Customer Reviews

Bloody Bones (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter)

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book blew me away. It was a different type story than the usual vampire series. When the cover of the books states "Anita Blake-Vampire Hunter", you can't help being interested. Anita Blake is a self=assured monster hunter in a short skirt who carries an aresenal around with her at all times. She also happens to date both a vampire and a werewolf in her spare time. In this book, there seems to be two separate stories that meld into one. First she is asked to animate the dead to settle a land dispute in Branson, Missouri. While doing so, she is called into a police investigation of the slaughter deaths of three teenage boys. Then another death of a teenage girl in her home-drained of blood. Along the way with the help of another animator co-worker and her vampire boyfriend, Anita works to solve the mystery of Bloody Bones. I truly enjoyed this book, even though a first-person commentary is not usually my style, in this book it really works. Anita Blake has a biting persona that makes for a fun read whether you are into monster stories or not. Remeber this is not the first book in the Anita Blake series. I happened to read them in a backwards order, but it did not take away from my enjoyment

It is official that I'm addicted to this series. I've even neglected the Merry Gentry series, Laurell K. Hamilton's faerie novels, which I started reading before the Anita Blake one. This is my favorite one to date. This series just keeps getting better and better! And the best part is that there is a lot of Jean-Claude in this one. The most I'd read him was in Circus of the Damned, and there are only bits and pieces of him in the other three, but he plays a more prominent role here. Bloody Bones illustrates the most challenging monsters Anita has ever had to deal with. Teenagers have been slaughtered in a small city of Missouri. The culprit is a creature unlike anything Anita has ever seen. It is stronger than a vampire, more dangerous and immortal to the core. To make matters worse, she has to raise an entire graveyard of three-hundred-year-old corpses to determine the fate of the graveyard's rather lucrative land, which is owned by a family of faeries. Anita suspects that the graveyard raisings and the murders are connected, and with the help of her friends she is determined to bring all of those involved down...

Bloody Bones, like its predecessors, is nonstop action from beginning to end. The suspense is incredible, the fast-paced plot riveting. But it's more than just the action and suspense that kept me glued to this book. I loved that I finally got to know Jean-Claude in a deeper level. We learn more about Jean-Claude's background and history in a rather sexy bubble bath scene. JC and Anita fans will love to know that there is some closeness between them in this offering -- a fleeting closeness, but an important one nevertheless. And the best part is that Anita's werewolf boyfriend Richard is not in the way. I loved it! Laurell K. Hamilton describes Jean-Claude's sensuality in such a way that he's almost tangible. He's definitely one of the sexiest characters I've read. I also got to read about some great characters that were back after some notable absence, like Larry. I also like werewolf Jason. Anyway, this is my favorite offering. As said earlier, this series keeps getting better and better. I cannot wait to read the next one. In the meantime, I recommend Bloody Bones most highly...

The Anita Blake series just keeps getting better and better. And Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire of the City (St. Louis) is back in business. Anita has to leave her werewolf-boyfriend Richard and her vampire-boyfriend Jean-Claude (In a previous novel she agreed to date both of them to find out who she wants (to have sex with)) back in St. Louis, when she is asked to travel to another part the country and raise a whole cemetery. A builder wants to use some land, but a local family is agaist him, because they say that the old cemetery beneath the ground is their family-burial ground. Anita has to raise the dead and ask them exactly what their family relations are. All is well, until something starts killing young boys in the woods, and a teenage girl dies from a vampire bite in her room. Anita has to look into a lot of stuff, being helped by her assistant, vampire-hunter-in-spe Larry. She is away from her usual turf, and the police in this part of the country are not too happy about the famous vampire-hunter doing what they think is their job. Anita has to call for help, and the only one who can help her is Jean-Claude, the gorgeous vampire who wants Anita as his lover and human servant. Anita has resisted him for a long time, and she is not so sure what she feels. There is a lot of drama, a lot of bad vampires and the fey are introduced in this book, which make for some new and exciting ways to cheat, do magic and much more.
Another triumph for Laurell K. Hamilton

Anita Blake the tough as nails vampire killer is up to her neck in faeries, zombies, vamps and lots of other undead in the fifth novel of the series. Although Anita is as good as ever, I found the story here a little confusing. I did however enjoy the advancement of the Jean Claude storyline. With Richard almost no where in sight in this book, there was a lot of interaction between JC and Anita, and we learn a bit more of his background. I also enjoyed the development of of the character of Larry, Anita's protege. I think this book is more of a turning point in the series, and although I don't think it is as good as the previous four books, a not so great Anita book is still better than a lot of the other stuff out there.

While Hamilton won't ever win any awards for her writing, in the technical sense, she is a great storyteller, and her characters are among the most vivid of any genre. Anita Blake is probably the strongest heroine I've ever read, and she continues to grow as the series progresses. Jean-Claude is the bad boy who is much more caring and vulnerable (emotionally) than he seems at first. By this time, Jean-Claude and Anita ought to be set in stone, almost predictable, but they're not. Even the secondary recurring characters have depth and are clearly defined: Jason, Bert, Edward, Larry, Ronnie. You feel like these are people you know.

