Bloody Bones: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter 5

Rating:
Summary: Anita Blake #5 - The Best & Scariest Book Yet!!
Review: Anita Blake is a feisty, independent, 21st century lady who's got attitude with a capital "A." Animator, necromancer, called by vampires everywhere "The Executioner, she is tops in her field and a woman of many talents. The St. Louis Police Department's Regional Preternatural Investigation Team has made her a full fledged member, a civilian expert, and she is on call 24/7 to help solve their more grizzly cases. Unfortunately Anita prefers to date the undead and the "lunarly disadvantaged." She is involved with Richard Zeeman, rugged, outdoor type, science teacher by day, and otherwise a werewolf. Jean Claude, Master Vampire, sophisticate, unbelievably handsome and sexiest vamp around town, also has a hold on her affections. What's a girl to do?

Bert, the greedy, unscrupulous owner of Animators, Inc., and Anita's boss, has already taken money in exchange for Anita's services on a new case; services he doesn't know whether she is able to perform. Millions of dollars are at stake, and Anita may be the only animator powerful enough to do the job. So she leaves St. Louis for the rural town of Branson, Missouri. Her mission is to raise an entire graveyard of zombies in order to settle some land dispute issues. The bones have been disturbed and separated, and the corpses are at least 300 years-old. The older the corpse, the bigger the sacrifice needed for a raising, and the more powerful an animator has to be. Another matter of great concern - someone, or something is killing local youths. An ancient, psychotic, sword-wielding vampire, and his renegade cohorts, are most likely involved in the grotesque multiple murders. Against her better judgement, Anita calls on Jean Claude for help, since she isn't receiving any from the local police. The idea is to go through the area's Master Vampire - Serephina - and petition her to rein in her monsters. The story can only become scarier with Serephina in on the action.

And yet another complication arises - a fey family, the Bouviers, is involved in the graveyard-land dispute. Brother and sister, Magnus and Dorcus Bouvier are faeries, Homo arcanus, and proprietors of The Bloody Bones, a bar and eatery in the Ozarks. Anita and Larry Kirkland, an animator trainee and Anita's new protégé, pay a visit to ask the owners some questions about their estate holdings and discover that faery magic, glamour, is being used, illegally, to bring in customers.

The tone of the series gets darker and richer with every book, as does Anita's character. Initially, she is only an animator and The Executioner, a vampire hunter, convinced that fighting monsters is the right thing to do. Now, as her necromancy powers become stronger, she's not so sure that all the monsters are all bad. What exactly is the price she is paying for each new victory? Action and adventure-wise, "Bloody Bones" is one of Ms. Hamilton's best books yet. She is an excellent writer who, with much flair and pizzazz, mixes fantasy with mystery, romance and dark humor. The mystery is at the fore of her novels and the supernatural takes second place, almost taken for granted as part of Anita Blake's natural world. And Ms. Blake is a delight - witty, savvy, hard-boiled, as in tough and a major cynic with a tender heart. I highly recommend this series. A Warning, however - to really enjoy these novels, and the characters' development, the books should be read in order. (at least the 1st four).
JANA

Rating:
Summary: One of the best.
Review: Fifth in the "Anita Blake, vampire hunter" series, this book may well be the best so far. Which is really saying something, considering how good the others have been. As usual, the character of Anita is a compelling one, and the background world that Hamilton has set up is fascinating. The fact that we get the story first person from Anita's point of view works wonderfully, as it gives us a very intimate look at her engaging personality, and it also gives us a great deal of necessary information about the way supernatural things work in this world, as Anita is well-versed in supernatural lore, without knowing EVERYTHING and spoiling all of our surprises. But all of this could have been said equally about any of the books in this series; what makes this one special is getting a bit better look at the characters of Larry Kirkland (Anita's trainee in both necromancy and vampire slaying) and Jean-Claude, the vampire who has been trying to establish a relationship with her of one sort or another ever since book one. Also, we see a bit of the fay in this book, which doubtless provides a bit of a bridge to Hamilton's "Meredith Gentry" novels.

Rating:
Summary: Loved yet was disapointed
Review: I loved everything about this book, except that, though it was based outside Branson, MO, there was NO mention of Springfield, Branson would NOT have a Master to itself, it would have been a Master of the Sprinfield Metro area, which includes Branson. There just is not enough Kine to support a large Vampire population, But that's my V:tE "training" But besides the making Branson look like the only city, and larger than it really is, the book is GREAT, FAIRIES in the OZARKS! YA

Rating:
Summary: The best one yet! Lots of Jean-Claude!!
Review: It is official that I'm addicted to this series. I've even neglected the Merry Gentry series, Laurell K. Hamilton's faerie novels, which I started reading before the Anita Blake one. This is my favorite one to date. This series just keeps getting better and better! And the best part is that there is a lot of Jean-Claude in this one. The most I'd read him was in Circus of the Damned, and there are only bits and pieces of him in the other three, but he plays a more prominent role here. Bloody Bones illustrates the most challenging monsters Anita has ever had to deal with. Teenagers have been slaughtered in a small city of Missouri. The culprit is a creature unlike anything Anita has ever seen. It is stronger than a vampire, more dangerous and immortal to the core. To make matters worse, she has to raise an entire graveyard of three-hundred-year-old corpses to determine the fate of the graveyard's rather lucrative land, which is owned by a family of faeries. Anita suspects that the graveyard raisings and the murders are connected, and with the help of her friends she is determined to bring all of those involved down...

