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Danse Macabre

(Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #14)

Laurell K. Hamilton (Goodreads Author)

3.82 · Rating details · 41,775 ratings · 883 reviews

Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE]
ACE #1

These days, Anita Blake is less interested in vampire politics than in an ancient, ordinary dread she shares with women down the ages: she may be pregnant. And, if she is, whether the father is a vampire, a werewolf, or someone else entirely, he knows perfectly well that being a Federal Marshal known for raising ...more

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Mass Market Paperback, 517 pages

Published March 27th 2007 by Jove (first published 2006)

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· 41,775 ratings · 883 reviews

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Apr 16, 2013 Crystal Starr Light rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: erotica, i-whine-therefore-i-am, plot-what-plot, so-bad-it-s-horrible, abs, fashion-accident, read-at-your-own-risk, i-should-know-better, don-t-quit-your-day-job, cash-cow

If you have ever considered reading the Anita Blake series up to this point, let me save you a bit of time, trouble, and heartache by giving you a plot synopsis of this book. Don't worry, I won't spoil anything nor will I get into so much detail that it will be ruined.

PLOT:

No, really, this book HAS no plot. The blurb burbles about a vampire ballet, hints at a pregnancy for Anita, and dances ar ...more

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Jan 28, 2008 Kathryn Lee Hamilton rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: Some one who's be all end all of sex is Fellatio

I hate to say this, but I think I am done with this author.
I remember when she first started the series and there were monsters and plots all over the place.
The last book was 800 pages of sex, most of it repetitive acts of fellatio from the main female characters point of view. with 69 pages of plot. 899 pages of imaging you are going down on someone, only the men change.
This book was 482 pages of fellatio with no plot, and the people being fellated were talking about their god ...more

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Nov 18, 2015 Jilly rated it did not like it

Shelves: werewolves-and-other-furry-shifters, vampires, urban-fantasy

You know when you are reading a book series and then there is a really bad book in there, but you keep reading because you think it might get better again? Well, that doesn't happen here. It is obvious that there is no hope for this series to become what it started as.

Anita is now a succubus which means she needs to have constant sex in order to survive. Plot device to bring this series into the porn realm? Yes. Overly obvious indulgent bullshit that is clearly the author's fantasy of wanting to have th You know when you are reading a book series and then there is a really bad book in there, but you keep reading because you think it might get better again? Well, that doesn't happen here. It is obvious that there is no hope for this series to become what it started as.

Anita is now a succubus which means she needs to have constant sex in order to survive. Plot device to bring this series into the porn realm? Yes. Overly obvious indulgent bullshit that is clearly the author's fantasy of wanting to have the most beautiful men that ever exist all desiring her and willing to share her - not to mention the blatant way that Richard has become her scapegoat for all of the anger she feels for her ex? Yes.

There is no actual plot in this book. Anita is pregnant and there is a vampire ballet company coming into town. That's it. And yet the book is over 900 pages long. At least 800 of those pages is Anita having sex with every single male she comes in contact with.

Also, just like the book with the Mexican restaurant that was wrong, there is another blatantly wrong scene in this book. Anita has an ultrasound to see if she is actually pregnant and the doctor runs the wand over her stomach. Um, no. That's not how it works at such an early stage of pregnancy. First off, they have to use the wand that is inserted into your body. Since the author has absolutely no qualms about writing about lady (and men) parts, she could have been more accurate. Secondly, a quick swipe with a wand over the stomach wouldn't be enough for a doctor to just say "oh, never mind, not pregnant" when a test said she was. Doctors are weird about ultrasounds and always get a second opinion with conflicting results. And, finally, she didn't even have to drink water first. If there was some miracle ultrasound machine that could pick up her uterus over the stomach to check an early pregnancy, she would have had to have a full bladder to lift up the uterus for an ultrasound. We, who have been there, are very familiar with seeing your first pictures of your baby while wishing we could just pee real quick. It's the first painful joy of many with kids.

Does all of that matter? It wouldn't be a big deal if the author wasn't accurate in this stuff if she didn't get so freaking detailed in everything else. She could have just said the ultrasound was done and came back negative, but she went into great detail of what happened in the doctor's office. She also goes into great detail about what everyone is wearing - for pages and pages. She's a detail-oriented writer. And, that's fine - but at least get your facts straight first!

I feel like this is the perfect timing for me to just walk away. Goodbye Anita. Have fun with the humping.

...more

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Apr 28, 2007 Dani Meehan rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit, fantasy-sci-fi

Really enjoy Laurel K. Hamilton and the Anita Blake series. That being said, I really enjoyed the first few books in the series because they were all about kick ass chick and a sorta interesting kinda mystery/thriller conundrum with some hot steamy scenes in the middle. This past book and the few before it seem to be all hot and steamy and very little advancement of the story.
I still like Hamilton, but I enjoyed her older stuff much more.

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Oct 27, 2011 Tilly Slaton rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviews-completed

Anita Blake; Vampire Hunter and animator. A love triangle doesn’t even begin to explain the most interesting relationships that currently complicate her life.

