Book Reviews of 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.

Wow - a plot and everything!

I love Ms. Hamilton's books, but it was nice to have a story line and not just 300 pages of wild sex!

I also loved the focus on some "minor" characters: mysterious Edward, creepy Olaf, sexy Wicked Truth.

And Thank God, no Richard!!! Can someone please kill Richard??? With the number of people who die horrible deaths in this series, why is Richard still hanging around?

I did enjoy this book - can't wait to see the next one and hoping that the quality of the story line continues.

Wow! I was seriously impressed with the LACK of sex and the existence of a plot! This was reminiscent of the Early Days of Anita the Executioner/Detective, when she was more than a place for every man to park the pink elephant.

Keep it up ! Less is SOO much more!

I've been trying to read this book for about two weeks now. Today, merely half-way through, I finally gave up.

I had high hopes for the first couple of chapters; after all, we went pages and pages and pages without any sex at all! Yippee! So, I thought (wrongly, but who knew at the time?) this would actually be a good story. The problem? You can't have a good story with such a horrible lack of imaginative plot.

Where's Jean-Claude? Oh yeah, he's back home in St. Louis, being moody and maudlin and getting one entire scene with Anita that's done via cell phone.

Where's Richard? I have no clue. Nathaniel? I'm guessing at home, too. Micah? Ditto.

So, who's in the story? Three of Anita's fellow Marshals - Edward/Ted, Bernardo, and Olaf the serial killer.

Now that I write that out, it SHOULD have been exciting. I mean, after all, Anita is traveling to Las Vegas because the Vampire Master Vittorio sent her a human head in a box. Seeing as how Anita can't really ignore that kind of message, off she goes.

It SHOULD have been a good story. It COULD have been a good story, except for the small matter I mentioned earlier - there is no plot! Or, if you'd like to call what is there a plot, I'll rephrase my statement into there is no GOOD, IMAGINATIVE plot.

There are weird weretigers, a djinn, vampires, Marme Noir, even weirder weretigers, a hint of Belle Morte, a human SWAT team, a fairly nasty Undersheriff, and the marshals. (And just FYI, if I never have to read about a turned-on serial killer again, it STILL won't be enough to erase the disgusting scenes that SKIN TRADE includes out of my mind.)

Most of the Anita Blake fans will read this one, or try to. I gave up buying the books forever ago, so I can't really complain that I lost anything more than time since I borrowed this one from the library.

But holy crow, I don't even know if I'll bother to try to read the next book in the series. What was once so very, very good is now beyond very, very bad. It's just plain crap.

Hamilton delivers another Anita Blake story but leaves out the most interesting characters and fills this book with dialog with OLAF. I cannot believe that she'd leave all of her lovers behind and not even call them at night? The brief ending was the most interesting part of this adventure and it was cut short. If I was her editor, I would have asked Hamilton to delete 200 pages of Marshall bullshitting story and tell us more about the Father and Mother of all vampires, and what happened to them. I've always disliked OLAF and just found all the pages dedicated to him a bore to read.

This is exactly the writing I was waiting for her to return to! Anita Blake back to the angry, independent and violent personality I fell in love with. I finished this in one day because I couldn't put it down! Will admit that the ending was a little weak and left a few unanswered questions but overall I loved this addition to the series.

This book wasn’t awful but it wasn’t great. I guess I will have to join the group that doesn’t like the metaphysical turn that the Anita Blake series has taken. I actually felt torn with LKH’s last books. I love the personal development of Anita; her acceptance of what she has become and what the men around her are, but I couldn’t get into the whole visualization of the internal struggle of Anita’s multiple strains of lycanthropy. It just seemed kind of ….corny. I have Flirt and Bullet waiting to be read but being that I am having a hard time getting through this one, I may have to stop where I am in the series in order to preserve the memory of the Anita Blake that I have come to know and love, kind of like the sitcoms that voluntarily go off the air when they are doing well so that they will be remembered well.

Pleasantly surprised that there is a plot although the metaphysical mierde gets a bit muddled. Sometimes I had to reread a section because it was totally over my head.
But I did not remember half the events that were glossed over from previous books. It has been that long since I visited with Anita. She seems softer and more involved within herself.
A mystery thriller that kept you guessing! All flavors represented among the characters. I truly expected Meredith and the Fae to make an apperance. That would be interesting. Good read overall, but wished that Jean Claude was more prominent.I missed the tension between them in Guilty Pleasures. And Yay, no Richard.

As usual Anita Blake does not disappoint, she is the same executioner that we have grow to admire. Full of action and suspense, a great book.

Its about time that the Anita Blake series stepped back from soft porn to an actual series worth reading! This was the last book I was going to try and I have been pleasantly surprised. The regulars are missing though :( Thank goodness there was no sign of Richard. I am getting quite sick of the men collecting. I will give the next in the series a try but if it goes back to all that ardor crud I am done with the series.

I agree with most of the comments - it was refreshing to have non-stop sex, but I would have preferred more action. We don't even see the vampire she is hunting until about page 400 and it's 486 pages. So the actual action is rushed in the last few pages.

