Hit List (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 20) by Laurell K. Hamilton (2011)
For the very first time, I was disappointed in an Anita book*. This is nearly plot-less, a meandering journey without Anita’s family of vampires and weres. Hamilton breaks with her trademark formula without giving readers a credible replacement.
Edward is a main character, but seems oddly souless and suburban, lacking the underlying threat he normally exudes. He calls in the sociopathic serial killer Olaf as a backup, but even Olaf’s menace is muted. A final confrontation between Olaf and Anita is telegraphed over and over, but the novel ends without it. And the final battle? What final battle? The novel ends with a whimper.
It’s as though all of the characters are infected with the ennui that Anita expresses repeatedly. Light on action, light on sex, even light on the Anita angst, this felt like a placeholder in the series rather than an Anita story.
* You may have understood from other posts that I do not hold Ms. Hamilton to a high standard. Like Stephen King, she's not so much on the technical/art aspects of *writing*, but (normally) gives great *story*. This entry was originally posted at http://www.dreamwidth.org/12345.html. Please comment here or there.