Thursday 30 June 2011

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Hit List - Laurell K Hamilton

Release Date: 07/06/11

SYNOPSIS:

A serial killer is hunting the Pacific Northwest, murdering victims in a gruesome and spectacular way. The local police suspect monsters are involved, and have called in Anita Blake and Edward, US Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer. But some monsters are very real. The Harlequin have been the bogeymen of the vampire world for more than a thousand years; they are a secret so dark that even to speak their name can earn you a death sentence. Now they are here in America, hunting weretigers, and human police. The Harlequin serve the Mother of All Darkness, the first vampire. She was supposed to be dead, but only her body was destroyed. Now she needs a new one, and she's decided that Anita Blake's is the body she wants. Edward thinks the serial killings are a trap to lure Anita closer to the most dangerous vampire they've ever hunted. The vampires call Edward Death, and Anita the Executioner, but Mommy Darkest is coming to kill one, and possess the other, and she doesn't care how many others have to die along the way.


REVIEW:

OK, to be honest I used to be a fan of the Anita Blake series, then I was hit by book 13 and started to wonder what the hell happened. Since then I’ve followed the series and prayed that Anita would make a break from the mattress and fresh wipes and get back the serious business of being “The Executioner”, but, as each tales developed it really does feel that all that seems to happen is that Anita gets mind blowing orgasmic sex about twenty times a day, the plots thrown out the window and the interesting arc is pretty much sorted out in about five or six pages.

Luckily in this title there’s only the one sex scene but a lot of the recurring themes are starting to get a little repetitive so much so that a lot of the readers will be able to say it with me. Anita questions her principles, Anita gets a new addition, Anita gets mind-blowing sex, Anita fights supreme evil (Mommy Dark), Anita wins, title swiftly wraps up.

All in this series did start out with so much promise, however as its progressed it has sadly started trying to shock the reader and catered to a minority and as such has now sadly suffered. If it doesn’t pick up soon, a certain “Executioner” needs a trip to the headsman themselves which, all in is a sad ending.

2 comments:

T. Crosby said...

This is something I've often wondered in a series, clearly the author is still being well paid to pump out drivel, regardless of quality, but it seems the authors attitude is sometimes to simply ride the money pony for all it's worth till it drops dead. I much prefer authors who know when to call it quits, bow out gracefully, retire the pony to the field, and begin a new creation.

Angela Addams said...

I haven't read any of her books - at all - so maybe I won't be as tainted toward the repetitive plot points or themes that seem to be happening.