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Title: Cerulean Sins (Anita Blake | Vampire Hunter: Book 11) |
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Review of Cerulean Sins (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 11)
- Once a sworn enemy of all monsters, Anita is now the human consort of both Master Vampire Jean Claude and leopard shapeshifter Micah. When a centuries-old vampire hits St. Louis, Anita finds herself needing all the dark forces her passion can muster to save the ones she loves.
Product Description
- Laurell K. Hamilton's legions of eager fans will be pleased to see Cerulean Sins), the eleventh novel in her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series, which is set on an alternate Earth where magic works and vampires and werewolves are real. When a sinister stranger tries to hire the magically potent Anita Blake to raise the dead, she finds herself embroiled in the search for a vicious, supernatural serial killer, and also in the clandestine international politics of the vampires. And as she becomes more deeply enmeshed in cruel plots and counterplots, her tangled personal life only becomes more demanding, more wrenching, and more erotically fraught.
With ten previous books in the Anita Blake series, Cerulean Sins is not the place to start. Though author Hamilton artfully reveals the backstory in small doses, the numerous returning characters and the complex history will overwhelm most newcomers (and even the most devoted fans may find that the backfilling slows the pace). Also, the characters frequently stand around talking and psychoanalyzing one another, which makes for static stretches unlikely to hold a new reader's attention. Newcomers should start with the first book, Guilty Pleasures. --Cynthia Ward
Amazon.com
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Comments for Cerulean Sins (Anita Blake | Vampire Hunter: Book 11)
- Posted on 2008-07-18
A Great Addition to the Anita Blake Series
I've read this series from book 1 (Guilty Pleasures) and have loved each book. Anita has become such a complex character and her supporting cast members are enigmatic and beautifully created. Yes, the books are much different than they were in the first few installments, but I don't believe that to be a bad thing.
Cerulean Sins carries on with a character introduced in the previous book (Narcissus in Chains). This character is Belle Morte, the vampire who turned Anita's boyfriend, Jean Claude, into a vampire. She also created Asher, Jean Claude's second in command. Both men are former lovers of Belle Morte. She is insulted (to put it mildly) that both Jean Claude and Asher chose to leave her, as she considers herself the most desirable woman/vampire in the world. Thus, she sends her second in command vampire to "visit" Jean Claude's territory. The troubles that this visit causes are the central plot in the story (and there's definitely a couple surprises). There is also a sub-plot involving a series of murders that Anita helps to solve.
Some readers of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books believe the series has gone downhill since Anita began engaging in sex with multiple partners as a result of a condition passed on to her from Jean Claude. This condition (called the arduer) causes the person to experience intense sexual desire until "fed". I don't believe this is a problem in the books, or just an excuse for Anita to have sex. I think this condition represents the only thing Anita has found that she can't yet control or kill. It's something she has to face head-on and must be patient with until she learns control. In the books leading up to Narcissus in Chains, where Anita first learns she has the arduer, there are references to her reliance on guns to control situations. I think the arduer is to teach Anita that guns won't solve all her problems. Plus, she's not having sex with random people on the streets and, considering the length of the book, I didn't feel there were too many sex scenes in this book. I never felt like I wanted to just get past the sex and get on to the plot, as I do with some books.
I think the Anita Blake series is still going strong and Laurell K. Hamilton continues to add new elements of surprise.
Score: 5
- Posted on 2008-07-01
great book
I owned this book before, but my dog ate it so had to buy a replacement.I love the anita blake books, the are a great read.
Score: 5 - Posted on 2008-04-07
most boring
I bought this for my husband as him and some of the other soliders he is working with have been reading this whole series while in Iraq. He has said this is the worst of the seris, a snoozer.
Score: 2
- Posted on 2008-02-14
Junk Food reading.
Anita Blake books in one sentence. Junk food reading for the goth scene; fun, addictive, and ultimately not a meal.
Sincerely,
Ira Carmel
Score: 4
- Posted on 2008-02-12
Everything jessica from seattle said!
Honestly!!! all i read about in the anita blake stories is sex sex sex, that and tortured, cut up bodies, not to mention really BAD french. She started out as such a cool character, so lively, so real... someone with principals and limits... now she a raging, limitless, all powerfull sex junky who has every other character in the book boot licking!!! I'm sorry ms hamilton but you took a really good charachter and you messed her up completely. I will now finish the series because i am committed to it ( i bought them so i read them) i can only hope that this was (yet another) one time tragedy amidst a decent series.... *sigh*
Score: 1