Narcissus in Chains (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Novel) [Paperback]

Like the other Anita Blake books, Narcissus in Chains is about power and responsibility, and the way that any increase in personal power ratchets up a sense of responsibility--or ought to. For much of the book, Anita, necromancer and executioner of the undead, is faced with the possibility that living dangerously has caught up with her--that one of the were-leopards whose protector she has become has accidentally infected her and that she has finally crossed the line into non-humanity. Or are the new strengths and powers she is feeling the consequence of extending the bond between her and her two lovers, the vampire Jean-Claude and the werewolf Richard? There are new and dangerous players in town and Anita is no longer sure that she can cope...

Laurell K Hamilton's inventiveness with supernatural menace has still not failed her, though more of this book than usual is taken up with Anita's complicated erotic arrangements--she has come a long way in the course of this popular series from the rather prim Catholic girl with a collection of stuffed penguins. This is not one of Hamilton's best books, but enough complicatedly happens in it that those already keen will want to know more. --Roz Kaveney

*'A superb series' Outland * 'Death & gore galore.Hamilton writes with ease & vigour.Great fun" Shivers *'I was enthralled - a departure from the usual type of vampire tale which will have a wide appeal to any reader hunting for both chills & fun' Andre Norton *'I've never read a writer with a more fertile imagination & fewer inhibitions about using it' Diana Gabaldon *'Supernatural bad guys beware, night-prowling Blake is savvy, sassy & tough' P N Elrod, author THE VAMPIRE FILES

Returning to St. Louis after a tough case in New Mexico, work is the last thing that Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, wants to think about. The woman the vampires call The Executioner is still no closer to choosing between her two lovers and after months of celibacy, she craves them like never before. But when a wereleopard is abducted from a seedy club, Anita is plunged once more into the dark world of shapeshifter crime and werecreature power struggles. A sinister force seems to be targeting the lycanthropes and Anita may be their only hope - but only if she can survive herself . Find out more about this title and others at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

Laurell K Hamilton lives near St Louis with her husband, her daughter, two attack pugs, three birds, and a partridge in a pear tree.