Bloody Bones, like its predecessors, is nonstop action from beginning to end. The suspense is incredible, the fast-paced plot riveting. But it's more than just the action and suspense that kept me glued to this book. I loved that I finally got to know Jean-Claude in a deeper level. We learn more about Jean-Claude's background and history in a rather sexy bubble bath scene. JC and Anita fans will love to know that there is some closeness between them in this offering -- a fleeting closeness, but an important one nevertheless. And the best part is that Anita's werewolf boyfriend Richard is not in the way. I loved it! Laurell K. Hamilton describes Jean-Claude's sensuality in such a way that he's almost tangible. He's definitely one of the sexiest characters I've read. I also got to read about some great characters that were back after some notable absence, like Larry. I also like werewolf Jason. Anyway, this is my favorite offering. As said earlier, this series keeps getting better and better. I cannot wait to read the next one. In the meantime, I recommend Bloody Bones most highly...

Rating:
Summary: She just can't stop!
Review: Laurell K. Hamilton's "Anita" series just keeps getting better and better. I cant put them down!

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Summary: Zombies and worse
Review: No more sleep filled nights for me! My nights will be spotted with sleep because of the zombies and other night creatures contained in Bloody Bones. Ms Hamilton has captured and illustrated zombies at their best (or worst). This is a must have for your personal library! Spooky, scary,and it gets your heart pounding! I also recommend "Eternal Undying Love" by Brett Keane


Rating:
Summary: Now That Is What I'm Talking About
Review: Okay, kind of disappointing that there was no Richard, but I didn't really miss him.
I'm glad Laurell K. Hamilton gave Anita a chance to go out of town for awhile. It gave her a chance to get to know herself...and her feelings toward Jean-Claude. I was a little surprised when she called him instead of Richard but I was happy nonetheless. The small foreplay between Anita and Jean-Claude was hot but I was very upset when it ended. Anita needs to lighten up!
We got to know a character a little bit more who was in the last book. Jason. I like him a lot. If he shows up more in the series, he is likely to become my favorite character.
I like the brother and sister relationship Anita is building with Larry. I guess she needed somebody like that in her life to get a sense of watching over somebody.
Serephina scared me a little bit, so I was glad that she died. It would have really tortured Anita if she stayed alive anyway.
I don't know why but for some reason at first I could not believe Hamilton put fairies in the book. I don't know why I found that weird, but I'm glad she did it. It was fun learning about them.
Also, uh oh, Anita can raise vampires during the day? I can't wait for the next book.

Rating:
Summary: Way To Go Anita!!!
Review: The Anita Blake series just keeps getting better and better. And Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire of the City (St. Louis) is back in business. Anita has to leave her werewolf-boyfriend Richard and her vampire-boyfriend Jean-Claude (In a previous novel she agreed to date both of them to find out who she wants (to have sex with)) back in St. Louis, when she is asked to travel to another part the country and raise a whole cemetery. A builder wants to use some land, but a local family is agaist him, because they say that the old cemetery beneath the ground is their family-burial ground. Anita has to raise the dead and ask them exactly what their family relations are. All is well, until something starts killing young boys in the woods, and a teenage girl dies from a vampire bite in her room. Anita has to look into a lot of stuff, being helped by her assistant, vampire-hunter-in-spe Larry. She is away from her usual turf, and the police in this part of the country are not too happy about the famous vampire-hunter doing what they think is their job. Anita has to call for help, and the only one who can help her is Jean-Claude, the gorgeous vampire who wants Anita as his lover and human servant. Anita has resisted him for a long time, and she is not so sure what she feels. There is a lot of drama, a lot of bad vampires and the fey are introduced in this book, which make for some new and exciting ways to cheat, do magic and much more.
Another triumph for Laurell K. Hamilton

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing.
Review: This is the first book that I read in the series, and maybe that was a mistake, but it was the earliest one the library branch I went to had. Maybe it would have been much better if I'd read the first book before this one.

That said, this book does not do well on it's own. It was like reading an episode of Buffy. Given a huge, insurmountable problem/enemy, the gang of heros finds a way to accomplish what others throughout their history said was impossible. And then, everything is solved in a simple 'oops, I guess everything worked out' sort of way at the end.

This book may have been written as a launching pad for future novels, but I won't read them. I'd rather hunt around for a more intellectual series than try to force myself to like something falsly advertised as a sensual novel. You want sensual, go read the Kushiel series by Jacqualine Carey.

2c

Rating:
Summary: Rawhead and Bloody Bones...
Review: You know, I always thought it was RAWHIDE and Bloody Bones....

Great installment! I gave it four instead of five because the 'main baddie' (he is in the title after all!) seemed to be an afterthought near the end. I enjoyed getting to know a little bit about fairies, I hope that they are in future installments. And like a number of other reviewers, I liked the fact that Larry was in the story. I almost enjoyed reading more about Anita's relationship with him, than I did her relationship with Jean Claude. I liked the character of Jason as well, thought he didn't get to change in this book.

LKH hinted that Larry has "an aura' all his own, and I am anxiously awaiting the results of that statement.

All in all, out of the five books I have read so far, I enjoyed this one the most. The characters were well fleshed out, and it was just fun.

CAn't wait to see what The Killing Dance has in store for me!