Vampire Hunter Novel, Bullet: An Anita Blake

As much as I like the way Laurell Hamilton writes I've started to avoid reading her work. I'm not a prude, but I don't think scenes that are steamier than what could be found in the 'dirty books' section of the drug store (that's where you snuck off to when I was 13) add tons to the plot, or to the character development. A little is good, but a lot just becomes tedious. With Cerulean Sins out in paperback I decided it was time to test the water again.

For 135 pages I thought I was in luck. Hamilton builds a story line about the unexpected visit of a group of European vampires who are the emissaries of Belle Morte, one of the oldest vampires on the grand council and maker of both Asher and Jean Claude. There's a lot of "who gets to torture who" as the intricate politics and backstabbing of vampire society are laid bare (bad joke!) for the reader. But Musette and her cohorts are at least interesting as they try to work Belle Morte's revenge on her wayward children.

The other subplot is a series of murders that leave people looking like hamburger patties. Anita's issues with Dolph, the head of the preternatural investigatory team, come to a head as his hatred of occult creatures boils over. This is a bit of a shame, since Dolph and Zerbrowski, another detective, add what little human dialogue there is in recent volumes in this series.

This brings us to page 135, where we discover that the emotional triangle between Jean-Claude, Asher, and Anita (I'm not counting Anita's other bed partners) is going to become physical, and Anita's frequent state of arousal is the basis for a large part of the plot. One has to wonder what the next volume will have to offer in the way of erotic violence, since Hamilton seems compelled to escalate the titillation.

Between the bedroom theatrics, there is actually a good book here. Or rather, good as I measure good - complex plot, rising suspense, strong characters, etc. In a way it recalls some of the earlier Anita Blake books where the necromancer did less romancing and more raising of the dead. Cerulean Sins really is better balanced than some recent efforts so, perhaps, this signals that Hamilton hasn't given up writing horror stories.

In this book Anita's powers are not as obvious. The emphasis is more on the arduer(spelling?) All that really happens is finally two of the more interesting characters(I won't say who!) finally get some action. I don't have a problem with all the sex scenes, there were only like 2 or 3 but I do have a problem with her moral hand wringing afterwards.
She did what she did and can't undo it, so let's move on. Her psuedoboss, Dolph's, attitude was one of the scariest moments of the book because it was so realistic. At a certain point though, if I had Anita's powers, I would have cleaned his clock big time.
Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who doesn't blood, guts, and gore and sex so, if you don't...then don't. But if you do then pick this book up for a really good read.

Sigh. It's LKH's world and she is insisting on leaving her readers out of it. Borrowed this from the library as I won't spend money on her 'work' anymore and found it to be a fast and somewhat boring read. Asher's temper tantrum and Richard's epiphany are nice and all, but I actually like a book to go somewhere --- this is all one night under the Circus, cementing the power base. I'm wishing we could hire Edward ourselves to wade in and kill the lot. Tell us a story or end it, LKH. We love hot sex but we need plot to hang it on!

Cerulean Sins features the further development of Anita's relationship with the vampires Asher and Jean-Claude when the head bloodsucker of their line sends her representative to St. Louis. Anita finally has some measure of control over the ardeur, which again plays a fairly major role in the movement of the plot, and she and her guys (pretty much all of them) interact in various ways (violently, sexually, emotionally, and otherwise), which has always been interesting. A secondary subplot features a gruesome werewolf serial killer, an international terrorist, and an assassin who all want Anita to raise a certain someone for them. I find that the mystery sections and the sex/romance/paranormal relationship segments have become less and less integrated as the series has come along. They can pretty much be read as separate but unequal stories. However, if you like paranormal romance, this is definitely a series to read, as it is much more interesting and imaginative than a lot of others out there. And as always, it's entertaining and a lot of fun.

So I was looking for a light and entertaining book to read over lunch. Unfortunately, pickings were mighty slim at the LuValle bookstore next to the law school. As a last resort, I grabbed a copy of Laurell K. Hamilton's Cerulean Sins. Big mistake.

I used to be quite a fan of Hamilton's Anita Blake series, but I eventually lost interest in it. Fifty pages into Cerulean Sins, I remembered why.

It's not just the gratuitous S&M-tinged sex and violence. It's not just the incredibly formulaic plots (big bad vampire comes to town; Anita's not allowed to kill vampire bad guy due to some contrived rule of vampire politics; after killing and screwing lots of other folks, Anita finally gets to kill the bad guy. Yawn).

It's simply that the main characters have become so unlikeable. Anita Blake is the worst of the lot. She's a insufferably smug psychopathic [...] who is constantly pissed off at something and whose first reaction to somebody new is either to screw them, kill them, or both. She's also one of the most remarkably self-centered major characters I've ever encountered, leaving behind a trail of broken hearts and (dare I say it?) blue balls wherever she goes. (One of the oddities of the series is that, despite the amount of sex in the books, Blake is always leaving somebody high and dry.)

It's a bad thing when you root for the bad guys. It's much worse, however, when you want the bad guys to obliterate the story's only POV character. But that's what I want.

