Hamilton, Laurell K. Books

Blood Noir (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 16)

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 277 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Only the last chapter is worthy 2 out of 5 stars.
5 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I gave it 2 stars for the last 75 or so pages where Ms. Blake had to rely on her brains. The previous hundreds of pages were tedious beyond belief. Enough with the relationship rehashing and coddling the egos of the men in her life. It's like listening to break-up story over and over again.

One word: PLOT. Always go with plot. Otherwise, it's beginning to read like a bad Dr. Phil episode.

3 Stars!! 3 out of 5 stars.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I'm surprised that I am giving this book 3 stars because there are so many 1 starred reviews. But there are parts of this book that I enjoyed.

I think the most enjoyable part for me was the fact that one of my favorite and one of the earlier characters of the series, Jason was present throughout the book. I for one have gotten tired of all the new men. I can't even remember their species or their names anymore. I thought the chapters with Richard were pretty good. I am not a fan who is pro Richard or pro Jean Claude. I like them both and I like Micah too. I really enjoy the interaction between Anita and Richard in this book. Also a quip Richard made,(bottom of page 239) was for me very funny.

What didn't I like about the book? At the beginning of the book Jason was a little too cry babyish and that they jumped right into a sex scene that I thought a little raunchy. I was uncomfortable with what happened during Anita's 2 day blackout. Also I do not like all the affects to Anita and friends from Belle Mort and now Marmee Noir that have been happening in the books since Narcissus. With the ARDEUR there is no reason for the author not to try any erotic idea that she finds in her "adult closet".

As has become my habit since I.D. I borrowed this book and will continue to do so. Why keep reading them? Because I do love and wish to keep up with the characters from books 1 - 10. And I'm hoping that LKH will stop writing erotica. One can always hope!

Editorial Review:

Readers can’t get enough of the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

A favor for Jason, vampire hunter Anita Blake’s werewolf lover, puts her in the center of a fullblown scandal that threatens master-vampire Jean- Claude’s reign—and makes her a pawn in an ancient vampire queen’s new rise to power.

The Living Dead

Stephen King, Joe Hill, George R. R. Martin, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Laurell K. Hamilton, Joe R. Lansdale, Poppy Z. Brite, Harlan Ellison

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Editorial Review:

"When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth!" From White Zombie to Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil to World War Z, zombies have invaded popular culture, becoming the monsters that best express the fears and anxieties of the modern west. Gathering together the best zombie literature of the last three decades from many of today's most renowned authors of fantasy, speculative fiction, and horror, including Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, George R. R. Martin, Clive Barker, Poppy Z. Brite, Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Joe R. Lansdale, The Living Dead covers the broad spectrum of zombie fiction.

Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 1)

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 450 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Well named, this is the first of a fascinating series 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The first time I read this book, I was fascinated and scandalized and I could feel my literary horizons opening further with every page. It was fresh, it was innovative. It was naughty and nice all at the same time. Almost fifteen years and lots of knock-off and me-too series later, Laurell K. Hamilton is still the queen of the supernatural for me. Nobody writes those scary, erotic beasties like she does. Sexy vampires, powerful werewolves, compelling shapeshifters, and, my favorite character, one intriguing scary SOB assassin.

Ms. Hamilton has an amazing ability to "up the ante" with every book. The first chapter of every book thrusts us into a grade of peril one step above what we faced in the last book. The powers of her heroine grow with every challenge, and her personality undergoes subtle changes from book to book. Every time her established principles clash with what she knows is the right thing, or simply what she desires, she loses a little more of her humanity.

Guilty Pleasures is the first book in a series that you'll want to read over and over. I certainly did, and I can say that of only two other series; Anne McCaffrey's dragonrider saga (though it's been a long time since I outgrew that one) and Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books.

Editorial Review:

Anita Blake may be small and young, but vampires call her the Executioner. Anita is a necromancer and vampire hunter in a time when vampires are protected by law--as long as they don't get too nasty. Now someone's killing innocent vampires and Anita agrees--with a bit of vampiric arm-twisting--to help figure out who and why.

