A different kind of Circus

Book Info: Circus of the Damned by Laurell K Hamilton. Published by Ace Books in 1995

So we started with Vampires, then moved to Zombies, and now we are back to Vampires with a bit of shapeshifter thrown in.

Anita finds herself the unwilling participant of a turf war, but not just any turf war. Jean-Claude is fighting for control of the city. The vampire world knows that he cannot control his human servant, and Anita doesn't care.  She has no desire to be a human servant and therefore no desire to help Jean-Claude. But an effort to change her mind goes awry and Anita hands Jean-Claude over to the bad guys. She then realizes, that there are worse things then Jean-Claude, much worse.
On another track, we are introduced to another hate group, Humans First. These guys have no qualms about killing those they deem not human and Edward is hired (again) to kill the Master of the City. Throw in a few immortal snake gods and a battle to the death and thats the story in a nutshell.

Much like the first two books, there is a lot of gore and scary situations, but this isn't one of Hamilton's best. There are a few mistakes in the story. One glaringly obvious mistake is the car issue. In Chapter 25 her new co-worker Larry has to drive her home because she had totaled her own car. She even laments over how her car will never be parked in it's spot again. Yet, in Chapter 29, it is the next day and she has driven to meet someone in the middle of nowhere. Then, the day after that, Larry is driving her around again. Now she could have gotten a cab the first time, but she talks about following someone in her car therefore she had to have something that was left in a lot. Maybe it was a rental, but she really didn't have time for that. Plus, if she had gotten a rental, why would Larry be driving her the next day? It's a minor mistake but by not clarifying she throws the reader.

While such mistakes might be annoying, this is a necessary book in the series. In this book we meet the bane of many fans (including me), the famous Richard Zeeman. Richard will become Anita's on again, off again boyfriend. Richard appears to be a mild-mannered junior high school science teacher with a wicked smile and soft lips. But it will become apparent in future books that he is more than meets the eye. We also learn that Jean-Claude gets jealous and the marks tying Anita to Jean-Claude can and are broken. Therefore, Anita is no longer attached to him in any way by the end of this novel. She has a choice going forward. And finally we see what four marks will do to Anita. Her "master" had no control over her. The question that will come: Could she have controlled him?

A whole new level

Book info: The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K Hamilton. Published by Ace Books in 1994.

Years ago when I first read these books, they took me to a whole new level of gore. At that point, I had never really gotten into horror or cop dramas. It would be years before I was comfortable watching shows like Criminal Minds or Law and Order: SVU. Re-reading them now I realize that became my measuring stick. These are as scary as I go. I don't do creepier than Laurell K. and this book is definitely creepy.

As usual there are 2 separate story lines moving through this novel which come together in the end. On one hand Anita is assisting the cops on a set of gruesome murders. The goriest scenes she has ever visited with the bodies of adults and children ripped apart and partially eaten. She determines that they must be the work of a zombie but unlike any zombie she has ever heard about. On the other hand, a very rich man names Harold Gaynor wants to pay Anita a million dollars to raise a corpse that is almost 300 years old. Though Anita's boss is all for it, once Anita explains that a corpse that old would require a human sacrifice, the deal is off the table. But as anyone knows, anyone willing to do a human sacrifice isn't going to take no for an answer.
More then just a gory story, Hamilton is still building her world and fine tuning her craft. These are her first novels. She builds on the world she had created in the first book and each character seems to have a bit more depth. We come to understand the reality of Anita's job, as animator, as executioner, and as paranormal expert for the police. While she is one of the best in her field, it is obvious that the field is still young. There seems to be quite a bit she just doesn't know. Even more there are things she doesn't want to know. We are also introduced to other practitioners of the art (animators) and we see the varying levels associated with it. As with all jobs, there are good people and bad people. Anita seems to want to be on the side of the good people but she is beginning to compromise. For the first time we se her philosophy plainly explained:

     "I have no personal stake in these people, Jean-Claude, but they are people. Good, bad, or indifferent, they are alive and no one has the right to just arbitrarily snuff them out."
     "So it is the sanctity of life you cling to?"
     I nodded. "That and the fact that every human being is special. Every death is a loss of something precious and irreplaceable."
     "You have killed before, Anita. You have destroyed that which is irreplaceable."
     "I'm irreplaceable too," I said. "No one has the right to kill me either."