Unlike some of the other reviewers the sex scenes didn't bother me. I also didn't mind the psycho analyzing that went on through out the whole book. It was a chance to see the characters evolving (altho' there might have been a way to do it that wasn't so boring, I got a little tired of the same wish washy dialogue). The most glaring mistake was the lack of a real plot. It did seem like that the international terrorists were just thrown in there b/c the big, bad vampires weren't really enough to keep the reader engaged. Big surprise, but neither were the terrorists. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me to even have had them in there.
The resolution with the vampires was just a little too easy. I would have to agree with other readers that there isn't a whole lot of danger for Anita Blake and her loved ones. I almost hate to say it, but it might be time to kill off a few characters (secondary or otherwise). It's hard to feel any suspense or dread when you aren't really afraid for the characters.
I definitely wouldn't skip this book since so much happens in the relationships between the characters, however I would advise you not to get your hopes up. Cerulean Sins wasn't that bad but it wasn't that good either.
Personally, I think it's a toss up between which one was worse: CS or NIC...altho' at least CS I got to see developments between the characters that I'd been waiting for.
IMHO, any LKH is better than none, but this isn't the best.

Take an old copy of Esquire and puree it in a blender along with a few back-issues of Home & Garden, pour the resultant mess into a Jello-mold shaped like a book. Let set for awhile, then sell it to the rubes.

It's obvious the author is running out of ideas, but is loathe to close the series. So she hooks it up to life-support, relegating the series to a long, drawn-out death rather than a clean-cut conclusion. A pity, really; the Anita Blake story was such an excellent one, until the writer trapped the protagonist within ever-thicker layers of smothering court intrigue.

Ms. Hamilton, either B-52 the entire, strangling mess and start over, or put the series to bed.

I was so wrong. If you have read the previous reviews, then you may see a pattern forming. If you liked Narcisus in Chains then you will love this book.
In point of fact it's apparent the author is happy with the direction the character developement is going.
I am not. One of my favorite characters, Richard the nice guy turned badass self loathing alpha werewolf, is as angst ridden as ever, suicidal and pining away for Anita. The way she killed this character is just utterly derpressing.
I miss the old Anita, the one with some morals. She still kicked [hiney], and the blossoming sexuality in the books isn't too bad. But my god! Richard is a neurotic and damn near suicidal.
Anita practically runs the city, as she is this Federal Marshal now with powers over the police apparently.
I can't read this anymore. The love triangle was a great, but now it's just deteriorated to this mess of everyone loving Blake. It's everything that I hated in NIC, and more.
I am glad I didn't buy this book, and sorry that I read it. My favorite characters are reduced to subserviant suicide watch victims. It's sad.
Those of you that like the direction the series is going, enjoy. I for one hate this.

I started reading the Anita Blake series two years ago. I devoured the series...couldn't get enough of Anita and her world. I thought LKH was amazing and started following her blog. One might even say I was obsessed with her books. After I read all the Anita books, I moved onto Merry Gentry...and loved those too. I couldn't understand why fans were hating so much. Well..I finally get it. When "Bullet" came out, I thought it was completely overpriced, so I took a chance on the library and found it. I brought it on my tropical vacation and after the first couple of chapters I wanted to throw it in the ocean. Awful. Anita has become a shallow shell of herself. If I had to read one more description about the color of someone's eyes...or how tight their t-shirt was...or the texture of their skin...I thought I would throw up. Enough. Even the sex was boring and predictable. I'm done.

I am a huge fan of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series. Until this book, I had been very satisfied with Ms.Hamilton's work.
When the book started out, I thought that it had the potential to be as good as the others and a an exellent follow up to Narcissus in Chains. However, I discovered otherwise. This book turned out to be just a bunch of unexplored ideas.
In Cerulean Sins, Anita Blake comes face to face with some of her most formidable enemies. Belle Morte, the sourdre de sang of Jean-Claude's line, is coming to St. Louis. Well, Belle isn't coming but Musette (one of her favorite pet vampires) is coming and acting as Belle's surrogate.
In addition to the trouble that Belle's visit causes, Anita's complex love life isn't getting any easier. Especially since she and Asher have explored their sexual potential...
Richard is still struggling to accept who and what he is and this weakens the power of the triumverate( A triumverate of power forged by Anita, Jean-Claude, and Richard.)
In regards to Anita's love life there is too much sex and very little plot. However, a positive is that Jason gives some surprisingly relevent observations while he is psycho analyzing Anita. Jason is finally growing up.
In order to add to the chaos, Anita has mysterious stalkers who follow her in her car and finds that they may be connected to acts of terrorism.
While Belle Morte tries to "own" Anita, Anita recieves an unexpected encounter with the Mother of all Darkness which can't lead to anything good...
Over all, this book had lots of potential but each plot went un explored and took a back seat to the sex. Also, Ms. Hamilton seems to have a desire to destroy the mental well being of her characters (i.e. Richard, Dolph.)This proves to be very irritating to the reader. The villains, rather than menacing were annoying.
I hope to see better things from Ms. Hamilton than the lack of depth she has shown us here. Still a mustread for die hard Anita fans, anyone else would be best advised to avoid this book.

ok, so let me start by saying i LOVE the earlier novels. however, this one and some of the ones behind it are up to LKH normal standards. i probably would have given this 2 stars if it wasn't for how much i love the series and keep hoping that it will rebound.

what was wrong with the book? well the biggest thing is the indiscriminate sex... lots and lots of meaningless sex. the plot revolves around anita and her uncontrolable impulses. there is little to the mystery. that is my main gripe with the book. i miss the suspense and mystery and actual plot. to be honest if this was the first of her books i picked up i wouldn't read any more of them.

however, it is still a decent book, mostly well written. i love jason, and like anita and richard and other main characters less and less. i hope that LKH returns to what made this series so popular, and it wasn't the sex. (her first book in the series has absolutely no sex, believe it or not)

