Really great Anita book.
928047
I enjoyed all of the Anita Blake books.  This one is an extra good one.  It's nice to see Anita being more comfortable with herself and her guys.
4899942
Another good one!  Anita is trying to get it all under control and is thrown another curve ball.  Love it!
4451088
I loved this book.  The beginning is very captivating.  The relationships and the way they have evolved are so sweet.  I like the way they all take care of each other.  I have been waiting for more family interaction and I would have like to see more of his family at the end of the book.  I like the way we see Marshall Hatfield's character developed over the course of the investigation.  It is always good to see Edward/Ted and all his toys, especially the flamethrower.  Jean-Claude is always a treat, especially in the shower.  I have always enjoyed Laurell's characters and the way she develops them.
I started reading Laurell's books over ten years ago and read the first three Anita books in one week.  Each time I finish one of Laurell's books I always want more.  I know not everyone enjoys all the aspects of Anita's life and the way the she has changed over the course of the series.  It is not our story; we are readers, so we go along for the ride.  If you don't enjoy the ride, get off and let the rest of us enjoy it.  These rants about the book and Laurell are just silly.
3009068
After I read this book it was so great I had to get the rest of the series.  I am now addicted to Anita and the rest of the gang.  This series is a must read for anyone who loves fiction.  It's action packed and keeps you glued to the pages through the whole thing. I read the first eight books in less than a month.  I just couldn't put them down. The best books I've ever read.
3079009
It is good to see Anita getting back to her roots as a necromancer and raising the dead.  The power struggle between all the players was down played  as compared to the other novels.  Laurell seems to be gearing up for some major plot intrigue.  It was defiantly one of the better books from the later series.
2923223
As someone that has read all of the Anita Blake books since '97 it was great to see some of the characters, whom at this point I almost consider friends, in full color and not just my own imagination. But as a reader of graphic novels I was thrilled to see that it was done by Marvel comics.
The story line did a great job at filling in the back-story that was hinted at in the first books. In light of the more recent books, it was refreshing to read a story line where Anita isn't having 'relations' with every man in the room. But just Anita being tough and finding her way out of crazy situations.
The fantastic part was the character bios in the back. It's been almost 11 years since I read Guilty Pleasures so there were characters I had forgotten about. It was like visiting old high school friends. I would love to see some of the first books recreated in the graphic novel format. Thank you Laurell for giving us the chance to go back and revisit the stories in a new way.
3829353
Where to begin. . .  First off -- if you don't like sex in a book -- DON"T buy.

I realize that Anita has a lot of growing to do, that she has a lot of coming to terms with herself and her lifestyle, and that it is difficult to learn how to control her budding powers, but does she really have to have sex on nearly every page in this overly long book.  Not that I don't like long books, or the occasional sex scene to spice things up, I've always enjoyed them -- but that much sex starts to get old fast.

I miss the old Anita -- the tough girl who loves her weapons and who isn't tied down by all this metaphysical crap.  I miss her meticulously getting ready, putting on each and every piece of weaponry that she has, ready to kick some bad guy butt.  I really enjoy the crime solving and the zombie raising, the exciting fight scenes that  get your heart pumping -- and there is just too little of that in this book, and what is there is highly unsatisfying.

I guess that it was time for Anita to stop running and start facing the myriad of problems that plague her life.  Well -- she certainly faced a big one in this book -- and she seems to have conquered it rather nicely, over and over again. This book definately did it's job transforming Anita into a new less chaste individual who doesn't let her past morals get in her way.  This is a huge stepping stone for Anita -- and I'm sure will be very signifcant in future books.  Once one bridge is burned, after all -- don't the rest just burn easier?

One of the few things in this book that I found really interesting was Laurell's fleshing out the character of Nathaniel.  It was great to really start to get to know him in this book, and to learn more about Micha as well.  Another good thing is that Richard seems to be growing up, (a little,) which is refreshing as his constant whining about his life is really getting old.  But I really miss Asher who isn't in one scene in this book, and isn't about time to bring back Edward?

I decided to give this book 3 stars because it was an alright read.  It isn't on par with what I had come to expect from Laurell K. Hamilton, but it had some truly interesting moments that made reading this book worth it, and of course I'll read the next one in the series.  I am after all, a die hard Anita fan.  It will take a lot more than one book to make me stop reading this series, and I can always hold out hope that the next one will the thrilling read that I have come to expect from Laurell's books.  All-in-all I would recommend that you die hard fans read this book -- I'm sure the curiosity would kill you if you didn't anyway!  (It certainly did me, a million bad reviews couldn't keep me away I'm afraid.) And for those of you who are already feeling disappointment in the series or who are very uncomfortable with the idea lots of sex scenes -- maybe you should skip this one -- if you have the strength of will that is.
2894739
I personally enjoyed this book.  Yes, Anita does have an awful lot of sex, but it's really not that much of a surprise or that big a deal.  She's been leading up to it in the previous two books.  I'm actually glad that Anita's finally starting to get over the sex hang-ups.  And while I admit that she's definitely gone from one extreme to another, it has added lots of spice to the story.

