Vampire Hunter Novel - Danse Macabre - An Anita Blake

I was so relieved to read the other reviews...I thought I had turned into a prude. I am so tired of a book of sex. I started reading Anita Blake when it first came out. I LOVED the storylines and the plots and the twists and the characters. I devoured every book and couldn't wait for the next and could read the old ones over and over.

There are no storylines anymore just Anita sleeping with whomever happens to be around.

My teen-ager started reading Anita when she was 15 and loved them and got several of her friends hooked as well. I was shocked when they were over at my house and all informed me that her books are "boring and not worth the effort to turn the pages to read". This from a bunch of hormonal teen-agers.

I am happy that Ms Hamilton's personal life is going so well and she is happy but please, please, please!!! keep it out of Anita (and the Meridith Gentry books as well) write a biography if she MUST gush. Bring back the zombies and the ghouls and the PLOTS!!!!

To have such man drama as Anita has is just too funny. She is her own worst enemy. Good sorry line all around but a tad bit off with the dance troupe, I guess I expected more out of that. The lions are going to be intresting. I can wait to see what happens next. Happy reading.

I was a fan of the Anita series from the beginning. The last couple books were dissapointing, but I went ahead and bought this one in the hopes things would have improved. They have not. The nearly non-existent plot takes a back seat to the gratuitous sex scenes. The characters have stopped developing along with any interesting story lines. I'm sad to say that I'm now giving up on this series. This will be the last Anita book I read.

The Anita Blake series has long been a favorite of mine. It saddens me that it has degenerated to the point where I no longer enjoy the books. Anita has changed and not for the better.

I recommend Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, Laura Anne Gilman, Carrie Vaugn, Rachel Caine and Patricia Briggs for better works of urban fantasy that Laurell K. Hamilton made so popular. Her successors are far exceeding her current efforts.

This book was a major disappointment. The book had no action what so ever and no plot. I don't mind the "love" scenes, but this series is just no what it used to be. I started reading the series with Narcissus in Chains, and the action and murder investigations are what caught my eye and made the book a worthwhile and interesting read. I have bought all of the books in the series, and I expected more from Ms. Hamilton. I can only hope that the next book has some action or I fear that this novel will be the mark of a failure in Laurell K Hamilton's career as a writer.

I was a huge fan of this series, but I just can't take it anymore. . I feel like Laurell K Hamilton has lost the voice of Anita Blake entirely. I don't even think she's writing this series to continue the story anymore; I feel that she is sacrificing this series for some sort of personal agenda or something. It is silly to force yourself to read something because you are a fan of the author's earlier works, so this is my last attempt to read Anita Blake. I couldn't even get interested enough to finish the book.

In a previous book, Anita thinks about the future and wonders whether she'll make it to her 30th birthday; at the rate of 1-3 days of her life per 400-600 pages of writing, I'm sure we readers won't be around for it, either. Lately, Ms. Hamilton's work seems to be most focused on some "can you top this?" sex descriptions. Let's also not forget the pre-sex and post-sex analyses. I did buy this book, but I may be more cautious of future hardcovers (borrow from library, or wait for paperback). My problem is I'm STILL hooked on the little extra plot/character development I can glean because I loved the earlier books in the series so much. (And the set-up for Wicked and Truth was all for a few moments on stage in an advisory role?) I've seen others comment if you don't like it, don't buy it, but I don't think that precludes readers from calling for some improvements (more plot; Anita's job). However, I do appreciate the much improved proofreading and editing from the previous work (i.e., "diety" equals "deity", etc.), though it wasn't completely error-free. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Ms. Hamilton should feel extremely flattered by the number of novels out there with vampire/werewolf/faery worlds; her only problem is that I, and others, are starting to enjoy them a bit more than hers.

I reread the books Guilty Pleasures through Obsidian Butterfly. But this book as with the last I doubt I will reread. This one didn't even have a plot and the plot in the last was thin. Each time I hang on to see if the wonderful rich characters of the beginning books in the series show back up. If the tough compassionate Anita will be present. But it isn't there. I used to read her books in one evening...not able to put them down. And now this book took me 3 months to get through as it just didn't grab me because I couldn't figure out when the plot would kick in. Even the last chapter I kept hoping that something would come tying it all together to make sense but it didn't happen.

If you enjoy stories about Vampires and werewolves please pick up the the early books and you enjoy the stories.

Ok, I admit it. I read the first few books and was in love. I could not wait to go through the rest before catching up with my beloved Anita and checked this one out of the library. I am terribly disappointed. It's Bodily Fluid Central, yo. I'm outta here.

This book was almost 500 pages long. Of those 500 pages, 400 of them was talking about who, why, and when Anita would have sex with someone. Seriously. Long drawn out discussions about who Anita should have sex with next and why! Then 50 pages were about her actually having sex with whoever. Doesn't matter. Sex scenes are aweful. Even had man on man sex this time. LOL! Yes folks, LKH finally managed to add some "man love" to one of her sex scenes! The other 25 pages were about the ballet. Most of it was junk. I do read erotica and this wouldn't be good enough for the erotica genre, so LKH had best stay in the genre she's in and keep passing this crap off as drama.

What I can't believe is the amount of people in reviews saying "This is it!", "I'm done!" or "Never again!" as though completely shocked with how bad this book is. What? They didn't get a clue from the last three books? The Anita Blake whose main concern was keeping her gun hand clear is long gone. Been gone since Obsidian Butterfly. I'm sure these will be the same people who will write the same kind of review on LKH's next book. They ain't going anywhere and LKH knows it. As far as she's concerned we're all just jealous of Anita Blake and her ability to do 10+ men per book. Oh don't we wish we were that luck?

I will continue to read the Anita Blake series because hope springs eternal. But I won't give LKH a dime of my money ever again. I can buy a books second hand off ebay or get my books from the library. Talk is cheap folk, money is what LKH and publisher are paying attention too. Get a clue.

I agree with the rest of the reviews. I've read this series since its' inception, and enjoyed almost all of the books. The sex has gotten stanger and more prevelant, but even through the last book it was still an adjunct to the plot. This one however has nothing BUT sex. No plot, no action. If you took out all pages which contain sex you wouldn't have 5% of the book left.

I bought this book hoping that Ms Hamilton would go back to writing actual plots and interesting cases for Anita, but alas I was sadly disappointed. All we get to hear about are Anita's romps in bed, and that she gets more power and has to have everyone possible explain it to her, over and over. Is there a plot to this? I am not sure. Not much happens until the very end of the book. I have been a fan of Ms Hamilton for many years, but her writing over the past few years has too much sex and not enough plot. I am sorry to say I have finally given up on a good book from her and won't be reading any more.

There is a reason that psychologists and therapists are paid good money to listen to people self-analyze, obssess, and complain as Laurell K. Hamilton's characters do.

The reason being that nobody else wants to hear it.

I think the only people who enjoy the conversations in this book will be those who bore and frustrate those around them with the same unwanted drivel.

P.S. - It is not my intention to insult psychologists and therapists. I'm simply pointing out that they would be out of work if other people actually had the time and inclination to listen to this stuff.

I was disappointed after reading this new installment in the Anita Blake series. Ms. Hamilton's writing style did not live up to it's previous novels. The whole novel was centered aroung Anita's feelings about her budding powers but there was little development of the plot and no suspense or the usual Anita who kicks bad-guy butt. She didn't even shoot anyone in this book! She didn't raise any zombies or even go to work. I felt this book could have been DRASTICALLY condensed into a short story between the big novels.

Also, I am getting confused on the amount of lovers she keeps piling up. The "sex" reading is great but how about instead of adding more to Anita's harem Hamilton develop more on the characters Anita already has. I have not "seen" her additional leopard pard buddies in the stories much and they were non existant in this novel. Besides the usual whining from Richard no one in this novel really argued with Anita either.

Even though I am disappointed I am still an avid fan, I am just hoping the next one makes up for all the emotional foundation Hamilton laid in this book.

As a long time fan of LKH, I am severely disappointed in her works lately. Danse Macabre seems to be just a string of sex and "feeding" with no real point. Whatever happened to the mystery, the whodunit? There used to be a climax that had nothing to do with sex, and a resolution. Now, though I still enjoy her writing style, I find myself at the end of the book wondering why I just spent so much time reading it.

I am very much an Anita Blake fan, despite her nerve-wracking immaturity. I agree with some of the reviewers here that this book was pretty boring. I didn't feel the plot was great and WHEN is the ardeur going to calm down? Has Laurell decided that she's going to write sex scenes without a good story? I am so happy that I stopped buying these books and now get them from the library because I would consider this a waste of money.

I sworn that I would never read another book by Hamilton but I decided

I would try one more. What a mistake that was!! Hamilton has just about

destroyed Anita Blake! I was 200 pages into the book and still no plot just Blake turning into a porn queen!!!! I really can't believe that Hamilton has trashed Blake to the point of no return, It's a shame, the first 7 books were just great, what the hell happened? and it looks like am not the only one thinking that way. Never again!!

Heh it's been like six months since this book has come out, and I have yet to finish it. In fact I just picked it up the other day again, since the release of the new Merry Gentry book came out. I don't know what has happened to LKH, but it isn't good. I mean if I wanted to read about sex, I would go and read an erotica book. But when one goes to read a paranormal book you expect paranormal like fangs, fur and living forever etc. But not sex this, sex with that one. Blah, I hope she takes this into consideration when she writes the next one.

Anita was always a steadfast and sometimes annoying person when it came to her issues. Sex only happened with people she cared for or to cover a metaphysical emergency. This has changed dramatically. Now we have a plethora (hey just like that word) of sexual partners that appear like mere paper cutouts to be inserted (no pun intended) for sexual escapades. Now she is the sex queen who wants to be bitten on a regular basis. Table that for a second. The mother of all vampires is coming after her. All the master vampires seems to be very aware of her and her powers. Sirens have stepped up to the plate for possible sex. Am I the only one that wonders what ever happened to the plot line here? Long ago in a galaxy far far way oops...wrong thought here....some time ago I picked up her first book. It was not the first in the series and it interested me enough that I decided to explore more of her universe. I mean at the time I thought wow this Edward cat is twisted plus I needed to know how it is that she came to owe him Now that I am caught up on all the books I can say this. The trend for longer series of books to spiral out of control and become mundane continues here in this series. I will read the rest as they come out because I like to finish what I start but the wheels have come off the bus

I was hooked from the first page. Hamilton develops the characters to the point that you think you personally know them. Anita's lifestyle is definitely unusual and I wonder what will happen in the future as this story continues to evolve!

This is the best that I can even come close to describing this book as. As other reviewers have noted there is no plot and when one seems to pop up there is another sex scene to discourage it. The dialogue was another problem the conversations went on forever! If they were not talking, they were having another orgy.

I miss the old Anita that was tough as nails yet had a soft spot for penguins and fewer men in her life. Which brings me to the characters in the book, there are simply too many to keep up with in many cases you have to keep a list of who is sleeping with who, or in this case who is not sleeping with Anita, it would be shorter.

Honestly, I bought this book to complete the series, although I should have sat in the bookstore to read the last chapter, I don't think that I would have missed much.

So save your money, go to the library or borrow it from a friend.

I held off on buying this book because I have become weary of Hamilton over the last few years. I for one don't find the sex that bad. I dont' find dropping so many of the extra characters too troubling. It really is a reflection of a greater problem with Hamilton as a writer... she has no sense of pace. She has not grown as an author.

From her very first novel she has suffered with the problem of all the action taking place in a day or two. She crams far too much activity and major character evolution into too short a period of time. The container that is the Anita Blake universe is starting to bulge now. Thirteen years have passed since the first AB novel. Only a fraction of that time has passed in the AB universe. What has happened in that time?

In the end, this book is just a one trick variation on the last 4-6 Hamilton books in any universe. Lots of little things happening in a short period of time and then one or two pages at the end of the book to explain the plot of this story.

It's pulp. Pure & simple pulp. It isn't the worst way to spend a few hours, but it isn't great entertainment.

At the time of this review, the average the store rating on the book is 2.5 stars, and i agree with that assessment. While the books have definitely produced more sex scenes with each installment, they don't captivate me the way they had earlier in the series. I really miss the old vampire killing Anita, but I also understand you can only carry the storyline so far without it becoming repetitive.

To me, it was similar to what Anne Rice faced with Lestat. Once he did the whole devil/savior meetings, what is left? You can climb the mountain once, but any more than that, and it isn't worth the read. I see she has another book slated for a December release. I will give it a read, but my expectations won't be as high. I hope LKH finds her footing and produces another fine novel without the 90% sex from DM.

I have stuck by this series through even the worst books, but this is absolutely horrible. It's a plot that's recycled and thinly disguised as a new storyline, and despite my continued hopes that Ms. Hamilton might return to the writing that made this series great, it is yet another disappointment. The difference is that I couldn't even finish reading Danse Macabre but had to put it down after only fifty or so pages. I think I've finally given up hope that I might enjoy an Anite Blake novel again.

If you like horrible sex scenes that aren't the least bit erotic taking place in a plot that's utterly stupid and almost nonexistant, this book is for you. Otherwise, avoid at all costs!

Okay I liked the whole possibly pregnant thing that was great for supense...but she made poor Ronnie into such a B*tch...yeah she was kinda one before but after this book she might as well kill her...why was their no police case this book?... its one of my favorite parts!...the sex could be a whole lot better I could write better myself...well thats basically all I have hopefully the merry gentry novel will be better...lets all go read something else for a while

Thrown together and poorly edited (I counted 29 typos b4 I became too disgusted to count!) this book is an embarrassment. The writing is so poor that I seriously doubt Hamilton is still the one writing the series. Does she have a teenage son with dyslexia and a thing for group sex?? Yuck on so many levels. Cleaning your teeth is a better way to spend your time--no, cleaning your DOG'S teeth is a better way to spend your time.