I'm torn I wanted more but not so much minutia about how people were feeling. I knew Olaf was a serial killer freak. I knew that Ted/Edward was dangerous and loyal to Anita. I knew Anita was internally conflicted and didn't know how to control her powers. I knew the cops questioned Anita's loyalty and thinks she's a slut. This book just repeated all of that ad nauseum, and spent the whole time educating others about the supernatural community - things the reader already knew if they have been reading these books. The only interesting part was that Hamilton added more humans with powers.

It felt like she was setting up the background for the next book. I just want this series to end (since I can't stop myself from reading the next).

How to review this without spoilers? This book was entertaining, to me it seemed a return to the Anita of old (Obsidian Butterfly). Jean-Claude is absent for most of the book as Anita is away from home on business. There is more interaction with Marmee Noir and Anita learns more about the Tigers in Las Vegas. Good action scenes, a fast-paced storyline, and tigers! What more could you want?

Whereas I think this was a great story, especially since Richard didn't make an appearance, I think that the build-up with Marmee Noir was getting a little old, and to make it worse, anti-climatic if it is over. I really can't wait for that whole storyline to finally reach a definite conclusion of some sorts, because it's still too open for my tastes. So, she'll probably be back. The end of this book just felt too rushed so there's some unanswered questions hanging and hopefully will be wrapped up in the near future.

I honestly managed to read this book from start to finish in an evening because I couldn't sleep anyway, but I'm almost getting bored with Anita's whining of having to deal with everything in her life. Seriously, that stuff got old several books ago. I'm sure Hamilton probably has a lot more in store for these characters, but with her writing talents, I really think she should just finish this series off soon start fresh with a new character so we can stop having to deal with Anita and all her angst.

A great addition to the Anita Blake series. Anita goes to Las Vegas in search of Vittorio, a killer we saw in a previous book. He is a serial killer vamp, who sent her a present in the mail to get her attention. Edward, Olaf, Bernard and the police are helping her hunt for him.

We see less sex in this one with more action and intrigue. We get to see the more human side of Anita - with her insecurities - instead of the just all powerful sex goddess. We also get more of Belle Morte and Marmee Noir storylines, and how Vittorio fits into it.

A great read that grabs you from the first page - I recommend it!

It's about time! LKH is back in form with her latest "Skin Trade" I'm sitting here doing the happy dance!

Read Chapter 1 http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/skintradet.html

Was pleasantly suprised, really enjoyed the whole book.

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!

This is the 17th book in the Anita Blake series that is still going and going. This is the first book in a long time that reverts back to the older style of Anita that we all knew and loved; at least for some of the book. For once this book is about Anita's job and her skills as a vampire executioner; there are guns, gore, and lots of action. This was my favorite book in this series for a long time.

When Anita gets into work (yes, she does still hold a job, believe it or not) she has a special package on her desk. It is the head of the vampire executioner from the Las Vegas area. It appears that Vittorio is back to his old serial killer ways. He is trying to lure Anita to Las Vegas; of course it works. Luckily for Anita, Edward and Olaf are there to cover her back. Of course given Olaf's own serial killer profile whether or not he is a danger or protection is up for grabs. Of course as the hunt progresses Anita's metaphysical junk comes into play, we find out that Vittorio is more than we originally thought, and Marmee Noir is restless (as Marmee Noir learns of plots to destroy her physical body) and wants a new physical body.

This is, by far, the best Anita Blake book in a long while. There are lots of guns and lots of gore; lots of shooting and lots of killing. It is not, of course, the Anita of the earlier books, as she has changed as a character. In this book Anita struggles a lot with how her preternatural powers interfere with her vampire slaying. You see that Anita is getting tired of killing and you see how she struggles with the fact that she now sees monsters as people with feelings and problems. She is also struggling with how to deal with the fact that she has so many people to take care of that need her (all those guys) and never gets a moment of alone time.

Edward is excellent in this book, as always. Olaf is super creepy and bothers me as a character, but I think that is his purpose. About 2/3rds or maybe even 1/2 way through the book a lot of metaphysics starts happening; then sometimes Anita starts channeling a bit of Meredith Gentry if you know what I mean. You see a lot of the Wicked Truth (Truth and Wicked take center stage for much of the end of the book). There are many different colors of weretigers involved also. This book actually wraps up a lot of major plot points rather nicely and leaves me wondering what the next book will be about.

One of the bad things about this book (because it is by no means flawless) is that Anita spends an inordinate amount of time "proving herself" to the other good guys because she is a woman. This is something I thought we worked out in earlier books but apparently it is still an issue Anita has trouble handling. I am also not sure sometimes what all the creepy scenes with Olaf were about; maybe they were there to prove that if Anita can relate to Olaf than she is definitely a monster and can understand monsters...I am not sure. I also missed Jean Claude; he was present mainly in passing and he mainly spent time whining that Anita should have told him she was leaving. Richard is not mentioned one iota, which I actually count as a positive.

Overall I actually enjoyed reading this book and liked it. The way it ends really made me wonder what is next for Anita though. I also constantly question how long this series is going to continue; last I heard it was contracted for 22 books...if anyone knows let me know.