Product Description

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, is in big trouble. The woman they call The Executioner is good at making enemies, and she has excelled herself this time. However, she does have a number of other lethal talents at her disposal ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76329 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 496 pages

Review
'Death and gore galore ... Hamilton writes with ease and vigour ... Great fun' SHIVERS 'I was enthralled - a departure from the usual type of vampire tale which will have a wide appeal to any reader hunting for both chills and fun' Andre Norton 'The fights

About the Author
Laurell K. Hamilton lives near St. Louis with her husband, daughter, two pug and two part-pug dogs and an ever- fluctuating number of fish.

Customer Reviews

Staggering "Danse"
Writing a bestselling series seems to be a sign of creative doom, because sooner or later the author starts writing for the sake of the series, not because it actually takes the story anywhere.

Sadly this is the case in the latest moribund volume of the Anita Blake series, "Danse Macabre." The entire plotless, meandering mess seems to have been written for two reasons: money, and to blow a big raspberry at Laurell K. Hamilton's readers. Given the only real plot development is a pregnancy scare, it doesn't seem worth it.

Anita has a new dilemma -- she might be pregnant, which isn't surprising for a woman who has spent the last few books being shagged left, right and every way to Sunday by every vamp, human and lycanthrope imaginable. What's more, many powerful vampires are arriving in St. Louis, including a vampiric ballet troupe in Jean-Claude's territory.

As if this weren't bad enough, the ardeur seems to be showing signs of seeking out new sex partners for her, and is affecting her lovers as well -- and her lycanthropic and vampiric edges are starting to affect those around her. Can Anita regain control of her increasingly unstable life?

Those desperately hoping that the plot will return in "Danse Macabre" can hang their heads and weep. There isn't a shred of actual plot in this book that isn't connected to the ardeur in some way -- no detecting, no zombies, no nothing. In fact, the biggest chill in this entire book is the pregnancy scare.

This isn't a plot in the sense that it really goes nowhere and nothing ever really comes of it; the book is left open-ended for the inevitable next volume. Even Hamilton doesn't seem to know what to do with the plot, since the writing is repetitive and often rather colourless.

And it's crammed with voyeuristic vamps, endless sexathons, and the suggestion that the ardeur might be binding Anita's lovers to her. As if the whole ardeur plot weren't nauseating enough, the Masters show up with more hot lovers so Anita can satisfy the strengthened ardeur. How very nice of them -- for Anita, not for the readers.

What's more, Hamilton has tossed out even the pretense of civility. The book starts with an appalling scene where, for daring to criticize Anita's hedonistic ways, Ronnie is dismissed as a bitter prude who is just jealous that Anita gets to bed all these hot guys. It would be a hilarious scene, if it weren't for the obvious razzie to her readers.

Anita herself remains an empty shell, who alternately fusses about whether she's a slut and hisses at anyone who says she is. The women are all nasty and catty, while the men uniformly adore her. The only exception is Richard, who really does seem like the only quasi-normal person in the whole book. Hamilton obviously expects us to scoff at his prudishness, but instead I found myself sympathizing with him.

"Danse Macabre" has a cool title, but not much between the pages. Between the nonexistant plot and porn subplots, it's hard to see why anyone would want this dance.

Sadly this series is still going downhill...
I am a true diehard Anita fan but even I am having trouble justifying spending time and money on the series having just read this latest installment.

I have to say that I agree with all the other reviewers who say that there is almost no plot to this book whatsoever. I also noticed that it is poorly edited so that in places I felt I had missed a part of a conversation or a scene and found myself skipping back over pages to see if I had accidentally missed something. But no, it's just badly put together.

It seems that Hamilton is more concerned with giving minutely detailed information about the appearance of her characters (so many new people are introduced in this book starting with the exact different shades and length of their hair right down to the shoes they are wearing) while little thought is put into actually making them do anything.

The sex is really getting ridiculous at this point. Anita has gone from being the uber-virgin of the earlier books to the sorts of orgies only seen in illegal hardcore porn in this latest installment. It has gotten to the point that rather than being titillating it's now just boring.

If you are new to the Anita Blake series I heartily recommend you read no further than book 9 (Obsidian Butterfly) as the earlier books are still by far some of the best vampire/supernatural fiction I have read (and I have read A LOT).

Will I buy the next book when it arrives? Probably. Will it be worth reading? I doubt it.

don't bother unless....
This is only worth it if you want to read fantasy that is based round many sex scenes, cut with monologues or overly contrived conversations that exist merely to persuade the main character to agree to sex in the first place.

This volume was an overlong vignette covering a day or so where Anita has a bust up with her friend, goes to her lover's 'lair' where the main part of the action occurs. Then in the last few chapters they go to a ballet and end up back at her lover's lair again.

Danse Macabre does not have a true beginning/middle/end setup, and as such cannot be considered as a standalone volume. You really do have to have read other Anita Blake volumes to get what's going on. Any character development achieved in this piece could have equally well been knit into a book that actually had a story.

The Anita Blake books that anyone will enjoy:
1. Guilty Pleasures (1993)
2. The Laughing Corpse (1994)
3. Circus of the Damned (1995)
4. The Lunatic Cafe (1996)
9. Obsidian Butterfly (2000)

That's right, there's only 5 out of 14 - the numbers refer to their position in the series. These books have more complex plots than any of the others and don't centre round sex, unlike Danse Macabre.