While this book isn't the best of the series, dragging out far too long and wrapping up too tidily, the scene where Anita stays with Jean-Claude at dawn merits 20 stars. It is both heart-wrenching and horrifying, one of the most memorable scenes of the entire series.

One thing that bothers me about all of Hamilton's books: Tons of typos and other assorted errors. It's almost laughable at times, and distracting as hell.

This book is amazing!! Each books keeps getting better and better. I also like how Anita grows as you get further and further in the series. She's getting more powerful.

As the plot of the book opens, Anita has to raise a few dead bodies that are a couple hundred years old to settle a dispute over who actually owns some land. Simple enough, right? Well if your a fan of this series you know that nothing is what it seems. This book is no exception. Soon Anita is in the middle of vampires, Zombies, and people who want her dead. This is nothing new in the life of Anita Blake. To make things more difficult, she has to call on Jean Claude, a master vampire for help. What's the big secret that people are being killed over? Read Bloody Bones and find out.

As I said eariler, Anita is growing as the series goes on. She's tough as nails and twice as sharp.

So far, this is my favorite book of the series. If you want to get as much pleasure from the book as you possible can, you need to start with the first book and work your way through. Give yourself a treat and read the seires.

Hamilton has a writing sytle that keeps the reader glued to the page, and never let's them go. If you read this book, you won't be sorry.

I love these books. I have already read 4 in the series and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am not happy about that. Hamilton slams the pedal down from the very opening of all her books. My only criticism is she really doesn't know how to end her stories. Bloody Bones is perhaps the best example. Anita Blake is scared to death of the female master vampire. She is almost killed many times and she is starting to realize she is as monstrous as some of the "real" monsters. Instead of taking a much needed vacation to sort some of that out, she goes back to St Louis and continues to date the vampire and the werewolf. Hamilton accomplishes this trick with one sentence at the end of the book. But I pick. If you are a vampire lover, read these books. You will not regret it.

The titles of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake novels always refer to some sort of establishment frequented by monsters and while "Bloody Bones" is the name of a eating place out in the sticks it is also the name of something much, much worse. Anita Blake and her trainee Larry (not Lawrence) Kinkaid are out in the sticks of Missouri to raise a bunch of really old zombies to settle a development issue. But then Dolph calls Anita to tell her the local cops need her help with a murder investigation that sure looks to our heroine like an incredible fast vampire using a really big sword. Of course, these and every other plot line in the book are all related. The "romantic" triangle between Anita, Jean-Claude and Richard is pretty much on the back burner this time around, although Jean-Claude and his pet werewolf Jason show up to help Anita meet Serephina, the local master. Boy, does that ever turn out to be a mondo-mistake.

"Bloody Bones," the fifth book in the Anita Blake "Vampire Hunter" series, is similar to the previous couple of books. The menagerie of monsters continues to grow, with faeries and worse being added to the roster, while Anita's powers as a Necromancer continue to grow at the most opportune moments. In terms of writing pure horror, Hamilton knows how to lay it out big time. If Hollywood ever dared to film these books as she writes them they would be NC-17 (at least). Yes, Hamilton tends to play the same cards in getting Anita out of her dire predicaments, but as a writer of horror novels with scenes of disquieting intensity that will make it difficult for you to sleep at night, she has Lovecraft, King and Barker beat. She is so good at coming up with scenes of outright horror that go on and on, that I will not let my teenager daughter read these books.

This book starts off with real-estate developers and lawyers, wishing to despoil the natural beauty of the countryside near Branson, MO by razing a mountain and building a luxury development. Villians from the world we know! However, fear not, there are also the sorts of villians we look for Anita to be dealing with: Magnus Bouvier, who owns the bar & grill called "Bloody Bones," is a fairy who is not as nice as we might hope - or, as Anita puts it, "f - - ing unseelie court!" We also meet some other new types of characters - a nursery boggle, that is, the kind of monster used to threaten children with, the old "if you don't behave, the monster will come get you!" type of monster. And a vampire who uses a sword- I have to admit, I didn't quite see the point of that, pardon the pun. It is never clear to me why we would have the swords involved.

Much of the action involves Jean-Claude coming down to Branson to help Anita meet the master of the Branson area. He brings Jason the werewolf with him, and Anita has young Larry Kirkland, the animator-in-training, with her, so we get two sidekicks for our leads to deal with.

There's a mass zombie raising, and there's a satisfactory come-uppance for the nasty real estate developer, and there's a gruesome vampire-burning-to-death-in-sunlight if that's your thing... along with the swords, there's even more than the usual amount of violence for the series.