Trust is a luxury Anita can't afford when her allies aren't human. The city's most powerful vampire, Nikolaos, is 1,000 years old and looks like a 10-year-old girl. The second most powerful vampire, Jean-Claude, is interested in more than just Anita's professional talents, but the feisty necromancer isn't playing along--yet. This popular series has a wild energy and humor, and some very appealing characters--both dead and alive.

Micah (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 13)

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 375 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

A Short Story of Sex and Micah 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

That's it. Really. Were you expecting more? There isn't anything more. No, I'm not kidding.

MICAH is a very short novella put into book form to make Ms. Hamilton more money. And no, I'm not kidding about that either.

Thankfully, I like Micah, although I don't think there are too many more descriptions that the author can make up to describe his physical characteristics. He's not that tall, but he's big where it matters, is hotter than hot, and can have sex as often as Anita needs. Which, we all know, is basically any time she's not unconscious.

I'm glad I read it, because it's part of the series. But the only thing I learned that was new is how Micah became a wereleopard and what happened to his family.

That's it. Really. I tried to tell you.

Editorial Review:

"""RAISING THE DEAD IS EASY. LOVE IS HARD..."" There are lots of reasons to raise the dead-some private, some public. In this case, the feds have a witness who died before he could speak on the record. They want him raised so his testimony can be taken. So here I am, on a plane to Philadelphia, flying off to do my job. But I'm not alone. Micah is with me. Micah, head of the St. Louis wereleopard pard. King to my Queen. The only one of my lovers who can stir my blood with just a glance from his chartreuse cat's eyes. I was happy to have him at my side. Until he mentioned that this will be our first time alone together. No Master Vampire. No Alpha Werewolf. Just me and Micah. And all my fears and doubts..."

Cerulean Sins (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 11)

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 390 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Laurell K. Hamilton's legions of eager fans will be pleased to see Cerulean Sins), the eleventh novel in her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series, which is set on an alternate Earth where magic works and vampires and werewolves are real. When a sinister stranger tries to hire the magically potent Anita Blake to raise the dead, she finds herself embroiled in the search for a vicious, supernatural serial killer, and also in the clandestine international politics of the vampires. And as she becomes more deeply enmeshed in cruel plots and counterplots, her tangled personal life only becomes more demanding, more wrenching, and more erotically fraught.

With ten previous books in the Anita Blake series, Cerulean Sins is not the place to start. Though author Hamilton artfully reveals the backstory in small doses, the numerous returning characters and the complex history will overwhelm most newcomers (and even the most devoted fans may find that the backfilling slows the pace). Also, the characters frequently stand around talking and psychoanalyzing one another, which makes for static stretches unlikely to hold a new reader's attention. Newcomers should start with the first book, Guilty Pleasures. --Cynthia Ward

Danse Macabre (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 14)

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 613 Average rating: 2.0 of 5

I love this series 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I love her work. I love these characters, I do recommend reading them in order.

A lobotomy would help. 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I really tried to read this book, honestly I did. It started off well enough and was better than it's predecessor (not saying much). The idea of a meeting of several different Masters of the City was interesting since it would lead to different types of vamps & magic. Unfortunately all it lead to was providing Anita with different flavors of vamp & were to bang. It honestly was incredibly boring after a while, especially the sex scenes.

I'm no stranger to porn or written sex. (I have a few erotica novels on my shelves & a whole collection of anime/manga porn.) So when I say that LKH does NOT know how to write porn, believe that I know what I'm talking about. I think a 12 year old virgin schoolboy could write better sex scenes than LKH does. Her sex scenes just aren't well... sexy. It's boring that the only sex that happens comes through Anita. It's boring to hear LKH drone on about every little detail, and some of those details are actually make the sex a little icky.