Being a huge fan of LKH and the Anita Blake books, Cerulean Sins was a must read for me and I wasn't disappointed...much. While CS follows the seemingly departure of NIC, all in all Hamilton's characters remain true to form. Anita is still Anita with all of her flaws and all that makes her fantastic. Some of the supporting characters step up and are fleshed out a bit more and we learn more about Asher and Jean-Claude.
Richard continues to annoy me to no end until the end when I become intrigued because he finally seems to get it. And Jason, well that's one wolf that seems to be coming into his own.
Overall, another hit. My only complaint is that the end seemed rushed. It was as if there was so much more to the story that got edited out to fit into a required number of pages. Whether this is true or not, only LKH and her publishing house can speak to. But when the last page turned I was again left wanting more. Well done!

I had no idea how to rate this book. If you've followed the series, you'll probably want to read this one. Unless you've hated the direction that last book or two has taken in which case you may wanna skip it.
Before I start complaining about all the kinkiness, let me confess that Anita's priggish-ness in the early novels aggravated me badly. She wouldn't so much as kiss Jean-Claude (her would-be boyfriend who was near perfect other than the whole vampire thing.) No intercourse til marriage she tells Richard-her other would-be boyfriend who was near perfect other than the whole werewolf thing. Who by the way has turned into a rather nutty self-loathing guy who barely appears in the book and when he does you just wanna smack him. The whole leader of the local pack apparently is seriously not agreeing with him.
The story starts out promisingly enough with Anita on the job with Animators Inc. Soon she has a mysterious new client and the bad news that the Vampire Council-specifically Belle Morte the found of Jean-Claude's and Asher's lines-has taken an interest in St. Louis's vampire/werewolf/Anita goings-ons. Pretty soon this devolves into a yet another tale in which every man she encounters wants to get carnal with her even though she is annoying as ever, with pointless arguments that go on for pages that make you wanna throttle her and anyone who would wanna get busy with her. And naturally she just has to enter into a menage with JC and Asher so Asher isn't forced to return to Belle Morte. Uh yeah, that makes sense to me. And I haven't even mentioned the Ardeur that needs feeding. Who hasn't Blake had relations with yet? Let's see...well there's Willie the vamp and Irving the werewolf reporter. Then again they've been missing for a few books now. Maybe they were afraid their draft notices were coming up.
Other bad news for fans of Dolph the police lieutenant-he's as buggy for Richard and hates all supernatural types now since an event occurred in his personal life.
This book isn't entirely bad and honestly I'll run out and grab the next one as soon as it's...available from the public library. I haven't reached the point I have with Anne Rice where I've just completely given up. There's still hope for Laurell and Anita.

But it sure was a bloated mess. LKH's writing abilities have been steadily decreasing for some time. She's sloppy, scatter-brained, and has a bad habit of repeating herself again and again, and again...and again. Any phrase worth writing is worth writing a hundred times. Regulars of the Anitaverse are more than familiar with "so much meat/anybody's meat", the leather pants looked "poured on/painted on", "a case of the lady protesting too much", etc., and these aren't just the stuck-on-repeat catch phrases of our heroine, no, everybody in the Anitaverse has a similar voice. On top of that, plots are recycled too. Put those two issues together and the books are all bleeding into one another, with more of the same ol' discussions between characters and same ol' problems. There is simply no decipherable focus, main plot, big picture, or end goal. The meat of the story, as usual, is lost in a sea of gratuitous characters, rambling, pissing matches, sex, and extremely lengthy and technical info-dump descriptions of EVERYTHING the reader is dragged through on their journey down the rabbit hole. The last, oh, around 13 books have been a mess of weak subplots glued together with orgy scenes and they're not improving. Bullet's just another example of LKH's "too many characters and too much time spent on what's not important" syndrome. There is way too much of what you won't care about and not even close to enough of what you do. Every time I crack one of these, it's like watching a news reporter filming live in front of a tornado and the dipstick cameraman is aiming down at his shoes. Quite frankly, I never knew sex, violence, vampires, and werewolves could be so boring, but Laurell's managed it. She's also managed to make her heroine so all-powerful, important, and ego-stroked that she's a snooze too. Hats off, Laur, few have managed it.

