Book Review-Newer Books 47

Review—Bullet

Laurell K. Hamilton wrote the novel Bullet. Berkley Publishing Group published the book in May 2010; the novel has 356 pages.

            St. Louis is the home of U.S. Marshall Anita Blake, who is also a necromancer and vampire executioner. She is also the lover of the Master Vampire of the city, Jean-Claude, and is part of his triumvirate of power. Yet, through her powers, her own triumvirate has developed. In the recent past, the first vampire was killed, she is also known as the Mother of all Darkness. Now Anita tries to live daily life as a normal person, yes, one with involved relationships with vampires and were-animals. Normal daily life does not come easy. Especially, as she is also the leader of several were-groups. In addition, she is linked as a victim of multiple strains of lycanthropy to these groups.

            In other cities across the U.S., there is worry that Jean-Claude and Anita are seeking too much power, but an unexpected visitor, who aims to rule not only Europe but America, lets them know that she is a force to be reckoned with. She is back, not dead and has possessed the Vampire Council. One way to fight her power is for Anita to master another tiger, one not known to exist for thousands of years. She needs to make them part of her power and bring them into their own power and that means using the arduer in the form of sex or anger. While the Mother of all Darkness reaches out and touches them, power is unleashed that leads to new horrors for Anita and those she cares for. This leads to new decisions to be made and alliances to be forged. Some of these new friends may just have to realize that St. Louis is the place with the power and the alternative is much, much worse.

            Laurell K. Hamilton has written many vampire hunter books, starring Anita Blake. The novels evolve the characters and emotions of relationships, as well as dealing with the powers and weaknesses of various supernatural beings. Many of these novels will lead the reader to read the other and future books. These are very adult books and should be limited to adult readers.