This seems to be the mantra that lives through the rest of the series. She does expand some to include all beings, but the theme remains the same. Everyone is irreplaceable, shapeshifter, vampire or human. Anita will fight to protect them all. Yet, she has the right to defend herself as well. Therefore, if you are going to try to take out any of those that she deems hers, you better take her down first. Because you won't get a second chance. Hence the final scene when she makes sure to eradicate those that were willing to kill her.

Anita Blake, the ultimate badass

Book Info: Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K Hamilton. Published by Ace Books 1993

I was introduced to the books of Laurell K Hamilton about 5 or 6 years ago and was intrigued by the humor and horror of the world the author created. While I rarely suggest these books to any (I have actually discouraged some friends who wanted to try them) I continue to purchase each book as it is released. Why would I discourage anyone from reading a book? Let's just say these come with an adult label. Some reviews call them an R-rated Buffy the Vampire Slayer and expect them to be a romance version of the show. But it isn't really.
The cover shot I have included is the one I actually read. It is the 2nd iteration of the cover. So far, there have been 3 different covers.



Guilty Pleasures sets the stage for the rest of the 21 books (and counting) in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. Readers are introduced to a Saint Louis, Missouri unlike anything we know. A world where the United States has granted vampires a legal status and they are currently fighting for the suffrage. We are introduced to various characters that represent the various opinions society has about the things that go bump in the night. Some are sympathetic to the cause because vampires are just "fanged people"(100). Others like the Humans Against Vampires (HAV) fight in the legal world to eradicate the vampires. One vampire even started a church and they recruit "like the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses" (135). Some people seem to like the idea of never dying. To others it is a tourist thing, it becomes a novelty. Get your hair and nails done by a vampire or go to a strip club to see a vampire stripper. Some have even chosen getting bitten by a vampire as a their drug of choice. In this reality, it becomes an addiction like alcohol or tobacco. Others kill the vampires out right. And in this first book we meet the bogeymen of the vampire world. Edward hangs out on the non-legal side of the line. He is the hit man of the paranormal world. Anita refers to him as "Death itself" (85). And then, on the legal side of the line, is our heroine, Anita Blake. A short, sarcastic woman who raises the dead for a living (zombies not Lazarus) and is referred to by the vampires as The Executioner. She is who the law calls when there is a warrant to execute a vampire legally. Meaning: when vampires rampage Anita is called in to kick ass.

All of this information is filtered through the internal dialogue of Anita herself. The plot is written in a first-person narrative that some people have called whiny. I prefer to see it as a form of sarcasm. I think it is interesting to see Anita's diagnosis of herself and each situation. She is an awkward woman and doesn't seem to fit the role society would like her to play. She raises zombie and carries a gun. She is in her mid 20's and single with no plans to marry. She is religious and carries a blessed cross as protection (which can only be of use to someone who has faith). She works with the men on the police squad to help with preternatural crimes. She hates dresses and pink and yet, much to her dismay, she blushes easily. There is no way to hide the main characters fears or insecurities in this type of narrative. They are displayed for each reader. With that, one hopes, readers will also understand her choices when dealing with certain situations. Anita seems to have an innate desire for justice and to protect those she deems weaker then herself. Which apparently includes almost everyone she comes in contact with. While some may call her a "Mary Sue," I think the author's use of the first person narrative provides a depth to the character that many ignore. This is not a super woman with no faults. This is a woman who struggles with her role in society and her understanding of right and wrong. All while getting her butt kicked repeatedly. Granted she wins in the end but has a few new scars to add to her collection, including a new one on her heart.

The Warning Label:

As with all of the rest of the books in the series this book is full of gore. The things that go bump in the night are alive and well in this world and they are out for blood, or in one instance rape. With Vampires, Lycanthropes, and hit squads it is not shocking that battles must be fought. I will admit to having to put the book down in the middle of the night because it got to creepy for me. These are not for the faint of heart.
Also, while this book does not have any sex in it, nor do the next couple of books in the series, by book 7 or so there is not only sex but I believe there are even some full scale orgies. It is not shocking that, though they began as books that were suggested to young women as a strong role model, they are now kept in the adult only section. Many people can not handle some of the later scenes. But I think readers should understand what is coming so as not to get sucked into a world they are not going to be able to handle in a few books time.