I have continued to read the Anita Blake series more out of loyalty and desire to see it get back to the meat and potatoes it used to have. I keep thinking that even SHE will tire of the endless sex and get back to where her true talents are which is suspense and actual story line. I'm not against a bit of sex in a book here and there, but honestly, if I wanted to read non stop sex romps I'd buy porn. Her first 7 books were unbelievable and I'm still floored that she had the imagination and tenacity for research that was obvious in her description of law enforcement and fire arms. I couldn't believe my luck that I found such a gem! Then, everything changed in one book and has continued to fail every book after. No more story line. No more suspense. I can literally put the book down without marking my page and pick it back up 5 pages later with Anita STILL having sex with either the same person or someone new. It's the most redundant style of writing I've ever had the misfortune to read. It gets old so unbelievably fast that it's almost painful to finish the entire thing. I haven't read her blogs but it sounds that she might be getting indignant about the criticism toward her writing. I imagine when she reflects on her career as a writer she'll be able to filter through her fans' descent to blatant disappointment and know the exact moment she went wrong. It's a shame. It almost makes one beg the question: was she writing WITH someone on those other books? Someone who helped the story line, provided the suspense and the incredible fighting sequences and if the moment that person left her life, she found herself alone with mediocre talent and a propensity for agonizing redundancy? That would at least make sense and allow us to forgive the obvious 180 degree shift in her writing style. I think it might be time to retire Ms. Blake. She can end her saga in the bedroom where she's been chained for the last few years and begin a series in adult fiction where fans are actually expecting and hoping for that particular style of writing. I've continued to buy the series after Obsidian Butterfly desperate for the magic she shared with us in the first 7 books but I've finally, painfully reached my ceiling with Laurell K. Hamilton. This is the first time I just won't contribute money to her anymore. I fear that most of her fans are almost just buying the books out of habit and a tinge of faith that she'll go back to the way things were. I'm done with all that. I haven't bought this book and I won't be buying any book hereafter until I can see a review which rejoices her return to the talent she used to possess. I'm just not convinced that will ever happen. I read somewhere that she was married to a man for the first few Anita books and that she created the Richard character after this man. It could certainly explain Anita's distaste for him. Then, she REMARRIED and hence we can almost see the day her wedding took place. It was after Obsidian Butterfly. Maybe her true talent left with half the house. Goodbye for now, Ms. Blake. I'm done.

I think my first review got eaten...so...
I loved the early Anita Blake books. NiC was only fair. This one is a little better, but not a lot. The graphic sex has stepped up a notch...which is fine...at the cost of the story content dropping down a notch or two...which is not! I hope the trend doesn't continue as graphic sex in books is a whole lot easier to find than good thrillers.
The plot is a bit uneven, with subplots jumping around. The final resolution of the main "mystery" seems just thrown in at the last minute and is a bit anti-climactic (no pun intended). The opening story bit is entirely forgotten until the last page or so and then resolved by just dismissing it.
On the other hand, an interesting start to a new, major storyline. An end in sight (hopefully) to the subplot of angst-torn Richard. Jean Claude-As-Major-Vampire-Power storyline progressed quite nicely. The Asher story doing well enough. Zerbrowski a [heck] of a lot more fun than Dolph.
I'm hopeful that things will get better and I'll keep buying for the moment...but I hope we're not going to bury [awesome] Anita under novels that would be better published by Black Lace.

I won't go so far as to say I think this is one of the best in the series, but I will say that it is much better than the last two offerings and that it has renewed my faith in the series itself.
If this installment had been like NiC, I would've walked away from the series and quit wasting my time and money. I'm glad to say that after reading Cerulean Sins, I'll be coming back for more. Yay! This makes my fan heart happy.
While this title does have flaws, the main criteria by which I judge "fun" books was met and that is--does it hold my interest? At the end of each chapter am I anxious to read on? The answer? A resounding YES.
True, the plot got a bit thin into the meat of the book, and there's still a lot of sex with a lot of folks, but it was believable to me and handled in a way that made it acceptable.
And the minimal amount of Micah exposure certainly helps this book.
I don't mind sex. I'm not a prude. But it has to be handled tastefully and it has to be believable. Micah was not in the least bit believable.
For disheartened fans of the series, I would recommend this book. I think that, in spite of its flaws, this is a great read and offers hope for the future of the series.

I'll go out on a limb here and say that I like reading the Anita Blake books. I must, because I've read all 19 of them. Either I'm an addicted junkie in need of a 12-step program, or there must be something about them that keeps drawing me back again and again. I've given it some thought recently in light of the most recent installment, Bullet. The characters and the world Hamilton has created are interesting and creative. However, the fact that someone can actually make a living writing books of this quality is truly fascinating. Bullet seems choppy and patched together from disparate story lines. It's mired in tedious dialog and lengthy, detailed descriptions that add little to the story.

Bullet is hyped by the product description to be focused on the return of the Mother of All Darkness. She returns but takes a back seat to other subplots, most of which just dragged. There was what seemed like an endless dance recital, no doubt the vehicle to introduce a new reader to the hairstyles, eye colors, grooming habits and love lives of main characters and several not-so-main characters. We were treated to many descriptions like this throughout the book so I'm not sure what was the point.

-spoiler-
Much of the book was devoted to the demise of Haven, the local Rex, and another miscellaneous werelion you'd be hard pressed to remember. We haven't seen Haven in a while, but I'm not sure he was even missed. The events leading up to the crisis happened off stage and were pieced together through chapters of backstory and angst. Too bad he couldn't have been killed offstage too and spared us all. Anita goes through a mini-breakdown over the course of events, yet having read all those chapters I found myself not caring at all. The whole saga seemed artificial in terms of her loading up with all her weapons to meet him, then being so remorseful that she had actually to use them.

What did happen essentially offstage was vampire attack in another city. This could have been an interesting storyline, but instead we just got updates from the field while Anita and the gang were getting their groove on, going to the gym, collecting more wereanimals, and generally coming up with more ways to up Anita's power level to absurd proportions. In other words, just another day at the Circus.

On the upside it was good to see more of Jean-Claude and the vamps in this book. I'm not quite ready to kick my habit yet. It seems the next book is likely headed towards a big show-down with the Mother of All Darkness. Gee, I wonder who will win that.