Cursed with the ardeur, Blake suffers through an existence as a succubus. Sex to survive, more sex and even more sex. Although, the sex has made the stories interesting, enough is enough. I mean, c’mon .. stop throwing her naked under random characters and slow things down a bit. Anita has her sweeties, stop tossing spontaneous sex s ...more

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Jul 16, 2010 Raiveran Rabbit rated it did not like it

Shelves: avoid-reading

No amount of ridiculously reasoned hardcore porn is worth this. —

If you want to read someone’s repetitive, repetitive, repetitive Mary Sue fantasy about legions of perfect, beautiful, smart, powerful, perfect men either fighting over or adoring, but all fucking, one insecure, shallow, selfish dumbass character, this book is for you. If you don’t demand a storyline to prop up the epic and imminently selfishly immature and needy fantasies of not one but ten Twilight twihards distilled and poured ...more

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Feb 24, 2010 Terry rated it did not like it

This book is a good explanation as to why this book series hasn't been picked up for television or the big screen. Could you imagine sitting through 1 to 2 hours of a movie or show & watching a room packed full of characters dramatically staring at each other, clutching each other, spontaneous fainting, collapsing, gasping and shuddering in a very mellow dramatic way with very little duologue.... All with nothing actually going on? Yeah, neither can I. And when there is dialog, the character This book is a good explanation as to why this book series hasn't been picked up for television or the big screen. Could you imagine sitting through 1 to 2 hours of a movie or show & watching a room packed full of characters dramatically staring at each other, clutching each other, spontaneous fainting, collapsing, gasping and shuddering in a very mellow dramatic way with very little duologue.... All with nothing actually going on? Yeah, neither can I. And when there is dialog, the characters banter back and fourth verbally beating the most minuscule theories and details of their romantic life to death.

Past pages upon pages of the uncomfortable and boring bouts of "ripples of power" scenes that infest the book.... Hamilton putties the cracks of her book with pages upon pages of pointless and mindless blow jobs, dry humping and Anita donating blood every few chapters. The sex... So disappointing. It's meaningless and anti-climactic. No thrill of the hunt, no pining or hoping, feeding your imagination or build up. It would be nice if we could see Anita having real sex because she wants to not just randomly doing it with every anyone who crosses her path because she has to "take one for the team". I wish Hamilton would just let Anita want to have sex, not be forced into a situation where she has to do it The idea of the adure could actually be a really fun fantasy but it's just over-kill and redundant now. This book definitely drove that feeling home for me.

Another thing that bothers me is that Hamilton has really ruined Jean-Claude (among others)for me in this book. He was dark, powerful, unpredictable, mysterious, masculine with that hint of femininity that is attractive. Now he comes off (in his relationship with Anita) as weak, complacent, transparent, predictable, feminine and boring. Part of what made his relationship to Anita attractive to me as a reader was the tension, danger and mystery. Besides Nathaniel, I could go on for pages about how I just don't like most of the characters in these books anymore.

Basically, I'll keep reading the series (mostly because I can finish a book in 1-2 days no matter how horrible so I at least don't waste a month of my time reading this crap) in hopes I get a glimpse of what I enjoyed about these stories at one time.... But at the same time, I'll never read the books again and I'm happy I'm getting them from the library so they don't take up space on my book shelf.

...more

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Feb 04, 2008 Darby rated it it was ok

Shelves: own, 2012, 2007, scifi-fantasy, vampire-werewolves

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have been a long time fan of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. I have reread the books Guilty Pleasures through Obsidian Butterfly - many times. But this book, as with the last one, I doubt I will reread. This one didn't even have a plot and the plot in the last book was thin. Each book I hang hoping and waiting to see if the entertaining characters that the beginning books had will show back up. And if the tough compassionate Anita will be present. But they aren't there I have been a long time fan of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. I have reread the books Guilty Pleasures through Obsidian Butterfly - many times. But this book, as with the last one, I doubt I will reread. This one didn't even have a plot and the plot in the last book was thin. Each book I hang hoping and waiting to see if the entertaining characters that the beginning books had will show back up. And if the tough compassionate Anita will be present. But they aren't there. I used to read her books in one evening...not able to put them down. And now this book took me 3 months to get through as it just didn't grab me. Because I couldn't figure out when the plot would kick in. Even the in last chapter I kept hoping that something would come tying it all together to make sense but it didn't happen.

Overall the book....is badly written porn type sex. It isn't even erotic or good porn sex. I would like to count how many pages actually don't deal with sex (the act or just the characters discussing sex) because I would be surprised it it was more then 10 pages out of 483. One chapter might be a page an half and all that just having sex. Now I love sex. But the plot of the book, the premise of the book and what made them entertaining was Anita Blake VAMPIRE HUNTER. I loved the chemistry of her and Jean Claude at the beginning but now Jean Claude hardly says anything interesting.

The title of this book came from a dance troop that is coming to town. The dance troop doesn't even show up until the last 80 pages and again very weak and more sex of course.

So...if you haven't read it and are a fan of this series do know you might be bored by it. I did hear her next book is going to have Edward back in it and some other characters from the past. So that might be interesting...crossing fingers!

If you enjoy stories about Vampires and werewolves, please pick up the the early books and you enjoy the stories.

