Re-reading this book, it was interesting to see how the ardeur started when Anita, Richard and Jean Claude bind themselves close together. Not quite as sex heavy as I remembered, but the torture scenarios are still disturbing. I need to re-read the rest of the books to find out what happens with Narcissus. ( )

Okay, either I've turned into a prude as I've gotten older, or these books have turned into an excuse for Hamilton to publish porn under the guise of furthering her Anita Blake mythology.

Confusing, disjointed, virtually plotless. Occasional advancement of the story line in between the sex and the bloodshed. Too many new characters make the story (what little of it there is) extremely difficult to follow. I suggest you skip to the last few pages and read the epilogue. That will tell you everything you need to know.

The last of this series I will read. ( )

This was the one hole I had in the series, and it's probably the book most important to this later portion, because it has the first appearance of the ardeur. I still have mixed feelings about the direction of the series, yet I read them like I'm starving. Apparently she's doing something right! ( )

This book was so tedious, so boring, that I never managed to finish it. Never bought another book by LKH again. ( )

Not that impressed by this one. It's kind of going down hill for me. Not enough plot, too much kink. ( )