Another Game in the series

Book Info: Samurai Game by Christine Feehan. Published by Jove Books 2012.

This is yet another installment of a Christine Feehan series. I did not do re-read of the entire series at this time because there are only 10 books in the series and it wasn't necessary. I have read these books so many times I have lost count. I enjoy them for what they are. Paranormal/military romances that deal with some dark issues. For example, all of the heroes are in the military and have been enhanced physically and psychically by a mad scientist who is in hiding. The heroines have undergone the same procedures, but years earlier. Sadly, all of the women were purchased from orphanages around the world as small children and experimented on. While these stories deal with the alpha male mentality found in the military, they are thrown up against the abused women who have had to learn to fend for themselves against a mad man.

As usual, Feehan creates a parallel world for her series. Running over these 10 novels she sets up the fact that the good guys are formed into 4 different teams. The women seem to have no set location. Some of them are controlled by the bad guys in facilities. Others were adopted out to families, though they are still controlled in some ways by the bad guys. The heroine of this book was thrown away by the bad guys and left for dead. The novels jump from team to team and you never know which one the next story will be about. Lucky for us, in this book, we get to go back to our first team and get an HEA for a character we have known for a while.

Yet, there were some problems with this book that I didn't have with the others. With a mad scientist running loose and military men, you can only image the technical jargon that is thrown around. I am a History and English Lit major. I took my required Biology and Astronomy and called it quits on the sciences. But I have been reading military histories since I was a teenager so the language and acronyms of soldiers were not new to me. There were times I had to look some of the military things up but I usually let the science techno babble go over my head as it was usually explained to the soldiers in a way I could understand. In this book, however, it is obvious that the author now has someone that she can discuss real world ops with. In her acknowledgements she specifically mentions that she discussed the military scenes with someone from the Rangers. While I am all for using real world terms etc, I think this caused a few problems in the story itself. The scenes I am thinking of are towards the end of the novel. The soldiers receive orders to go into the jungle and...  Well, so as not to give anything away,  let's just say they are going to do some stuff. The men gather in the "war room" and plan. Which one would expect. Yet, here we get a does of military jargon that readers haven't ever had in Feehan's novels. Which means a lot of acronyms that have to be explained. Now I am all for explaining things that might be unclear... such as the difference between a HALO and HAHO. But in the middle of the war room, no leader would have to make such an explanation. And to have it in the background breaks the flow of the story.  For example, taken from page 310:

     "You'll make a HALO insertion from a CIA Gulstream C-11. The crew will be squawking a Yemen business transponder code to cover us."
      A HALO was a high altitude low opening jump.
      "Normal business men you are," Gator snickered.

The use of the acronym HALO would be considered normal for this type of meeting and, because everyone there knew it's meaning, it wouldn't need to be explained. Yet, some readers might not understand and therefore the explanation is added. Unfortunately, it pulls the reader from the meeting and then tries to throw them right back in with Gator's comment. That doesn't work. The reader is stuck trying to jump between reality and story and in the end just stays in reality. The struggle continues with references to the TOT, DZ, PZ and RP. (Time over Target, Drop Zone, Pickup Zone and Rally Points respectively.) She also includes the descriptions of what each man is carrying. Now I imagine that this scene might be fairly accurate for a military meeting but it is not consistent with the world she has created in the 9 previous books. If she had started using these acronyms or this type of set up in her first books, readers would be comfortable with them by this point. But to add them at this late a date means you have to add the explanations which kills the story. Yet, how to fix this problem is definitely a dilemma. I guess she could do what other authors have done and add a glossary of military terms. That way readers can look them up if they have questions. (I believe she has done this with her Dark Series as well.) Or maybe include a character that these things needs to be explained to like she did with the science and computer stuff. Either way would have created a better flow to the story then the odd explanations dropped into the storyline.

While I didn't enjoy this book as much as the others in the series, I will probably still continue to read the novels. For now I will just have to skim over the explanations of the military jargon. In the end, I give her bonus points for accuracy but dock her points for the inclusions of the explanations into the storyline.