EDIT August 2012: I reread this book for the first time since I first read it in 2007. I wanted to reread the whole series as I was behind on reading Hamilton's last 3 books in this series. So I thought what the heck give it another shot. I will say I am upping this from 1 star to 2 stars. Because I guess going in knowing I didn't like the first time - gave me the permission to let go and be okay with not liking it. But instead - I went from total hating the book to being okay. I still stand by everything I said in my above original review. The sex gets just very boring and annoying as time goes on and this book has a lot of it in it. I feel the book lacks everything that I love about the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books. ...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Laura Coulter rated it did not like it

I hungrily devoured the first several books in this series - they were the ultimate guilty pleasure. An ass-kicking heroine, lots of steamy sensuality, death-defying acts, moral dilemmas, and plenty of supernatural beings to go around. Starting around book 10, the series started to choke, like a car with electrical problems. It was unclear if Ms. Hamilton had lost her direction where Anita Blake was concerned, or if she'd never really had one to begin with.

"Danse Macabre" descends to ...more

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Dec 19, 2007 Samantha rated it it was amazing

Not going to give a plot summary. Yes there is a plot but no it is not about raising the dead or slaying vampires. I think if you don't go into the book thinking that then you won't be disappointed. This book is about vampire politics and Anita finding out more about her powers. I think this is a book that was supposed to be much longer and that the publisher split into two since Incubus Dreams was so long and people didn't like it. This book is leading up to the party where all the Masters of t ...more

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Oct 29, 2010 Chibineko rated it did not like it

I really tried to read this book, honestly I did. It started off well enough and was better than it's predecessor (not saying much). The idea of a meeting of several different Masters of the City was interesting since it would lead to different types of vamps & magic. Unfortunately all it lead to was providing Anita with different flavors of vamp & were to bang. It honestly was incredibly boring after a while, especially the sex scenes.

I'm no stranger to porn or written sex. (I have a f ...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Karen Dales rated it did not like it

OMG. I don't know why I even bothered. Maybe I harbour hope that the Anita Blake series would start to get good again. It didn't.

The ONLY thing that caught my attention was the pregnancy scare. It's too damned bad that it was just that - a scare. There could have been so much more if the pregnancy was real. Instead, LKH continues to bore through character interactions that does nothing and goes nowhere. I'm tired of whiney Richard and Anita as the Whore of Babylon, with men of all races/species ...more

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May 04, 2014 Ivana Azap Feješ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: paranormal-romance

Anita Blake; Vampire Hunter and animator. A love triangle doesn’t even begin to explain the most interesting relationships that currently complicate her life. Cursed with the ardeur, Blake suffers through an existence as a succubus. Sex to survive, more sex and even more sex. I really liked this book. It is more erotic than I remember her other books being. Book 14 in the Anita Blake, vampire executioner, series by Laurell Hamilton. This book had a little bit of action and danger, and a whole lo ...more

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Oct 03, 2015 Denisa rated it liked it

Better than the last one.
But like in most of the books in this series, I feel that there are a lot of stories still unfinished.
During the last few books Hamilton started a lot of separate little plots and I keep waiting for some of them to finish. But they don't, I still have questions left form book 10 and 11 and I have a feeling that the questions that I have left form this one will be left unanswered as well.

Ah well, it's still a very addicting series. And in this book Anit ...more

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Mar 17, 2019 Ella rated it did not like it

*Warning* this is more of a rant than a review.

This is the first Anita Blake book I read and it will be the last. I purchased it in an airport bookstore I didn’t realize it was book 14, my bad, but I’d heard good things about the series – it’s about a vampire hunting necromancer after all - so I thought, why not.

Holy shit.

What the hell did I just read! I mean, it genuinely felt like I was reading some deranged teenage girls fanfiction except that LKH is a grown woman which makes th ...more

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Jun 16, 2012 Khristine Stain rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: People who only care about hundreds of pages of sex

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book did not advance the characters. Those characters I loved, those real lovable characters that were so interesting are trapped under an avalanche of sex. This novel started out fine and then deteriorated swiftly. If I had to keep reading about how everything her sex partners did made her 'writhe" or how every man wanted to have sex with her, or how her 'writhing' made all her men so eager to keep doing her, my brain would go on strike.

In this novel, she had to manage her sexy time bette This book did not advance the characters. Those characters I loved, those real lovable characters that were so interesting are trapped under an avalanche of sex. This novel started out fine and then deteriorated swiftly. If I had to keep reading about how everything her sex partners did made her 'writhe" or how every man wanted to have sex with her, or how her 'writhing' made all her men so eager to keep doing her, my brain would go on strike.

In this novel, she had to manage her sexy time better so she had threesomes and foursomes all the time. If she wasn't blowing some guy, they were all talking about sex and who she should have it with next. All this in the time period of less than a day. Where is the intricate story lines from the earlier novels that all came together in the end? The ones that 'wow'd me into continuing to read the next in the series at 4am because I had been so enthralled that I couldn't help myself?