In any case, I tried three times to finish this novel and couldn't. I got about halfway through when I just decided to flip randomly to the end of the book. I really didn't miss much. Everything takes place within a night or two & the whole plot can be summed up by "New vamps appear to provide Anita w/ new sex partners. Threats are made. Anita has sex. Everyone talks a lot. More sex. Anita solves it all. Richard whines. Jean Claude looks sexy & Asher broods. More sex while Anita tries to convince everyone that her way is the ok way."

I want to like LKH's books. I want to be entertained by them. I initially didn't mind the extra sex. However, now it's just boring. I wouldn't recommend this book unless you are missing part of your brain. If you want to read something fluffy & brainless, read some of the vamp books in the romance section. Those are brainless & have MUCH better sex.

Editorial Review:

These days, Anita Blake is less interested in vampire politics than in an ancient, ordinary dread she shares with women down the ages: she may be pregnant. And, if she is, whether the father is a vampire, werewolf, or something else entirely, it's clear that being a Federal Marshal known for raising the dead and being a vampire executioner is no way to bring up a baby.

Incubus Dreams (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 12)

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 753 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

As Incubus Dreams opens, Anita Blake may be America's most powerful vampire hunter and necromancer. So it's no surprise that the Regional Preternatural Crime Investigation Team seeks her assistance when a St. Louis stripper is murdered and the evidence points to unusual serial killers: a group of seven vampires. It appears a master vampire has gone rogue--and may prove too powerful for Anita Blake, even if she can gain help from not only her vampire consort, Master of the City Jean-Claude, but from the wereleopard king Micah, her other lover, and the alpha werewolf Richard, her bitter ex-lover.

It would be an exaggeration to say that Laurell K. Hamilton's Incubus Dreams is just one sex scene after another. This twelth novel in her bestselling Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series presents a wedding, a murder, and a lot of relationship angst before getting down and dirty on page 89; and the sex scenes pause on page 377 to let the mystery plot resume. The series deftly blends elements of alternate history, horror, romance, erotica, and mystery, but anyone reading Incubus Dreams for the murder plot is going to be frustrated. However, Incubus Dreams is a considerably stronger and more interesting book than its talky predecessor, Cerulean Sins, and fans will enjoy the many new developments in Anita's complicated love life. --Cynthia Ward

Amazon.com Exclusive Content

Interview with the Vampire Writer
With two bestselling series featuring supernatural heroines under her belt, one has to wonder if Laurell K. Hamilton is truly in touch with a world beyond ours. Hamilton spoke with Amazon.com about her work, her characters, and her plans for the future.

Blue Moon (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 8)

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 261 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Anita Blake makes a living raising the dead. She also executes rogue vampires and villains among the local were-folk. Marks bind her to Jean-Claude, the Master vampire of St. Louis and her lover, and to her ex-fiancé, a powerful werewolf who heads up the local pack. Anita shares some of their magic, and her own power over the dead keeps growing. But so does the body count and the situations that force Anita to bend or break her own rules.

In Blue Moon, Anita's ex Richard is jailed in Tennessee, accused of rape. When Anita arrives with a lawyer and an entourage of vampires and 'weres' supplied by Jean-Claude, it's clear that something is rotten in Myerton. The local cops are corrupt, and the trolls Richard was studying are threatened. But if she sticks around to investigate, the local Master vampire will attack her and her friends. The local werewolf clan isn't rushing to welcome her either, and her self-control is going to the, um, wolves.

Blue Moon is the eighth book in Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series; newcomers should start with earlier books. The protagonists' development and their relationships to each other and to the large cast of continuing secondary characters are what make these books so compelling. Be warned--there's steamy sex and graphic violence here, though Anita does reflect on her moral position. But if dark urban fantasy featuring those who hunt the night appeals, pounce on this series. --Nona Vero

The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 2)

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 149 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

good book - twisted protagonist 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Good read: fast-paced, thrilling,full of magic.
The only problem is Anita's way of using magic. Ritually sacrificing animals is death magic, though she claims to be a Christian... She wants to give rights to the dead, but what about the living? Does making corpses walk, or explain testaments worth lives?
If you prefer white magic, there's Rachel Morgan or Harry Dresden...
But there's no vampire as beautiful and charismatic as Jean-Claude...

