Search - Skin Trade (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Bk 17)

Let's here it for a lack of pointless sex! I wasn't going to read this book because it was guaranteed to be more of the same- plot used only as a device to get from one bed (or kitchen, or bathroom, or vehicle...) to the next. But when a free copy showed up at work, I gave it a shot. What else was I to do on an eight-hour plane ride but read and sleep? And I was very, very surprised. There are only two encounters of the naked kind, they are primarily plot-relevant, and only three times did Hamilton refer to kissing Anita as any form of 'trying to climb inside my mouth'. I was also pleased because it looks like they stopped giving Hamilton's books to the junior high English class for proofreading. The grammar was much better, and while she still writes in sentence fragments, it's less distracting than usual. As always, the characters were interesting, and it was nice to focus on a few key people instead of parading the harem and their requisite emotions through every chapter.

For all of you out there who were getting just a bit tired of the non-stop near constant sex, this book is for you. If you have missed Edward, this book is for you. If you liked Anita better when she was killing damn near everything in sight, this book is for you. Yep, for all the fans of the early days of Anita Blake, this book is for you!

This book was the last chance book. If it had been all sex, no plot, I had planned to give up on the series. Thank heaven I gave it a chance.

Anita takes us to Nevada where she meets up with Edward, Bernard and Olaf. It was very reminiscent of book 8, Obsidian Butterfly, since she was surrounded by unknown police officers and there was no sex for the bulk of the book.

They are all there to help Anita find the serial killer Vittorio, who she faced off against in the book Incubus Dreams. He has sent Anita a special invitation to see if she can stop him. While she is working against the sun to find and put a stop to him, Marme Noir has decided she wants to possess Anita and must be on constant guard against her.
We also got some up close and personal time with Wicked Truth, the twin warriors that Anita had wished up some several books back. I was glad we got some more face time with them, since they were supposedly the muscle answer to their lack of soldiers problem that was so catastrophic in nature, but then we barely heard from them ever again.

The ending felt a little rushed, but all in all a great book. Here's to hoping the next one is just as good.

I like this book mostly because of Otto/Olaf, who is by far my favorite character because he scares the hell out of Anita. I also loved the fact that Richard was not in this book. Seriously, I am so tired of Anita collecting men, damn she really needs to try casual sex. What I did hate about this book and the 2 before it was there is no sex with Jean Claude. I could care less about all those other metrosexual pint sized men Anita is sleeping with. Does anybody remember what happened when Anita and Asher had sex, they almost killed each other from pleasure, now thats sex. Anyway, back to the book, things were tied up too compactly for my tastes, the ending was extremely anti-climatic.

Awesome! Highly recommended!

"Skin Trade" was a surprising change from the last list of disappointments from Hamilton. Readers will be pleasantly surprised as this installment of Anita Blake harkens back to the books of her early days. You'll find a much richer story and fewer sexual escapades in a balance that will delight disappointed fans. I had all but given up on this series, but I urge you to try it once more. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Hamilton has given me a reason to continue checking back. I hope it will for you too.

I usually love vampire/supernatural novels, but I couldn't get through this one. So horrible!