Sunday, March 21, 2010

Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton

Skin Trade is the latest Anita Blake novel, the 17th in the series. You really need to have read at least some of the previous books to be able to understand everything that is going on. I've read all of the books and I still had a little trouble remembering all the characters.

Edward is one of my favorite characters and I was thrilled to see him featured in this installment which takes place in Las Vegas, but he didn't get as much chance to be Edward as I'd like. He almost felt wasted. Olaf is in the book also and he is as chilling as always. Hamilton has created one seriously creepy dude and I have a feeling we'll see him again.

This novel opens with Anita receiving a human head, really starting the story with a bang. Unfortunately it slows down and we're subjected to the usual whining from Anita. I love Anita when she's kicking ass, but she is very annoying when she is analyzing every feeling in great detail. I wish Hamilton had an editor who would tell her to stick to the action and keep the angst to a minimum.

I did enjoy the mystery part of the story and Vittorio is an interesting villain, but we didn't actually get to see much of him. I really liked learning more about the weretigers and Anita's power over them. The interaction between Anita and the local law enforcement was somewhat interesting but I did get tired of the attitude. I missed Jean-Claude and the rest of the St. Louis crowd.

This book kept my interest, but could have been much better. I'll rate it 7.0 out of 10.

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