ISBN: 0-441-00524-1 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com
The moral: don't kill vampires you sleep with; don't sleep with werewolves who kill.
Reviewed by Neil on May 06, 1998 (rev. 4)
Genre: Fantasy (Mystery, Vampires, Alternate Reality)
Synopsis: Anita Blake is a certified vampire hunter in a novel set in a contemporary St. Louis, USA, but a USA has that accepted vampires, werewolves, and zombies as a natural part of life- even as a legally protected minority. Anita Blake is a veteran vampire hunter, one who is allowed, under certain court ordered situations, to terminate killer vampires.
In this seventh novel in the series, Anita Blake, a necromancer as well as a vampire hunter, has teamed up with good-looking werewolf Richard and even better looking sexy vampire Jean-Claude. Together they form a triplet that augments each other's powers. At the start of this novel, however, they are summoned by members of a vampire council who are challenging Jean-Claude, who is the "Master of the City" but by no me= ans as powerful as the ancient members of the secret vampire council. Despite the far greater powers of the council members, Anita Blake won'= t back down, and a vicious gang war ensues between the sadistic forces of darkness and the forces of, well, a rather mixed bag of police, vampire disco owners, and biker pack-like were-creatures.
In addition, Anita Blake has been commissioned as a detective/necromancer to help discover who is using magic to start a set of mysterious fires. The plot is thickened by past relationships, as well as silver bullets, and both are used to cause a lot of hurt.
Full Review: Since this is the seventh in the detective/horror/alternate-world fantasy series, part of the enjoyment of this fast paced thriller is the world building. This world is also filtered through the first person narrative of a tough quasi detective Anita Blake. Imagine a world where sometime in the twentieth centuries vampires, werewolves, psychics, necromancers, witches, firestarters, and other horror story conventional creatures came out into the open and demand voting rights. Legal rights supported, of course, by liberals and the civil liberty lobby, it is no longer simply permissible to put a stakes though a vampires heart- unless you have a court order. Also, the vampires become cliche, and open trendy clubs. Were creatures (wolves, rats, panthers, etc.) are created by a bite from another werewolf; isn'= t that like catching a disease. Like AIDS victims, were-creatures try to hide their affliction from the world, fearing prejudice. Semi normal humans also have psychic abilities, albeit weaker capabilities than the...oh well, this world is too well constructed to try to describe. Simply put, there is great pleasure in taking the conventional horror creatures, putting them into real characters in the Hamilton-real world, and starting the plot.
One of the advantages of the world is that vampires are tough to kill and the were-creatures heal quickly. As in a cartoon, shooting up the dead often means they come back in the next scene, unharmed, if a bit peeved. This allows for a lot of armchair gripping mayhem without a concern for violence. Also the bad guy are really scary and dead anyway so they get what they deserve.
Other than the novels of Glen Cook, who sets his war-veteran detective in a fantasy world of elves, dwarves, and some more imaginative creatures, I don't know of a similar writer. Laurell Hamilton is not a= s good a writer as Anne Rice, though she has romantic sex with vampires. She is more of a thriller novelist than a detective writer, although she reminds me at times of Sue Grafton. While not greater than any single genre writer, she mixes this complex set of genres perfectly and pulls off the task of making it all seem quite normal. Unlike a horror novel, it isn't the horror that propels the plot, but the normalcy in dealing with the horror. Unlike a detective novel, it isn't the trail of clue and motivation that engages the reader, but the working out of the supernatural premise and who they fit into the Hamilton world that fascinates.
There are some rather deep points made by the novel, where you see rather ordinary people try to cope with the eruption of supernatural powers into their lives, and the sad/defiant results. But that is not why we read it. We read it for the fun and mayhem. See Anita Blake pack up her wooden stake and silver bullets. Watch the toughest human dame in town, the one the vampires call "The Executioner", tuck her g= uns in a svelte gown, put on her cross, and stride into the heart of darkness on the arms of a vampire and werewolf, scarred and defiant, and by far the scariest creature in the town.
Short Review: This series is a fast joy to read. Concepts, plots, characters, powers, and situations are downloaded in bulk from genre of the tough detective thriller, conventional horror characters, and mysterious fantasy powers are blended into a contemporary reality and propelled by a fast paced plot. The whole series is great fun.
Overall: 7; Plot: 5; Characters: 7; Style: 7; World-building: 8; Originality: 6;
Ace Books, May 1998, 392 pages
ISBN: 0-441-00524-1 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com