Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #5) By Laurell K. Hamilton

Anita is such a badass as usual! Science Fiction Fantasy, Horror, Romance Wow.

The ending was so sad. I cannot stress this enough, it made my want to cry on Anita's behalf even knowing it wasn't true.

I loved this book as well as the rest, this series is so good, like I said I cannot stress this enough. This is by far one of my favorite series I have ever read. I have yet to encounter a book series like this in which I never can assume ahead of time the outcome. Everything links up and makes the series melt together, I love it so much. I don't know now which book I prefer, this one hit me hard, so upsetting but so good as well.

I honestly thought Larry was going to die, I thought he had at one point, which is crazy thinking about it now. I also find it surprising that Anita finally gave into Jean-Claude (not the way you think, gosh), I thought she would stand her ground as always.

I am so excited to finish this series even if I'm almost done with my choice genre, I just love this so much and highly recommend to anyone!

Also, I hated Serephina, a lot.
Hardcover I keep giving the series only 2 stars, yet keep reading. Why? Because I like the plot. However, Hamilton's writing style just makes me skim through large chunks of the story until I get to the interesting bits, so it's a love-hate relationship.
I like the love triangle between Richard, Anita, and Jean Claude. The introduction of the fey was interesting as well.
Also, finally Anita is behaving like a religious person (or at least more so than before), although as yet she still hasn't been to church. And having Larry around makes Anita a little less Mary-Sueish (although she will always be a bit of an MS. Just read some descriptions of Anita and then go look at Hamilton's photo).
The only thing that struck me as odd was that Anita gets bitten, but doesn't seem to worry about rising like a vampire or needing to cleanse the bite with holy water, which she did in circus of the damned.
Also, it is a little ridiculous how Anita manages to kill everything: I know she's tough, but _that_ tough? 0425205673
“Come to me, child, and I will always be with you. I will hold you forever.”
- Serephina

4th Listen: I think Serephina was their most terrifying adversary.
3rd Listen: “There is no real safety.” - Anita Blake
2nd Listen: “...the nightmares live on.” Oh yes, they do. This was one of the scariest Anita Blake novels, and nearly Richard free!

The most terrifying monster can see into your heart and give you all you’ve ever wanted.

Anita has been called to the neighboring town to raise the very old dead and hunt a child killing vampire. It will mean dealing with another Master of the City, a woman Jean Claude never wanted to see again.

Anita is pretty awful to Jean Claude in this book but the vampire has long term plans... and they’re working.

Some of my casting:


Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #5) Bloody Bones is one of the more brutal outings in this series. A huge portion of the book follows Anita Blake as she’s working and this time she’s called in on a case that is particularly gruesome. Three teen boys are brutally slain, a young teen girl is left for dead and a young boy has been kidnapped, possibly by a deviant sexual predator of a vampire who enjoys toying with children. It’s dark and painful to read the grief instilled within some of these pages.

Anita must also raise an entire graveyard of the dead for a client with only Larry the apprentice as backup. Even she realizes this may too much to handle and is struggling with how she’s going to do it without a human sacrifice. As if all of this weren’t enough to handle, she has to deal with a fey being that may or may not be a bad guy. The only thing she knows for sure is that he’s screwing up her latest assignment and is using magic when he shouldn’t be.

I really loved this format for the books. I’m so PO’d that it has been screwed with so much in later books. Anyway, as we all know Anita is still dating Richard and Jean Claude. And, surprise, surprise she has to call in Jean Claude for assistance on her vampire case. Once he arrives in his triple poofy armed shirt and spiffy cravat the story takes a little detour from hard boiled vampire executioner and zombie raising mayhem to Anita fending off sexy Jean Claude’s flirtations and dealing with vampire politics and protocol and a new master who uses Anita’s past to heart-breaking effect.

This book here is Jean Claude’s book, all you Richard and Edward fans have been warned. It’s pretty easy to see which guy Anita is really digging here. The “monster” line begins to get real fuzzy for Anita and the sexuality is ramped up a notch but I’m still okay with that because there is a plot to this book and it moves. I was always entertained and never bored, irritated or lost. Hamilton excels at keeping all of these plot threads going without confusing her reader all the while giving us tantalizing new tidbits about her main characters. The only thing missing is the darker edged humor that I enjoyed in the first few books. Bloody Bones was so intense it really would have benefited from some well placed sarcasm and dark humor.
0425205673

In Laurell K. Hamilton's New York Times bestselling novels, Anita Blake, vampire hunter and animator, takes a bite out of crime-of the supernatural kind. But even someone who deals with death on a daily basis can be unnerved by its power...
When Branson, Missouri, is hit with a death wave-four unsolved murders-it doesn't take an expert to realize that all is not well. But luckily for the locals, Anita is an expert-in just the kinds of preternatural goings-on that have everyone spooked. And she's got an in with just the kind of creature who can make sense of the slayings: a sexy master vampire known as Jean Claude. Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #5)

So, the name of this book is Bloody Bones, right? Well, it is named after a restaurant in the book called Bloody Bones. I have to wonder how many of us would be willing to eat at a place with that name. Seriously, they need to fire the person who came up with that one, cuz yuck.


and mooing...

