Biting the Bullet

Bullet, the 19th book in the Anita Blake series (definitely not for kids) by Laurell K. Hamilton, made parts of my recent 30+ hour road trip fly by.  I always buy these books immediately when they come out, and read them in one sitting, despite sleep deprivation or social setting.  Hamilton brings back characters from earlier books that I had been missing, including Jean-Claude and Asher, who despite being fairly central characters early on, had been appearing less and less often.  Readers are also introduced to a fresh batch of new characters as Anita and crew are once again embroiled in Vampire/Were politics with very little say in the matter.

 Many fans of the series have started to pull away, citing a lack of plot or an over abundance of sex masquerading as a storyline.  I read these books like crack.  It is entirely possible that I am a little biased when I say I really enjoy ever book in this series.  They are one of only a few series that I make a point of buying almost immediately when a new one comes out.  That being said, it does pain me a bit to admit that I agree with some of what the nay-sayers complain about.  As of late, there has been a focus on Anita developing her metaphysical abilities (due to a glitch in the vampire/were/necromancer triumvirates she's a part of) through sex.  However, Hamilton isn't just writing sex for sex's sake. 

The novels no longer have an open and shut preternatural crime in them.  The bad guys are taking longer to be developed, and the fight scenes are fewer and farther between.  We are instead following along as Anita comes to terms with powers she hasn't felt comfortable using, learning to control the ardeur and warp it into a power she is able to use.  Anita, and many of the main characters are forced to swallow their pride (no pun intended for those that have been following the story so far) and work together if they are going to fight the big evil.

Anita starts the series as all but virginal, and as her powers develop she is drawn into more and more sexual relationships and situations.  She  is become stronger and more controlled as the stories proceed towards the big evil we've been waiting for.  There is a certain amount of buildup necessary, unlike the earlier books where the bad guys were discovered and taken out within the same novel.

I would like to see a bit more fighting or crime solving (though Anita isn't as popular with the police forces as she once was), instead of the crime fighting by remote that came up in this novel, but I am by no means turned off by the course of events Hamilton is taking us through in the last few books.  I can see in Bullet a return to the more intricate plots that originally hooked me to this series.

Rating: 3/5