Cerulean Sins (Anita Blake - Vampire Hunter

Laurell K. Hamilton's writing was still fairly good at this point in the series but you can see some of the early indications of the nose-dive the series took in later books. Listening to this book once again made me nostalgic for the first few books in the series, when Anita and the gang actually did more than just talk about things (instead of doing them) and having sex.

I bought these for my home bound daughter (age 21) and she loves them. She now has the complete set thanks to the store. Definitely have to be a reader of vampire stories to enjoy these but they are a great set. We are already looking forward to future releases in this series.

Like others, I have noticed the continuous droning that LKH has let happen with Anita. There were some great parts and new people but I miss the old Anita. Her attitude especially, her cop relationships, and her 'day job'.

Anita Blake, necromancer and servant to master vampire of St Louis Jean Claude, has grown more accepting of her succubus (ie, ardeur) powers. She uses them quite a bit in this book, more so than in the last few books. I'm not a prude and don't have a problem with sex in a book, however a strong storyline and good character development also needs to be present. Unfortunately that was not the case with Bullet. There wasn't as much action in this installment; the book seemed to be a setup for the next book with nothing major happening. Anita didn't work any animator jobs or cases with the cops (other than a brief phone consult). The death of a character that was hyped in the author's blog ended up being kind of ho-hum--it wasn't someone I was attached to. The main focus was on the over-the-top sex scenes and creating a power base to fight the mother of all darkness, who turns out is not dead after all. There was a brief statement towards the end saying that "Jake had helped us hunt Padma the master of beasts." WHAT? I would have liked at least a good scene of them facing off against Padma and less of the orgies with characters we don't know and don't care about.

So many extraneous characters have been introduced at this point, the character development is almost nonexisitent. And while I was glad to see Jean Claude and Richard have more of a presence in this book, Jean Claude still seemed too secondary to Anita. He's supposed to be the powerful, master vamp but instead he cowtows to Anita too much. At least Richard's whining was cut back, however Asher was hugely annoying and Anita herself whined too much. The editing was also poorly done. There were typos and a lot of repetition that should have been edited out with a good line editor.

Almost the entire book was set underground the Circus of the Damned, so that got quite a bit boring. When you combine that with the low action, there wasn't much to hold the reader's interest. It's sad to say, but I didn't even find the sex scenes appealing. I think mainly because they were more of a chore, i.e., 'I have to do this to solidify my power', not 'I want to do this because I care about or am attracted to this person'.

I don't know what happened to the early suspenseful, high action, mystery style of this series. It used to be great. I've stuck with it hoping it would get better. I thought it got a smidge bit better with Blood Noir and Skin Trade, but we were dragged further downhill with Flirt and Bullet. The one positive remains the world building. The setup for the next book sounds interesting, so I will probably give it one last shot.

If you are looking for good urban fantasy, here are some series I enjoyed and recommend:
Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs (Don't miss the anthology in On the Prowl,which is a prequel to Cry Wolf)
Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (Don't miss the anthology in Must Love Hellhounds, which should be read between Magic Strikes and Magic Bleeds)
Chicagoland Vampires series by Chloe Neill
Cassandra Palmer series by Karen Chance
Dorina Basarab Dhampir series by Karen Chance (Don't miss the anthology in On the Prowl, which should be read between Midnight's Daughter and Death's Mistress)...I liked Dory better than Cassie but it's best to start w/Cassie from a timeline perspective
Sookie Sackhouse by Charlaine Harris
World of Lupi series by Eileen Wilks
October Daye series by Seanan McGuire
Kara Gillian series by Diana Rowland
Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep

This was another action packed thriller interlaced with personal interactions of friends and lovers going through the trials of trying to accept who we are as people and how that acceptance interacts in relationships during very difficult times. I recommend this book to those individuals open-minded enough to recognize that relationships can transcend conventional morals and deliver peace through true love and caring.

I enjoyed the heat, passion and diverse sexual appetite enjoyed by the lead characters.
The suspense was lacking and the bad guys were not very interesting. Just so-so, not as good as most books in this series.

I have been an Anita Blake fan since the beginning and just recently got back in, jumping into reading this. I don't really understand the negative reviews as I very much enjoyed the book. Once getting about half-way through I was almost unable to put it down, my usual reaction with Laurell's books. There certainly is more sex in the book than prior but I think it plays into the plot just fine. I am starting straight into the next, thankfully, ignoring all of the negative reviews thus far.

The Anita Blake Series is one of my favorite series to read. I have enjoyed reading them so much that I am now listening to the series on CD.

Truly enjoying the series again listening to the books on CD.

She is growing and learning. With every book she accepts herself more and is more at peace with those around her. She is a different Anita than the first book. But still fiercely protective of those that need her.

I read the other recommendations and so I was prepared to be disappointed. I wasn't!!! This book follows the others perfectly, and it shows that Ms. Blake has grown more into her character. The character has matured and become more accepting of being a "monster". She has become more caring for her friends, more stronger in believing in herself, and has learned to deal with her sexuality. And I do not believe it is "porn" as written in other recommendations by narrow -minded , disapproving stiffs. The somewhat graphic sex scenes do follow the plot and I enjoy reading them as they are tasteful and exciting. Also there are less descriptions of the guns she carries (we know the girl is always packing!) . I can't wait for the next book!!! keep up the good work Mrs.(Ms.?) Hamilton!!

I totally loved the first few books they were great. I bought them back to back until recently. I felt like her book series had taken a fast turn for the worst after book 14. It is very sad because this was a very great series. But this book is EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING. I don't want to spoil the book much so I won't discuss the details. What I would say is that there was at least 4 to 5 chapters that discuss only one sex scene. As much as I am ok with great love scene in a book this was ridiculous because it was repetitive with no substance whatsoever. The conclusion was not a conclusion at all because nothing was really solved. This book was just a mess. The only good part about this book was I loved the character development of Nathanial. It is great to see him turning into a more assertive and strong man. The character development of Richard was nice to see as well. I hope Laurell just take time to listen to her fans who loved this series. Whatever she is doing is not working at all. It is one disappointment after another. Hopefully by some miracle she turn this series around or just end it already.

I've read every single Anita Blake book since the first one, which came out when I was a sophomore in high school. I must say, as a graduate of a Catholic school, I'm certainly glad she wasn't having this much sex then! :-) Now that I'm older, I don't mind at all.

A lot of people read this book and just saw the sex, but I seemed to notice a transition or a bridge. I like the addition of new "warrior" characters to draw the attention away from just using sex for power, and showing other power avenues. I think it can be a good change for the way the series has been going. I just hope it's really going there, and not into just more sex.

Because, honestly, at this rate, Anita might run out of people to *be* with.

After reading the negative reviews, all those one star reviews, where the reviewers gushed on and on about how wonderful the old books were, and how bad this one, and all the other newer books were, I wondered.

Now, the thing is, while I'm of the opinion that the gratuitous sex scenes are definitely over the top, the actual plot points make "Bullet" a very interesting book. In fact, it was such a good read, that I am re-reading it. And...I just bought "Bullet" yesterday. I read the entire book over the course of one day- and started re-reading it a couple of hours ago. Yes, it is that good a book.

If you are looking for an Anita Blake book that is hard to put down, this is a good choice!