Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton

Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton

I’ve been rereading the Anita Blake series and didn’t remember this book. That’s surprising because plots usually stick with me and this one had a pretty good one. The father of one of Anita’s lovers has been bitten by a flesh-eating zombie and has caught a rotting illness from the creature. This is bizarre for a lot of reasons, but they can all be summed up with the statement that it doesn’t look like a flesh-eating zombie was actually responsible for the attack—even though there are witnesses.

 

So, Hamilton has given Anita a problem that feels like one she could have encountered in the first books of the series when the novels were at their best. She sprinkles in the habitual police problems—they’re jealous of Anita’s supernatural body count but don’t like her because she’s a woman and she sleeps with monsters. It was a bit overdone, but totally expected in these books. Instead of endlessly worrying about her relationships with her score of lovers, all of that energy went into worrying about her lover’s messed up relationship with his extended family. This is something that Hamilton does pretty well, although I didn’t feel like there was enough resolution of these troubles as the supernatural threat came to dominate the story.

 

Overall, this book was a welcome return to the elements I like most about this series and as always, I’m hoping Hamilton will continue to emphasize these elements in future books.