Obsidian Butterfly (An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 9) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "I WAS COVERED in blood, but it wasn't mine, so it was okay..." (more)
Key Phrases: vamp executioner, los duendos, holy mistress, Doctor Evans, Anita Blake, Nicky Baco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Anita Blake, the tough, sexy vampire executioner, zombie animator, and police consultant for preternatural crimes in St. Louis, hunts monsters in New Mexico in the ninth book of Laurell K. Hamilton's excellent series. Edward, Anita's mentor in slaying, asks Anita to return the favor that she has owed him since she killed a backup he brought in to protect her. He needs Anita's preternatural expertise as well as her firepower. Something is skinning and mutilating a few of its chosen victims, and dismembering others. Edward has no idea what creature could be responsible for such heinous crimes.

Summoning Anita has its downside for Edward, since it means letting her onto his turf. Anita is surprised to find that this normally aggressive man has a personal life, and shocked by his ability to be entirely different from the stone cold killer she's known. She also has problems with the cop in charge in Albuquerque, who believes her powers must be evil, and with the other backups Edward has brought in. Most of all, she has to deal with her own vulnerability--she's tried to shut down her ties to her vampire and werewolf lovers and go it alone, but it turns out to be harder than she thought.

Anita's usual supporting cast is missing, and she's taking time out from her complex love life, but there's plenty of bloody action, vampires, werewolves, and Aztec ritual. Plus a lot more about Edward. Fans will find this installment similar to the earlier books in the series, particularly The Laughing Corpse. --Nona Vero.

From Publishers Weekly

An inhabitant of an alternate Earth very much like our own--except that magic coexists there with natural law, and preternatural beings like vampires and werewolves coexist with humans--Anita Blake is full of contradictions that make her a potent lead character for this continuing series. Although Anita is a licensed vampire executioner, one of her lovers is a vampire (the other is a werewolf); she packs more firepower than a small army, but is a dedicated Christian; she's tough-as-nails yet ultrafeminine; she tangles with seriously dangerous supernatural forces, but she's as matter of fact about dealing with magic as she is about bashing bad guys, and she's as quick with a quip as she is with a well-placed kick to the groin. In her ninth adventure (after Blue Moon), Anita is summoned to New Mexico by Edward (aka "Death"), the cold-blooded killer from previous books to whom she owes a favor. In the course of investigating a series of grotesque murders (victims torn to bloody bits, survivors flayed of all flesh), Edward becomes more human and Anita less so. Celibate for six months, Anita's usual steamy sexual encounters with her inhuman but hunky boyfriends are missing from this novel, but there's still a lot of beefcake to appreciate and the considerable sexual tension is both humorous and supportive of the plot. The gory story line--which wraps around an Aztec vampire goddess, a dwarf necromancer, bull-headed bigoted cops, hearts ripped from chests and a witch who conveniently appears in the nick of time--needs that bit of sustenance, but the book is still a monstrously entertaining read. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 386 pages
• Publisher: Ace Hardcover; 1st edition (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441006841
• ISBN-13: 978-0441006847
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (339 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #302,675 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 9 in The Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

431 of 474 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, July 10, 1999

By	Darla Cook "ddecember" (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Laurell has read the first 5 chapters aloud at a sci/fi con. What can we say but WOW! Edward calls in his favor and Anita runs to Santa Fe to help out.

Edward also has a bombshell to drop Anita's way. You won't believe it till you see it. The things we learn about Edwards private life will shock you!

This series just keeps getting better and better!

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Anita returns....and while we love it..we worry......, January 16, 2000

By	Andrew P. Lawler (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Anita Blake, Vampire Executioner and Animator, travels to New Mexico at the behest of super-assassin Edward (or Death as we're continually reminded) to investigate a series of brutal (what else) and inexplicable murders.

First of all, it's an enjoyable book. It sheds light on Edward (someone we've all wanted to know more about) and manages to extricate Anita from the tangled morass of her personal life in St. Louis. As always the story is fast-moving, evocatively written, and makes us care deeply about the fate of the protagonists..

Yet for those who have read the previous books, the old problems remain...

1. Anita MUST intimidate everyone she meets or die trying.

2. Anita MUST bemoan her status as a monster without actually doing anything about it.

3. Anita MUST threaten to kill both friend and foe with equal frequency.

And she does..it seems sometimes that Anita doesn't have conversations. she can only have confrontations. And sometimes I confess, it grows a bit tiresome. As does the constant threat of rape.

Yet still I and so many others read. Why? because in spite of everything, Hamilton tells a great story, creates a great world, and continues to top herself with action each time. Obsidian Butterfly is no different.

But Anita needs a vacation.

115 of 132 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laurell K. Hamilton is the best, January 5, 2000

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

On an alternate Earth, preternatural beings live along side humans who fear and loathe them. Human Anita Blake is a renowned vampire hunter, needed by law enforcement but loathed by many nosferatu who believe she is a genocide executioner. Anita loves both a werewolf and a vampire. However, she obstinately has refused to see either one of them for over the past year. Because of their species, she is terrified of giving herself to either of them.

The only person capable of killing as well as Anita happens to be Edward, better known as Death. He has saved her life on several occasions and she owes him for killing one of his cohorts. Edward calls in his marker, asking for her help with a preternatural creature like none he has ever encountered before. Anita comes to Santa Fe to meet an Edward totally different then Death. Edward is engaged to a woman with children and he seems to cherish all of them. As she works with Edward to defeat this seemingly invincible creature, Anita now knows she cannot hide from her own nature.

The newest Anita Blake novel, OBSIDIAN BUTTERFLY, is a great tale that is the best story in a wonderful alternate earth series. Part of the reason the story line is so good is that the enigmatic avenging angel Edward plays a starring role that makes him more complete and human. Anita retains her take no prisoners attitude, but is beginning to show signs of doubt and the need to choose that makes her even more complex of a character than before. This heart stopping, mesmerizing tale captures the audience's attention from the very first sentence and gives them a reading experience like no other. First time readers of this novel will scamper for this talented author's previous books.

Harriet Klausner