Like many people who have posted their reviews here, I am a long time fan. I was very disappointed in the last Anita book and scanned this one to see if it was the same type of material (bad, angry soft-core porn) it was. I put it back on the shelf and my money went unspent. I have sympathy for Laurell. If she needs a break to find her enthusiasm for writing she should take it for as long as she wants. True fans will wait for her to rediscover her love for writing. Until then I will reread her older works.

Where has the tough as nails executioner gone? She whines and gripes her way through this book and has to have even the simplest concepts explained to her repeatedly by the "big strong men" who wait on her hand and foot. Anita cried and moaned over EVERYTHING in this book. There was no plot whatsoever until you had read almost 300 pages and that was wrapped up in less than 100 pages. The dialogue read like something overheard at a junior high dance it was so filled with angst. I have loved Anita and reread all her books over and over until the last four. This series is becoming a huge diappointment. I'm not sure what has happened to Anita Blake, but please Laurell, bring her back.

Just read this over the long 4th holiday and while I did enjoy it and I did read it quickly, it was a disappointment over all. It seems Hamilton has given up any pretense of carrying on the vampire hunter storyline for now and is just focusing on the relationship of Anita and the main characters. Again, this book encompasses only a 24 hour time period and that is getting tiresome. The sex is steamy at times, but it is getting repetitive and disinteresting. I did skip over alot of it. There were also repeats of discussions between the characters which have been had before and need not be revisited yet again. Hamilton needs to move this story along. I can only presume she is trying to capitalize on the burgeoning erotica for women market because that's pretty much all this is. Definitely not her best effort, but it is a guilty pleasure.

Well, I finally got a chance to read this book. And after reading many of the reviews here, I was prepared for a nonstop festival of porn. So. Does this book suck? Or does it blow? (Yes, puns intended.)

But seriously. Unlike a host of other reviewers, it's not really the sexual content that disturbs me here. (I'm not the sex patrol, but given all the wailing and gnashing of teeth I did take the time to note that the book contains almost exactly ten percent sex by volume. That is, there are 5 sex scenes which take up approximately 48 pages of a 483-page book. Thus, ten percent. So, re-read some of those reviews armed with those facts, and make of them what you will.)

The book is in fact an extended journey through Anita's domestic situation, and yes that's complex enough to take an entire book to sort through. The fact that the sex scenes read more like train schedules than travelogues is merely a symptom of a larger problem. It's the complete lack of engagement I felt with any of the characters, the sense that the author has lost all affection or even interest in them, that truly bothered me about this book. Anita is in considerable pain, emotionally and physically, throughout the book, but the tone of the writing is curiously flat. Where we should sense the writer having fun, she's not. And where one would expect drama, it's business as usual. If the writer doesn't care, then why should I?

My recommendation? If you are a long-time reader of the series, as I am, you'll want to read this for the few but significant developments in plot and character. But you may want to wait for the paperback, or borrow it from the library or a friend. If you are new to the series, don't start with this book. It is not in any way a stand-alone, nor is it by any means representative of this author's best work.

It seems glaringly obvious that LKH needs to take a break from this series and these characters and get some fresh perspective. It's also clear from some of the book's content that LKH is upset enough by past negative feedback that she is now using Anita to respond to negative press. She wouldn't be the first person who had a hard time handling criticism--perhaps that is part of what has hamstrung her creative process. I don't know; I can only speculate. And hope that the upcoming Merry Gentry book does not suffer from the same vacuum of imagination shown here.

The world is not going to end because this book was published. It's just another fantasy book, and LKH is just another writer. This is not a horrible book. It's merely an average book in an otherwise outstanding series. Still...what a shame. I have enjoyed the series for many years, wish all the best for her, and will at least continue to check out her future books from the library in hopes that she can get out of whatever slump is dogging her and shame her critics by writing with the passion and skill of which she is certainly capable.

Its been a long time since I read a book that made me repeat, oh brother, in disgust and disbelief. How sad to see this series so far down in the dumps. Its been going downhill for awhile, Micah was a waste of paper, and this is just barely better. I stopped reading LK for awhile, then came across Micah for .25 cents, sad to say that was a total waste of a quarter. I cannot recommend you buy this book, if you must read it then borrow it from a library, that way you'll only have wasted your time and not your money. Sad sad sad, I loved the first books. oh well!

After reading this book I will stop hoping for the plot to improve. When I started reading this series I could not wait to read the next book. When the sex became the plot, I thought this would be a phase or bridge to something more meaty. I think I may be wrong about that. It is hard to critize someone for a talent that I don't possess but possibly her publisher should take note. I have always rushed out to buy the hard cover version, this time I asked the library to borrow it for me. I can only hope that declining sales will prompt Ms. Hamilton to re-discover the strong, interesting and mystery driven plots of her early books.

I'm a hardcore Anita Blake fan, but this book in the series is just really bad, It will let you down, somethings are answered but it's almost not worth the read. Too much sex and not even intertwined well with the overall of the story, it seems that she uses sex as a way to get passed some overall problem that Anita has at the moment in the story.

Even though I read the hole thing, it was still a disappointment.

I've loved Anita Blake for years and have read and re-read her books four and five times each. I even liked Narcissus in Chains because all the sex and ardeur were new and different, but then Cerulean Sins started to get a bit much. But I still held out hope because there was still some decent plot. Incubus Dreams was total crap, however and I had to struggle to finish it. I was hoping that Ms. Hamilton would find her writing strengths and roots again and that Danse Macabre would be better, but alas it was the worst of the bunch. I could not even finish it! Which I still can't believe.

I've decided not to waste my money on her crap anymore. She's going downhill in a BIG way, and I'm tired of being disappointed.

I was so disappointed in this book and really the last few . I loved the anita Blake series but the last few are nothing but sex and wierd sex at that. Don't get me wrong the sex used to be good but now there is no vampire hunting and no plot to these books.

I've been reading the Anita Blake books ever since the first book came out. I really enjoyed reading it at the beginning, and I couldn't wait for Danse Macabre when I heard that it was coming out...However, when I got down to reading it, I just stopped about midway, because it started to get a little boring...However, now that I've finished it, I must say that it's not one of her best works...I found that the book was a little too long and draggy...I'm hoping that her new book next year will be better.

I know I must be crazy in saying this but this novel has too much sex!!! Now don't ge me wrong I like the sex scenes in her books but what happened to the plot?! Where is it? I loved when Anita would go on a case, deal with her boss, the chief and her beloved stuff penguin is gone!? Of course there was amazing sex scenes but not the entire book. I hate to say this but this is the worst Anita Blake book I read so far, I'm afraid to go on to the next novel.

I used to eagerly anticipate each new Laurell K Hamilton book, running out to buy it the very day it came out. I once called LKH my favorite author. I even flew to St. Louis from Michigan for the release of Narcissus in Chains to attend her book talk in her hometown.

No more.

Since Obsidian Butterfly, the series has gone steadily downhill. Any notions of plot have been replaced with pages and pages of sex with an endless stream of characters. Danse Macabre is the worst yet in the series.

The entire story takes place over the course of less than 2 days, making any meaningful plot nearly impossible. Starting on page 86, the reader is "treated" to nearly 500 pages of endless, repetitive, sex. It's not even well-written. For each scene, she uses the same phrases and descriptions over and over again, until you wonder if you have already read this page before.

I used to love her, but truly, don't waste your time or money.

I used to look forward to getting the newest Anita Blake book the day of release and was happy to spend a little extra, but this latest installment was such a disappointment that I think I'll wait for the paperback on the next one, if I bother picking it up at all.

I was initially turned onto the series by the intensity of Anita's hardcore "shoot first, ask questions later" attitude, the intriguing plots, and of course the monsters. The only mystery involved in these new books is how many sex partners she will have at one time. For every paragraph devoted to an actual plot, there seemed to be a chapter devoted to nothing but satisfying the arduer. I got bored but plodded through to the end following the tiny sparks of the old Anita series sprinkled here and there.

To break it down, there are way too many new and old characters popping up for no reason. A lot of talk that goes nowhere and the only real action is in bed. The mystery remains a mystery because it's never really developed. For those of us who loved Anita "The Executioner", detective, and zombie raiser, this was a low blow.

Normally, I don't really write a lot of reviews. I only do so if a book left a lasting impression on me. After having read it, I can now close the book on the ABVH series with a clear conscious. Never, in all of my years of reading had I ever seen an author destroy their own work of art. Reading DM is like watching Monet burn his painting. Well, maybe not that severe, but as an author, seeing as writing is LKH livelihood, you'd think she actually put some thought and care into her craft, but I guess, once she made it to the NYT Bestsellers list, she felt that she no longer had to put forth any effort. Her latest works most certainly reflect that.

Anita has become the epitome of a Mary Sue. I can't understand how this type of character is so acceptable to so many people. I honestly thing people's taste in good literature has plummeted into the toilet and was flushed with the rest of the waste. Anita gets yet more power through sex, could this scene be any more played out? Richard is still the dreamy-eyed school boy hoping Anita, the Superho will finally pick him in a game of "Duck, Duck, Superdong" and they'll live happily ever after with their 2.5 kids, a dog named skipper and a two story home with a white picket fence. This angst situation is also very played out because it has been going on for at least 7 books now.

I mean, honestly, it's about time LKH put some closure to some of this crap! The pregnancy scare is really just a scare and I wasn't surprised by that, because if you look at the series, there's really no place for an infant in Anita's selfish world of slutting around. A baby wouldn't only interfere with the many hours of screwing that she has planned. Not only that, but LKH did the genius approach prior to releasing her novel and decided to announce that it was simply a "pregnancy scare."

There is no plot in this book, no bad guy for these superpower-superlays to fight against. Anita doesn't raise any zombies at all. The interesting ideas that you see developing in this book are nonchalantly left at the starting gate and never really get the "ready , set, go" shout-out. This book was ID with more sex, if that's even possible.

I can see that by the review, I'm not the only one thinking that LKH killed her own series, I think maybe, she made have run clean out of bright ideas, but doesn't want to give up on making that "green" so this is what we, the loyal who have gotten her to where she's at, are left with. And I'm going to have to pass, thank you very much.

For those of you just as disappointed as I am, I'd suggest other authors such as D.N. Simmons or Kim Harrison, money well spent and D.N. even guarantees satisfaction.

I really enjoyed the first few Anita Blake books. Danse Macabre is nothing like them. It seems to be just about sex, as far as I have read. I am not even sure that I will finish the book. The book does not have the excitement of the Anita Blake books that I have read in the past.

I LOVE Anita Blake. I have all the books. But as each new book comes out I am disappointed anew. The pregnancy thing was great. The promise of this big meeting was cool. The new powers, new sights, new whatevers was promising. 90% of the book was sex. Not that I'm against sex mind you. I wouldn't take out all the sex scenes...I mean Anita and Jean Claude still have to feed the arduer and, let's face it, until 'Killing Dance' I was just waiting for some sex to happen. Danse Macabre just didn't have enough of a plot, enough action (other than sex), enough of whatever it was Ms. Hamilton put into her first 9-10 books. And after all the sex and new powers and the threat of this meeting with the Masters of the Citys...how does it end?

"The very lack of a finale suggests that there's no end in sight for this fabulously imagined series. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved."

This is from a review on this page. As I mentioned before...I can't seem to keep away from Anita but I don't get all that excited anymore about new books coming out because the last four have been worse and worse of a letdown.

Ms. Hamilton, if you read your reviews - please consider more story and less sex. I love Micah, Nathaniel, Jason, Jean Claude, and all the rest of the men but I really wanted to know more about what's going to happen to them all. Not how much sex they can have with whomever.

The reasons for this dismal effort are obvious. First, an author committed to a series--especially a series beyond, say, four or five books--is going to find his or her creativity seriously strained. Second, a popular author who's helping pay a publishing house's bills is less likely to be subjected to rigorous editing, no matter how much it's justified. (Let's face it, we've seen the same "quick, put it out there" attitude when it comes to other titles by other bestselling divas...and I use the term regardless of gender.) Finally, there's the e-book factor.

Electronic-book publishers have been considerably more willing to take risks in terms of content, and some of those risks have paid off BIG BIG BIG. Print publishers, traditionally more cautious and conservative and less imaginative, have finally begun to wake up and smell the hormone-generated money in what used to be considered "sleaze" or "porn." Ergo, big houses and their big-gun writers are now trying to jump on the sex-saturated ground initially broken by Ellora's Cave--ground that has proved to be immensely profitable.

Makes sense, eh? When all is said and done, publishing is just another industry that's all about the bottom line.

I really had hopes that Hamilton would go back to what made this series good in the beginning. Yes, there was always a sexual factor, but it was just one part of the story. Now it has become the entire story and frankly, it's just boring, mechanical sex. Insert tab A in hole B, now it's your turn.

A female character who has sex with multiple partners, some of whom she barely knows, one right after the other and sometimes all at once ... that is not a strong, female character. That's a woman who is desperate to be loved and mistakes sex for affection. This is not a role model. This is someone to be pitied. I didn't buy this book. After Incubus Dreams, I was no longer willing to invest the money. I read Danse from the library. I don't know if I'll even bother to do that in the future.

Yes, it WAS actually possible, Anita Blake gets even more prostitued by LKH for money. This book was absolutely horrid. The plot was beyond weak and a rehashing of her last two-ish books, it has gone from a dark fantasy genre to vampire erotica and any remote basis for the original Anita so long ago is utterly destroyed.

Anita is no longer likable, Jean-Claude in this book is a far cry from Master of St Louis and is boring, Richard is predictably cry babyish and all the new introductions just MUST sleep with Anita. BORING.

I was VERY lucky to be able to resell this book. ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. LKH just end it. Please. Go write a Merry Gentry book or something you haven't made into a mockery yet.

If you enjoy "vintage Anita" and value a well-crafted story and well-built world, look elsewhere. Try Kelley Armstrong, Kim Harrison, Rachel Caine, Jacqueline Carey.

Even better, J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood will knock your socks off (yes, the character names are a bit silly, but what the heck!).

Sorry, LKH, I don't think this was your best effort.