Pretty Bad 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I'm not really a fan of this genre, but people will buy these books and I read them when I dont have anything else to do. This book took me close to nine months to finish. Anita Blake is invincible. No matter what the situation you know Laurell Hamilton will never allow anyone to get the best of Anita Blake, and thats annoying. If two guys have guns pointed at you, if either was actually willing to shoot you, there would be no way to get out of it without getting shot. Not to mention how she's always talking about how vampires can "throw cars" yet she always seems to get disarmed in the fight, and still beat them. And every two pages, there is a paragraph explaining where her gun is and how she is carrying it, and it's pointless. Despite that she seems to have very little knowledge of firearms. Since when can you shoot a .22 in a .38? That is stupid on so many levels. And since when could a 9mm, or any handgun for that matter take off limbs? Jeane Claude is annoying the way he talks and how he's always dressed like a freak and nobody says anything about it. I gave the book two stars because Laurell Hamilton isn't the worst author, and this is far from the worst book I've read, but it's still pretty bad. I'm not into the genre, but her books are nowhere close to scary, or even dark. They remind me of tales from the crypt or something.

Editorial Review:

Harold Gaynor offers Anita Blake a million dollars to raise a 300-year-old zombie. Knowing it means a human sacrifice will be necessary, Anita turns him down. But when dead bodies start turning up, she realizes that someone else has raised Harold's zombie--and that the zombie is a killer. Anita pits her power against the zombie and the voodoo priestess who controls it. Notice to Hollywood: forget Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Anita Blake is the real thing.

The Killing Dance (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 6)

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 162 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great story in a great series 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This one went a different way for me than the last few have, which I think was the author's intention. In the last few books, the best part has been the character development and the memorably written scenes -- usually of gore and horror. This one had both, but the part I liked best was actually the plot: I liked that the danger Anita faced this time came from humans, rather than from monsters, and that it almost got her, twice. It was a nice reminder that as deadly and horrifying and brutal as the vampires and everyone are made out to be, they're a sight less so than good ol' humankind, which is neither one, as the bumpersticker says. I also thought the final villain showdown was wonderfully well set up; I had no idea it was going to go the way it did, neither the person behind the contract on Anita's life nor the surprise that comes after it, though I suspected the vampire. After the scene with Damian, in which yet another newly introduced vamp takes advantage of humans and tries to add an element of cruelty and manipulation to his encounter with a person, I find myself always suspecting the vampires. They're so often guilty.

I was also glad to see the romantic plot come to some kind of . . . well, "climax" seems both appropriate and highly inappropriate, so we'll go with "resolution," instead. I'm also intrigued by the possibilities of the triumvirate, especially now that the romantic story has gone where it has. And may I just say: oh, my. My, my, my, that was quite a scene. Yes indeed, quite a scene. I was also gratified to see the explanation of the vampires' fear of necromancers, and the power that Anita has over them; that is an incredibly clever idea of Ms. Hamilton's. Finally, I can't wait to find out how the promise Anita gives to Edward will play out. Lot of possibilities there, though I was sorry to see Harley go. He seemed a promising chap.

These books are now standouts in my mind not only because they are more entertaining than most other books -- especially horror books, a traditionally dry genre in my opinion -- but interesting as well. I just keep getting happier and happier with them.

Editorial Review:

Anita Blake, vampire hunter, is now herself a hunted woman. Who put the $500,000 price on her head--a man or a monster? It's not just her own skin she needs to save; the rivalry between her werewolf boyfriend, Richard, and Marcus, the other alpha werewolf in his pack, has come to full boil. And there's always Jean-Claude, the vampire who's been waiting for just the right moment to slip inside Anita's head and heart. Don't assume anything, though--Hamilton's probably got a few more surprises in store.