Date published May 2008
ISBN 978-0-425-22219-5
Dark Fantasy
Hardcover
Reviewed by Tammy
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, is back with more thrills and chills in Laurell K. Hamilton’s BLOOD NOIR, her 16th installment in this incredibly popular dark fantasy series of books about Anita and her various ties to the supernatural community of St. Louis.
Anita Blake, vampire executioner, Federal Marshall, human servant and honey to vampire Master of the City Jean-Claude, and lover to many in the supernatural community of St. Louis agrees to accompany one of her best friends, Jason Schuyler, home to make peace with his dying father. Jason is a werewolf, Jean Claude’s pomme de sang, occasional lover to Anita and has been estranged from his father for many years. Of course, as with everything in Anita’s complicated life, magical and non-magical elements combine, resulting in both Anita and Jason finding themselves in a situation that is both life threatening and a serious concern for her triumvirate of power with Jean Claude and werewolf king Richard Zeeman.
The latest of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake novels, BLOOD NOIR, centers around werewolf Jason Schuyler, who has turned up time and time again in this series of dark fantasy books. While Anita and Jason are dealing with his family dysfunction, he is mistaken for his look-alike cousin, who appears to have left his bride at the alter to run away with a powerful vampire’s mate, and this mistaken identity leads to a whole host of problems. And if that isn’t enough to keep them on their toes, the mother of all vampires, Marmee Noir, has taken an interest in Anita and has decided it is time to make Anita her human servant, a prospect Anita fears with every bone in her body.
Fans of Hamilton’s Anita Blake books are sure to be pleased with her latest release, BLOOD NOIR. The book is fast paced, sometimes sexy, sometimes scary and a real adrenaline rush. Unlike the past few books, that seemed to concentrate more on the sexual relationships in the book, BLOOD NOIR is a return to her earlier, character centric books. Jason has been a favorite character in many of the Anita books and it is about time he got his own book. It was wonderful to get a glimpse into Jason’s family and find out what made Jason the complex man he is today. At the same time, having Marmee Noir throw a monkey wrench into their path keeps the vampire antics front and center and draws several other popular characters into the fray.
Anita is growing in strength in this book, but with that strength comes more and more challenges for her and her supernatural family. Just when this reader had started to think that the Anita books had fallen into a rut of too many characters and too much steamy sex, Ms. Hamilton has stepped up to the plate and given her fan base what they have been clamoring for, a tighter cast of characters, deeper storyline and more magical challenges.
It is refreshing to see an author take the comments of her fan base to heart and grow as a writer from them. BLOOD NOIR is a wonderful mix of human and supernatural action packed into one of the better dark fantasies this reader has picked up this year. If you were wondering whether or not to take a chance on Ms. Hamilton’s latest vampire hunter novel, wonder no more. BLOOD NOIR is well worth the purchase price. This reader is very pleased to remain a very solid Laurell K. Hamilton fan and is eagerly anticipating the next book in this wonderfully dark and mysterious series.
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