After reading some of the other reviewers, I'm not sure what I can add, but I'll do my best.

First - to all the people saying "If you don't like sex, then don't buy the book": you don't get it. I have no problem with the sex. Sex is great. Sex is fun. The sex has always (and increasingly since the first novel) been a part of the Anita Blake universe. But lately it's just become...boring. Too much of a good thing.

I'm reminded of something my father said about porn: First you think "Wow", then "Wow, they didn't do that", then "Wow they aren't going to do that!" and then..."wow, they aren't going to do that AGAIN are they?" This book, there was a lot of "wow, they aren't going to do that again" and not nearly enough "Wow!".

Second - as someone who started with book 1 and devoured my way through all available books in a few weeks, ending with Narcissus in Chains, I have to add my voice to those saying "Where's the Plot!". LKH used to create such marvelously addictive STORIES. The powers, the politics, the increasing conflict between Anita and her oh-so-hesitant but oh-so-enthusiastic sex drive were all secondary to truly interesting stories with truly interesting mysteries.

Where have those stories gone? Where is the creepy suspense of The Laughing Corpse, or the tense mystery of Circus of the Damned, or the raw conflict of Burnt Offerings, or the perfectly marvelous small-town politics of Blue Moon? They're gone! Where have Dolph and Zubrowski vanished? What about Anita's boss (or heck - her job, period?), or Edward, or any of the other interesting characters who AREN'T uber-powers - where have they gone? Anita's roles as mystery solver, police advisor, Marshal, hunter and slayer are just gone...and we're left with a rather one-dimensional blah in their place.

I admit that I read and, for the most part, enjoyed this book. But all the things that drew me into the series to begin with are disappearing, and I hate to see that happen. Instead of compelling plots and tense mysteries, we're presented with a never-ending parade of men. It's a miracle that Anita HAS four strains of lycanthropy in her bloodstream, because God knows she wouldn't be able to walk for months after the righteous plowing she seems to be taking on an hourly basis.

Get back to the STORIES, LKH. Get back to interesting characters who don't just sit around and rehash their baggage over and over and over again. (Geeze, someone make Richard SHUT UP) Yes, there was SOME growth. Yes, there are a few intriguing elements introduced, but overall I'm reminded of the last few Robert Jordan novels - a lot of words, a lot of angst, a lot of bluster, and very, very, very little substance.

I just hope the next Merry book doesn't accomplish the not-so-admirable feat of vomiting the sexual, political and supernatural minutiae of 36 hours into nearly 500 pages.

I wish people would stop buying books like this and send a clear message to authors and publishers that low quality stories and horrid writing are not tolerable.

Now don't get me wrong. I was an absolute Anita (and LK Hamilton fan) for years. I'm all for a great sex scene. I liked the characters. I liked the story lines. However the plug should be pulled on this series that has gone on far too long and brings nothing new or interesting to the reader.

The fact that these books have degenerated into such pure drivel and are still being published is a crime. The publishers and editors should be ashamed. Does anyone really believe that a publishing house would dare to publish and pay a new, up and coming author to write this poorly? There are so many unpublished and fabulous authors waiting to get their shot at the world - the slot taken from publishing this poor effort should be given to them. (And no, I am not a frustrated author being bitter about refused manuscripts).

Hamilton's efforts are no longer worth the paper they are printed on. If you simply must read the book because you want to waste your time or just cannot believe that the series can keep getting worse and need to see it with your own eyes - then go to your local library. I think it's time to say a fond farewell to the Anita that will never again return and move on to something else.

I used to love this series. I was really sad when it died... I used to wait on them to come out. I only read this book because I got it for free, and I don't think I'll read any further in the series.

I'm so disapointed in this book! I love sex just as much as any lustful American, but that was the whole story line in Danse Macabre. Plus, is it me or is Anita turning into a selfish witch?! I'm started to hate this heroine that I used to love. I think Laurell needs to take Anita back to her roots, working her job and raising zombies, not bedding every man she comes across. It is getting ridiculous. Enough of the ardure already, can we have some Vampire slayings and please kill off Micha and the stripper! BORING

I discovered LKH's Anita Blake series about halfway through. BLUE MOON (book 8) was the first one I picked up and I read it in less than a day. I enjoyed it so much that I went back and bought the first seven books in the series and read them in rapid succession. I loved each one more than the one before it until I got to NARCISSUS IN CHAINS and then it started getting too convoluted for me. I'm all for the evolution of characters, but when everything that makes me love and identify with a character changes or disappears, it's hard to keep reading. I've read all of the books in the series, even though I haven't been thrilled with the last few. I'm no prude and I find the ardeur plot point interesting. I understand that she's at odds with her newfound powers and needs. I don't mind that it's being explored in depth, I would just prefer that we not get mired down in that one storyline when there's so much other good character development that could be happening. There used to be more to Anita than the ardeur and her harem of lovers. The stories used to encompass a few days or weeks, there was actual progression, but the last two books, especially, have been played out over one or two nights and most of the time, Anita's having sex with several of her growing list of partners. I used to like Anita but now there's very little about her that doesn't get on my nerves. I want to feel sympathy for her when she's conflicted but she's so busy throwing out mixed signals that I don't know what side to stand on. The men in her life seem to feel the same way. Aside from the obvious power involved, I really don't see how they all put up with her and each other on a personal level. Richard seems to be the only one who is having a 'normal' reaction to the situation(though his tormented rage and angst is getting a bit tiresome, too). He's the one who obviously doesn't want to have to share Anita with everyone else, regardless of the power source, but the others are far too accepting of their positions in her life. The fact that Anita herself keeps bringing up the fact that it makes no sense that they're all so accepting and willing to 'allow' her, even encourage her to have sex with other men is the greatest irony of all.

I'm still holding out hope that this is just an exceptionally long stop on the character evolution track and eventually there will be more to Anita than just sex and power and how many different creatures can inhabit one body, anyway?

LKHs books use to span several weeks, but lately they are one or two days of endless sex. Her one chance to make a great new story line last about 12 hrs in the book. Her pregnancy makes you think you are in for a real story but you still end up with 2 new sex partners. I loved it when LKH would describe Anitas dates and her innocence the first 6 books. Now you truely need a score card to keep track of her men I am very glad I didn't spend money on this book.

let me say first that i agree with alot of the reviews for this book... good and bad... i enjoyed this book and will still breathlessy await the next in this series as well as the Merry series... i love alot of the sex scenes but do agree that alot of the plot was sacrificed in this book... my frustration is that even that would be o.k. if the book came to a conclusion.. it feels like it was cut to soon... and has for the last few books.

i know from reading her site and bolg that originlly ID was supposed to see a return of some of the charactors from OB and was looking forward to how that was developing... then i read that she didn't get to that in ID but that we would see these charactors later.. well 2 books later and that plot still hasn't come through.. and in fact we are still wading through the issues and problems that we have been dealing with since the beginning...

i agree that richard is becoming irritating becuase he says that he wants to change and then he runs.. the charaters are evolving ...but yet not. they are the same only alittle looser moralistically speaking. which is o.k. i very much enjoy anita's fall from grace as i could enjoy richards.

i think that there needs to be more plot and we..as readers and fans...need conflict AND resolution.. and we are NOT being givin this. they seem to be only emotional resolutions.... i think as fans we would like to see some confict that deals with outside problems that can have emotional ramifications without being only emotional..

in short (too late) we as readers want both what we had before.... ie. conflict, heart pounding plots, great sex scenes, emotional resolutions and unemotional resolutions.

we need this same book with the plot ideas that were missing from the other books.

i enjoyed this book but i wasn't a great book.. a great book would have had her dealing with police issues, over longer periods with suspense and possible disaster.. heres hoping that the emotional resolutions and sex scenes can be intergrating back into the great stoies that we are used to getting from laurel.... i still have hope

I really used to enjoy the Anita Blake books, but lately they have been a dissapointment. This book was ok, better then the last one at least. For the most part it seemed like this one was ment to tie up some loose ends and pave the way for the next book. If she follows through with that and goes back to her old (and better) writing style, I think the series can get back on track. This book is much like Pirates 2; it is the longest trailer for the next story I have ever seen. *Fingers area crossed for the next book*

I'm giving up. I loved the first few Anita Blake books. They were smart, well written and entertaining. The world Anita lived in was well thought out and fascinating to escape to. Somewhere the series has gone off track, although the final insult to readers came in this book. One of her big fights Anita has with Richard is that Anita wants to keep her job - Richard objects because she says she spends 60 to 100 hours a week working. Huh? In the entire timeline of this book, Anita did nothing remotely resembling her day job and barely even left the bedroom. Yeah, if only the plot actually reflected Anita's supposedly workaholic nature. I admired Laurell Hamilton's writing immensely, she was really able to capture my imagination. Sadly, the way her work has evolved no longer interests me (certainly not at hardcover prices!!), and this was the last Anita Blake for me. Thanks for the years of enjoyment - the first few books are ones I will continue to re-read.

I have to agree with most reviews, but let me add a fews things.

I had a lot of "LOL" moments in this book. That was a bit weird, but nice. I don't read these books in public anyway. What was this book about? There're too many personal problems. The characters in this book have had over 100 years to mature. Why do they whine about everything? I find it hard to believe a vampire is a scary and powerful character, when he's complaining about not getting enough attention. Everytime there's a sex scene, I yawne and wondered what everyone else was doing behind the scenes. GEES! Boring! Anita is growing in magical power but her character is weak? I wondered for the first time since I've been a fan of this series, why the bad people didn't get a bullet between the eyes. They wouldn't have been missed.

This is a very disappointing read, but I'm sure you'll buy it anyway.

I was excited when I started reading the book - a visit from multiple Masters of the City was sure to be exciting. Unfortunately, the storyline went from plot to smut in about 6 seconds. If you keep in mind that these 496 pages span about a 26 hour period and Anita has sex probably 10 times with 15 different partners, it's just a gang bang with a little bit of story to keep motivating more - and more unusual - sex.

The thing that really irks me is that it's a neat plot! I'd love to see more of the political maneuverings, the cool powers of the various Masters, Anita and Jean-Claude outsmarting their adversaries. I know for a fact that Laurell K. Hamilton could have made a cool story out of this, filled with thrills, chills, and enough sexual tension to make anyone sit up and take notice. But unfortunately, she turns Anita from a sharp, no-nonsense character into a slattern, and replays tricks we've seen too many times - how many times must we see Damian nearly die or Richard have a hissy?

This book needed to tone down the sex and ramp up the plot. I know Hamilton is capable of doing gritty, fabulous work; it's how I became a fan in the first place. The first several books of the series were tense thrillers. Now it's like watching Cinemax on a weekend night - all softcore porn.

I used to like her books because Anita was always working on a case and there was a point to the book. This book is just about sex and possible pregnancy. I kept waiting for some kind of plot to develop or for them to take a break from the sex and actually do something but it just kept going until the book ended. Someone needs to make Hamilton sit down and reread her first 4 or 5 Anita Blake novels so she can remember what it was like when should could actually write a story. It is sad to say but I think this book has killed this series for me.

There seems to be no middle ground with the readers of this book. Either you loved it or you hated it. I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. It was OK. I'm not put off with the "new" Anita that many do not care for. I understand and accept that her character has grown from a blind hatred of all that was monster to an understanding that good and bad exist in all things- people and "monsters". The sex does not bother me either- however, at no point do I think it is sexy, erotic or a "turn-on" and if that is LKH's intent, to be titillating, shes way off the mark- for me anyway. That also may be the intention as much of the sex is for the feeding and not because Anita wants it. However, I agree the storyline in this book was lacking. It also read more like a Merry Gentry book than an Anita one to me- but whatever. I felt like, as many others have pointed out, there was no resolution to any of the issues brought up in the book and that did take away from my enjoyment of it. I did not mind that there was no zombie raising because I did enjoy the relationships and how they played out (but really, Richard get over yourself already). So all in all the book was just OK for me and I haven't given up on the series.... yet.

In the last book, "Micah", Hamilton returned to the format that made Anita Blake so enjoyable. Danse Macabre starts off great but quickly declines into one sex scene after another. So many original characters are absent it is like a different series.

I'm not a diehard Hamilton fan, but this series is fun, imaginative and often a roller coaster ride. This book is following the darker, more erotic elements of the newer books in the series, and is particularly different in that there are no corpses, no zombies, no police. Thankfully, no extensive gunwear descriptions. Just Anita, her men and the sticky politics of vampires and the Were folk.

New light is shed on the nature of the ardeur as Anita realizes that she is indeed a succubus. She has to grapple with what her body demands, and with the fact that managing the ardeur is a responsibilty that can cost her the lives of those who are metaphysically linked to her through the two triumverates: She, Richard and Jean-Claude, as well as the new triumverate linking her with wereleopard Nathanial and vampire Damian. The new triumverate demonstrates how powerful a healthy link can be; she, Nathanial and Damian are harmonious and interdependent. It also shows how disasterous a weak union can be when she doesn't feed, Damian, and then Nathanial suffer the consequences of her carelessness.

There also appears to be some blending of personalities, Richard is showing signs of Anita's temper, (scary thing!) submissive Nathanial is becoming more confident and assertive...and dominant. The omega leopard successfully faces down the alpha wolf Richard. Jean-Claude comes to the bittersweet realization that while Anita loves him, his human servant is more in love with, and completed by her housemates Micah and Nathanial. He is growing more sentimental.

Yes, its thin on plot, but high on the soapy drama. Anita's pregnancy scare, Nathanial's face-downs with those who demean him, Richard's elation over the pregnancy, (its gotta be his, right? He's so damn manly...) and his realization that he'll never get the white picket fences with Anita, the attempted high-jacking of the ardeur, and the ballet itself. The high drama ends with some truly high-risk sex and an understanding between Anita and Asher.

