The Killing Dance

First read: 2006
Re-read: March 2016
Rating: 4/5 stars

The plot: Anita is dealing with both personal and professional problems at the start of The Killing Dance. She is approached by a master vampire named Sabin who has begun to rot due to drinking animal blood. He is convinced that Anita's powerful necromancy is the key to reversing the process. Anita is still dating both Richard and Jean-Claude and getting ever more involved in werewolf and vampire politics. Edward also re-appears. He tells Anita that someone has put out a hit against her and so Anita must defend herself on all fronts as she tries to figure out who wants her dead.

What I liked:
- A lot of reviewers have said that they think Anita is a very selfish character but in my show more opinion, in these early books at least, Anita shows a strong protective streak and a lot of compassion for others. She puts herself in harm's way to save people she doesn’t even know because it is the right thing to do.
- Edward is back. He and Anita have good chemistry together even though it is clear that their relationship is platonic. The best books in the Anita Blake series are definitely the ones where Edward and Anita are working together.
- The start of the Triumvirate and the beginning of real power for Anita, Jean-Claude and Richard.
- Anita finally consummates her relationship with Jean-Claude and chooses him over Richard!
- The additional insights Hamilton gives us into the way Anita’s world works; she tells us about Vlad syndrome and how it is possible for certain male vampires to impregnate a human woman under the right conditions (vampire women cannot get pregnant). We also find out about half-way houses for humans that have been bitten and are waiting to see if they will ‘turn’ on the next full moon, and what happens to vampires who try to live off animal blood. It is fascinating and it is these little details that help to give Anita’s world so much more realism.

What I didn’t like:
- I complain about Richard in every book he is in but here he was a main part of the story. He is whiny and petty and tries to hide behind his morals to avoid making tough decisions. He goes out of his way to make Anita feel bad for being strong enough to make hard choices and even deliberately puts her in uncomfortable scenarios (such as sending Stephen to her bed so she could comfort him without asking her about it first.)
- Richard's violence towards Anita - at one point in the story he throws her across the room in a jealous rage because he saw her kissing Jean-Claude. He hit her hand so hard it went numb and developed a multi-coloured bruise. She even acknowledges after he realised she’d slept with Jean-Claude that she is scared of him and thinks he is going to hit her. It baffles me that a woman so strong and capable as Anita can make excuses for his behaviour and still want to be around him. show less

Things are getting very complicated in Anita Blake's love life. She's been dating both Richard and Jean Claude for some months now and the sexual tension and jealousy is really ratcheting up. Tensions are also running high in the local wolf pack, where Richard is still trying to orchestrate a bloodless coup. Anita's pretty sure that this naïve approach will end with several someones dead, and Richard's self-righteous attitude about killing is beginning to grate.

Naturally, because nothing is ever simple, someone has taken out a contract on Anita's life. Edward's come into town to act as her body guard. She tries hiding out at Richard's house, but eventually has to move in with Jean Claude for maximum safety. Neither man is happy, but show more they eventually try joining forces as a triumvirate to consolidated enough power to back down Richard's alpha. They are also hoping to use this harnessed power to cure an ailing vampire who's come to Anita for help.

Eventually, Marcus, Richard's alpha, is revealed to be the source of the contract. Although Richard kills him, Anita knows the feud is not over while his mate still lives. Richard won't hear it and traumatizes her by changing to wolf form on top of her. Heart broken and conflicted, Anita returns to the Circus of the Damned and has sex with Jean Claude. Richard and her pretty much break up. And then they all get kidnapped by the conspiracy of forces that have been behind all the recent trouble. It will be up to Anita to find a way to save her lover and her other boyfriend before they are all sacrificed in a complicated necromantic ritual.

By this time in the series Richard is really starting to get annoying. I forgot how fast that develops. I'm pretty sure Richard's constant whining is why I stopped reading these books back in the day. Still, this is a pretty solid installment in the series because Anita is really starting to come into her own with her necromancer powers. show less

I really loved Laurell K. Hamilton's early Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series books but I did feel like she lost the thread a bit in the middle of the series. I am glad to say that it seems like she is focusing more on the story line and less on the sex of late which makes the books better in my opinion. I think Anita is a great character and Laurell K. Hamilton can write a great plot but her overly complicated sex scenes can somewhat take away from the book.

Man, I love this series. I should probably be embarrassed to admit that, but I'm not; not one bit. Anita is tough, bold, and the epitome of a kick-ass heroine. Jean-Claude is one of the best romantic heroes I've ever read (vampire or otherwise), and even Richard is starting to grow on me. The writing, as always, is exceptional.

Picking up the sixth book in this series made me absurdly happy, and I went into it with high expectations. Luckily, Hamilton didn't disappoint. I can't wait to sink my teeth (pun totally intended!) into the next one!

I'm one of those that felt this series dropped into an abyss with Narcissus in Chains, but not only is this still on the right side of the divide, I think this might be my favorite book in the series. In this book the relationships between Jean-Claude, the vampire master of the city, Richard the were-wolf leader, and Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter and her tug between the two men are what is in the forefront. And below be spoilers, because I can't see discussing this book without them.

Spoilers Below

Up to now, the Anita Blake books were more sensual than sexual. Yes, there has been eye-candy. And some books had scenes that depicted sexual violence, but Anita had still kept her body, if not her heart, untouched. I've seen reviews that see show more what Anita does in this book as "cheating" and feel she betrays Richard--sees her as hypocritical for her feeling repulsed by what she sees and turning to Jean-Claude. I don't see it that way. Anita started the series with a moral bright line that kept being undermined from book to book. Vampires and weres were monsters to her. Over the course of the books she not only learned to see them as people but to see the monster in herself. Richard was the good guy, at least compared to Jean-Claude. So, yes, I do understand why what she saw was such a shock to her. If she was depending on Richard to keep her grounded and human, well the scales dropped from her eyes here. And that naturally I think upset the balance between Jean-Claude and Richard in their rival claims to her heart. And between the two of them, given that Richard could come across as self-righteous and whiny, I was pulling for Jean-Claude.

Hell, given the endless stretching out of sexual tension up to this book, my reaction when Anita had sex was "Finally!" Little did I know that eventually sex wouldn't simply drive plot but take it over in this series. show less

I love the way the author keeps you guessing. The will she won't she of whether Anita will have sex with the vampire or the werewolf, or both. Plus the noir feel. I love how something that happens at the beginning of the book and seems like a separate plot line all comes together at the end.

I generally don't like first-person novels, but the author does it right again and again.

This was an excellent book in the series. I'm not a love triangle fan but the dynamics and situations in this book between Jean-Claude and Richard were both exciting and sad. Edward was a pure treat in all his scenes with Anita, I just loved it. Impossible to put down.