They are gone. Blue Moon was the last novel I enjoyed even though it hadn't come close to the magnificence of Obsidian Butterfly. LKH has decided to change her writing style and it feels like she abandoned the fanbase she built originally. The last full novel (Incubus Dreams but the sex-over-shadowing-chapter-after-chapter started back in Cerulian Sins and Narscisiss in Chains) had no plot whatsoever. This is what I could decipher as the new plot for the series: Anita must have sex with as many men as she can, at the same time and other people get jealous of it. 99 percent of the time, they want to do her so bad that they lose rational thought.

Its so frustrating to have Anita, who started out as such a strong female heroine, blowing every man in sight instead of using her brain to stop preternatural killers. After a while, her jaw must ache as much as my head from reading from about it. I am not anti-sex. Plenty of my favorite authors have sex in their novels. But at least the sex adds to the relationships developing story line... here it was sex for sex for some more sex. None of it progressed any relationships along.

The whole Dark Mother storyline: is it going anywhere? Holy cripes, even the Dark Mother wants Anita, probably for one of Anita's famous foursomes. If the Dark Mother had a penis, I'd say it was for her one of Anita's stellar blowjobs.

All Anita's leopards (except the ones she has sex with) were absent. She doesn't much bother with them anymore, I'm guessing. Funny, I thought being Nimjra meant she had responsibilities to her pard and Micah's new leopards. The last time we heard from them had been in the novel Micah's pard had been introduced in.

Overall, this novel was severely lacking. I do not know if I will continue this series... I had an interest in the story, and the characters but it might not be enough for me to push through this bad pornography plotting. I kept waiting for the Pizza delivery guy to come to the Circus to entice Anita with his delivery of 'extra sausage'. ...more

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Feb 14, 2011 Helmisade rated it did not like it

Shelves: fantasy, romance, waste-of-time

"Does this woman not have an editor?" She made it into a question.

I realize that this is part 14 of a series so it's probably not the best place to start. I also know that most people seem to think that the first 10 Anita Blake books were much better. Perhaps I'll try one of those some time. For now, here's the Big List of things that made this book so bad I wanted to hurt myself:

- X made it into a question: easily the most over-used expression in the book. If there's a q "Does this woman not have an editor?" She made it into a question.

I realize that this is part 14 of a series so it's probably not the best place to start. I also know that most people seem to think that the first 10 Anita Blake books were much better. Perhaps I'll try one of those some time. For now, here's the Big List of things that made this book so bad I wanted to hurt myself:

- X made it into a question: easily the most over-used expression in the book. If there's a question mark at the end, it's a question. You don't have to use this quirky little frase all the effing time.
- Jean Claude keeps calling Anita "ma petite". She's a grown woman with mystical powers, a marshall and apparently some sort of demon hunter (none of that happening here of course). Stop calling her with the most annoying pet name in history!
- These people love to talk. They love drama. They talk, talk, talk for nearly 600 pages. A political disaster brewing with the visiting vampires? Let's stop and talk about our feelings for three pages. The doctor has some news? Let's first debate at length if he should tell those news or not and who should hear them.
- Anita needs to take an anger management class. She's not cute or quirky, simply just immature. The men in her life need to take a class called "how not to be a condescending asshole".
- None of the characters in this book have any sense of boundaries or personal space. They need to touch each other all the time or they will DIE! This leads to painfully detailed descriptions of who is touching whom and where and how and how does everyone feel about that. This constant touching and groping made this sound like a teenage house party: "let's all sleep together in one bed, of course nothing will happen..."
- Then of course there's the constant sex. How much sex can one woman have in about 48 hours (the timeline of this book)? A lot, with a lot of different men and creatures, in various ways that defy the laws of physics. Mostly the sex in this book is uninteresting and lacks sensuality or emotion. It's just something they do when they are not going on and on about their various relationships.

There's also a plot about Anita possibly being pregnant. She's angry about it a lot, they talk about it for pages and pages (when not having sex). Some other stuff happens as well, but none of it is really interesting and none of it really goes anywhere despite this book being almost 600 pages long. Colour me unimpressed. ...more

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Mar 23, 2010 Bark rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook

I read this back when it was first released but am rereading it here as an audiobook. It's one of the later Anita Blake books which are all a blur of sex and power in my mind so I can't remember much about it.

Well, just as I remembered with the other later books in this series this is all about Anita's sex with her many men and much less about the paranormal aspects of the book which I found so interesting in the earlier novels. This time around Anita fears she may be pregnant and be ...more

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Mar 14, 2019 Jenn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, vampires, paranormal-supernatural, read-in-2019, 3-star-reads, shapeshifting-madness, adult-fiction

Oh Anita...

I think this is where I started straying from the series originally. It just seemed like the books were venturing off into something completely different than how they started - and not in a natural growth way. So I stepped back. I think I made it a few more books in and then took a lengthy break. Now I'm back and determined to get caught up. In doing this, I am noticing different things - some that make me understand Anita and the direction of the books, and some that mak Oh Anita...

I think this is where I started straying from the series originally. It just seemed like the books were venturing off into something completely different than how they started - and not in a natural growth way. So I stepped back. I think I made it a few more books in and then took a lengthy break. Now I'm back and determined to get caught up. In doing this, I am noticing different things - some that make me understand Anita and the direction of the books, and some that make me really want to strangle Anita.