On most good days I consider myself a fan of Laurell K. Hamilton. I have read and re-read the Anita Blake Series, along with ear-marking favorite pages and gobbling up copies of the series that I find in used book stores to give as "gifts" to friends. I am also a member of the Fan Club. So, it is with much disappointment that I confess that this is not a good day and that this is not one of Ms. Hamilton's better offerings.
The plot goes every which way it possibly can, from vampire politics, to relationship dilemmas, to Dolph's psychological break-down, to the serial killer murders, to the mysterious FBI guys. Personally, I find the most enjoyable moments to be those that concentrate on the police matters as well as Anita's zombie raising and necromancy. But then, I'm not the writer.
Throughout the book, I found myself increasingly frustrated by all the emotional BAGGAGE that so many of the characters bring with them. From Anita's emotional distance and lack of commitment to Asher's fear of rejection to Richard's loathing of his beast, to Dolph's disgust and devastation over his son's marriage, to Gregory and Stephen's horrific past... I just want to say ENOUGH. I've been dealing with Richard's emotional turmoil for 4 BOOKS! Burnt Offerings, Blue Moon, Narcissus in Chains and now Cerulean Sins. Get over it already!
I would recommend that people wait for these books to come out on paperback, but then if you are at all like I am, you have a hard time waiting that long. Oh, well. I guess it's time to wait for the next one and keep hoping for a tighter plot.

Anita has managed to get her power groups together. But the bad keeps coming. Her and her men have to make some hard decisions. She has decided to call her tigers. Mommy dearest is still a major problem. Read on!

This was a pleasure to devour (bought it this morning, finished it this afternoon). Unlike the last book, Narcissus in Chains, this one is about Vamp politics, not shifter politics. Unlike Burnt Offerings, it wasn't edited with a weedwacker. Rather, it is smaller (400 pgs hardcover -- substantial but not mammoth) and much *tighter* on the plotlines.
This one moves forward with the Vampire Council/Belle Morte plotline, and does so very nicely. Also, a lot of attention is paid to Asher and Dolph and Jason, as well as Anita herself. There was a lot less of the "Anita gets a new power this chapter" stuff that has been in the last couple, though a few new things pop up. Lots of good developments on the Asher/Richard/JC/Anita front, and some insightful therapy for Anita from, of all people, Jason.
This is the best of the recent books, as LKH seems to be blending very nicely with her editor in this outing. And the introduction of Belle Morte & the new baddie -- sweet.
The Dolph plotline is *very* interesting for how little screen time Dolph gets.
This is easily my favorite entry since Bloody Bones which is my very favorite. But I am a bit biased as I am all-over tired of the Richard/shapeshifter angst. On the otherhand, Richard is very loatheable in this book, so I was happy there too!

Anita Blake series is still one of my favorites except the rehash of characters gets old real quick. I think if you see there are 11 books you should realize that to understand what the heck is going on start at book one. Anita's moral code is off to and at time is really a selfish Beyotch with all the guys she is accumulating she needs to wise up. Otherwise it is a good story line and worth reading. Happy reading.

I think that the greatest challenge in any series is to have the characters grow beyond the initial boundaries that defined them, characters that fail to do so are either poorly written OR are defined by that lack of growth (in this series, Richard who is rooted in self-hatred and always will be).
Anita, through the first 8 books grew and changed and discovered more about herself morally and mystically... but she also stagnated. Several of the characters in the series have noted that Anita will change, make concessions and discover acceptance.. and then immediately snap back to the old starting points. So a change in that hyper-rigid morality is probably a good thing.
On the other hand, I'd like her not to be a gun-toting bimbette, as she is in some ways in this book and the last. Yes there is the ardeur by way of explanation? But there's also a lot of romance novel worthy physical sex, which seems a bit beyond 'growth' for her.
It's my hope that the next book in the series encompasses more of Anita's understanding of the various men she's bonded with, more of her coming to comfort with NEW aspects of those relationships (as opposed, y'know to the same ones she's dealt wih three or four times now) and, I would hope, an exploration of the metaphysical. We seemed for 3 or 4 books... heck more than that, to be building towards a realization of just WHY the council fears necromancers and just how powerful a triumvirate can be. Perhaps it's time to wrap up some of the more soap opera worthy plot lines (i.e. Richard) and move forward with exploring those new ones.
It's worth reading for the teasing glimpses of an Anita that doesn't completely hate herself, but all in all the promises of this book can be numbered equally bad and good. It continues the trend of Narcissus in Chains, which makes it two disappointing follow-ups to the best book of the series 'Obsidian Butterfly'.

So, sue me. I enjoy a little nymphomania. As usual I could hardly put the book down. It was a fun read, with fun boys and lots of sex. But I have to concede the point, there was hardly any plot.
Scene one... Anita meets with suspicious guy who wants her to raise some dead guy. Very mysterious. Plot thickens. And then... a zillion pages of sex scenes and vampire politics. End of book... first guy shows up, admits something hinky was going on, but no need for Anita to raise the dead guy after all. End of story.
So rather than a story, this was simply a couple days in the life of Anita Blake. Sort of like what Hamilton did with the second book of the Merry Gentry series. Not sure if this was intentional, or if Hamilton just isn't really focusing on the characters any more.
I've gotta say one thing, though, it's a darn good read for a book with no plot.

...is that it could actually have been a pretty good story had it been written differently. Theme: "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Here we have Anita Blake, an interesting and sympathetic character. With each book she gets more power. Each villain she goes up again, she defeats. The eventual result is a complete degradation of her character. The Anita of Cerulean Sins is indistinguishable from the characters from the earlier books whom she so reviled.

Had only this character assassination been intentional...

but it seem as if the only thing the author is interested in writing is repetitive sex scenes...

