Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mediocre, 31 May 2009
I actually think that Laurell Hamilton has taken some of the criticism about NO plot at all on board and tried to take this back to her original style of a crime to solve, a bad guy to find etc. She has crippled herself with all of the characters in St Louis as she can't seem to write without getting involved in Anita's complicated relatonships so instead she moves Anita out to Las Vegas in this latest instalment.
Rather than too few new characters this time I felt there were too many new characters to complicate the story. None of the leads seemed to lead anywhere but she still got the bad guy in the end and it only took one paragraph! I was confused at the end as to whether Paula was involved or not, where Olaf and Bernardo had got to - especially since she had laid it on thick about Olaf wanting to date Anita - and what Belle Morte's 'gift' to aid her was. I don't usually need things spelt out for me and I don't mind loose ends but it felt like bits of the story were abandoned half way through thought. Can anyone recall that magic scene in Guilty Pleasures where she and Edward killed the Master of the City - all the suspense and drama of those pages and the finality of the close. That is the writing that I want back and for the last few books it hasn't been there.
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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Anita goes to Sin City, 3 Jun 2009
Let's face it: if you are reading the seventeenth book in a series, you are going to be a fan of it and will have read the previous volumes. You will be familiar with the characters, the milieu and know what to expect - or think you do - and will be plunging in to the novel's world to catch up, and see how the author moves the overall plot forward. The question you will want answering is: does this installment do what you expect? Does it surprise, or disappoint? Well, the answer to these two questions in the case of 'Skin Trade' is a little bit of both.
Laurell K. Hamilton has taken her heroine, Anita Blake, on quite a journey in the course of the previous sixteen books: while remaining an indomitable and courageous crusader against evil in all its forms, Anita has changed from a lonely single woman who went to sleep clasping a stuffed penguin in the first volume, to a mortal succubus who literally has to have sex frequently to survive. Luckily, she's also blessed with a succession of improbably gorgeous lovers who are only too willing to oblige. The novels have changed from relatively 'straight' horror adventures at the outset, to erotica, to explorations of the intricate relations between Anita and her lovers, and between the various groups of vampires and shapeshifters with which Hamilton populates her world. This has led to some criticisms from fans that the more recent books haven't been true to the initial vision - there is some truth in this - but, people mature and change as they grow older, and it would be tedious for Anita to remain ever unaltered, like an insect in amber.
In 'Skin Trade', however, Hamilton breaks away from the relationships, political and otherwise, and takes Anita back to straightforward vampire hunt. Vittorio, a vampire serial killer, who last made an appearance in book twelve, 'Incubus Dreams', sends her a macabre invitation to come find him in Las Vegas, in the form of the severed head of a murdered vampire executioner. Anita has no choice but to go after him, even knowing it is almost certainly a trap. Once there, she has to handle hostility from the police, machinations by the local weretiger queen, who would like nothing more than to see Anita married to her son and part of the pack, and relations with her fellow vampire hunters, among them her long-time friend and mentor, Edward, and the serial killer Olaf, who has developed an unhealthy interest in Anita herself, and actually tries to court her, in his own twisted way. All this, while also trying to locate Vittorio, and find out what other supernatural surprises he has in store, and resisting the continued attempts by the Mother of All Darkness to possess her.
With everything that Hamilton has packed in to this volume, it makes for an involving read, and the absence of both most of Anita's steady lovers and the political to-ing and fro-ing makes for a refreshing change after the last few books. I wouldn't exactly describe it as a return to form, but it is closer to the type of tale that made so many people fall in love with Anita Blake in the first place. Hamilton has also toned down the quantity of sex somewhat - a disappointment for some, I'm sure, but a relief for others. Anita is as tough as ever, ready to do whatever it takes to protect the innocent - human, vampire or shapeshifter - while struggling with the conflicting nature of her dual roles as vampire executioner and human servant to a Master of the City.
Hamilton's writing is as good as ever, although the novel lacks some of the more visceral descriptions and images of the earlier books, and most Anita fans won't want to put the book down until they've finished it, I'm sure - I know I didn't. If I have any criticisms, it's that the denoument seems a little anticlimactic, with a major plotline which has continued over several of the previous books seemingly disposed of in a couple of sentences. Then again, I wonder if that is truly the case...
In conclusion, then, 'Skin Trade' is a welcome addition to Anita's adventures, and a promising sign for volume eighteen, for which I'll definitely be putting in a pre-order.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping..., 10 Jun 2009
I can only give high praise to the latest offering from Ms Hamilton.
After the disappointment of the last few books I was about to give up all hope and give up on the series.
However, what made me give this book a shot and the series one last chance was the fact that Edward was back - and as Edward is by far one of the best characters in the series I wanted to see if we finally got a storyline worthy of his appearance.
And I can honestly say I wasn`t disappointed.
Skin Trade finds Anita travelling to Las Vagas after recieving a head in a box from one of the few Vampires she failed to kill, Vittorio.
Teaming up once again with Edward (known as Death by the monsters) and joined by Bernardo (bounty hunter/assasin) and Olaf (a serial killer/rapist with an unhealthy interest in Anita) they must now track down and kill Vittorio before he gets to Anita.
Of course, Anita`s life is never easy, and her reputation means a rocky relationship with the LA cops, not to mention dealing with the Master of the City of LA and his wife.
Throw in The Mother of ALL Darkness and Anita really is up against it.
This really is the best book I`ve read in the series in a very long time.
Ok, granted it`s set over a 24 hour period but the detail put in by Ms Hamilton is a reminder of just how good she is as an auther.
The possible down side is that the ending seems a little rushed, and what should have taken place over at least 2 chapters was thrown together in 2 pages - somewhat of an anti-climax to an otherwise faultless story.
And yes, there is sex but not until right near the very end - and not an entire book of it but a few pages that actually fit into the storyline, of course opersonally I could have lived without it at all.
Over all though I have nothing but praise for this latest offering by Ms Hamilton and will definitely be giving the next book a chance in the hopes that this level of writing is kept up.
However, should the next book fall back into the dismal excuse for a novel that the last few Anita Blake books have, and by that I mean if it`s another book of soft porn with no story, then I may just call it quits on the series.
But after reading Skin Trade there is hope and with any luck Ms Hamilton has listened to her fans and this is the rebirth of the series.
A fantastic boof, a great story and high praise.
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