Danse Macabre is the 14th book in this series so for the most part, our main group have been established. Also, this main group is the reason I keep reading this series (Jason especially) so it started to make me sad when they were pushed to the side in order for new men to come in. And because there's so many now, it's hard to really get attached to any of the newbies because like the author, Anita just throws most of them to the side.

So what's changed? Well, I do understand that Anita is a succubus and therefore she needs to feed. Ergo, the many men. And honestly, I would be fine with that if it wasn't for Anita's attitude. I really don't like her high and mighty attitude and all of her double standards. Example? She gets extremely upset when she thinks that the men in her life could be sleeping with other women, but yet it's completely fine with her to have multiple lovers. She also is constantly choosing to fight people and prefers to be angry with everyone than just talking to them and really listening to what they have to say. And there was one part that really bothered me in this book. It's a part after Anita gets some heavy news and finally allows herself to breakdown and cry and all she keeps repeating is how weak she is. CRYING DOES NOT MAKE YOU WEAK. Having emotions does not make you weak! It makes you human- something Anita is so gung ho on clinging to.

Then there's the character of Richard. Ok, Laurell K Hamilton, if you really dislike the character that much, why do you keep bringing him back? She's said multiple times that Richard was supposed to have died at the end of Circus of the Damned but she kept him around and now she hates the character. Well, you did this. You ruined a great character because you didn't like that you didn't kill him. Thanks for making us suffer with him now.

This series will forever remain in my heart but that doesn't mean I'm going to love every one of the books. ...more

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Nov 19, 2012 Matt Schiariti rated it it was ok

you know what I'm talking about..like a train wreck..or a bad car accident..you know coming up to the scene that it's going to be bad..you don't WANT to look, but you can't help but slow down and take a lingering look out of some sense of morbid curiosity.

At its core, this is what the Anita Blake books have become to me and DM is no exception. I know it's going to be bad but I just have to see how bad it'll get and how long it'll stay that way. And everytime I think 'phew, now that a ...more

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May 09, 2019 Pam Nelson rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, 2019-series-challenge-w-c, _finished-2019, paranormal

Ahh, Vampire politics at its best. This book had a lot to say. I found a lot of it boring, it dragged on tooooo much.

The is she isn’t she was a little over the top too, whinny Richard rears his head as usual. Then you have a whinny Asher too I was like what is happening to the guys!!

I am still 100% fan of Jean-Claude, Micah, and Nathaniel.

The beasts in Anita are interesting and that whole scene on the bed was probably my favorite part because it was when something was actually happening.

On t ...more

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Jan 01, 2008 mlady_rebecca rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction__speculative, read_more_than_once, in_retrospect__favorite, series__anita_blake, author__laurell_k_hamilton__ab, characters__vamps, characters__lycanthropes_shifters, genre__urban_fantasy, 2006, 2009

This was a more closed insular book than some of the others. Besides a chat with Ronnie at the beginning, Anita is neck deep in vampire politics from page one to the final page. So no RPIT and no Animator's Inc. That's not to say we didn't see as much of the necromancer as the vampire and lycanthrope sides. We just played with vampires instead of zombies.

Cast list wise... Vamps: Jean-Claude, Asher, Damien, Requiem, Meng Die, Wicked and Truth, and our first real taste of Elinore, Lond This was a more closed insular book than some of the others. Besides a chat with Ronnie at the beginning, Anita is neck deep in vampire politics from page one to the final page. So no RPIT and no Animator's Inc. That's not to say we didn't see as much of the necromancer as the vampire and lycanthrope sides. We just played with vampires instead of zombies.

Cast list wise... Vamps: Jean-Claude, Asher, Damien, Requiem, Meng Die, Wicked and Truth, and our first real taste of Elinore, London, Auggie and Samuel. Oh, and can't forget Belle and Marme Noir's visit. Werewolves: Richard, Graham, Clay, and Jason. Wereleopards: Nathaniel and Micah. Wererats: Claudia and Dr. Lillian. Werehyenas: ??? (names escape me at the moment) Werelions: Joseph, Cookie/Haven, Pierce, Travis and Noel.

But, once again, all of the main cast was on stage at one point or another. In the beginning of the book, Jason seemed "absent" given how much took place in Jean-Claude's living room/ bedroom, but it was later explained he had his own "mission" to accomplish. *g*

Spoilers ...

Richard. Everyone wants to trash Richard in the recent books, but except for the whole maybe baby surprise, he was surprisingly cooperative here. His initial anger after the scene with Auggie was completely understandable given what we learned about him and Gabriel in "Incubus Dreams". So I'll give kudos for his effort here, because very few people will. Truthfully, Anita freaked out much worse than anyone.

Ah, what else to say. Anita has gotten over feeding and being fed on by those she loves, but she still can't seem to extend that to anything casual. Not that that is a bad thing, in anyone who isn't a succubus. But, as Jean-Claude notes, Anita has accepted her vampire side in her head, but not her heart. The same could be said for her furry side. Besides giving her beast to Jason and Nathaniel in "Incubus Dreams" this is the first time the beasts have become so substantial that the lycanthropes are sure she will slip her skin.