I used to love the series. However, after NC and this book, I doubt that I will read anything else by this author again.

Really quite sad.

I finally have to admit defeat with this series. I was able to hang in there for a long time, but this one was way past redeemable. It's as if the author said... "Okay, in this chapter I want a mmmf scene, so let's create a semi-plausible situation where that would work." But it doesn't work - in any sense. There's no steam, and even less of a plot. The characters are so flat they aren't even recognizable anymore. Who are these people? Ugh. That's it for me. I'm done.

Anita Blake is trying to put some balance in her life, but things seem to keep getting worse. Werewolf-boyfriend Richard is still sulking about not getting Anita to himself. Anita is happy with vampire-boyfriend Jean-Claude, but Jean-Claude's alter-ego, Asher, wants in on teh Anita Blake action. He was content to wait until their master-vampire, Belle Morte decides to call Asher home. Anita can either add Asher to her lover list, or lose him entirely. Richard won't be happy. Vampire politics are bad enough, but a serial killer appears to be operating in the area--a killer that Anita believes can only be a were. She could really use Richard's help on this one, but the police aren't even sure that they can trust her.
The Anita Blake stories have been getting progressively bloodier as the series progresses and CERULEAN SINS is no exception. The graphic descriptions of the serial killer's work are disgusting but appropriate for the subject, deeping the horror that Anita faces and making it clear that she has no choice. The violence associated with Anita's sexual appetites will put some readers off--but it just might be what others are looking for.
CERULEAN SINS parallels two subplots--that dealing with the internal politics of the vampires and the threatened rise of the mother of darkness, and that dealing with the serial killer. The two subplots are only loosely connected thematically, and not at all connected from a plot perspective. Thus the novel sometimes appears disjointed. I would have preferred to see a closer link between the two major story elements.
Author Laurell K. Hamilton is completely convincing in her description of vampires and were-creatures, in the subculture that they create and in the ambiguous (at best) feelings that they create in others. Her heroine, Anita Blake, is refreshingly cynical about the government without having given up on it. I found that some of the clothing descriptions went on a bit, but fans may enjoy the richly detailed imagery.
Fans of this series will find a lot to like. Anita continues to mature, struggling with the realization that the simple rules that once guided her are not longer enough. Richard, the deeply damaged were-leader represents what Anita would have become if she hadn't changed--and the destruction he creates in his pack is a microcosm of what Anita could create in the larger preternatural community. Still, each loss of innocence has its costs and Anita must pay those costs in full--often sexually, and always violently.

Having finished the entire 10 book in the series weeks before this 11th book debuted, I could not wait for it to get here. Though I am glad I have read it, and I did find it better than the last book (NiC), I have to agree with others who have said that this book seemed chopped up and not to flow well, and end too quickly with everything unbelievably, and shortly resolved in the end. I have read elsewhere that the publishers cut out hundreds of pages - the story shows it. I also thought this book was going to give readers a lot of info on JC and Asher, I found not much new. It was a good read, enough to make me curious about the next installment, but not the best, and not what I was used to in the series.

I just can't read any more of these. After finishing Cerulean Sins I decided not to buy any more of Ms. Hamilton's books. What started out as a really interesting series with complex characters, imaginative plot development, attention to detail, and absorbing storytelling has deteriorated into an excuse to write porn. The ardeur, which was an interesting plot device when it was first introduced, is now simply an excuse to get Anita into the sack with any sentient being with genitalia. A friend who also read the first dozen books in this series tells me that after she found herself flipping through page after page of Anita's bedtime shenanigans in a vain attempt to locate the rest of the story, she gave up and stopped reading these after Narcissus in Chains. Another friend tells me that she didn't give up hope until Anita ended up mulling over whether it might be necessary to start having sex with teenagers, and then she just found the whole downward spiral too creepy to justify buying any more of the books. No idea which book that was. I'm glad I didn't read that far. I don't know what happened to Ms. Hamilton's storytelling skills, but they're gone, or perhaps she's bored with the work of detailing the rules and parameters of the world and characters she's constructed, and it's just easier to write tedious sex scenes. I guess they must sell. Whatever the reason, it's a shame. I used to enjoy Ms. Hamilton's work. She's got real talent as a writer, but she's stopped employing it. As another reviewer herein wrote, there are editing issues: the multitude of typos, spelling and usage errors, poor punctuation, etc., were occasionally disconcerting, and any competent editor should have caught those prior to publication, but another job of an editor is to have a serious talk with an author who's starting to veer off the rails and that apparently didn't happen either. Life's too short to read books you don't really enjoy, and I'm sad to say that I don't find these at all entertaining any more.

Really, another reviewer said it best. If Edward were here, he'd shoot Anita. And it would be a mercy killing, we all agree on that.

Obviously a book was inadvertently dropped from the series and actually the original Anita we all knew and loved, was taken over by a soul-stealing ghost whose idea of life consists of whining and sex, alternating with sex and whining.

So actually, the confusing title turns out to be totally appropos. Every former fan wants to shoot this book.

This series has so many characters and so many plot lines that this installment should have been the size of an encyclopedia, instead it is a short, thrown together sexual bonanza with almost no plot. As the others have said... I AM NOT A PRUDE... but this book is completely driven by sex. It doesn't help that it is overpriced for the Kindle. Publishers are soon going to find themselves in the same fix as the recording labels.. they overcharged and all the smarties out there found a way around their rip-off mentality. I don't mind paying $9.99 for the entertainment but anything over that is laughable. I am a huge Sookie fan... I skipped the latest book because of price and I will continue to skip books until their price declines. I suggest everyone do the same thing - this book was NOT worth its inflated price.