Oh, and I found another fun fact about this book. Anita actually says a word more often than Nike. It's Browning, and apparently it's some kind of gun that she really really likes. The word Browning is in the book 45 times!! Anita loves her guns as much as other people love their babies. And, just like those new parents, she never shuts up about it.


although, this is a perfectly reasonable response to a spider in my opinion...

So, in this book, we get Anita traveling to the big flashy city of Branson to do a large job that involves raising a boatload of dead bodies to ask them their names. And, while she is there, surprise-surprise, there happens to be a vampire serial killer that she also needs to catch. And, there are fairies - beautiful fairies with glittery love powers.


um,,,,yeah, that's gonna stick with me for a while....

Anita ends up needing help from Jean Claude and I have to say that I am kind of loving him at this point. He dresses up Anita's apprentice, Larry, like a stripper, and he gets drunk off of blood and has a giggling fit.

let's get out of here before fangface busts a gut.

Jean Claude was doubled over with laughter. He seemed to think fangface was outrageously funny.

He also finds Anita's swearing amusing. I like that in a man. My husband actually got shocked when he read one of my reviews that had the f-word in it.



It's his fault for encouraging me by laughing anytime I say it!





Hardcover Why do I put up with you? You insult me at every turn.

Well, LKH broke the formula with this book. Anita actually TAKES a client and leaves St. Louis to head to Branson, Missouri, where she is being paid to raise an entire graveyard to see who owns the property (because, of course, Anita is the only one in this entire world who can do anything). While she is there, she learns that something is killing young boys AND a vampire is on the loose.

This book, more than any of the earlier books, set my teeth on edge. Anita has to be one of the most rude, most obnoxious protagonists I've ever read. As I continue to read through this series, instead of growing fonder or closer to Anita, I find myself gathering an arsenal of weapons to take her out.

What does Anita do that strikes the wrong chord with me? How about this for starters:

I admit, I took comfort in the fact that I was better dressed than most of the girls. Petty as hell, but I had been chunky in junior high.

You are in your mid-twenties. You have a great career, two of the hottest guys fawning all over you, you are highly skilled in your field, and YOU ARE GLOATING OVER BEING BETTER DRESSED THAN GIRLS HALF YOUR AGE?!?!!! (Girls, may I add, whose bodies are changing, whose parents are picking out their clothes, who aren't able to slip into Victoria's Secret with their uber fashionable friend, Ronnie.) F@#$ you!

But, Crystal, that is no reason to dislike Anita.

How about stupidity?

It hadn't been my idea to date the Master of the City. Jean-Claude had given me two choices. Either he could kill Richard, or I could date both of them. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

When had dating Jean-Claude EVER seemed like a good idea? Jean-Claude was the guy she spent several books trying to AVOID. And here's the woman who'd rather shoot first, ask questions later, who'd rather do her own thing than listen to and obey ANYONE including her boss--and her choice, when faced with the death of her boyfriend, is to date the guy she supposedly hates, instead of, oh, I don't know, SHOOTING THE PANSY VAMPIRE AS MANY TIMES AS POSSIBLE!?!!?!?! (I know she supposedly loves/lusts him and she's probably dating him because she's an idiot female using Jean-Claude's stupid offer as an excuse to makeout with him, but I believe that as much as I believe that Peeps are magical fairies descended from Yoda of Vulcan).

Or how about false modesty?

I'm not the kind of woman to elicit jealousy on sight. Not tall enough, not blonde enough, not Nordic enough, not exotic enough. I'm pretty, but I'm not beautiful.

Yeah, you are so normal. It's not like you are dating two hot guys--one a Master Vampire, the other an Alpha werewolf. And it's not like that bartender guy you just met asked you to his bed. And of course, random men at a construction site wouldn't catcall you or anything...

The construction workers were appreciative. Whistles, catcalls, and one offer to check under my skirt.

Oh...RIIIIIIGHT.

(By the way...is this 1960? What construction workers are going to be THAT openly sexist? I've worked in a male-dominated field and NO MAN has EVER done anything like that to me, because they know they'll get a nice, fat harassment settlement.)

What about being judgmental? Does that count?

She always this judgmental?
Larry nodded. Usually.

Or what about knowing she gets away with crap when everyone else can't?

I could get away with being a pain in the ass, and most people wouldn't take a swing at me.

Or what about demanding very rudely to be called Ms. instead of Miss, but when someone asks her to refer to him as Mr. Sterling, Anita refuses and calls him by his first name? I think I agree with Jean-Claude, who provides this review's title: Why do I put up with you? You insult me at every turn.

But enough about Anita. We're used to that by now. What else upsets me about this book?

