Bullet [Hardcover]

 

 

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Ruthless murders, treachery and a potential civil war among the vampires. Can it be... plot returning to the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series?

In a word... no. Laurell K. Hamilton's infamous Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series is obviously running on fumes in its nineteenth book, "Bullet" -- she just strings along one messy subplot after another, and tacks on some magical orgies and bickering about feelings to beef it up. It's like being shoved headfirst into a steaming pot of rancid bodily-fluids.

After a dance recital that has nothing to do with ANYTHING, Asher throws a fit over the fact that everybody is getting some man-loving except him. Can't say I blame him.

The obvious solution is to talk about people's feelings, then have an S&M foursome with Richard, Anita and Jean-Claude -- which is interrupted by a pair of far more powerful vampires who are trying to destroy Anita. It seems the supervampire Marmee Noir is not quite dead, and has apparently possessed the entire Vampire Council and is preparing to attack Anita and Co.

But instead of dealing with that, Anita makes some phone calls and then starts an all-out battle with the local werelion Rex, who has annoyed her in some vague way. To make matters worse, somebody has put a contract out on Anita and her vast harem, and there's a rotting Master of the City who's causing trouble.

In theory, "Bullet" has a plot. But once you actually sit down and read it, you'll find that the "plot" is just a string of sloppy subplots that have nothing to do with each other. It's just a big, messy, incoherent stew of S&M sex, wangst, whining, sexist snipes and Anita generating new powers like a gumball dispenser.

And honestly... it's BORING. Anita and her harem just sit around playing Metaphysical Tug-o-War and occasionally chatting on the phone. Occasionally there's actual fighting, but it's very brief and usually smothered in "metaphysical" stuff. And since there's no solid central plot, Hamilton crams in lots of stuff that has nothing to do with anything else -- dance recitals, Haven's meltdown, and a very unsexy mass orgy.

Hamilton's writing is grotesquely clumsy (Anita admiring the "creamy goodness" of her "mounded" breasts), and it gets worse when she tries to be poetic ("She offered her power to us like a dark wind" -- huh?). And endless pages are devoted to Anita's boytoys' clothes, hair, and hot bodies -- but I honestly don't care what color eyes Generic Vampire #7 has or how tall WereThug #39 is.

As usual, Anita is crude, self-important, crusty and demanding -- when she isn't sitting around having effeminate bishies wait on her, she's amassing new superpowers and setting herself up to become queen of yet another werespecies. Hamilton also fumbles some of the other characters -- Asher is suddenly a whiny, vindictive jerk; Richard has become a brainwashed buttkisser, and Haven (reportedly based on Hamilton's ex-bodyguard) has become a possessive maniac.

"Bullet" is a sagging, dribbling stew of sex and supernatural powers, and Laurell K. Hamilton devotes the few flickers of plot to... whatever will happen in the next book. I can hardly wait.

If you take the sex out, their is not much of a story. I realy like Anita Blake books. But all-out sex, is just gettting borring now.

I was hopping after Skin Trade, as Anita was doing some real hunting in this book, things would be looking. But no.
How about some action again! Let's get Anita out Hunting the bad paranormals!
In one book she also hints about meeting Micah's family, lets me them.
I hope Laurell k. Hamilton reads some of thease reviews.

Bullet

DO NOT WASTE EITHER YOUR TIME OR MONEY ON THIS BOOK! I can honestly say that this is the last Laurell K. Hamilton book I will purchase or read. I enjoyed all of her books up until Incubus Dreams, this marked the turning point, as the stories became more focused on sex with multiple partners, S&M etc. and left the mystery crime fighting behind. In Bullet we see the introduction of even more sex partners, sex scenes tangled within a very weak plot. Take out all the sex and the book would have only been about 10 pages.

The only way to save the Anita Blake series is to get rid of some of the characters...stop adding new sex partners...reduce the sex scenes...and refocus on the crime fighting/mystery component which made the first 5 books in the series so interesting. Otherwise, just kill the series!

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1.0 out of 5 stars disappointing
There was virtually no plot, limited character development, and no suspense. The first few books in this series were excellent - creative, unique, and focused around a strong... Read more

Published 15 months ago by Agnesv

3.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Lost for Words
This book starts with Anita, and everyone she loves, watching a children's recital. We are re-introduced to many of the characters from the previous novels at this time, as they... Read more

Published 23 months ago by Cor Lost For Words

3.0 out of 5 stars Biting the Bullet
Bullet, the 19th book in the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton, made parts of my recent 30+ hour road trip fly by. Read more

Published 23 months ago by Laura E. Gies

2.0 out of 5 stars Will the real Anita Blake please stand up?
I don't know what I find sadder--the fact that the plot of this book, the 19th in the ongoing Anita Blake series, revolves around somehow finding ways to get Anita and many men... Read more

Published 23 months ago by Darkeva

2.0 out of 5 stars Anticlimactic "And they fought, we won. Random baby angst. The End."
It's a bit of a plot vacuum. Kind of like DM and Harlequin where she has this huge lead up to a big fight and then she hit her page limit. Read more

Published 24 months ago by SomethingLikeATerminator

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