[Hit List]

Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Anita Blake is one of my all time favorite characters and it pains me to give the book only two stars, but compared to past books, this one is very anticlimactic. Then again, the last several books have been disappointing, especially when I know the series has so much great potential. The first half of the series is so 5 star awesome, but ever since Anita became "one of the monsters" the books have been almost painful to read due to so much sex and metaphysical connections she has with her "sweeties." A lot of the books I could forgive due to the really good story-lines in between, but the storyline with "Hit List" was a bit boring.

The Harlequin are back and this time they are murdering weretigers and trying to help The Mother of All Darkness take over Anita's body: Like we havent read that before. I'm so tired of The Harlequin and Marmee Noire and if there is one pro to this book is that it seemed to wrap up the story-lines involving them - in the most anticlimactic way I've ever read in my life. The dialogue in between the storyline has also become repetitive. It felt like I've read the same dialogue in past books. How many times do we need to meet a cop that worries about Anita's sex life? It's getting pointless. Another con about the book, none of her main men were in the storyline and only mentioned briefly by Anita.

However, there was a few things I like about the book: Edward was back, along with Bernardo and Olaf. There was only one chapter that involved actual sex, and after reading some books that had sex scenes that would span over several chapters, that was a relief! After all, I like to read Anita for the fantasy world of vampire slaying, not for the physical and/or metaphysical sex orgies she needs to feed her ardeur. That's one power I wish she would lose.

I am happy about certain story-lines being wrapped up, which makes way for something new and hopefully great. I also look forward to seeing what happens with Olaf, his exit has many possibilities for great story-lines to follow. I will keep with the series only because I love the characters so much, but I would like to see Anita return to her roots and maybe raise a few zombies and slay a few regular vampires, execution style, instead of tying them to her metaphysically and making them her Bride that she's just going to screw in the next book. I recommend "Hit List" to only the most loyal Anita Blake fan, but I'm keeping myself optimistic that the next book in the series will be vastly better than the last few.