Anita learns the ardeur can read a lover soul deep, but that isn't common with Jean-Claude's ardeur, or Belle's. Reading that deeply means binding someone that deeply. All of her lovers besides Jean-Claude and Richard having been read that deeply - Micah, Nathaniel, Damian, Asher, and Jason. But it gives new meaning to Anita's beginning with Micah, and the change in status with Nathaniel. The ardeur gave them all what they needed from each other.

Oh, and I haven't been "counting" it as such, but Anita and Jean-Claude feeding off of Auggie was as big of a power boost as marrying the marks or forming the second Tri. Jean-Claude became sourdre de sang after marrying the marks, but only now does his power taste of him alone. And Asher gets a big power up this time around, and an animal-to-call. *g*

As for number and variety of sex scenes, this book does come closest to that line of too much. But much of that is my discomfort (on top of Anita's) with her sleeping with strangers. My favorite sex scene is still Nathaniel and Jason in the limo after Requiem has left. Of all her threesomes, Jason and Nathaniel are the least demanding in many ways.

(Written 04/12/2009) ...more

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May 16, 2016 Janel Mitchell rated it did not like it

I really tried to get through this book by just plowing through it but it's wasn't easy. It feels like LKH got a word of the day calendar and this book's word is "winsome". She used it for 3 different characters (when they weren't spilling out or over something. And if Anita says any of the following more than 3 times its not a chapter; I don't get it, point it out to me, I'm sorry I'm missing something here or could you just tell me I'm not following you. She solves murders in the earlier books I really tried to get through this book by just plowing through it but it's wasn't easy. It feels like LKH got a word of the day calendar and this book's word is "winsome". She used it for 3 different characters (when they weren't spilling out or over something. And if Anita says any of the following more than 3 times its not a chapter; I don't get it, point it out to me, I'm sorry I'm missing something here or could you just tell me I'm not following you. She solves murders in the earlier books for crying out loud, did falling for (or on) all these men make her stupid or did someone actually f*%& her brains out?!
I'm only reading them because I downloaded all of them already and since I spent the time I may as well keep reading because if nothing else it's funny as hell to play a fellow reader's bingo game. As Blake would say, I SO just went there. I know I can't ask the author to stop with the lunacy but I came in late to this party and the damage has already been done but damn!
Nothing scary or police related even happened. The meat of the story doesn't start until the damn ballet yet but don't worry, she's had sex many times with many men multiple times with an audience so that's 500 pages right there just to tell us each guys eye color so we can tell them apart. My only question is if, as she states in earlier works, vamp powers don't change you then how did these guys get these eye colors? I understand Micah spent too much time in leopard form and can't change all the way back but everyone else? I've been on this planet a long time and while I think it would be cool as hell to have lilac eyes please tell me how that is humanly possible?
One other issue, as if there's only one, this is a series and I know she wants each book to be readable independently but it feels like she spends half the book telling us crap we've already read in 13 other books. Oh wait that's exactly what she's doing! So if you want to hear about Asher and JC's blue eyes are along with Damien's green, Nathaniel's violet, Micah's green/yellow and of course our newest Auggie's grey eyes then you're in luck! There are at least 200 pages of eye color descriptions in this book alone. And if you want to hear about her having oral sex with someone who isn't erect you'll get more of that too.
I really wanted to just stop reading but now it's a game to see just how ridiculous the sex can get. I'm not a prude but when I started this series I was promised a bad assed vampire hunter that raises zombies but all I'm getting is a clueless homophobic woman hating slut! Yes I know she gets to have 3ways with 2 guys or more but Heaven help any of them if they seek companionship with others. I'm with Richard's deep brown eyes on this one, it's not fair to them! And when her friend comes to her and points it out she throws a damn fit like a two year old who got caught stealing all the other kiddies crayons. ...more

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Feb 21, 2019 Anna 'Bookbuyer' rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2019, own-kobo, own, to-sort

Anita might be pregnant!?

I'm really starting to not like Ronnie. -.-

Richard just rains over everyone's parade all the time now. :(

Haven is soooooooooooooooooooooo bad news.

I don't like Auggie either. -.-

Merlin is a bit scary with how powerful he is.

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Jun 12, 2010 Cloudwalker rated it it was ok

"What was wrong with me? I was hysterical, that was what was wrong with me. The moment I thought it that clearly, I started to calm. I didn't feel any better, really, but I could think. That was an improvement. I thought about being free of the ardeur, and that was a good thought. I thought about being free of Jean-Claude's marks, and all the metaphysical mess that came with it. My life being my own again, that sounded good. I thought about being just me, as Jean-Claude said, just me in my own skin. Ju

...more

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Mar 13, 2014 Joelric rated it did not like it

This book is the worst thing I have ever read and I refuse to finish it. Everything that made me love the series at the beginning is gone. Sweet lovable Richard has turning into roid raging ass-hat that breaks down sobbing every other appearance, Micah is a doormat as is basically every other man in Anita's life, and Jean Claud, Master of the City, fountain head of his of blood line, is reduced to nothing more than an acquiescent, inconsequential side chick!