I don't even know if I can stomach thinking about this book to write a full review. Ditto on what the majority are saying about this steaming pile. More of Anita spreading her legs rather than wielding her blade, and less real plot. Potential for awesomeness culminating yet again in complete fail. I want those minutes of my life that I spent on this drivel back LKH. I don't believe I will spend a single cent on another installment. See my review of Flirt for more.

I really have enjoyed the beginning books in this series. And honestly i come back to re read them all the time.

At about book 7 though, it's a completely different series for me. I'll admit i enjoy erotica, i enjoy sex, hell i enjoy a sexy vampire like the next girl.

BUT her writing has taken this WAY above and beyond just sex in the appropriate times and moments. It's like she sat down and said, lets figure out a porn plot to make it so i can sell a terrible book. Just add music!

I miss the old Anita, i want her back. She kicked butt and took names. A strong female character does not need sex 24/7 and is not a complete pushover. She used to work for a living, not just follow men around and act like an animal in heat.

Laurell K really needs to remember the core of this character, or just end the series. I doubt I'll buy the next one, this one was a complete waste of read and money.

The main plot centers around the dreaded representative of vamp Council member Belle Morte--the rep, Musette, arrives early and havoc ensues. There is also a murder plot, but it takes back seat to most of the main vamp story line and the relationships, lots and lots of relationships.
Normally, I enjoy all the aspects of the Anita books: the mystery, the relationships, the new-found triumvirate powers, the wolfy-vampy-leopardy politics, the animating. In Cerulean Sins, the author seems very uneven: some aspects of the story are raised, then dropped for so many pages it was hard to care what had happened before, some remain mere foreshadowing. Certain problems that linger are suddenly solved in a paragraph, and the eventual big finish to the main plot seemed....weirdly anticlimactic. The mystery was almost nonexistent, and I thought a lot of time was spent yacking about relationship issues to not much point. For all of the pages spent, I found that very little was added to the overall series--no clear additions to either the supernatural elements (new creatures, powers, politics) or resolution about Anita and her life. Still, every Anita fan will probably find something to enjoy here, and your time is far from wasted. There are some interesting bits here, especially in the animating sections and in her relationship with Dolph, but I was sorry to see that more time wasn't given to them.
Maybe in the next book.

I love this book because it's the first time we see Anita care more about herself than everyone else (the police or the monsters). Her personal life is fk'd up enough to fill lots of entertaining books!

Here we go again!
Ok, I'll try to keep this brief. Ms. Hamilton, you've managed to thoroughly destroy the character of Anita Blake. With Merry Gentry, we knew we were getting sex, amoral morons, and really ridiculous amounts of the supernatural.
Sadly, you have decided that this is the direction in which Anita Blake must travel as well. Which is a shame. Anita had conflict, Ania evolved, and Anita was a person. Now Anita, JC, Richard, et al, are simply charicatures of a once-enjoyable series. The only character experiencing any growth is Jason.
What could have been an abolutely amazing and mind-blowing plot was relegated to a few parts of the book. What bugs me is that the publisher had the audacity to state that this was a main part of the book. Please, don't insult my intelligence! <sigh> Instead we get a shot to the head in the middle of a mall food court. <Yawn>
Anita spent sooo much time griping about the lack of morals of everyone around her, she failed to notice that she doesn't have a whole lot left herself. Part of Anita's charm was the fact that things like her faith or a stuuffed penguin or her boyfriend could be her refuge, her sanctuary from the big, bad world. And the struggle to keep from becoming Edward was a huge plus. There was passion, and drama, and well, everything this book lacked.
First, enough with the ardeur and the sex. It's tedious, boring, and dull. Do we really need to read about Anit'as sex-capades? NO. This whole ardeur/incubus/succubus thing could have been handled much less graphically. And with better writing and more effort on LKH's part. Instead, we get the lazy attempt which is this book.
Second, Micah needs to be shot. So do the following characters: Nathan, the wereleopards, the werewolves (I think that's enough). Oh, and please stake Jean Claude, Damien, and Asher. Then please put Anita out of our misery. Probably the only way to save the series.
Third: What happened to Animators, Inc.? Where are the fun bunch from there? The human element of Anita's life? What happened to Ronnie? Burt? Anita's zombie-raising red-headed trainee? His wife? Their kid? C'mon, all these perfectly good characters going to utter waste.
Fourth: Resolve the Dolph sitch. Or spend more time on it. It was handled very poorly. Period.
Fifth: Enough with the "Super-Anita". Able to make all men love her, constantly develops new powers through judicious use of the sadly overused "deus ex machina", etc. I understand that Anita has to grow and evolve as a person, Animator, triumverate member, pard leader, werewolf enforcer, girlfriend to the Master of the City, Federal Marshall on all things supernatural, and I think that about covers it. Too much going on, LKH!
What this book needs is for most of te characters to be cut. There is talk that Edward will be returning, and hopefully that's with enough grenades to take out the Circus of the Damned, the Thronnos Rokke Clan, the Blooddrinker Clan, and any spare freaks left laying around. LKH, you've gone completely over-the-top, and I'm not sure how you plan to resolve this. Or are you just laughing all the way to the bank as we, your fans, spend out well-earned cash on this literary masturbation?