I can see why die hard fans are unhappy with the direction of the series, its a far cry from the tight, bleak horror/mystery that it began with. Characters are evolving, plot-lines are being introduced and new characters are emerging. Some are just waiting in the wings for their moment in the spotlight. I look forward to finding out more about London, Wicked and Truth, Claudia, Damian, Jessica Arnett and her unrequited crush on Nathanial.

Anita's changing and evolving as well, she's dropped a lot of her standards, some for the good, some for bad. Frankly, her job as a Marshal and dealing with humans seems to be making her more a monster than rubbing shoulders (and other body parts) with the fangs and the furries.

For some very stupid reason, possibly the reviews of her last two books, I thought Hamilton would get back to creating a story line that had characters and a plot that actually went somewhere and had something to say. Anita had to take a pregnancy test. This should have made for an awesome story line. Nope, at most it was 20 spread pages spread out through the 400+. Great new characters were introduced including merpeople. Did she do anything with them? No. Was there a lot of sex. Yes, on almost every page. Did it move a plot? Of course not. Did it make sense? Not often. If you want a book, (not a story) with lots of sex then maybe this book with appeal to you. If you were hoping Hamilton pulled it together for this one, sorry. She didn't get it right this time either.

This book can be explained in one word "painful". If there was a lower rating than 1 star I would have picked that. The only reason why I finished the book was because I wanted to see how bad it truly could be and it was way beyond what I expected (It made Micah look like a good read).

Hamilton used to be one of my favorite authors but now has become the author that I recommend only the first 8 in the series; unless you are interested in reading porn, because that is what her books have become.

Okay, I won't try and defend the sex. I bet her husband reaps the benefits of... *ahem*... "research".

I agree with some of the other reviewers that this book took place over too short a time period -- how the hell do you squeeze 480 pages into about 24 hours? Even I can't do that. There is a lot of sex, some of it well-written and some of it not. At least the whole "fiancee in college" and "mother died because she didn't wear a seatbelt" issues weren't brought up.

The editing was light-years better than Incubus Dreams. Everyone's name is spelled right, for starters. Also, I like that she didn't try to squeeze a police procedural drama into this one -- the squeeze-ins in Incubus Dreams, Cerulean Sins, and Narcissus in Chains just didn't do it for me.

Again there are numerous powers that Anita "happens" to immediately discover and employ without any practice. Again there's entirely too much useless detail spent on describing each and every aspect of each and every character. Again there's so much angst that emo kids could take a lesson from Anita, Richard, Requiem, London, and to a lesser extent, even Jason (who, don't worry, finally makes an appearance toward the end; no Stephen sighting, though, or, oddly, ANY wereleopards except Micah and Nathaniel... who must all have been vacation or something).

My last big gripe with this book is that now there are two major threads left open: at the end of Incubus Dreams, the master who controlled the bad guys got away. And in this one... I'm not going to spoil it, but suffice it to say it's a little like LOTR:ROTK -- the climax arrives, and then there's about five more chapters, plus the generic Anita denouement where she explains everything that happened in the book and everything that could happen in the next book.

If you're an Anita fan, read this one. If you're not, and you're thinking you might be, start instead with Guilty Pleasures, skip Laughing Corpse, and then read Circus of the Damned through Blue Moon. Then stop.

All that said... I actually enjoyed at least 2/3 of this book. There were a few good laugh-out-loud lines. But then, I'm an Anita fan, not a casual reader of the series.

I agree with so many of the reviews before mine regarding the overabundance of badly written porn scenes and the lack of a plot making this book a disaster. Once again more "facts" are introduced which make events in the early novels seem completely implausible which, to me, is a betrayal to all her early fans. I'm thankful I took the advice of other reviewers and borrowed the book from the library.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this series in the beginning, it is no longer worth the purchase price or my time. Since NIC, there has been very little plot beyond Anita sleeping with everyone in sight. I miss her job, her toughness, and I really miss Edward! The stories have degenerated into nothing more than multi-species porn. They have little point and virtually no plot. When I compare the Anita of the last few books to the Anita we met in the first book, I doubt she would recognize (or even like) herself. I will not buy the next book, and I regret spending hard-earned money on this one.

I'm about halfway through this book and can't but say I'm a little disappointed with this book. I love the series and the last book was great. This book seems to lose the plot. It starts with Anita being pregnant (mostly from her massive sex life) and Jean-Claude wanting to strengthen ties to other Masters. It then gets to more sex, the baby issue gets lost and Anita and Richard fight to know end on who's comfortable with the monsters. This book makes me really hate Richard, cause all he ever does is whine about the life he'll never have (white picket fence americanna) and being way too jealous about Anita sleeping around with everyone when most of it is not her fault do to the ardeuor. I never had a problem with the massive amounts of sex and the like, but I just feel this book has no plot and makes it less interesting.

I was so superdy-duper excited on May 27th, because I love Anita and her men, but damnit, I must admit I am disappointed.

It seems that all these new stories span 24 - 48 hrs and are all about new metaphysical powers and sex.

So, the new characters are interesting; Augustine is entertaining and we get to see more of Meng Die, but the novel is mostly about how powerful the St. Louis group is getting and how they make sense of these new capablitilities.

I can appreciate learning more about the London vamps, but, on some level, I was all giddy because of the pregnancy scare and that went totally downhill for me (although you may dig how it all turns out.)

Interesting, if nothing else. A waste of time if you're looking for some great mystery or action. It's mostly just some long, drawn out metaphysical stuff- if you read this stuff, you know how our girl (Laurell) can get.

But, if you're a fan, can you really resist? Just be prepared to ask yourself stuff like, Are they ever gonna find out about the baby? Are they ever gonna get to the ballet? There's only 100 pgs left, are they ever gonna meet any of these infamous guests they've invited to the city?

It wouldn't even be as frustrating if she didn't make us wait for a whole year for these long winded books filled with dozens of reasons to have orgies.

Alas, I am a fanatic and I still struggled to read this one slowly (I hate waiting 18 months for something that only lasts three days), but I failed. What can I say. All you Anita fans know what I'm talking about. I mean, can you really let an Anita book come out and not read it?

This series used to be AMAZING!!! I even loved all the sex that everyone complained about all the way through Narcissus in Chains. Then it just got boring. No plot, the same sex scenes, too much emotional whining, and horrific editing. I'm done with Anita Blake.

I felt the need to respond to some people, including Laurell herself, who have stated "If you don't like the books, just don't read them". That is just not fair. Do you think that we are purposely buying a book that we won't like? We got hooked on a great series. I think alot of us still have hope. She did write the first books, she can do it. In the beginning, I felt like she had a definite idea of where the series was going to go. Now I feel like she is just making it up as she goes along. Maybe she's just gotten lazy. We fell in love with the first books, so does she think that we will follow the series to any end? Personally, I didn't even finish the book. Chapter 30 is as far as I got. Isn't it sad when you don't even care how it ends? So, for those who say "Just don't read it!", I say fine, there's no hope after all. I'll save my money for the next Kim Harrison book.

I have read all of LKH books and I find a trend in them. Each gets worse than the one before. This one though it seemed to have a plot had not ending all it was about was the sex. The plot got lost somewhere. As for the novella Micha same there, the book was large type and double spaced a waste of money. I wont be buying any more LKH books. Methinks she puts herself in her character and wants to be Anita.

I am so tired of the down-hill slide of these novels. All this about vampire politics and the ardeur is extremely boring. And I think having sex with dozens of men is gross. I don't mind the sex, I mind the multiple partners. Yuck! And the novels started out so well, they were gripping and suspenseful. The characters were interesting and I cared about them. Now, ooogh. They are almost as bad as the Meredith Gentry novels.

Stop right now, If you have been disapointed with how the series was going, don't even bother. It doesn't get any better. These books where awsome, now they are just Sex stories with thin plot thats only perpose seems to be an excuse to have sex in the book or filler between sex scenes. I wont be reading anymore ofthis series and you can bet I didn't pay to read this one.

I am done with this series. I did not like this book at all (and no I am not a boring person and yes I used to be a fan of this series). I also am not going to b1tch, just give my honest opinion. This book has no plot! If you have liked the books since NIC, you will like this one also. If you have not liked the books since NIC, you will not like this book. I have been on the fence since NIC. I don't mind the sex, in fact in the first few books I got frustrated with the lack of it. I just want the sex with a plot, the kind of plot the first 8 books had. The plot began to take a back seat with NIC and has grown smaller and smaller. There is no plot to Dance Macabre, just inane rambling about Anita being stuborn. The once strong men are now reduced to wimpy shells of their former selves who tip toe around Anita, afraid to assert themselves (so not sexy!). And the problems that Anita and her harem experience are talked about at such great length that I felt like I was falling into a stupor while reading about them. If you are unfortunate enough to have bought this book and find yourself as I did, wondering where the beef is, read chapter one and then skip to chapter 34 and 35 and then read the last 2 pages. That is Dance Macabre in a nutshell. For me, this was the nail in the coffin, I'll be sticking with Charlaine and Mary Janice for the future.

Happy Reading!

Like all great addictions, it used to be new, interesting, fun, and it used to be good. Not anymore. I'm done with this series. Sure, the editing in this book is better, there are fewer misspelled words and even fewer sex scenes (thank God) than the last book. That's its only saving point, it's plotless, boring, and forgettable. The vampire ballet although written better than I expected, has been done and better. The pregnancy scare, is not even worth dignifying. Talk about a tried and true lure to get people to look; the excuse wasn't even good and goes against what was presented in earlier books. That it still doesn't snap the protag out of the ether is sad, done to death or not, it could have been used well. The passive acceptance of the ardeur as Anita's metapysical cosmetic surgeon and pimp is ridiculous and a copout - that's been done to death in the last four books and it's not the least bit refreshing for it to owned up to.
There's really nothing new in this book and nothing done before is presented in this book in a way to make it interesting. It's not nearly as insulting as the last book, but the cliche's still run rampant. Merwere and Sirens? What next? Elves?
Characters are presented just to be presented and just about all the favorite monsters get a passing mention or some stage time, for what that's worth. The entire series is supposed to have spanned thus far a handful of years. Sure people grow and change, but they're not even close to the same characters I started reading. Which would be fine, if they didn't have conflicting histories, descriptions and the same names. I like sex, and while in this book it's not gross - it's boring and predictable. You know there's a herd of hot men, you know they're hot and bothered, you know some are bi, and it's always the same; they get on in ones and twos, they get off, and everybody gets on with it in a fit of angst. Yay.
It's no fun to have to drag yourself through a book because you paid for it and by the end all I felt was robbed. If you must or if you're on the fence, borrow it. If you're looking for a braincandy fix, skip it. Unless you're into relationships sans plot or anything tangible to drive those relationships, skip this book. Don't waste your money without a clue what you're buying just because of the name on the jacket.
What started out as a great series with good ideas and decent plots presented with a new and fun perspective is now unbelievably dull, boring and so predictable. So much so it's not even fun to reread the old books. Even it's inconsistencies are predictable. I'm done with Anita Blake, this book sucked in more ways than one and I don't care enough after reading it to really bother with details.

I like sex, I like kinky, multiple partner pain sex. and I like reading about it, if it is accompanied by some sort of story. A plot would be nice, maybe a consistant characture??

I am begining to hate Nathaniel he is so in the face like my chocolate lab puppy(cute in a 5 month old dog annoying in an adult human). Richard is useless and Jean Claude has turned into a really lame vampire with no will or characture. I am really let down, I can't believe anyone has given this book a good review are they actually reading it or just skimming the pages trying to find the pictures? I will not purchaes another L.K.H. book. this series is following exactly the down ward road the Merry Gentry books went. It is too bad, I really loved the books at first. I say to the author if you have nothing worth while to write just put the pen down.

The story begins with an announce pregnancy. Anita does not know who the fathers is, she then enters into a menage et trois right after learning she is pregnant. After chapter two the story becomes lost in Miss Hamilton imagination.As usual she gives to much information on another subject. She basically strays from the storyline. I don't know how this book could have been published.

As much as I hate to say it - I really had a hard time with this book. I really miss Ms. Hamilton's charm and wit when there is an active interesting plot - with less group sex. This book was simply over the top with bad group sex scenes. Each chapter segues into more group sex and more sex some with a little violence or confusion. Don't look for sharp banter or deep meaning subplots between Jean Claude, Anita or Richard ( or any other character for that matter). This book is trite and played out in the sex department -no two ways about it.

I'm just going to have to go back and read the beginning of the series again in order to enjoy an Anita Blake book with a plot.

Don't waste your money on this one!! I'm not holding out hope for the next one. It seems as though Ms. Hamilton has had her way with Anita and it sure wasn't pretty!

Another weak offering from Hamilton that lacked any real story or plot. There was a lot posturing by various characters, but any time it appeared that some real drama or confrontation was poised to erupt it was quickly circumvented by having the characters engage in lengthy drawn-out and tiresome sex.

The sex is colorless and emotionless, requiring a laborious effort and strong will on the reader's part to wade through endless coupling sessions that populate the novel. Anita herself states that sex has become a refuge, a comfort food if you will, that insulates Anita from all the unpleasantness of her life and for Ms Hamilton I feel it's become an avoidance mechanism to escape from writing any real conflict and drama within her books.

Nothing ever seems to be settled in the series and characters must constantly revisit the same subjects repeatedly. I'm sure the character themselves must be growing as tired and impatient as the readers at the lack of character growth and the reluctance of Ms Hamilton to move the story forward. If I were the characters, I'd go on strike and refuse to perform until better scripts are produced on Hamilton's part.

Little attention is paid to the story hooks that are advertised in the dust jacket and promotional materials. The readers are never treated to the much trumpeted vampire ballet and the meeting of vampire masters is reduced to private meeting with the masters of Chicago and Cape Cod. The pregnancy scare was just that a scare, which lost any real drawing power since Hamilton herself, leaked the spoiler months ahead of the publication of the book.

Anita powers and abilities continue to grow at an ad infinitum rate. There's little suspense these days that any harm will ever come to Anita and she seems to be destined for deity status.That is if Ms Hamilton can ever keep Anita off her back long enough for events to play themselves out.

