Anita Blake Series: Currently Reading Book 17

 

Skin Trade by Laurell K Hamilton

With so many books about vampires lately it seems like the market is pretty saturated.  But, there is always the one vampire series that goes back over a decade and that is the Anita Blake Series. I have been a fan of the Anita Blake series as well as the Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K Hamilton for years.  I am currently reading Skin Trade. Skin Trade is the 17th book in the Anita Blake series and I am a little behind on my reading as book 18 and 19 were just released this year.  I know many fans of Anita Blake grew frustrated at the increase in sex and the intensity of these scenes that started in book six of the series, The Killing Dance.  As not being someone who has bothered by these scenes, but actually has enjoyed seeing the change in Anita, it has been a change in going back to the roots of the Anita Blake series in Skin Trade.  I am currently in chapter fifteen and have yet to read one.  This has been quite a change from the other recent books in the series.  

The story line in Skin Trade begins with Anita receiving a severed head in the mail from that appears to be a Master Vampire, Vittorio that we had seen in a previous book in the series, Incubus Dreams.  As usual, Laurell K Hamilton catches readers with her gruesome descriptions.  I love the fact that she does not hold back in any of her details no matter how morbid.  For instance Olaf or Otto, the crazed Serial Killer/US Marshall.  Speaking of Olaf, readers will be excited to know that he and our other favorite US Marshall Ted Forrester is back in this book.  For those of you who do not know Ted, he is the first Edward. Many lovers of Anita Blake like to say, "My Edward is a sociopath with a flamethrower."  I agree.  

I remember wondering in a previous book, "How does she know what an eyeball being squished in its socket sound like?"  I am anxious to finish Skin Trade just as I am everyone one of Hamilton's books.  I realized when I started the book how much I have missed Anita.  She is a great character and Hamilton has written of all her characters as her friends.  I must say that her characters become friends to her readers as well.  Watching Anita evolve through the books has been an awesome ride.  I will write a more detailed review of the book when I complete it.