Burnt
Offerings
by Laurell
K. Hamilton
I don't particularly like horror. Blood and gore mixed with the supernatural just doesn't do a thing for me. Therefore, it's awfully difficult to explain why I like Hamilton's Anita Blake series so much. But I'll try ;-)
Hamilton has created an intriguing alternate universe. In it, every monster and supernatural creature you've ever heard tremulously described in dark and frightening tales is real. Zombies, voodo priests, bogeymen, dark faerie, and any variety of were-creature you can think of walk the night (and sometimes even the day). Vampires not only exist, they're legal. And they're trying to get the vote.
Anita Blake raises zombies for a living (so the living can ask them questions), and is a consultant for a special squad of the police force that investigates supernatural crimes. Before vampires were legalized in the United States she was a vampire hunter. Now, she needs a court-order to stake one -- which makes her the "executioner." Blake is a diminutive, tough-as-nails, world-weary, death-weary, china-doll with nerves of titanium. How can you resist someone like that?
How does Hamilton make such an absurd concept believable? For one thing, she describes everything in riveting (and ghastly) detail. For another, the pace of each book is breakneck -- a reader doesn't have time to question the likelihood of events (and it is supernatural fiction, after all) and suspends disbelief as a matter of course. Her characters are wonderfully developed and real (even Edward, the hit man who switched to supernatural targets because human beings were too easy). And a liberal dose of humor holds it all together.
And then there's the sexual tension...
I have to admit, I would not enjoy Anita's adventures quite so much if Jean-Claude, the vampire of your wildest dreams, were not brought so vividly to, er, life in every one of them. His lust for Anita is palpable; her resistance is an act of supreme will. Lestat, step aside. Here's a real man to take your place as the vampire I'd most like nibbling my neck.
But there's one last element that makes Anita's adventures really work for me. It's not something Hamilton clubs the reader over the head with, nor is it an insidious subliminal suggestion. It's simply a question of good and evil. Read these books, and you'll start wondering just what "good" and "evil" really mean.
Although each adventure stands on its own, the Anita Blake series is best read in order, as shown below. Warning: if you don't want to know some enticing secrets before you read the book, stay away from the customer reviews at Amazon.com. One look at the average customer rating will tell you everything you need to know.
Guilty
Pleasures
Someone is
murdering powerful vampires... and the most powerful vampire
in the city wants Anita to uncover the murderer. But that
doesn't mean the vampires are happy about helping "the
executioner."
The
Laughing Corpse
What does
it take to raise a 300-year old zombie? A human sacrifice,
and Anita refuses a large payment to do just that. But
someone else is
willing to play the unscrupulous game -- and a necromancer
that powerful means really big trouble.
Circus
of the Damned
When a
rogue vampire moves into the city and plans to make Anita
his "human servant," it's time for her to join forces --
reluctantly -- with Jean Claude. Enter Richard, the world's
biggest and sexiest boy scout, who just happens to be a
werewolf...
The
Lunatic Cafe
Weres
weres everywhere... which were can you trust? Anita Blake
takes on an assignment from Marcus, the alpha werewolf...
Trouble is, Richard is in unwilling competition with Marcus.
Things get so
interesting when a werewolf and
a vampire become part of your social circle.
Bloody
Bones
What
begins as a reading of a long-forgotten cemetary leads to
dark faeries, bogeymen, and the kind of vampires that make
sinister Jean-Claude look like the boy next door -- and like
the boy next door, he rushes to Anita's side to help her
fight the bad guys. (Just what kind of evil bloodsucker
is
he, anyway?)
The
Killing Dance
Someone
has put a contract out on Anita. It's Edward she asks for
help, although Richard wants to play the knight in shining
armor and Jean-Claude stands by ready, as ever, to assist.
There are plenty of people Blake has made awfully angry over
the last five books -- but which of them wants her dead this
time? And why? And what's Anita going to do about the two
rivals for her affection? Dark, dangerous and sexy, this is
my favorite of the series.
Burnt
Offerings
What a
rush! Someone has a pyrotechnic talent and the vampires are
very nervous. To make matters more complicated,
representatives of the vampire council are on Jean-Claude's
case. And don't get me started
on the weres...
Blue
Moon
The latest
installment. I have yet to read it, but it's on my shopping
list ;-)
I wondered if I got the joke or was the butt of the joke.
There were nights when I wasn't sure
which way the grave dirt crumbled.
(Anita Blake)
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