I was first introduced to the Anita Blake character when I read "Blue Moon" in 2000. I enjoyed it so much that I nearly inhaled the previous books, and then began waiting for new titles. The quality of the series has dropped since Obsidian Butterfly, and this book is easily the worst yet. I don't mind sex scenes in a book, but I'd like some plot or story to go with it. While the pregnancy scare was somewhat interesting, most of the book seemed to be Anita whining about the ardeur. A book that long should cover more than 48 hours of Anita's life. I miss her working to solve crimes, and am a bit tired of the avalanche of new characters introduced. I'd like to see some characters from previous books return, particularily Edward.

I had to concentrate to read this book because I kept getting bored. I don't recommend it.

I am very disappointed in the story line and the authors inability to see that while she can write what she wants, her readers can have their opinions as well. After all we're the ones wasting our money on what used to be a sure fire good read and has turned into something Penthouse might publish with a supernatural element. This will be the last of her books I'll purchase in this storyline until something improves. And I am very sad about this since I used to look forward to LKH books and recomend them to friends. Now I'm embarrased for her.

i was sorely dissapponted with this book. luckily i got it from the library and didnt' waste 20.00 on it.i think maybe her publishers are rushing her into the next book, the next book. i think i liked it better when they were coming out one a year. one anita one merry.this barely plot crud is getting tiresome. i'll read the next ones, but i'm not gonna buy them, i tell you that much

I wasn't going to waste my time leaving a review but I figured anyone bored enough to pick up this book should be warned. It was the biggest waste of my time this entire summer, which is an accomplishment, let me assure you. I won't rant and rave, others have pointed out everything I hated plus more and have done so more eloquently than I could hope of doing myself. Just avoid it.

I tried.I really tried to give this author another chance.I loved Anita Blake.I could not wait for a new story but, I can not handle soft porn being the substitute for her great adventures.I could not finish this book.It was boring and I do not recommend this or the series until there is actually a story to be read.

I have every single Anita Blake book. I am actually rereading the series for the 3rd or 4th time now but......she slipping. I like sex as much as the next person, but C'MON!!!!

Possible good story lines which would have made the book SO much better if she had followed through:

1) Supposedly there is a serial killer on the loose.

2)Is Anita pregnant?

3) Mother of All Darkness

4) The Merpeople

5) Her relationship with Ronnie could have been a nice subplot as well.

So much to offer and yet all I got out of it was that there was a lot of sex. Where did the zombie raising go? How about Edward? The police work? I would like to think that this is an intermediary book that helps flesh some characters so the next book is focused on a plot, but I am afraid I am going to be disappointed. Again.

Simply awful. I can't believe I've bought the last - - what - - 2, 3 LKH books. I don't care what's on her blog or what she says. The book had no plot and no end and I couldn't keep up with all the sex partners (and I love good sex scenes). Try "The Vampire's Seduction" by (psuedonym) Raven Hart. It was a cheap paperback that had some interesting new twists on vampires.

I can describe this book very quickly: the first few books of the series had very "PG" sex scenes, very graphic violence. With a couple of exceptions, each book in the series has seen the sex get more graphic, while the violence stays pretty static or maybe recedes a trifle. This book continues that pattern, and given that this is book 14 of the series, one would be correct in guessing that the sex is pretty darned graphic; we've gone beyond "erotica" to XXX porn. For what it's worth, the violence is almost non-existent; just a couple of fistfights. Granted,the writing is far better than most of what you will see in most hardcore porn, but that doesn't change the fact that it is clearly too hardcore to call it anything else.

So -- if you enjoy well-written hardcore sex scenes, with a bit of character development and plot mixed in for good measure, you'll love this book. (I confess, I did.) But if you want a book that is more than a loosely-connected series of sex scenes with a background sub-plot that sort of holds them together, you may want to give this one a pass. There is none of the old mystery-detective thriller here that we saw in earlier books in the series; it is, plain and simple, a pornographic adventure. I loved it, but I've a liking for well-written porn. If you like this sort of thing, just jump right in; don't bother reading the previous thirteen books; you won't understand all of the background for this one, but it won't really matter. But if you are at all dubious about sexual content, steer clear. There's nothing subtle about the sex in this one.

I have been reading the Anita Blake serries for years. I keep awaiting the next books, hoping that the next book will somehow magicly be better. This book was a complete disappointment. I don't mind maybe one or two sexual encounters in books, but for gods sakes hamilton you lost the plot! I officially will never read another Anita Blake book. This book should be moved to the erotic section and quit disgracing the genre of horror.

I cannot believe after waiting for one year for this book how disappointed I was when I read it. Yes, some of the character development or lack thereof was interesting and the pregnancy scare was a nice plot point the rest of it just didn't seem to go anywhere. Get it from the Library if you can or at least wait until the paperback version comes out. Really not worth the $20+. Sorry Laurell but you've lost another long time fan.

Tis the 2nd of te Anita Blake series that I have read. I must say, it was disappointing! Quite unbelievable actually. I like to feel something when I read a book, a kinship to the heroine, not in this series at all! Sorry I read it, glad I didn't buy it!

Incubus Dreams, Micah and now Danse Macabre three books that Anita's main focus has been feeding the Arduer. I miss the Anita that did anything to get the job done or even did something interesting. No cases, no zombies, no execution. The strengths and foibles of Anita's men get repeated enough that you can skip pages and not miss a thing. The sex is also repetative and not that terribly well written. Anita now relates to all the other characters new or old only through sex. Predictably she runs the hot and cold with everyone. We get it no man will run her, she'll not give an inch to anyone please give us something new.

like many have said, I too am a big fan, but the last three books have all been horrible. I keep hoping that Laurell will respect her many fan's wishes and get back to what made the series so well loved. The strong female lead, the mystery, romantic struggles the fantasy all wonderful things you don't find packed in one book. Lately though it is just about sex and it is just getting way to boring.

At first I thought I was upset by what I felt was Anita's character being betrayed and turned into Merry Gentry. I mean, Anita went 8 books before having sex with anyone. How come she's had sex with ... 6+ new men in the last three novels ("Micah" excluded)? However, this book explained the metaphysics of it better so I at least understand the why of all the sex.

Still if I wanted to buy a book totally focused on sex, I would look for it in the erotica section and not Fantasy. I'm not a prude by any means, but really other plot aspects need to be addressed and not glossed over in favor of orgy scenes.

I'm not ready to give up on Anita but ye gods, LKH, give us a plot.

I can describe this book very quickly: the first few books of the series had very "PG" sex scenes, very graphic violence. With a couple of exceptions, each book in the series has seen the sex get more graphic, while the violence stays pretty static or maybe recedes a trifle. This book continues that pattern, and given that this is book 14 of the series, one would be correct in guessing that the sex is pretty darned graphic; we've gone beyond "erotica" to XXX porn. For what it's worth, the violence is almost non-existent; just a couple of fistfights. Granted,the writing is far better than most of what you will see in most hardcore porn, but that doesn't change the fact that it is clearly too hardcore to call it anything else.

So -- if you enjoy well-written hardcore sex scenes, with a bit of character development and plot mixed in for good measure, you'll love this book. (I confess, I did.) But if you want a book that is more than a loosely-connected series of sex scenes with a background sub-plot that sort of holds them together, you may want to give this one a pass. There is none of the old mystery-detective thriller here that we saw in earlier books in the series; it is, plain and simple, a pornographic adventure. I loved it, but I've a liking for well-written porn. If you like this sort of thing, just jump right in; don't bother reading the previous thirteen books; you won't understand all of the background for this one, but it won't really matter. But if you are at all dubious about sexual content, steer clear. There's nothing subtle about the sex in this one.

I have been reading the Anita Blake serries for years. I keep awaiting the next books, hoping that the next book will somehow magicly be better. This book was a complete disappointment. I don't mind maybe one or two sexual encounters in books, but for gods sakes hamilton you lost the plot! I officially will never read another Anita Blake book. This book should be moved to the erotic section and quit disgracing the genre of horror.

I cannot believe after waiting for one year for this book how disappointed I was when I read it. Yes, some of the character development or lack thereof was interesting and the pregnancy scare was a nice plot point the rest of it just didn't seem to go anywhere. Get it from the Library if you can or at least wait until the paperback version comes out. Really not worth the $20+. Sorry Laurell but you've lost another long time fan.

Tis the 2nd of te Anita Blake series that I have read. I must say, it was disappointing! Quite unbelievable actually. I like to feel something when I read a book, a kinship to the heroine, not in this series at all! Sorry I read it, glad I didn't buy it!

Incubus Dreams, Micah and now Danse Macabre three books that Anita's main focus has been feeding the Arduer. I miss the Anita that did anything to get the job done or even did something interesting. No cases, no zombies, no execution. The strengths and foibles of Anita's men get repeated enough that you can skip pages and not miss a thing. The sex is also repetative and not that terribly well written. Anita now relates to all the other characters new or old only through sex. Predictably she runs the hot and cold with everyone. We get it no man will run her, she'll not give an inch to anyone please give us something new.

like many have said, I too am a big fan, but the last three books have all been horrible. I keep hoping that Laurell will respect her many fan's wishes and get back to what made the series so well loved. The strong female lead, the mystery, romantic struggles the fantasy all wonderful things you don't find packed in one book. Lately though it is just about sex and it is just getting way to boring.

At first I thought I was upset by what I felt was Anita's character being betrayed and turned into Merry Gentry. I mean, Anita went 8 books before having sex with anyone. How come she's had sex with ... 6+ new men in the last three novels ("Micah" excluded)? However, this book explained the metaphysics of it better so I at least understand the why of all the sex.

Still if I wanted to buy a book totally focused on sex, I would look for it in the erotica section and not Fantasy. I'm not a prude by any means, but really other plot aspects need to be addressed and not glossed over in favor of orgy scenes.

I'm not ready to give up on Anita but ye gods, LKH, give us a plot.

The reader, Cynthia Holloway, made an attempt to give each character a different voice, but what ended up happening was fake irritating sounding voices that took away from the story, and made it a lot less enjoyable. Also, the MP3 format did not complete certain chapters and you lost as many as nine pages. I have enjoyed many audio versions of Laurell K. Hamilton's books, but this one has been the most unsatisfactory.

I agree with most of the other reviews - this series started out with good ideas and interesting mystery-type plots. It has dissolved into gratuitous sex and no mystery at all. Yes, yes, I know that the relationships are based on sex and power, but by now we all know that, so can't we move past it? If the Mother of all Darkness is going to make an appearance, let's get to it already. Let's have a plot with all this emotional/growth/sex baggage. All the 'development' can be interwoven with a real, honest-to-goodness story (preferably one that contains Edward). I will not purchase another LKH book until there is actual story to read.

This isn't as bad as many of the reviewer's have made it out to be. For one thing, Hamilton's relenteless energy is used to the fullest. The book takes place over a little more than a day, and this day is absolutely full of events: sex, attempted psychic assaults by Belle Morte, the Mother of All Vampires, a newly introduced Master Vampire named Augustine (an old "friend" of Jean-Claude) and a few others, and of course, more sex. It's exhausting, and Hamilton takes us for a wild ride. Still, while the plot goes fast, it doesn't go very far. No major conflicts are resolved and while quite a few clues are put in place for future books, this one can only be described as a very long (if curiously brief) interlude in the very complicated life of Anita Blake.

Ok i am sorry but if i want to read porn i would go out and buy that. I loved all of the Anita book in the past except the last couple. There is no story line and nothing ever gets done. There used to at least be a plot and some little personal drama in the back ground, and can anyone even remember that last time she raised a corpse? She never goes to work and even interacts with other humans anymore it is just all about the sex and how many new men she adding to her very fast growing list. She used to be a hard butt and I really miss that. I am glad that is has softened up but I think it has gone to far and could Richard be any more of a baby. I want him to grow a set and stop crying all the time. When we first met him he was awsome so what happened? I would not tell any of my friends to read this one. I would have them just stop at Narcissus in Chains. I Hope in the future things will change and Anita might go back to being the strong women that we all know an love.

This series peaked with well written characters and balanced plots back at Obsidian Butterfly. It is sad that with this latest installment I was able to flip several pages at a time without actually reading them and I could still follow the plot.

Now the only action Anita seems to get is between the sheets (if she can be bothered to get to a bed) wheres Edward, wheres the intense plots the first books had? I still love the books but they have been better.

Gone are the days that Anita rescued the day, forget about seeing any actual story, this book is just one continuous sex scene evolving into another. I honestly lost count how many people she slept with and how many times she slept with them(nor do I care anymore, there are better porn writers out there if that was all I wanted) in this book, and evidently so did Hamilton because she wrote the exact same reactions from Anita everytime, she screamed and dug her nails into somebody. Every problem now is solved with or winds up with Anita sleeping with someone. There was a spark there that might have gone somewhere, Anita really nearly shifted but then that got taken away and she had some more metaphysical sex. Jeez woman can we just have a story, you can still write all the graphic crap you want but just give us a story, something for us to hold onto. This was a fluffer piece if I ever read one.

P.S. I think we can all agree that 5 books with Richard whining and being a total detestable wuss is enough for anybody to dump this series.

As a long time fan I really didn't abadon hope that somehow the Anita series would resurect itself. Instead I will no longer read anymore of these series, even for free. Love Triagles (Octogon's, whatever) are alway interesting but at this point I wouldn't be suprised if Anita had a threesome with her stuffed penquin (and it might not be so over done). Sex is fine and dandy, but I would apprieciate a plot with it. At least with her Merry series the sex is important to the story and moves it along, in this book it's yawn inducing. If Mrs. Hamilton has nothing left for Anita to do maybe she should let her rest in peace instead of making her act like a spoiled brat with a boring (but active) sex drive.

This book just wasn't good. At all. It seems to be lacking in an actual plot. There are way to many characters spinning around and I think that I've lost track of how many characters Anita has had sex with. There seemed to be many points that would've made good books on their own but were all crammed into this one. In short... this book just wasnt good.