Don't even get me started This book is the worst thing I have ever read and I refuse to finish it. Everything that made me love the series at the beginning is gone. Sweet lovable Richard has turning into roid raging ass-hat that breaks down sobbing every other appearance, Micah is a doormat as is basically every other man in Anita's life, and Jean Claud, Master of the City, fountain head of his of blood line, is reduced to nothing more than an acquiescent, inconsequential side chick!

Don't even get me started on Anita! She is a hypocritical bitch and I can't figure out why everyone is so in love with her. Yes, she has the ardore (I can't even bring myself to care about the real spelling), but they all love her for her "personality". Left and right she goes on about how tough it is being the only woman (yet every other powerful, strong woman is painted as butch, crazy, or a lesbian) and how the ardore makes her life so difficult and how she can't emotionally handle sleeping with more men. Then, as she sleeps with at least 7 other men regularly and has random sex with strangers, she admits that she would have left Jean Claud if he was sleeping with Asher... She already sleeps with the both of them at once and they have seen her bump uglies with other men on an almost daily basis. But god forbid, these two men who have loved each other for hundreds of years before she even existed and who have finally reconciled after a great loss, they even dare to hug each other in her presence or kiss!

These books really made me start to think I was aniti-feminist or something. All I could think while trying to read the newer books was how annoying and high maintenance Anita was. Everyone had to be sooooo careful of what they said around her. She is so unreasonable and hypocritical and CONSTANTLY bitching, not simply complaining, about EVERYTHING! I couldn't help but think that I would have dumped her ass a looooong time ago if I was a guy and forever labeled her as my "psycho ex."

The scene with Augustine's mistress was priceless, I almost wanted to high five the woman. She's got fake boobs and a lot of makeup and Anita automatically looks down on her. When the woman defends herself, asking why she's the whore when she's only sleeping with one guy whereas Anita is basically sleeping with everything with a penis I wanted to kiss her! Anita is always playing the "good girl" and I was angry when she thought herself better than the other woman. There's nothing wrong with being a sexual person or having multiple lovers if that is your thing, but she has no room or right to take any moral high road, EVER. And as insulted as she was by the accusation, what did she do a few pages later but rape Augustine with Jean-Claude!

You know what, I'm ranting, I apologize. I'm just done with this series and anything else this author may shit out. ...more

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Mar 20, 2008 CJ rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: anyone who likes Laurell K. Hamilton books

It's all been said before, but it bears repeating. Career suicide. It is a testament to her writing skills that she still had fans after this fiasco. In fact, it's so horrifically uneven when compared with her previous work that the only explanation is that there was something else going on - either she was so far past a deadline she just had to turn it in "as is", she meant this to be 2 or 3 books but couldn't decide how to wrap up or edit the story to make it fit into one..... something. Becau It's all been said before, but it bears repeating. Career suicide. It is a testament to her writing skills that she still had fans after this fiasco. In fact, it's so horrifically uneven when compared with her previous work that the only explanation is that there was something else going on - either she was so far past a deadline she just had to turn it in "as is", she meant this to be 2 or 3 books but couldn't decide how to wrap up or edit the story to make it fit into one..... something. Because Hamilton is so much better than this.
The plot starts around page 400. Before that, you have to drag yourself through sex scene after sex scene after sex scene - and she does her best to make them inventive, but it's like eating nothing but triple hot fudge sundaes with double whipped cream and a jar full of cherries on top every day three meals a day. For 8 months. After a while it doesn't matter how good it was in the beginning, you need something else. Maybe a little plot with all that sex? And very little is resolved at the end of the book. I had no problem with the talky Cerulean Sins and I had no problem at all with the "female P.I. in a tweaked world where vamps have civil rights and supernatural creatures exist solves supernatural crimes" turning into a much more layered look at just how a human would function in a world like that when caught between the humans and the non humans. I found that fascinating. The harem got to be a little yawnful after a while - you could pretty much count on any man who met her falling in love or at least lust or severe admiration with her. But all in all it was a wonderful series. The best in the bunch is Obsidian Butterfly where you get to take a closer look at the one man who really turns Anita's bones to jelly (and not in a good way) and see how he functions and manages two very disparate worlds.
I swore I was done buying her books after this one; I would get them from the library but I would not be buying any more. The ones that came after Danse Macabre were not nearly as bad as Danse, but they still are not up to her previous standards.
I am one of those annoying people who reads series in any old order because missing the back story doesn't bother me, it tends to intrigue me and send me off looking for the previous books to see how the character got from A to C. But with this series I was warned to read the books in order or it would ruin some pretty phenomenal plot twists. The advice was excellent. You need to start with Guilty Pleasures and move in order from there with this series. ...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Kipi rated it did not like it

Shelves: audiobooks, books-im-ashamed-to-have-read, read-in-2012, annoying-audiobook-voices

I don't even know anymore why I keep doing this to myself. A new Anita Blake... or as I like to call them, a Shitblake.
As the previous ones, Im reading this as an audiobook and it has had me snorting and rolling my eyes from the beginning. Why I keep doing this? WHY?

