5
Dec052011
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Bullet’ by Laurell K Hamilton
by Laura • Posted in 3 Star Reviews, Authors E-H, Book Reviews, Headline, Laurell K Hamilton, Reviews by Laura, Urban Fantasy
Title: Bullet (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #19)
Author: Laurell K Hamilton
Publisher: Headline (UK) | Berkley (US)
Publication Date: 26th May 2010
Format: Ebook, 356 Pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: Own Copy
Reviewed by Laura
GOODREADS:
The triumvirate created by master vampire Jean-Claude, necromancer Anita Blake, and werewolf Richard Zeeman has made Jean-Claude one of the most powerful vampires in the U.S. He’s consolidating power in himself and those loyal to him, doing in America what Belle Morte did in Europe when she was at her height of power. She almost owned Europe, and there was those who are determined that Jean-Claude won’t do the same in America. Jean-Claude’s motives may be kinder, but as any lawyer will tell you: motives matter, but you’re just as dead. Assassins are coming to St. Louis to kill them all. Anita knows they’re coming, but even being forewarned doesn’t mean you can win.
REVIEW:
Ahh Anita, I’ve been a fan of this series for such a long time, the early books are in my opinion, some of the best urban fantasy written. But I don’t think I’ll be the first to say that it lost it’s way for a while. This book was a much easier read now that Anita is charge of ‘the ardeur’ the vampire power she has inherited from Jean-Claude that means she needs to feed off sex in order to survive.
Like a lot of previous books in this series, quite a bit of the story is about Anita’s relationship’s with the men in her life. I’ve lost count of the amount of that she is dating/sleeping with, and there are lots of characters in this book which does make it somewhat hard to keep track. If I’m honest the amount of men is getting quite farcical. And of course lots of partners brings with it a fair amount of problems, there is always a man that feels like he’s not getting enough attention and for this book it was Asher, and the whole relationship discussion gets more than a little tedious.
Then there are still the sex scenes that go on for pages, with over blown emotions and bizarre detail that I can’t always get my head around. And some serious over focus on clothing.
BUT…. on the positive side there was more plot in this novel, don’t get me wrong, sex was still important, but there were only three orgies (yes I counted!). I felt like the storyline is starting to get back on track from where it got lost in more recent books.
With assassins on there way to kill Anita, Jean-Claude and Richard and a terrible threat permeating the vampire council, things have got as deadly as they ever have for the three. It’s now time for Jean-Claude to consolidate power and much of the book in submerged into political games and manoeuvrings, the weretigers being Anita and Jean-Claude’s latest play for dominance.
This book plays with some interesting themes. Who is really the master in this relationship? Jean-Claude or Anita and who is the most powerful of the two. Comparisons between Anita and Jean-Claude’s master Belle-Morte are hinted at, which began to subtly play with the theme as to if it wasn’t for the ardeur how many of the men in her life would really remain with her and be happy with her polygamy? Which gave me some interesting food for thought on where the series might be going.
One disappointment was that there were lots of threads introduced in the book that were not fully completed, they were surmised in the epilogue, but we did not get to see them play them out. I was particularly disappointed on the outcome of a crime scene Anita was called for advice on.
VERDICT:
‘Bullet‘ is still not a patch on the earlier novels on this series, but is definitely an improvement on some of the more recent novels. It has some interesting plot developments and greater insight into where the triumvirate between Anita, Jean-Claude and Richard might be going. And despite my frustrations with Anita’s character development, at the same time I cannot stop buying and reading the books as they come out, because they still hook me in.
RATING: 6/10 – Good
Laurell K. Hamilton Online
Books in series order:
1. Guilty Pleasures
2. The Laughing Corpse
3. Circus of the Dammed
4. The Lunatic Cafe
5. Bloody Bones
6. The Killing Dance
7. Burnt Offerings
8. Blue Moon
9. Obsidian Butterfly
10. Narcissus in Chains
11. Cerulean Sins
12. Incubus Dreams
13. Micah
14. Dance Macabre
15. The Harlequin
16. Blood Noir
17. Skin Trade
18. Flirt
19.Bullet
20. Hit List
This book counts towards the following BCC Reading Challenges:
Book #42 100+ Books In A Year Reading Challenge 2011
Book #15 Horror & Urban Fantasy Challenge 2011
Book #42 100+ Books In A Year Reading Challenge 2011
Book #15 Horror & Urban Fantasy Challenge 2011
5 Comments
I really loved the early books. However, I became very disapoointed when she started wrapping up the plot in the epiloges. The one I found most disapoointing was when there vampires killing strippers(?) instead of trying to catch the killer she focused more on dancing and having sex. They are slowly getting better but I haven't gotten over the disappointment.
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Just the blurb felt all over the place to me without even getting to the actual book.
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I tried to read Skin Trade, and after yet ANOTHER chest bumping episode with the cops, (so tired of this) and more of people arguing with Anita seeemingly for arguements sake, I couldn't even get to the pages of bizarrely tedious sex/talk about sex. I found the last book to be so boring….yeah, couldn't even get past thefirst 100 pages, and with most books, by the 100th page, there's a lot going on. Certainly enough to keep me interested. Not with Anita books, not anymore.
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I L O V E Laurell Hamilton; she is one of my favorite authors. I follow both the Anita Blake series and her Merrie Gentry series.
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@Kwill very good point on the epilogues. It is quite frustrating and like you I adored the earlier books. However the last couple I've read in the series have improved.
@susan the writing is sadly not as good as the earlier books, I know there are a lot of frustrated fans. But I think they've got better recently.
@Mardel yes the arguments with the cops & the amount of prejudiced people she seems to come across are annoying. But I do still find something quite compelling about her writing.
@Keltimystique I'm behind on the Merry Gentry series, I really must catch up
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