Let me start off by saying, if you did not care for the last few books and felt starved for content that was other than sexual, Danse Macabre is not for you. The wit, humor, muder mystery plot - concise enough to stand alone in each book - interesting and well developed characters, and above all, the one liners Anita Blake is famous for, is missing. I had hopes that LKH would return to the tried and true theory of those combinations that made the first 5 books so good, but she did not. Instead we have about 120 pages of content and 340ish of sexual scenes , or prequels to them.

Danse Macabre starts off with a new interesting plot, forgetting that so many loose ends were left in Incubus Dreams, then quickly moves on to sex, and then another brief bit of plot, then bam, its over.

Simply put, it reads more like a poorly written Penthouse Letters, than an Anita Blake book.

In addition to a sterilizing bath.
What happened to Anita? What is this thing that is being passed off as her? WHY?
I have told myself repeatedly to just stop buying these things, yet, keep subjecting myself to them, hoping that somehow it will go back to some semblence of the series. When it was fun, interesting, had actual charactors instead of sexual organs that walk and talk.
I am deeply disappointed in this book, and revolted. Not because of the sex but because it wasn't sex. It was as though she thought of the most offensive, unlikable sexual situations gaurenteed to offend, and wrote those down.
I'm ashamed I even read the whole thing. That I wasted that time and effort. I'm shocked anyone can make themselves write that they liked it.
It was better edited than the last though. I guess that's something.

I've been a fan of LKH since Guilty Pleasures and enjoyed Dance Macabre. More information is given about alot of the characters. Readers learn more about JC and Asher's relationship, their past life together. We learn why Asher found a female human servant.

The arduer is expanded on and just how powerful it is. It can be used as a weapon in many more ways than what is first apparent.

This book is not a transitional book, it lets us learn more about the characters and their interactions between each other.

As a reader I like character driven stories and right now this is what the Anita Blake series is, it's about the characters.

Threads of the plot are there but just not apparent. The Mother of Darkness is going to awake and cause havoc and the St. Louis group is going to be the focus of her anger. Anita and her people are going to have to be powerful to defeat her. Dance Macabre lets us know why Anita hasn't been given the fourth mark.

Other issues that readers were wondering about are cleared up.

Readers have differant tastes and what is good to me isn't good to others and vice-versa but it always surprises me that disgruntled fans keep reading and the reason/excuse I keep hoping LKH will get back on track just doesn't cut it for me anymore, if it ever did. What you mean is that you want LKH to write the Anita Blake books the way you want them to be written, you want Anita to be the character you want her to be. That kind of thinking isn't fair to the author or her fans who still like her. If you no longer get enjoyment from LKH's books, get over it, go on to some one else who can use your money.

I've heard many readers complain about errors in the Anita Blake books but this isn't something to blame the author for. I just finished Kim Harrison's new book and there were errors in that book. Other books I've recently read have had their share of errors, so instead of blaming any author for this, write the publishers and tell them to get better proofers.

Readers should use their own judgement about Dance Macabre. Don't take the opinions of many of these reviewers as many of them hate LKH. Many of these same reviewers show this on the forum and LKH lists, they just continue it here. If you don't want to shell out the money for Dance Macabre get it from the library, but read it and then make up your own mind how you feel about the book.

Well, this book should top the charts in the porn industry. Hundreds of pages of this book showed our heroine in three different venues doing the same thing over and over, and it isn't hunting vampires. Anita, as we knew her, isn't picking up her gun or her badge as a federal marshall. No, she can't get out of the bed she shares with the 7 or 8 guys she has sex with to do anything else. Anita has gotten so into the philosophical problems her men have about having sex with her we never get to the story at all. Laurell,get the salt,this zombie of a book should be laid to rest.

I think Laurell K. is finally starting to listen to her fans! This book actually had a little plot in it instead of being straight erotica. In fact, Anita made it all the way to chapter 9 before having her clothes ripped off! Progress! I still miss the old Anita. And what happened to her work as the Executioner and with the police? She mentions it in passing, but she hasn't been on a case in awhile. Bring back Dolph and Edward!!!

I think the title of my review says it all. These books haven't been interesting since OBSIDIAN BUTTERFLY. These books haven't had a decent plot since OBSIDIAN BUTTERFLY. I almost wish Hamilton would just let Anita die so I wouldn't be compelled to force myself through boring, tedious, improbable group sex scenes, all in the hopeless quest for a good story. Enough is enough!

I bought the audiobook to re-read as the new book comes out in a few weeks. I read the book last year. I'm a huge fan of audiobooks, but this is the first Laurel Hamilton book that I've gotten on audio. That being said, I really didn't like this version. Too much overacting, corny music at the beginning and end of each disk. Just wanted to warn anyone who is considering buying this product.

I am a Huge fan of earlier LKH. All her books had great plots and even better characters. But now I don't even know what to say about all of the sex in this last book. She has the potential to write great sex scenes, if she feels that the book and the story needs them. But sometimes 200 pages of nothing but sex can get a bit boring. And the thing with Richard is getting old. Could he be more of a baby? All the new characters had potential but their stories felt a bit rushed. I guess Anita needed to be pimped out a bit more. All in all I was bummed how this book turned out. I am hoping by the next book LKH will let Anita have a story with a plot. I miss Dolph and the rest of the humans she worked with on a daily basis.

That pesky darn ardeur. Just when you think life can get going in a certain direction, pow! Up comes the ardeur and everything goes kerflooky. It's possession. It's preoccupation. It's addiction. It's bloody annoying. It muddles the brain, it changes your plans, it messes you up. No work gets done. And it's tedious as hell.

In this fourteenth installment of the Vampire Hunter Novels, our beloved necromancer Anita Blake is almost stopped in her tracks and neutralized because of this energetic lustful force. Why? What is going on? When will it end so we can read more about Anita's work vanquishing the supernatural bad guys? Readers have converted the the store review column into a blog discussion of whether or not this plot direction works, or should continue. (Like readers should direct an artists vision?- when did that arrogance step forward? Kind of Kathy Bates in Misery, non?)

Even LKH herself is a bit weary of the ardeur. Speaking at San Diego's Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, the author expressed her own frustration at showing up to the keyboard day after day to find she once again had to write another sex scene. She likened it to an infertile couple seeing the temperature spike, sighing, and once again going through the procreative motion. The za za zoo is gone, baby. Even reading it can be a yawn. When is this going to end? According to LKH, in a few more hundred pages, but only soon enough, when it's run its course.

But stop. Let's consider. What is going on here? What about the energetic message? People have oft times experienced others who seem to feed on their pain, or their misfortune. Energy vamps. They screw up your life. It doesn't move forward. They've sucked you dry. Schadenfreude (amusement at the misfortune of others) is the current darling word of the columnist. What if, LKH poses, people instead energetically fed off something more pleasurable? Would the result be the same? Danse Macabre is a feast of cloying dinner guests feeding off lust:endless discussions of emotion, the meaning of life, permutations and implications of behavior. One big featherbed of stultifying psychoanalysis. Improbable in real life? Duh, yeah, but not when under the hazy languid spell of the ardeur. Who is drawn to this energy? What beings emerge from the ether to partake of the meal?

Character development is slightly advanced by this installment (love Belle Morte and Marmie Noir - continue to feel bad for Eeyore Richard), but the main forward motion in this volume is in the notion of energy and manipulation of energy. LKH fans should not be disheartened but instead embrace the ardeur. It's a phase. Anita will be back in swashbuckling form before you know it.

NB: the proofreading for this edition is deplorable. Berkley Press: get your act together or you'll risk losing authors. No one's work should endure this shoddy treatment.

Ok we all know that Anita has a need to feed the ardeur, but good god I like to read just more then how many men she has to sleep with to keep the ardeur undercontrol. I want some battle going too. This one did not have any battling going on just a lot of sex and I do mean a lot. Which is not a bad thing but Anita has other things going on besides just sex most of the time.

I felt this one which by the way I waited a long time for it to come out was not one of the better books. But I have to say Laura really knows how to paint a sex scence at least that part is never a let down lol.

I think this is really more 2 1/2 stars, but the store won't let me give it that so I went with 3. I liked the old Anita, but I also like the new, so I'm not one of those bashing the book because I'm not happy with the direction the author has taken her characters. I just wanted to see more originality, which is why I read LKH. This book had big sections that read very much like stuff in previous books (esp. with Richard). I almost felt like I'd read it already, there was that much repetition. Which explains why i didn't rate it higher.

I found Micha a disappointment and this one, is one also. The book was he said, she said, and how do you feel about that, instead of any action. If this trend continues I will have to leave this author off my list of things to read which would be a shame since she has been a favorite for a long time, I have read everything she has published so far.

When will I learn. I had high hopes after the first half of the book, not a lot of gratuitous sex, however after introducing a slew of new characters----NOTHING---instead of an ending we get one last sex scene. what little plot that had developed was left hanging. Please, someone tell me how can any author have a 2 page conclusion that reads like a fifth grade book report..

Ms Hamilton you may be the most frustrating author I have ever read!!!!!!

I have been an Anita Blake fan from the very beginning. Like other rabid fans I waited for Danse Macabre to be released with great anticipation and bought it in the vain hope that Hamilton would provide us with more of a plot than the last few novels. Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed. I recently re-read the series and was distraught by how the books have - while increasing in page length and price - decreased in plot and character development. We don't even get a glimpse of the RIP team or Dolf and his issues much less get a mystery to solve! If this is the trade for Anita's new powers and attitude, then I want the old Anita back!

Pretty much, after I finished reading Danse Macabre, I rather felt like I'd been crapped on personally by LKH.

This is not a good thing.

Sex is one thing. Ardeur induced sex is a whole 'nuther ballpark, and it kind of made me feel achy and sad. I'm so completely done with Anita Blake. So completely done.

Such a dreadful betrayal of Hamilton's loyal readers! Her last couple of books were slowly slipping in quality, but I keep reading them, hoping against hope that she'll return to the stellar writing of her early work. I know sex sells, but this is ridiculous!

While the previous book in the series, Micah, was kind of a throwback to the earlier Anita Blake novels, this is very much a continuation of the direction Hamilton has been taking with recent books in the series. Vampire Hunter Anita is becoming Vampire Queen Anita; her powers are growing, and all of them involve risk, complications, and lots and lots of compulsory sex.

I have to admit that I sometimes miss the zombie raising and the mystery solving of some of the earlier titles in the series. Nevertheless, the books continue to work for me. The sex scenes, which frequently occupy multiple chapters, have somewhat limited erotic appeal to me as a male reader--they tend to be more female wish-fulfillment fantasy than male. Somehow, events always seem to conspire to force poor Anita (who as described sounds a lot like the photos of the author) to have lots and lots of wild sex with beautiful men, whose appearance and dress is described in meticulous, loving detail. Nevertheless, I found the book almost impossible to put down.

What makes it work for me? Anita's orneriness as she is dragged step by step into becoming what she most fears and hates, while trying desperately to maintain her own moral compass. The fact that the sex scenes do in fact advance the plot--every sex act introduces changes relationships and powers and introduces new problems and challenges. I remain intrigued by where Hamilton is going with the series and with the character of Anita. And even though I think that Hamilton sometimes overdoes the sex, I still find the series the most successful erotic dark fantasy since Farmer's "Image of the Beast."

i have read so many bad reviews on this book of the series. concerns with characters and their development. my thought on that subject is that everyone grows and changes, including characters in a book. i agree this is one of my least favorite in the series, but it was the first one that i read and i liked the basis of it enough to know that i wanted to read more from the start to the newest releases. yes, i am a devoted anita blake fan.

This book is an absolute failure. Instead of a plot, there is a superfluous amount of sex. But it's not sexy or sensual. Anita makes sex repulsive. I want to see the former Anita Blake kill off the Anita in this book for making her look absolutely horrid.

I don't know what this thing was but it wasn't a book! No plot! No story! No action! Or well...Hrm...Let's see...Anita has sex....and more sex....and well..more sex. I'm not sure what the point of the book was. Nothing happens but some sex. Anita gains more powers....and she can't control them....hrm...yeah.....maybe that was the plot.

I'm ok with sex in a book....but usually there's a point to it. Some reason or something that gives a basis for the sex. not to be found here.

I'm giving it 1 star because I can't seem to give it less. What was a good series, and had immense potential, has become some cheap harlequin novel...and a bad one at that.

I was looking forward to this book and couldn't beleive how bad it was. If you compare it to the earlier books written it sounds like it is from a totally different writter. All the suspense and action from the previous books is gone. The book is one large thing about sex. I just hope the next ones get better.

Danse Macabre is yet another book in the sinking series of Anita Blake Vampire Huntress.

The author has decided to preach at us, her view of life's lessons instead of writing an interesting fictional tale.

To scream at us how her lifestyle choices are so much better and more interesting than the little mundane people.

The pregnancy scare was used to hoodwink the readers into buying yet another book, being used as a personal diary, a vendetta against those who are critical of the last books and pats on the back for those who see it as Anita so often states "the best thing since white bread".

Depending on who is the daddy of the baby, the baby lives, if the daddy is not who she wants it to be the baby dies, I guess that's pro-choice.

Marriage with a man who wants to be a father to the child is a 1950's trap, but buying her man-wife a string of pearls, an apron and giving him her credit card to buy the things he needs to make him feel at home in her house, is absolutely marvelous.

Nacissus In Chains, Incubus Dreams and Danse Macabre, has set The Women's Feminism Movement back to the dark ages. Basically what these books are teaching the young readers is this, if a man or men can give you mindboggling, breakbraking orgasms, she will submit to everything he/they wants and will follow them anywhere.

This book blows

Why? Because she used to write edgy, scary mysteries with good plots, sexual tension, interesting characters and non-stop action. Now it's degenerated into a soft porn, angst-ridden soap opera!! I will vote with my money, just as I have with the last several novels she's written and leave this one on the shelf. Get a library copy if you must. There are just too many good authors out there to keep financially supporting one that continues to put out junk!

