Book Review-Older Books 22

Review—Incubus Dreams

Incubus Dreams by Laurell K. Hamilton.  Published by Penguin Group, October 2004, 658 pgs.

The City is St. Louis, and Anita Blake is a woman of many talents, one of which is working for the police departments Regional Preternatural Crime Investigation Unit, on an on-call basis.  Anita is a Vampire Hunter and she also investigates crimes involving other species of the dark side.  She was also born a necromancer, and her regular job is raising the dead, frequently for attorneys disputing wills.  These are just a few of her skills; relationships are where more of her problems lie.

Anita is involved with the Master of the City, Jean-Claude, who also runs many night clubs in the city.  He is a vampire and she is his consort.  Her ex is a werewolf named Richard and he makes up the third in a triumvirate of power.  This threesome manages the undead, the were-animals and vampires of this city by a very thin thread.  Older and more powerful preternatural beings seem to show up with frequency, usually bringing death and mayhem with them.  This death keeps Anita in contact with the police and her intimate knowledge of such beings makes her contributions valuable to the investigations.

Anita’s living situation is also beyond the norm.   She currently resides with a couple of were-leopards.  Micah is the leader of the were-leopard pard, and he seems like just the right guy for her, and Nathaniel, another were-leopard, was a friend who is slowly becoming to mean more to her.  They make her chaotic life generally run better.

But being part of this triumvirate has increased the power of all involved and some of the drawbacks have made her life seem more like a roller coaster and the bad guys just keep coming.  Old-world powers seem to be the cause for the recent murders and Anita means to stop whoever is the cause, by whatever means necessary.  The means are frequently gruesome and sometimes comical.

This book is the latest in a long-line of Vampire hunter novels by Ms. Hamilton.

They are gripping and enticing and can be very, very steamy to the very open-minded.  The many interpersonal relationships and constant dangers are weaved throughout the book with attention grabbing skill.  Beware, though, you definitely have to let your imagination take you through this book as it is steeped in the fantastical.