Twisted Kingdom

This is the second novel in the Anita Blake, Vampire Huner series. It was a gift from a friend, a late birthday and Christmas present. It sucks to have finished it because while I have been finding lots of the later books second hand, I still have not tracked down books 3 and 4. Hamilton also wrote a series based around Faeries, I have not found book 1 to that series yet, so I am going to have to either Amazon or buy new in order to further enjoy this series. I might just read the ones I have and then backtrack, have to see.

I really enjoy this series, as I have mentioned in the entries to the other two novels I have read of it, this book was no exception. In this novel "a creature from beyond the grave is tearing a swath of muder through St. Louis" (Back of book). Anita Blake has been called in to determine what they are dealing with and find a way to take care of it. The bodies found in this book are gruesome to hear about, I must warn people, as there is not much left of them by the time they are found. The police need her help before the undead tracks down more helpless victims and leaves them in pieces.

At the same time, one of the richest men in the area has contacted Blake to raise a three-hundred-year-old corpse which would require a human sacrifice. The man believes he will hold the secret to a buried treaure that rightfully belongs to him and will stop at nothing to get Blake to agree to the rising. Even if his methods are not totally legal. Blake soon comes to see that these two seemingly unrelated incidents are not all that they appear to be. She also grasps the full understanding of her powers, which might have scary reprecussions in later novels.

If that isn't enough, she has Jean-Claude to worry about. The new Master of the City, who considers her his human slave, is pressuring Anita to compete the transformation. Anita is not someone to be told what to do, though, and so fights Jean-Claude at every turn. He will never totally go away, as my later reading of the series revealed.

I really enjoy this series. I cannot wait until I either have the next book or break down and read them out of order. I like to savour each one, so I hate to rush through the series, but it is interesting to witness the life that is Anita's.

4.5/5