In The Killing Dance Anita Blake discovers someone has put out a serious hit on her life, she’s still torn between Richard the werewolf and Jean Claude the vampire and she’s drawn deeply into the tangled politics of the were-pack. There’s isn’t much in the way of police work, just a lot of pack power struggles, increased sensual tension and a visit from Edward. Ahhh, Edward’s here so I can deal with the lack of Anita working. She needs a bit of a break after Bloody Bones anyway.

If Bloody Bones was Jean Claude’s book then the beginning of this one is Richard’s but that isn’t necessarily a good thing for those of us who were rooting for the werewolf. We get to know him better and he shows a lot of weakness and protests his nature far too much. Anita tries to toughen him up and he gives it a go only because he loves her but his heart doesn’t seem to be in it. Poor Richard, I wish he had stopped with all the protesting and given in completely to his baser nature sooner, if only to get on with things, because even I’ll admit that it made me like him less as a character in this book.

Anita really has her mean on in this book. She is very unforgiving bordering on cruel on more than one occasion. I don’t remember her being quite so hard in the earlier novels and she’s totally lost her dark sense of humor. She still sleeps with her little stuffed penguin but she’s got a mean streak and she’s not afraid to let it show. I found myself sympathizing with her less and less as the book went on and near the end I started to actively dislike her. This book is where the series dips Anita’s petite little toe into the world of sex and power and her old life of animating and being an “almost” regular girl comes to a sad end. *sniff*

This one should really get a 3 1/2. It's better than a 3 but it aggravated me too much to earn a full out 4.

**I just found my original gushing review. Here it is in all its cringe worthy fangirliness written in 1997. Feel free to giggle at my expense:

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Extraordinare, is back with another spellbinding adventure that is full of unexpected twists and some eye opening and jaw dropping turns! This time Anita is once again up to her ears in bloody bodies but in addition to her usual corpse raising and vampire slaying she's also being hunted down by the best Assassin money can buy. She's got to figure out who has put such a high price on her head and why. As if this isn't enough to worry about Anita's love life is a major mess. She's torn between her growing attraction and affection for Jean Claude, the sexier than sin Master Vampire who tempts her with his every word, and her loyal and gorgeous werewolf boyfriend Richard who wants marriage and a normal life. Unfortunately, neither is willing to share her on a permanent basis. I can't say enough good things about this sexy and witty series of books. They've got great dialogue, fast paced plots, fascinating characters and _incredible_ sexual tension. Instead of petering out and getting stale like some series do these books just keep heating up! I really love the way Ms. Hamilton is slowly developing these characters and revealing new surprises with each book. The adventures, magic, gore, and creatures are a big attraction for me but the reason I eagerly turn the pages is to delve into these fascinating characters lives and watch the new developments in their ongoing menage.