Because of the extreme violence (which started out strong in Guilty Pleasures), it's not like you'd recommend this to your teenager to read anyway.

While I approve of the increased sexual content, it would be nice if she could have recreational sex a little more often, without the adeur, the beast, or something else life-or-sanity threatening appearing (poor Nathanal!).

I am looking forward to both Micah and Danse Macabre coming out and I hope she keeps it up.

Those of you who have issues with the sexual content should think about reading Dean Koontz or someone similar.  He writes strong female characters, there is almost always a supernatural thread and they never have sex (at least not the good guys and the bad guys usually don't either).

P.S.  If you dissaprove of the last three books, I would NOT recommend you reading the Meredeth Gentry series at all!!!  Of course, I am looking forward to more of those too!!
4358879
I love the Anita Blake books but find myself looking for the old Anita in the last few installments.  Ms. Hamilton has a gift of creating the most interesting characters, and I find myself literally involved in all Anita's relationships, but her relationship with herself has suffered.  Where is the kick--- Anita of the early books?  It is so refreshing to read books with a strong female character, there are so few out there.  Eve Dallas (J. D. Robb) and Anita Blake are so nontypical of the female leads in books written by women, yet whereas Eve has retained her strength even with all her "relationship" issues, Anita has lost hers.  Will the real Anita Blake please come back?
3649820
At first I hated this book.  I thought it was just like the last one, only Anita was willing to sleep with more guys.  I know many fans that have followed this series feel that there is a little too much gratuitous sex.  I was one of them.
I started by re-reading all of the books starting with Guilty Pleasures and working my way up chronologically.  I did this in 4 days, and let me tell you the character progression is there when you do it this way.  Once Anita started sleeping with JC, this was a natural, it just gets lost when you have not currently read them all sequentially.
The biggest problem I have is the lost characters that I loved.  Edgar, Manny, the cast of animators.  This book at least brought Dolph back in, but it has really been awhile since we had this much Zerboski and Dolph.
What I have come to realize is that LKH has given such wonderful secondary characters that we have come to love an rely on, that is it hard to accept new characters because they take up plot development time, and it seems to take away from the characters we are used to.  The books are becoming very "character heavy", but it is an ongoing series.
I would recomend this book, but not as a starter, I would only read this series in order, or you will lose alot of it, and think that Anita is pretty trampy.
If you like erotica, you will like this book by itself as well as Narcissus in Chains.  Keep in mind that it is otherworldly erotica.
I am very glad for the development that will keep Asher in the series as a primary character.  Richard needs to grow up or go, I am sick of his histrionics.  Go Jason!!! Loved what he said to Anita.
I am giving this 4 stars instead of the 2-3 I originally planned because I did find the reason behind Anita's sleeping around, and it did seem to make sense.  Again I highly recommend reading all of the books from start to finish if you were disapointed with this one.  Good luck.
If you are looking for a great vampire series, i would suggest Charlain Harris "Dead" series.  They are wonderful.  Kind of Stephanie Plum meets Anita.
3478773
I am enjoying this series. I love the suspense and surprises. I don't always like where the main character is going with her decisions but it works out in the end. I love how it seems the universe is on Anita's side. I can't stop reading/listening =)
3136894
I have always admired Anita Hill and I loved this book.  I will never forget her testimony against Clarence Thomas.  Too bad she wasn't believed.
3930582
**I received a copy from the publisher but this in no way influences my thoughts on this book**

I knew after I read this that this was going to be one of those books that people, even fans of the series, either loved or hated.  There is a LOT of metaphysical talk explored, and a lot of relationship info shared.  For me, this is awesome.  I love being inside Anita's world, in fact it is probably my favorite fictional world to visit.  I love ANY of the installments that have an Edward element to them, for me he just adds a little extra kick to the series, and I love that we got "new" magic in here.

For me this was an easy 5 star review and I can't wait for the next book in the series.
4168132
Anita toughs it out to a surprising finish. I finished the book two days ago and I miss Torquil's writing so much, I went to Amazon to order another one.great characters- Bjorne, her boss, Moberg, her mentor, Henrik Nordlund, and her thorn, Karl Westermark. Even Ash and Anita's trip to England enhanced the storyline. The story of her assistant Hakim and his family livened up the plot!
This was my third novel by MacLeod. He's a very creative writer. This book is just the kind of book I honor and enjoy.
1147455
I can't wait to read Anitas book. She is an amazing writer! Love everything she writes!!!
2816021
Anita has an amazing story to tell. Any person who reads this will benefit from it.
It is written beautifully and you can feel Anita's loving, peaceful spirit in every word. Anita brings good news to all of us. I urge everybody to read this book.
737480
Amazing story, great flow and all the supernaturals are there, with a little twist. If you love early Anita, then this is gold!