*SNORT*...oh, I must have dozed off while finishing Danse Macabre...sorry.

What's that? A plot....*scratches head*...nope I didn't notice one, I guess I missed it. Perhaps in LKH's next book it will be more obvious.

Wake me up when 'Mistral's Kiss' comes out and I'll check.

After reading Hamilton's last three books, I went back to Guilty Pleasures. I had to go back to the beginning to understand what the heck I saw in LKH and why I was a fan. I remember why now, I hope the LKH will figure it out too.

I was so disappointed in this book. It was just boring! The sex were blah and if I read "bad animator, no cookie." one more time I was going to scream. By the way, where was the animating part of this book? Has Anita just gone to have around the clock sex and quit her job that she has to do, or risk accidently raising the dead? I really hate that I bought this book in hard bound. What a waste of money. LKH, quit talking down to your fans that you are rapidly losing and just let this series end. I say, RIP Anita...

Definitely worth staying up all night to read, though I didn't think it was going to be my cup of tea.

The overall theme here seems to be serious relationship drama in this addition to the Anita Blake series. I am not sure how that furthers the series as a whole. The story line is heading somewhere. One can easily see where Anita and her crew are starting to gel and how her relationships are really starting to change her.

There is, however, practically no emphasis on Anita Blake's career or lifestyle aside from her harem.

If you signed on for the criminal/mystery action, you may want to skip this book altogether.

This book is absolutely not worth reading--it's barely readable, has no defined plot, and is an overall disappointment. There is no plot in this book beyond sex scenes and clumsily drawn out character "relationships" which tend to consist of the protagonist realizing that she has to have sex with someone. I don't recommend this book at all.

I usually measure the quality of the book by the amount of times I throw it across the yard. In the case of this train-wreck-of-a-book I threw it once every half page or so. The decline of the series is laughable. Had I wanted to read lots of sex this badly written I would have looked on the internet and saved myself the cost and hassle of reading Danse Macabre. The series has declined into nothing more than the author's feeble and laughable attempts to tell her critics, "ZOMG! You're just jealous of Me!/Anita!" (or, the equally sad, "You're just frigid and don't like sex!"). Well-written sex can exist (and enhance) both plot and character development but this is a skill that the author lacks. Avoid this rancid little "treat" at all costs.

I like everyone else have fallen in love with both the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series from LKH, but um as much as I love her writing I honestly do not believe that we are getting the full 110% she started with. I do not know what may be going on in her life right now, and we all know that is what is affecting her writing, but I hope that everything turns out ok, and she can give her writing her full attention again. If by some chance she does not get back on track I hope she just wraps the story lines up, because she is losing me slowly with all the sex!! I really like the sex in the books, but it has gotten to a point that is just DISTURBING, I hope that she does not continue to cross over into the erotica side, I like the sci-fi and poor Anita is just a vessel now.............. Laurell please stay away from the light!! Do not go into the light!

This book (like so many other readers have said) really has no plot line, there was no killing, no mystery, no bodies. It is only a pause in the moments before the next book, which put me in mind of the last Merry Gentry novel. The ending left me very dissapointed and thinking only, "That's it?!" Even the sex scenes were stale. It seems like Mrs. Hamilton took pieces of sex scenes from her other books and rolled them together to form a semi-new and semi-interesting scene.

Anita seems to get her way, all the time. You can only give a character too much power before it just seems a bit silly.

Danse Macabre is boring there's no excitement no mystery and no vampire slayings. It rehashes over and over the same things as the last 3 or so books, and to top it off there is no plot non-what so ever. On the book cover it states: "Anita Blake Vampire Hunter" but there is no hunting unless you call having sex with 5 or 6 different vampires (that is not counting the shape shifters she has sex with) hunting. This book is an empty shell of what the series was. I was hoping it would get back on track with the mystery, but now it doesn't matter because I'm going to take this advice when it comes to the next book a quote that was left today on LKH's blog by one of her assistants: "If these folks are unhappy with the books, they should stop reading". I guess what they are getting at is if you don't like it then shut up. What they don't get is that we spend our money and time on their products and we have the right to review it... It just goes to show you that Ma Petite Enterprises doesn't care about their fans.
~~~~~
To all the people who think having sex with a lot of different (strangers) men is character growth and a good plot is deluded. I don't want Anita to be the way she was in GP, but it should be what the book states it as: A Vampire Hunter novel with at least 1 or 2 sex scenes will written instead of the badly boring tripe we were presented with in DM. I'm a paying customer so get over yourselves by telling me I don't have a right to give my review because you don't agree with it.

Although I still found the story very interesting, Danse Macabre did not quite live up to my expectations. In the latest Anita Blake novel, a vampire ballet troupe has come to St. Louis and Jean Claude had invited several other Masters of the City to attend the performance. Along with all the politics, Anita is forced to deal with a possible pregnancy, selecting a new Pomme de Sang, and her growing/changing powers. Unlike the other novel in this series, Anita's profession never comes into play. There are no crime scenes to visit, vampires to execute, or zombies to raise. Dolph and Zerbrowski are never even mentioned.

If you enjoyed the four most recent novels (Narcissus in Chains through Micah) you will probably enjoy Danse Macabre as well. However, if you are more a fan of the earlier Anita Blake novels you will probably be greatly disappointed.

I have really enjoyed all the Anita Blake series except the last two books. I felt Micah was weak and Danse Macabre, left me shaking my head. I am finding little difference between the Anita series and her Meredith Gentry, series. They both contain a woman with growing powers, lots of complications, and over the top sex with too many complicated men, and who both have a reason to fear the dark, or the Queen of Air and Darkness, and the Mother of All Darkness. I didn't mind her ealier sex scenes, because they did not interfere with the story, but added to it. Now there is little else, I am afraid she is following into Ann Rice's path of writing Erotica. I miss the action and the police work. If you can get past all of Anita's and Richard's whining and everyone either falling in love with her or tiptoeing around her, and of course all the sex scenes, Laurell did introduce a few interesting ideas. I liked the changes in Claudia, I am hoping to see more of her in the new book due out in december. I liked what she started by introducing Merlin, but she really took it no where. I am hopeful that she went through the laborious process of Anita accepting herself as a succubus/vampire, nacromancer, member of two triumvirates, a possible pan-were, or lycanthrope, with three strains fighting for dominance; so that Anita will have a power base to take on the Mother of All Darkness, who was a vampire/lycanthrope and much more. I know I didn't even touch on her being a human servant, or having her own vampire servant or her lycanthrope ties to the wolves and leopards, or her new ability to call memories, or borrow a power from another once it was used against her. With a power-base like this she might have a chance against the Mother of All Darkness, who was responsible for Nacromancers, like Anita to have all been killed in her time. I think Anita's search for a new pomme de sang was over-played, and I felt sorry for Damian. How many times does he have to nearly die because she is conflicted. I think it was out of character for her to endanger the werelions like she almost did. In the former books she went out of her way to protect the leopards. The introduction of Haven, Cookie Monster was a little much. All I can say is I hope she worked through all the emotional baggage in this book and will get back to the action. I miss the executioner, and federal marshal. I hope this book was merely a vehicle for the Mother of all fights, and that Laurell will get back on track. If she wants to write Erotica, that is her choice, but leave Anita alone. The book over all had some merit, but I can't give it more than a three out of five.

The people who have written reviews that complain about the character development in LKH's Anita Blake series remind me of some of my old boyfriends; I love you as long as you don't make too many demands of me and are always there to make me feel better... BORING! When I was younger I actually tried to be the person they wanted me to be and the relationships never worked out so I'm really glad that LKH is mature and secure enough to know that you have to let people (and characters) grow and evolve or they just become stale.

Danse Macabre takes place over a 24-48 hour period, which does get a little... frantic, is a good word. There is a lot going on in a small time frame and we don't get to see any day-to-day life of the characters (the reason I only gave it 4 stars) but that is a minor complaint.

One of the things you might like about this book, if you are a fan or not, is that Anita is becoming more sensitive to the needs of other people (furry, fanged and otherwise), letting go of some issues (YEAH ANITA!), and she is putting up with less of Richard's crap - finally!! But the sensitivity is probably why some people complain, she is a bit less "shoot first don't bother asking questions" than she was before.

As with all series, the author tries to add enough background that you don't *have* to go out and read all 12 previous volumes to understand the plot but that is difficult sometimes, especially when you know the character, she seems to be doing a lot of justifying/explaining of her actions even in her own head... and there are ever-present trips down memory lane which long time readers don't need but they don't take away from the books for me.

I think this book was a setup for the next one, it seems to be tying up some unanswered questions and giving LKH a base for the next story, plus introducing some interesting new characters; not only did y'all get a girl-on-girl kiss out of Anita (personally I'm with Anita, two guys kissing is hot but girls just don't do it for me) but she wasn't totally grossed out ;) Most likely, Anita will be learning how to control her powers and maybe turning furry (I'm hoping not, but it'd be interesting if she could become different animals) in future stories, we'll all just have to wait and see. Personally, I'm looking forward to it.

Man this book sucks. I had a little hope in the beginning - when the first 25 pages weren't hardcore porn. But it quickly devolved to that and stayed there through the entire novel. No character development. No interesting plot. Just an endless stream of sexual escapades with so many men that I can't keep them straight anymore.

Like many others, this was my last shot for Hamilton's work. It's just not compelling anymore. If I wanted porn, I'd buy porn.

Danse Macabre is boring there's no excitement no mystery and no vampire slayings. It rehashes over and over the same things as the last 3 or so books, and to top it off there is no plot non-what so ever. On the book cover it states: "Anita Blake Vampire Hunter" but there is no hunting unless you call having sex with 5 or 6 different vampires (that is not counting the shape shifters she has sex with) hunting. This book is an empty shell of what the series was. I was hoping it would get back on track with the mystery, but now it doesn't matter because I'm going to take this advice when it comes to the next book a quote that was left today on LKH's blog by one of her assistants: "If these folks are unhappy with the books, they should stop reading". I guess what they are getting at is if you don't like it then shut up. What they don't get is that we spend our money and time on their products and we have the right to review it... It just goes to show you that Ma Petite Enterprises doesn't care about their fans.
~~~~~
To all the people who think having sex with a lot of different (strangers) men is character growth and a good plot is deluded. I don't want Anita to be the way she was in GP, but it should be what the book states it as: A Vampire Hunter novel with at least 1 or 2 sex scenes will written instead of the badly boring tripe we were presented with in DM. I'm a paying customer so get over yourselves by telling me I don't have a right to give my review because you don't agree with it.

Although I still found the story very interesting, Danse Macabre did not quite live up to my expectations. In the latest Anita Blake novel, a vampire ballet troupe has come to St. Louis and Jean Claude had invited several other Masters of the City to attend the performance. Along with all the politics, Anita is forced to deal with a possible pregnancy, selecting a new Pomme de Sang, and her growing/changing powers. Unlike the other novel in this series, Anita's profession never comes into play. There are no crime scenes to visit, vampires to execute, or zombies to raise. Dolph and Zerbrowski are never even mentioned.

If you enjoyed the four most recent novels (Narcissus in Chains through Micah) you will probably enjoy Danse Macabre as well. However, if you are more a fan of the earlier Anita Blake novels you will probably be greatly disappointed.

I have really enjoyed all the Anita Blake series except the last two books. I felt Micah was weak and Danse Macabre, left me shaking my head. I am finding little difference between the Anita series and her Meredith Gentry, series. They both contain a woman with growing powers, lots of complications, and over the top sex with too many complicated men, and who both have a reason to fear the dark, or the Queen of Air and Darkness, and the Mother of All Darkness. I didn't mind her ealier sex scenes, because they did not interfere with the story, but added to it. Now there is little else, I am afraid she is following into Ann Rice's path of writing Erotica. I miss the action and the police work. If you can get past all of Anita's and Richard's whining and everyone either falling in love with her or tiptoeing around her, and of course all the sex scenes, Laurell did introduce a few interesting ideas. I liked the changes in Claudia, I am hoping to see more of her in the new book due out in december. I liked what she started by introducing Merlin, but she really took it no where. I am hopeful that she went through the laborious process of Anita accepting herself as a succubus/vampire, nacromancer, member of two triumvirates, a possible pan-were, or lycanthrope, with three strains fighting for dominance; so that Anita will have a power base to take on the Mother of All Darkness, who was a vampire/lycanthrope and much more. I know I didn't even touch on her being a human servant, or having her own vampire servant or her lycanthrope ties to the wolves and leopards, or her new ability to call memories, or borrow a power from another once it was used against her. With a power-base like this she might have a chance against the Mother of All Darkness, who was responsible for Nacromancers, like Anita to have all been killed in her time. I think Anita's search for a new pomme de sang was over-played, and I felt sorry for Damian. How many times does he have to nearly die because she is conflicted. I think it was out of character for her to endanger the werelions like she almost did. In the former books she went out of her way to protect the leopards. The introduction of Haven, Cookie Monster was a little much. All I can say is I hope she worked through all the emotional baggage in this book and will get back to the action. I miss the executioner, and federal marshal. I hope this book was merely a vehicle for the Mother of all fights, and that Laurell will get back on track. If she wants to write Erotica, that is her choice, but leave Anita alone. The book over all had some merit, but I can't give it more than a three out of five.

The people who have written reviews that complain about the character development in LKH's Anita Blake series remind me of some of my old boyfriends; I love you as long as you don't make too many demands of me and are always there to make me feel better... BORING! When I was younger I actually tried to be the person they wanted me to be and the relationships never worked out so I'm really glad that LKH is mature and secure enough to know that you have to let people (and characters) grow and evolve or they just become stale.

Danse Macabre takes place over a 24-48 hour period, which does get a little... frantic, is a good word. There is a lot going on in a small time frame and we don't get to see any day-to-day life of the characters (the reason I only gave it 4 stars) but that is a minor complaint.