I don't even know where to begin with this one. It's really that bad. A book about nothing that sucks you into the abyss of Anita Blake (pun intended). An almost sublime urban fantasy version of daytime tv with Anita Blake, who fills in for Laurell Hamilton, filling in for Erica Kane. I don't even know why it's called "Bullet"- maybe for the assassins?

Imagine a Seinfeld episode done in pathos- that's what this is. I literally finished off a bottle of tequila trying to slough through this thing- good booze gone to waste. Bullet is a bunch of random sub-plots wrapped around a half-baked premise of giving Anita even more superpowers... and it still never goes anywhere. It's a 350 page set-up for the next epic tale where she no doubt cures cancer all over the world by using the ardeur on everyone. If anyone thinks I'm being snide, check out Hamilton's own blog about the book: she starts out asking the question of what readers can expect from "Bullet", and avoids answering her own question. When even the author knows there's nothing to say, that's called a `hint-and-a-half.' Maybe it's called "Bullet" because she's under soooo much pressure- you know, staring down the barrel of a gun. Naw, that's not it...

She couldn't even so much as repeat the teaser blurb, because that would be misleading. In fact, the blurb got rewritten to remove all references to assassins being sent to St. Louis to kill Anita & Co. because, well... Somewhere in here there's supposed to be a threat upon the group from Mother of all Darkness so she can return to the world and Anita is being 'forced' to becoming the new Master of Tigers to stop her. *sigh* Maybe it's called "Bullet" because MoaD has Anita in her sights? Nah- that one gets buried under so much other garbage you keep forgetting about it...

[...]

Speaking of trash- here's what you can expect to find littered between the covers: *Potential Spoilers Alert*

Assassins- 10 pgs
Belle Morte/Mother of all Darkness Attack- 16 pgs
New Were-victims for the Ardeur- 60 pgs
Rotting Vampire Attack (in another city)- 28 pgs
Asher/JC/Richard Angst- 79 pgs
Anita Angst- pretty much every page
Sex on a String- every other page
Great Big Death Scene- 4 pgs

Swoon!- at the idea of JC and Asher getting together! They actually do, but if you sneezed you'd miss it.

Thrill!- to the astounding lack of plot as the two main storylines combine for less than 10% of the book! If this is supposed to be about MoaD returning and sending killers after Anita, where the heck are they?

Facepalm/Headdesk!- to the ripoff of The Last Airbender cartoon series! Yeah, Hamilton has sunk that low! In order to beat Belle Morte, Anita must shag the young tigers into their full power: Black Tigers are Waterbenders, Blue Tigers are Airbenders, Red Tigers are Firebenders, White Tigers are... some kinda metallic, but still Firebenders since they do lightning, and Gold Tigers are Earthbenders- just like the anime! And guess who gets to absorb all of that power in the afterglow...?

Gasp!- at how quickly the shocking, overhyped, tear-jerker of a fatality unfolds! And it occurs smack in the middle of the book, leaving an already flat story to go careening downhill. Actually there are two deaths here, but neither of them are of any real significance. Put it this way: the first one you'd be hard pressed to remember who they are even after being told, and the second one hadn't even been seen for several books, and quite a few chapters are spent trying to build them up into some kind of overwhelming threat needing to be dealt with. Here's a clue: he's a formerly married were- as of this book- who's desperately in love with Anita and doesn't like sharing. The whole drama is soooo traumatizing yet new boytoys- and girls- arrive within hours to fill in the gap (rim shot!). Maybe it's called "Bullet" because both these guys died from gunfire...

I can't even think of any real spoilers to talk about- nothing happens! People come and go, group sex ensues, Asher whines about JC, Richard gets grumpy, Anita gets more weres to sex up for fun and profit, more superpowers are just around the corner... bet you never saw any of that coming! And as if it couldn't get any worse, all the other plot lines are left dangling until the last chapter, where you get a four-page exposition summing everything up. Assassins, Rotting Vampire, New Weres- all wrapped in a bow and shoved aside to make room for the impending new powers...

Wait- I know why it's called "Bullet". Reading it will make you want to eat one.

I read those unflattering reviews and thus held off buying this book, big mistake. I should have just trusted one of my favorite authors.
I love this Anita, she is not such a hypocrite in this book. She seems to have mellowed out a little and is trying to take care of her people. Yes, I do miss the wise cracking shoot them first Anita, but I don't miss the Anita that was just such mean sprited self-rightoues ... to those around her. This book dealt with things that had been sitting on the sidelines for too long; ie., Asher/Jean Claude and Jason. Despite what was written by one reviewer concerning Anita's new Federal Marshall status, I think she handle it quite well and wasn't pushy just professional. Yes, this book dealt a lot with the arduer but that is also where NIC left off, and showing her dealing with it and controlling it is important so that by the next book she can have it more under control like JC does. Also people complained about the amount of sex, the way I look at it is: 1. she is not having sex with strangers, the two/three people that she is with are long time friends and confidants. 2. if you don't like the sex scenes (which there is not a lot of), skip that part.
Now that things have been worked out and through for Anita in this book, I too would like to see a lot more action (not in the sexual form). The way I look at this book in comparision to the rest of the books in the series, is that she needed this time to come to grips with her personal life, instead of running away like she had done it the past. And as for those who are uncomfortable with her sexual nature, then realize that this is a fantasy realm and either don't read that section or just lighten up.
Overall I wish that I had read this book sooner!!! I can't wait for the next installment.