Well in this installment of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series (# 5 of the series), we actually get some new monsters. Also Hamilton seems to be more comfortable in her style, and gore and sexuality start to play more of a role in the novels. Its not the best one in the series, but what happens with Anita and Jean-Claude will serve later plot develops.

In this series, Hamilton has created an altered universe where vampires are legal citizens with each area/big city like a kingdom for a master vampire to rule (over the undead not the living). You are also required to have an order of execution to kill them. The Fey are real and using glamor on people (even though to do so is a federal offense). Lycanthropy, being a werewolf, is a disease and you cannot discriminate against people because of it. Necromancy is a profession, you can raise the dead for a living. Zombies are raised to settle land and will disputes.

Anita Blake is the main character of the series, she is a 5'3, petite woman. But she packs a lot of bite, she is sassy and her mouth continuously gets her into trouble. Her humor is dark at times. She carries two guns with silver ammo and two silver blades (silver kills Lycanthropes and slows vampires down), this woman means business. She is a Necromancer and a vampire executioner. She is also dating the master vampire that is in charge of the vampires in St. Louis, MO(the place where most of the novels take place), and a werewolf in line for the Alpha (head male) position. She is a great character that continues to change--she changes her opinion on many issues without the character being vastly changed. She changes her mind, yet she is still Anita.

Although the plot in this novel is not as good as some of the others (its not bad either), it does flesh out some of the characters. We are starting to get a feel for Larry, the young new necromancer that Anita is training. He stops being a sidekick that is in the way and starts to become a person, and a replacement for the morals that Anita seems to be losing. Jean-Claude starts to become more than a sexy annoyance as well. He starts to have feelings and he starts to be a real character instead of an object de art. Richard (alpha werewolf) doesn't play much of a role in this novel.

The new "monsters" for this novel are the Fey(silver doesn't work on them and they use magic)--we have not come into contact with these supernatural creatures before.
The plot begins when a company hires Anita to raise some zombies to settle a land dispute, over a mountain, near Branson, MO. She flies there to handle the job and things start to go wrong. The local Fey don't want her raising the dead for some reason and claim that mountain belongs to them. Then there begin to be unexplained deaths. Three young boys are killed gruesomely (Hamilton gives great detail) and so quickly not a one of them screamed or struggled--no vampire or werewolf could have done it. Then there are several traditional vampire kills. A vampire pedophile also kidnaps a young boy and its Anita's job to get him back. She enlists Jean-Claude help--could they talk to the master vampire of the Branson area to help retrieve the boy or is she in league with the kidnapper? Anita also discovers things about herself and her feelings for Jean-Claude that could considerably complicate her life. The plot may seem hectic and a mess, but it all comes together neatly in the end without too much confusion.

Hamilton's writing style is great. She is fantastic at creating her characters even her monsters are interesting. Her style is easy to read and captivating. Her plots are involved, interesting, yet not confusing. This novel has more sexuality and violence then the previous novels. I love her work.

Recommended: Yes