Book Review: Bullet

By Sandy Amazeen Jun 20, 2010, 1:51 GMT

The music came back up and the next group of little girls, slightly older, came out. There was a lot of that in the next hour and change. I liked dance, and it was no reflection on the kids, but my will to live began to seep away on about the fifth group of sequined children... Anita Blake is back in St. Louis and trying to live a ...more

The European based Vampire Council seeks to maintain its control and status quo by destroying the increasingly powerful triumvirate of master vampire Jean-Claude, his human servant and necromancer Anita Blake and Richard Zeeman, werewolf leader of the local pack. As if that isn’t disturbing enough, the Mother of All Darkness is seeking to become flesh, preferably by taking over Anita’s body. Although Anita manages to keep her body for herself, the Mother of All Darkness is not dead and remains a force to be reckoned with.

To keep the Vampire Council from taking over, the triumvirate must increase and consolidate their strength with the very real possibility they will turn into the thing they wish to avoid. Naturally, the path to cementing cooperation with assorted shifters including tigers of all colors boils down to sex, lots of sex, often in all consuming orgies. For those used to Hamilton’s obsession with meaningless sex this won’t come as much of a surprise as that increasingly appears to be Anita’s main claim to fame.

Extended descriptions of Anita’s latest workout routines, Jean-Claude’s latest interior decorating and people’s wardrobe changes fall short of warming the characters. Strangely, there is little to account for Richard’s sudden cooperation with the triumvirate but it makes a refreshing change from whining. Asher appears to be stepping into the role of the powerful but petulant force to be placated, in this case that comes with some homosexual activity with yet another preternatural character seeking to align themselves with Anita. Although it clearly states Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Novel on the cover, there is no hint of Anita taking out any bad guys or reporting to work to raise the dead. While better then some other recent releases this is far from the strong series readers first fell in love with and that is unfortunate as these characters have been developed to be capable of doing so much more then simply humping everything that moves.