For those wondering about the whole series, some background information. Those who already know that they like vampire novels, anything at all that features a vampire, can skip this review, and likewise, those who hate the whole idea of vampires can skip it. But for those trying to decide whether or not to read more of this genre, or whether the one vampire novel you've already read was a fluke, it may help to have some ways to categorize these novels. Thus: BunRab's Standard Vampire Classification Guide. First, most authors of vampire novels approach from one of the main genres of genre fiction; thus their background may be primarily in romance, or in science fiction/fantasy, or in murder mysteries, or in horror. Second, many vampire novels come in series; knowing whether this is one of a series, and where in the series it falls, may be helpful. Then we have some particular characteristics: Are there continuing characters besides the vampire, through the series? - Are there other types of supernatural beings? - Does the vampire have a few other supernatural characteristics, many other supernatural characteristics, or none other than just being a vampire? (E.g., super strength, change into an animal, turn invisible) - Does the vampire have a regular job and place in society, or is being a vampire his or her entire raison d'etre? - Does the vampire literally drink blood, or is there some other (perhaps metaphorical) method of feeding? - Is sex a major plot element, a minor plot element, or nonexistent? - Does the story have elements of humor, or is it strictly serious? - Is the writing style good, or is the writing just there to manage to hold together the plot and characters?

This particular book is the fifth in a series, and it's a series best read in order. If you read one out of order first, you'll want to go back and start from the beginning - the first volume is _Guilty Pleasures_. The series comes from the hard-boiled detective/thriller genres. There's a large cast of continuing characters - Anita Blake, who is NOT a vampire, she's a zombie animator and vampire executioner. The setting is St. Louis, but the specific city isn't integral to the plot the way being in Toronto is a very specific plot element in Huff's books, or Chicago in Elrod's. The other characters include the police on the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team, who are reasonably good guys - although the series also finds plenty of incompetent and/or corrupt cops along the way. Most of the vampire characters are involved in the entertainment biz - owning, working in, nightclubs. St. Louis in this universe has a very kinky nightclub district! The vampires have not only super strength and speed, but the power to cloud men's minds, and other powers that pop up unexpectedly and that differ from vampire to vampire. We have plenty of other supernatural characters: werewolves, wereleopards, wererats, and for all I know, werewombats; witches and voodoo priestesses, ghouls and zombies and ghosts. In other words, magic of all kinds. And most of them are Not Very Nice. Anita deals with them through a combination of violence and wisecracks; there is a strong dose of sarcasm and irony that runs through the books, and while the plots are serious, violent, and bloody, there are also funny moments; the characters have senses of humor, even some of the vampires!

I enjoyed this book less than the previous four in the Anita Blake series. The beginning through the middle were especially tedious, leading me to put the book down many more times that normal. There are a number of reasons that may have contributed to that:

+ Maybe I'm getting tired of tolerating Laurell K. Hamilton's flaws. It was okay when she spent three pages rattling off useless detail about scenery. While J. R. R. Tolkien excels at this, LKH has no right. But it's excusable. However, it is not okay when she spends an entire page and a half describing Anita's wardrobe. In the second chapter. This ludicrous behavior is continued, as she describes the laughable, Halloween-esque wardrobes (read as: costumes) of Jean-Claude and Jason. Instead of creating the exotic effect she aims for, she instead degrades these once interesting characters into people that dress soft core porn actors. Thigh high leather boots. Please. Also, LKH's tendency to describe an area to the T reeks of her shoving research in our faces. Instead of coming off as well-researched, it comes off as very "look what I did, look what I did." When a writer researches a location, they are supposed to take a few distinctive areas and describe them. They are not supposed to turn a section of the book into a travel guide as LKH has been doing since Book Two.

+ It could be the characterization of Anita herself. Anita Blake has lost any redeemable qualities she had throughout the first book in the series. She is nothing but hateful and purposely rude in this book. Not to mention her internal dialogue (this book is set in first person). It just stinks to high heaven. I'm getting the impression that LKH regrets not making Anita from England, as she often has the character say things like "fancy" and "bloody" and "bloody hell." It screams "wanna be."

+ The writing is also of a lesser quality. Effective phrases are often repeated, such as when 'brain matter' is referred to as "thicker, wetter things." At first, three books ago, it was very effective. By now, when it is said four times in one book, it gets tedious. Also, if Anita rewards someone another "point" I am going to set this book on fire. Every time a character does something she approves of, Anita's internal dialogue says something along the lines of "(brownie) point for them." Enough is enough.

+ It could be Laurell K. Hamilton as a person. If you are a fan, avoid her blog at all costs. Her blogging, like her writing, is often boring, self-indulgent, and unedited for capitalization errors. If you're not reading a post complaining about the writing life, you're reading a post about how stupid the nay-sayers are (you should see her Anne Rice-like post from last summer). Perhaps my dislike of LKH as a person has forced me to open my eyes to her many writing flaws, which are--admittedly--not that hard to miss.

The two-paged final chapter reads like an epilogue, forcing all of the many story arcs of this one book to end in a neat one and a quarter page. My main problem with this is that if LKH can spend an entire page babbling about how lacey Jean-Claude's shirt is, couldn't she at least have given us an extra page to satisfy the plot-lines?

I'm very, very done.

3/10