How about the fact that LKH feels that a novel is just non-stop action scenes piling one on top of each other until they explode into one big shootout at the end that SOMEHOW solves all the previous mysteries?

How about ignoring that a child is missing (and thought to have been captured by a pedophile vampire) in order to have some vampire posturing?

How about the fact that nearly every male in these books is a stripper/hottie straight out of a magazine and if this were a men's novel, people would be criticizing the male gaze?

How about how we can't have a person enter the scene without a blow-by-blow of what horrible fashion they are showcasing?

[Jason] was wearing black leather pants tight enough that I knew he wasn't wearing the underwear anymore.

How about how, in books that are supposed to be celebrating a woman's sexual freedom, Anita is embarrassed to look at Jean-Claude's naked body--not for being caught, but just for looking and admiring?

I was spared another glimpse of [Jean-Claude's] naked body. Now that the hormones were receding, I was embarrassed.

If this doesn't clarify what I didn't like about Bloody Bones, I have no idea what will.

But, Crystal, why are you rating this 2 stars? It sounds like you really hated this book.

Yes, the dislike/hate for this book runs strong. However, there were things I liked. I liked Larry and how he is learning and coming into his own. He feels like the Anti-Anita: he says some rude things occasionally, but he also has boundaries and knows when to say things and when not to. I actually really liked Jason; he seems pretty no-nonsense, confident in his position and straight-shooting (for the most part). I also thought the initial mystery was pretty interesting (too bad it got buried in vampire posturing and overlong shootouts). I liked being away from St. Louis, being away from Anita's relationship drama (though, Jean-Claude does appear and bring it with him).

When I started reading Bloody Bones, I thought this would be my favorite of the 5 books I've read. But if I had to list only one reason why I didn't like it so much, it would be Anita. I just do not like her as a character; I don't care whether she survives; I don't care about her dating life; I don't care if she ends up as a rug at the end of the book. If I weren't trying to follow the series to the turning point in Narcissus in Chains, I would probably abandon the series right here.

If you are already a fan, I doubt you will be as annoyed by this book as I was, particularly if one of the reasons you are reading these is because you like Anita. Newcomers can probably just jump in at this book and not have too much problems catching up. If you weren't very sold on this series with the earlier books, however, I don't think this one will suddenly change your mind about Anita and the series. English I Got a Hot date with my girlfriend Anita...She's All mine!!

And my friend Shelly just let me borrow her copy of this book!!




Rawhead and Bloody Bones



“Anyone who doesn't believe that the forest is a deadly place has never been lost in one.”

Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #5) Although I never really learned to like Anita Blake, she was always tolerable ~ until Bloody Bones. Didn't Anita complain about all of the Were's alpha fight/dominance nonsense in Lunatic Cafe? Really, she is no better than the Were's here. If you take out all of the I'm a bigger badass than you are scenes & descriptions of corny outfits, you are left with nothing more than a short story. Granted.... I do like Hamilton's story telling. But at this point I feel as if I am wading through the same crap I have read over and over again in every other Anita Blake novel.

Hamilton should give her fans some credit ~ by now we know Anita sleeps with guns surrounding her, and oversize clothes hide her multiple weapons in custom made holsters. We know she wears polo shirts, black jeans, Nike's and sleeps in oversize t-shirts. Must we continue to read this in every chapter? Really?! Furthermore, how does Anita always win every stupid ass contest she begins? I'm not talking about showdowns with the bad guys/monsters. I mean every other character she encounters. The woman has no humility, no shame, no reflection on her actions. Why is Larry so loyal to her? Why do Jean-Claude and Richard love her? She is an asshole. Outwardly and even in her private thoughts.

Solidifying my disgust with the entire series was the afterward to the novel. Hamilton gave Anita Blake full Mary Sue status by pointing out all of the similarities between the two of them. I don't know why it irritated me so much, but it did. Perhaps, because in Bloody Bones I realized that despite being so self-righteous, Anita is also a hypocrite. Or maybe it is because I had a crappy weekend and only slept four hours last night? Whatever the reason, I am done with this series for a long time ~ possibly for good. If Anita's boss were to fire her, or Larry turned his back on her... leaving Anita to do some soul searching and change her ways a little... that would be an interesting novel. Really, story line to make her change her attitude. But to know that she will continue to have the last word and solve all problems with guns ... well, I have read that already. No need to read it again. 0425205673 A perfectly supernatural spooky read for October, there’s something easily readable about the Anita Blake series. With another interesting mystery and a great set of fantastical characters, this series keeps drawing me back in...
It also seemed more gorier too!

Whilst asked to raise an entire graveyard to help settle a land dispute, Anita soon finds herself investigating the nearby brutal murders of three teenage boys.

I really like that you know what your getting with this series and the fifth instalment didn’t disappoint.
Especially as the relationship between Anita and Jean Claude has an interesting development!

The perfect simple read whilst being tucked up in the warm on those cold autumnal nights. Laurell K. Hamilton