean Sins", I'm looking for the other half of the book that was somehow swallowed up by meaningless automaton sex. The ardeur, which might have had interesting possibilities, is merely a device for Anita to sleep with almost all the main and secondary characters...and the ones Anita managed not to sleep with this time are assured of getting their turn in the next book. I am disgusted with the way the promise of the TRI has been sold out, and disgusted with the author for such sloppy writing. If she can't write two series well, don't try. The readers are getting shortchanged on both ends of the spectrum. The only way I would consider continuing with this increasingly Anita-worshipping cult of a series is if Anita were to get over her fiance in college, Richard was restored to the man we fell in love with back in "Circus of the Damned", Micah were killed, and the ardeur was relegated to the background it deserved: another need, and not one that we need to hear every detail about fulfilling. I have no problem with sex and violence, but only when they serve the plot. Largely due to the sex, there is, in "Cerulean Sins", not much plot to speak of.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as bad as most people are saying...
Review: I admit that after reading Narcissus in Chains I was ready to give up on the Anita Blake series, but I thought I would give it one more try and read this book. I'm glad I did. Don't get me wrong, I still like the earlier books in the series better, but Cerulean Sins is not as bad as some make it out to be. It actually gave me hope that the series could get back on track. If you are reading this and wondering if you should give up on the series or read CS and give it one more chance, I recommend reading CS before writing off the series.
Rating: 
Summary: A horrible read ...
Review: I fell in love the Anita Blake series because LKH knew how to entice the reader to not put the book down with this strong hellcat of a hunter, Anita Blake. She had morals, goals, and opinions, and she didn't succumb to anyone else's thoughts. However, the last 3 or 4 books, Anita has turned into quite the girl we love to be catty about in high school. I am all for erotica, but I buy books with that in mind. I don't mind reading books with "passion" in them, but this one was the worst of the series. 30 pages of "passion" after a crime scene was seen, then she brought the real reason of the book back. And it is hard that the book seems to place in a 48 hour time frame, which makes all the sex and other going ons hard to believe. At some points, I was just turning pages just so I could move forward! The only consolidation is that of Richard, my fave werewolf. Granted, he seems to be made into the bad guy for some reason (heaven forbid, he has morals yet hates who he is), but there is hope for a good story in the next book, if there is one. Is it worth the read? Sure. Buy it used though. Save yourself that much.
Rating:
Summary: Why?
Review: I have been a loyal Anita Blake fan sinice...well, since last August. I bought Guilty Pleasures, and instant fell in love with the series, and devoured the next nine books by November. Although Narcissus in Chains was...wow, really different to say the least, I couldn't wait for Cerulean Sins. Hm. It starts out good. Anita is actually back at her job for the first time in a long while. Then sex seems to take over again. Although I wanted to see her hook up with a certain male character whose name starts with a "J" (not to spoil...) I didn't actually think it would ever happen, and now all the fun is taken out of it. Why Anita has to sleep with some of these men is sad. The Ardeur is just an excuse for gratutious sex. Thankfully, there is more plot inbetween the sex than there was in "Chains", it still isn't enough. The basic plot is Anita feeding the Ardeur, Musette coming to represent Belle Morte, and lots of vampire politics. And some murder Anita that is supposted to be helping figure out, wich is concluded in the last few pages of the book. It almost seemed like Hamilton thought, "Well, I'm not quite sure how to solve this case, so I'll just throw some stuff together that leaves my readers feeling cheated" Not to say I didn't like this book. I did, in fact, like it a lot. There are some good plot points. You feel pain for Asher and Jean-Claudes past. And as for Richard...I coudn't bring myself to hate him until this book. I'm glad it gave me a reason to, I was getting so sick of him. He is awful, and a certain thing he did to himself [made me very angry]. I reccomend this to loyal Anita Blake or vampire/supernatural creature novel fans only. It doesn't have that same multi-genre appeal that the earlier novels did.
Rating:
Summary: As Always the Best
Review: I have ready all of the Anita Blake Series so far. I am currently working through Narcissus In Chains and have already purchased the last 2 to read when I am done. Every one of her books are addicting. I just have to get to the next chapter.
I would recommend the series to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: I just finished Cerulean Sins and found it one of the better Anita Blake books. I was disappointed however that it ended with so much hanging. There were many things I would have liked to have seen more of, particularly I would have liked to have seen more of certain characters such as Damian, Micha and Nathanial, and less of Richard, but when I finished the book last night, I could hardly wait to start on the next one in the series, but after reading the reviews and realizing that the plotlines from this book do not carry over into the next, and that many of the characters have practically have been dropped, I am glad I hadn't spent my money yet.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed Review
Review: I put off reading this book because of the awful reviews. And of course all the reviewers that bashed it had a valid point. Anita has simply become a little neutotic nympho. Nothing wrong with that... It just is a little hard to read continuously. She's a character working hard at accepting herself. Jean-claude accepts her because he is pretty much at peace with himself. Richard's problem is his self hatred. This is basically why the three of them work and clash so well (and are so annoying). I won't give a bad review because I don't like where the story went... There were problems of course - but a majority of it was just my issue. The Dolph plot was sad and the mystery could have been more coherent but all in all - good.
The author writes in a way that it is a fast read (though it can repeat - some plot fillers from previous books, etc). I like the world. The visit is fun. Her earlier books are much better written, but there are more characters now and perhaps too many to keep up with.
And, hey, If Anita is going to be a Nympho, at least Jason got his moment...
Edward needs to come back for the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Magic is fading
Review: I was so starved for this next book by LKH, I pre-ordered in anticipation. After getting half way through, I wish I had waited for paperback, or better yet, checked it out of the Library. I love the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series, and I especially love the characters she interacts with. In this latest, it's still full of sex, much more than any of the first five or six, but suffers from non-engaging plots and page turning danger and intrigue--not to mention grammatical mistakes. The Lunatic Cafe, Burnt Offerings, even The Killing Dance had more suspence--and more importantly, more Richard. There are pages of mystical dreams that Anita goes through--because of Belle Morte--as the Ardeur can't make up its mind whether it wants sex or to feed, and I ended up skipping pages in boredom. There's also a sketchy dream sequence that seems to start in a car and ends up in Jean-Claude's bedroom. What? Anyway, a fantastic sex scene between Anita and a certain wereleopard, and before that a threesome with two favorite vampires, was mindblowing--LKH knows how to write them! but they don't make up for a preternatural murder plot that is tertiary, (even it's not supposed to be). In earlier novels we could identify with Anita because she was afraid of the monsters even if she associated--and loved them, she was scared of losing her humanity and it made her cautious and a lot more real. She has given up that fight, and is edging toward being more like Edward every day. I hated that there were about six pages combined with Richard, who still hasn't learned to accept himself or be able to channel his anger into postive things. Reality eludes him and his suicidal tendencies and low self-esteem are both sad and disturbing. I adore Jason and was satisfied to find an ample amount of him in the book, as well as Jean-Claude. In fact, the threesome of Jean-Claude, Asher and Anita was very interesting, as well as deep thoughts with Jason, who is a very interesting and perceptive character. By the time I finished, however, I was happy. The murder plot was wrapped up with a bow, and we're still left hanging with the Anita/Richard thing. One good quote that I can think of, and incredibly gruesome murder scenes are still the standard with LKH. Still, I don't know how many more books are in the series, but I hope to focus more on Anita's personal developments and her relationship with Richard, who seems bent on self-destructing without Anita. An okay book, but not one of her best. I can't believe I was bored! Get it at the Library first.
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