HA! Take THAT Word Press!

Book Regret: Once upon a time, there was this awesome series of books about Anita Blake – devout Christian, necromancer and vampire killer. She had deeply held convictions, real friends, difficult relationships and a super-inconvenient job. The books were great because there was a mix of action, interpersonal conflict, intrapersonal conflict and character growth as she got older and wiser. Alas, that series only lasted about 5 books. Ever since then the books devolved into orgiastic group sex and increasingly bizarre behavior for the main character. I stopped reading and never looked back.

Well, until last week when a free copy of Skin Trade fell into my hands. I was hopeful as I’d heard more recent books had shown kind of a return to old Anita. What I found in THIS book was – no joke – 80% of the book was Anita whinging about how she’s a girl so the police guys won’t take her seriously and then complaining about having to prove how tough she is – AFTER she’s proved how tough she is. The plot was literally the last 40 pages. Not only that, she took one of her BEST characters – a stone cold killer – and made him Anita’s handholding GIRLFRIEND for the ENTIRE BOOK.

I’d feel ripped off except that I didn’t pay for the book. On the other hand, I’ll never get that three hours (or those brain cells) back EVER. Suck. Laurell K. Hamilton should be up on charges for slaughtering a great idea.