Edit: After reading the book (well "reading" the "book") I have come to the conclusion that this kind of crap is an insult to the trees this crap was made of. Luckily I listened to the audio book instead of even handling ...more

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Nov 29, 2007 Sonja H rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: kristi

Shelves: vampires

I really liked this book. It is more erotic than I remember her other books being. I actually read the first few in this series and quit because they were so violent and bloody. after picking this one up thought I am going back to blue moon and reading forward. Yes they are still violent and bloody, but now I want to know how all the relationships got so complicated and the sex became so good... Is that embarassing or what?!?

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May 29, 2012 Carrie (brightbeautifulthings) rated it liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Whenever I’m feeling a little burned out on life or my reading list, these books are a comforting break. I’ve hit a streak of 3-star books lately, and I’ve been reading way too much high fantasy, so it was time for a date with my favorite vampire slayer and her harem of supernatural men. Even a three-star Anita Blake book is better, for me, than a three-star of almost anything else. I mostly rate books based on quantifiable things like plot, structure, character development, and writing. My feel Whenever I’m feeling a little burned out on life or my reading list, these books are a comforting break. I’ve hit a streak of 3-star books lately, and I’ve been reading way too much high fantasy, so it was time for a date with my favorite vampire slayer and her harem of supernatural men. Even a three-star Anita Blake book is better, for me, than a three-star of almost anything else. I mostly rate books based on quantifiable things like plot, structure, character development, and writing. My feelings about them are certainly a factor, but they’re not the biggest factor, or this entire series would be five stars. I’m never going to have a rational response to these books; I just love them. They’ve been in my life so long, they feel like home. There are overall story-arc spoilers ahead.

Anita and her people are still struggling to get a handle on their rising power levels. The ardeur has more side effects than ever, and Anita seems to be acquiring beasts like a master vampire–if any master vampire in history had more than one. Everyone needs to be on their best behavior when the first all-vampire ballet comes to town, along with a host of visiting Masters and their people, but all of Anita’s tenuous control over her new abilities comes to a screeching halt when she thinks she may be pregnant. She’s sure that there’s no way to raise a child in between slaying vampires, raising zombies, and managing her ever-growing powers, but she may not have a choice.

At this point, it’s pretty obvious that I would read about these characters doing laundry and find a way to enjoy it (don’t be silly–Jean Claude has people to do the laundry), but the plot of Danse Macabre is one of the weakest so far. The plots tend to be best when Anita has an interesting supernatural case to offset her love life, but there’s none of that here. Instead, the novel is still managing issues from the last few books as everyone tries to get a handle on their new powers–with lots of magical mishaps. It’s great in terms of development, but the agenda is more series-oriented than self-contained. Danse Macabre is a necessary consequence of things that have happened earlier in the series, but I imagine it would be quite strange to read it by itself.

I’m continually in awe of the way Hamilton writes character. I’ve read other paranormal romances, both when I was younger (and loved things with fewer reservations) and more recently, and nothing compares. There are a lot of characters in a 20+ book series, and somehow she still manages to write ones that stand out. She especially excels at making hundreds-of-years-old monsters feel extremely unsettling. They don’t think like people, and her addition of Thea and the other merpeople demonstrate that really well. Also, bless Claudia, my favorite wererat bodyguard, who is bigger and tougher than any of the men, always has Anita’s back, and isn’t afraid to call people (mostly Richard) out on their bullshit.

The character development, as usual, continues to be really good. Anita hits rock bottom in her feelings about her powers and metaphysical connections to so many people, which was a long time coming. She’s used to being alone; now she has the emotional baggage of at least five men to carry, and an arsenal of powers that often make her do things she doesn’t want to do. Add in a possible pregnancy, and I’d be crying on the floor too.

The accidental baby puts Anita’s boyfriends into harsh comparison, and Richard does not come out of it looking good. He never thinks about her feelings, and I’m tired of him storming angrily into every room. That’s not to say he isn’t a great character, because he is–he’s just also an asshole. I enjoy that fact that it’s Richard’s hypermasculine bullshit that causes the most problems because he’s so often the archetype for romance novels. Hamilton turns it on its head and shows that it’s not power but compromise, understanding, and respect for your partner’s feelings that make a functional relationship.

There’s quite a bit of buildup for the ballet and visiting masters that’s weirdly anticlimactic. The threat is minimal by Anita’s usual standards, and it’s far overshadowed by the return of another, bigger monster. Again, I like the idea of a villain who can’t be defeated in one novel. Television shows work best when there are season-long plots at play, so I’d think it would be the same for novels in a series, but it feels stranger here than it did in Cerulean Sins. It’s almost like the novel leaves off with an ellipsis instead of a period.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com. ...more

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About Laurell K. Hamilton

Laurell K. Hamilton

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Laurell K. Hamilton is one of the leading writers of paranormal fiction. A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Hamilton writes the popular Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels and the Meredith Gentry series. She is also the creator of a bestselling comic book series based on her Anita Blake novels and published by Marvel Comics. Hamilton is a full-time writer and lives in the suburbs of St. Louis ...more