One of the things you might like about this book, if you are a fan or not, is that Anita is becoming more sensitive to the needs of other people (furry, fanged and otherwise), letting go of some issues (YEAH ANITA!), and she is putting up with less of Richard's crap - finally!! But the sensitivity is probably why some people complain, she is a bit less "shoot first don't bother asking questions" than she was before.

As with all series, the author tries to add enough background that you don't *have* to go out and read all 12 previous volumes to understand the plot but that is difficult sometimes, especially when you know the character, she seems to be doing a lot of justifying/explaining of her actions even in her own head... and there are ever-present trips down memory lane which long time readers don't need but they don't take away from the books for me.

I think this book was a setup for the next one, it seems to be tying up some unanswered questions and giving LKH a base for the next story, plus introducing some interesting new characters; not only did y'all get a girl-on-girl kiss out of Anita (personally I'm with Anita, two guys kissing is hot but girls just don't do it for me) but she wasn't totally grossed out ;) Most likely, Anita will be learning how to control her powers and maybe turning furry (I'm hoping not, but it'd be interesting if she could become different animals) in future stories, we'll all just have to wait and see. Personally, I'm looking forward to it.

Man this book sucks. I had a little hope in the beginning - when the first 25 pages weren't hardcore porn. But it quickly devolved to that and stayed there through the entire novel. No character development. No interesting plot. Just an endless stream of sexual escapades with so many men that I can't keep them straight anymore.

Like many others, this was my last shot for Hamilton's work. It's just not compelling anymore. If I wanted porn, I'd buy porn.

Iam a very big fan Of the Anita Series and I couldnt wait to read this book. Then not even halfway I wanted to do nothing more then stop reading it. Where was the fighting and the over all of what Anita is . The sex in the book doesnt even bother me. I like the sex. But I missed the action. There was no dead guys running around no killing of master vamps that were wrong. The story jumped around didnt explain why about somethings. And Micah is being turned into a whimp and Richard i felt sorry for him and I never do. Iam hoping the next book has a plot bring back the killing please. And Edward I miss him. Plus when did Asher become such a whinner???? Oh My Gosh!!! I will keep reading and hoping for a plot and action.

i kept reading just to see if something would eventially happen that had anything to do with somthing besides sex and anita's powers. i don't really have a problem with sex nor anita's powers, but, really, do we have to have a book that is nothing but those 2 things? i'm afraid to buy another book that might be just the same, but i'm afraid that if i don't buy another book, i might miss anita's come back. decisions, decisions.

With Danse Macabre, Anita Blake returns, a shadow of her former self. Her mission isn't to hunt vampires or resurrect zombies anymore, though - it's to nail everything that walks past her in between angsting over her many boyfriends and her possible pregnancy. But the reader's not supposed to see her as irresponsible for not using any form of birth control, or as a childish brat for her argument with Ronnie in the beginning of the book - no, apparently we're all supposed to love her. After all, everyone else does! She knows everything, can copy vampires' abilities if they're used on her, is now apparently the were-queen of everything furry... Hey, she doesn't even need oxygen, if the one sex scene sequence is to be believed! The only thing she can't do is survive without ten or so guys to screw. The people that don't love her are obviously just jealous or stupid.

The inferior editing carries over from Incubus Dreams, this time in the form of grammatical errors and dozens of extra commas. (p355: I licked, kissed, ate, at his mouth, as if the taste of him were a drug, and I needed a fix.) And the plot...is nonexistent. Anita screws people because she wants to, because she loves them all, and because doing so will save the lives of other people she screws and loves. The vampire ballet (which takes a page from the scene in Interview with the Vampire where a girl is tormented by the vampire actors) lasts less than ten pages. The foursome with Micah, Nathaniel, and Jean-Claude lasts about twenty. The sex scenes are what a reader should expect: repetitive to the point that they're boring when they're even physically possible. Everyone screams and writhes almost constantly throughout them, everything is perpetually wet and tight, and everyone throws their heads back and has multiple orgasms. Half the time there's a group standing around watching. Then they talk or think about sex until it's time for the next scene to start.

This book is not fantasy. This book is not about a strong female character, no matter that she keeps piling on new powers, titles, and abilities. This book is a shoddy attempt at erotica, with a little bit of conversation and people admiring Anita in between sex scenes to pretend there's something of a story. If you want badly written and repetitive porn, go ahead and buy it. If you like fangirling over a ridiculously perfect and powerful character whose only purpose is to have sex, this is the book for you. But if you want something of a plot to fill out those few hundred pages, try elsewhere.

It seems as though she has forgot the basic element of her book which is vampire hunter series.

This book was so disappointing. Nothing was resolved and basically no plot. Well maybe there is the plot of sex and pillow talk but other than that I really can't see it.

I loved her books where Anita is actually hunts vampires, solves cases and has sometype of personal life. Now its all sex and personal life how boring.

This is the end of the road for me. I will NEVER, EVER purchase another Anita Blake book again. I'm similarly fearful of the next Merry Gentry book. This was the last nail in the coffin to me. There was absolutely NO PLOT and so very much sex that you'd have thought that Ron Jeremy wrote Danse Macabre instead of LKH. If word ever reaches my ears that Micah and Richard have been killed off, I might (might being a strong word) glance at it via the library.

...you just can't look away. Most of the book is concerned with the relationships between Anita and her many lovers, and the possibility that she might be pregnant and/or a shapeshifter in truth! Lots of fighting, freaking out and f***ing, kind of like "Incubus Dreams", only without any police work or zombie raising.

The one surprising (and welcome) part of this book is the character of Claudia, the wererat bodyguard with an the storeian stature and a heart to match. Claudia is much more vocal than usual, standing up to Richard (among others) and giving the Ulfric a much-needed verbal smackdown. Also, the Mother of All Darkness makes her presence known again (SEE: "Cerulean Sins"), giving us hope that a showdown is coming soon.

A very interesting book, but not truly satisfying to hard-core fans. My rating: 7/10.

And another one bites the dust! I'm done with reading about Anita's `sexcapades' and can Richard be any more revolting? A plot might have tempted me to read another of her books, but it was conspicuous in its absence! If you expect your books to have plots I would suggest you skip this one. If you're into `Anita Does Everyone,' this is the book for you. Sorry LKH, this ride is over.

I have always enjoyed Laurell K Hamilton's stories, but this one was awful. I will hesitate to buy any Anita Blake stories in the future. For those of you who haven't read the book, let me summarize the entire story so you can save yourself some money. Anita has sex, debates who she'll have sex with, plans to have sex, and anguishes over abstaining from sex for five minutes. That's the entire book. When are we going to get back to Anita Blake actually doing something other than her boyfriends?

Very disappointed in this one. Weak story line outside of her relationship issues. Graphic sex and relationship issues seemed to account for about 80% of the book - not the reasons I read the other 13 books.

I never thought I'd hear myself say that sex is boring, but LJH has managed to make it so. Was there a plot? If so, I obviously missed it.

And darn - this thing won't let me rate the book below 1 star.

Read Kim Harrison or Kelley Armstrong instead.

I wish I could give this 4 1/2 stars. How many times can Anita raise a zombie or blow a bad vamp or whatever, away? I would think that those plots, which, I admit, were great in the first books, might get a bit old. I, apparently, am in the minority of reviewers who think that the personalities, inter-personal problems, and strangely human foibles of the non-humans in Anita's world are interesting. I like the sex; I like the sex with an increasingly varied number of men. These are fantasy books; some peoples' fantasies involve having (almost)guiltfree sex and sensual involvement with multiple partners in weird situations and involving growing and changing personalities. And I also have the feeling that the current plot device is the on-going complications of Anita's life. The fact that the books are not at this time the "action-packed" situations of before, just means that the characters' behaviours and emotions are the plots. Something is happening with Anita, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and I think and hope that within the next book or two, things are going to become clear and the background that is being built in these last few books will make more sense to us, the readers. If this happens, then I think that Ms. Hamilton will have vindicated herself. If this doesn't happen, well...OK, at least I have enjoyed the journey even if the destination isn't what I might have wished. (And I would have given it 5 stars if Richard had been dumped on his gorgeous, yet whiney rear. I am always afraid that Anita will take the guy back, forgiving everything. That would make me upset.) However, I have enjoyed the book, through two, so far, readings, and plan to enjoy whatever else comes from Ms. Hamilton down the line. Can't wait for Merry in December!

I have to accept the truth. I am a vampire. Not the kind who drinks blood, but the kind who sucks down truly bad novels. I take them to bed with me, sometimes 2 or more at a time. I'm completely ok with a book that introduces a vampire Chicago mob boss, and then does nothing with the character except put him in sex scenes. Sometimes I love a book, sometimes I like it, sometimes it's just because I need to read, sometimes as often as every two hours. I've tried reading in almost every position, standing, sitting, on my side. Lately I feel that certain books and I are drawn to each other, but I'm not sure our relationship is good for either one of us. I feel that I should send Danse Macabre far away from me, but I don't want to. I'm going to read it again.

Okay, this book is a little bit of a departure from what most Anita Blake readers are used to, that is to say detective work. It is actually more along the lines of the Meridith Gentry Series.A Lick of Frost (Meredith Gentry, Book 6) But I really liked it and I would love to have more. Please. This leads Anita down a new and in my opionon interesting path. We all knew her life had to change somehow at some time. As far as the sex goes I think that Ms. Hamilton is one of the most imaginative and interesting writers of this genre. I have seen that a lot of readers are not liking it and are looking for more plot to which I say-read another book. I enjoy it, it is original and just right by me.

I have read this series from its inception, and found it to be dark and interesting. Slowly the series has started falling apart and this book is the death knell of it all. Laughable attempts at plot, endless pointless dialogue, the same inane conversations. Save yourself the trouble and dont read this book. I hate to see an author I once loved loose her gift, but this is the last Laurell Hamilton book I will read. Im glad I checked it out of the library, and didnt pay for it.

This book is more about everyday life, except vamps are in town. I didn't get sucked in like I do with other books in the series.

As I put before, I think Ms. Hamilton was trying for a lighter book, so boy did we end up in the sex. A LOT. Not that I mind except for a few of her words of description and all the screaming, I mean is that really honest?

Hope that helps...

I am about half way through this book and I don't know if I'm going to finish it or not. All I can say is that I am really bored with it. Nothing is happening but talk and sex a lot of sex, boring sex at that. What happened LKH? Your books used to be fun, entertaining, and full of adventure with a plot now it only has a bed a big bed at that. I think the only thing that can save this series is that Anita dies during childbirth and 17 years later her child takes over and becomes a true "Vampire Hunter" instead of a "Vampire Humper". Thank god for real writers like Jim Butcher.

I was disappointed in this offering from Laurell K. Hamilton. She spent too much time developing the "neverending battle to control the ardeur" theme, much to the detriment of the plot. The storyline was a little too thin and appeared to exist only to link the continuous sex scenes. Usually I am a great fan of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books, but I put this effort from Laurell at the bottom of my list. Let's hope she gets back to her strong storylines in her next novel.

I love the Anita Blake series. Now saying that, I have to say that the newer books are a bit different from the older ones. Not as much gets done because of all the talking, fighting, and drama. I miss the crimes and the survival aspect, and that has been pushed aside for the emotional aspect of Anita's relationships. I will continue to buy these books because I love Laurell and her characters, but I miss the old style.

Just one of the new characters who we "meet" (Anita screws/enchants/becomes the circle of their universe) in this book. Once he was introduced, I pretty much stopped reading. There are too many other good books out there to waste any more time on this travesty.

I am so done with Laurell. It's her perogative to write erotica, but please don't market it to fans of the Vampire Hunter series. It's has nothing to do with hunting anymore, and the sex is not sexy at all, IMO. I'd put my foolishly purchased copy on e-Bay, but I can't list it with a clear conscious.

I can't explain how disappointed I am in this book and the turn that LKH's writing has clearly taken.

While shopping one day, I stopped by the book aisle to browse. I saw this book Danse Macabre, read the back cover and thought "hummm, sounds interesting..". Later that night I picked up the book and did not get to sleep until 4 am. I Loved It, had I seen and read the reviews here, I would never have given it a glance. It was a fun read that made me go promptly to the book store to buy the rest of the series. I have just fallen in love with the characters and can't wait for the next book to come out to see how they are and what new adventure awaits.

I am only about half way through this book. I'm having trouble concentrating on the plot (if you can call it that). Normally at this time I would be completly done reading the book, but now I have to force myself to do so. I love the series, but I am getting a little tired of all the new people that Anita needs to consider for sex and/or food. I was hoping that the plot in this book would develop a little more with some of the older key players, Edward maybe......And I was a little frustrated that most of the book took place in the same room, with the same people, and the same issues over and over again. I will read the next book though, have to finish it out now....

Laurell K hamilton is one of my favorite authors. But the series is not improving much. The character, Anita, is becoming too sexually active and having sex with anyone including strangers. That is not the way the character started out. I love the early books where Anita was more into fighting and killing.

LKH has done it again. This book is the second horrible betrayal of her long-time Anita Blake fans. LKH is completely stabbing her fans in the back for a second time. If this system would allow it this would rate a 0. She can be such a great writer and used to make us care about the characters in Anita's world. Why would an author of a long-running series thumb her nose at her fans like this and trash her characters?

I bought Danse Macabre in the now obviously vain hope that we would see a return to the story-telling and plot that made the original books of the Anita Blake series so wonderful. Instead I found another book of badly written, repetitive sex and a heroine who I have grown to really dislike. I couldn't even finish this book. I will be returning it today. Farewell, Anita Blake. Farewell, Laurell K. Hamilton. You have both seen the last of me and my money.

I started reading these books when I was 13. while the books were kinda sexy sexy at times, they provided a strong female role model. Anita showed young girls they could be in control(if only barely)

Now the books are, "whoops i slept with someone else, couldn't help it! I have absolutely no control over anything I do. The magic powers made me do it."

Lame

If the series had been gratuitous sex scenes to begin with then I would not have a problem, but i feel like my hero is a dirty hoe now.