Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton: Anita Blake Is BAACK!

I don’t know what made me pick up up the book “Guilty Pleasures”, the first book in the Laurell K. Hamilton Vampire Hunter series in 1993. Perhaps it was the seductive cover graphic. Or the title itself. Whatever the reason, I’m glad I made the purchase.

Without a doubt, the Anita Blake character represents my first exposure to the female vampire hunter genre. Anita was kick ass, independent, smart, and tough as nails. She had a day job as a licensed necromancer and spent her off-hours tracking down and killing vampires. She was the Lara Croft “real deal” (ignore the widescreen, Angelina Jolie “let’s fight 20 bad guys in a nightgown” crap). Anita Blake was the sh*t.

As with many characters in a long standing book series Anita changed. Somewhere along the way she morphed into a whiny, sex starved caricature and at that point, I stopped reading the books. This occurred some time after Book #9, Obsidian Butterfly. The underlying eroticism in the earlier vampire books was gone and in its place was something akin to soft porn.

So it’s with great pleasure that I announce the return of the original Anita Blake character in “Skin Trade”, book 17 in the series.

In this book Anita, now a federal marshal licensed to execute vampires, receives a mysterious package in the mail: the head of a victim of a gruesome vampire attack. The person responsible for this abomination is Vittorio, a serial killing vampire currently residing in Las Vegas. Anita’s investigation into this matter reveals that Vittorio has recently killed 10 Vegas police officers and 1 licensed executioner. She knows that the Vegas cops aren’t equipped to deal with a sadistic vampire like Vittorio; without her help there’s a strong chance that the situation in Vegas could turn in to a bloodbath. So Anita, not one to back down from a challenge, heads to Sin City (with a contingent of vampire bodyguards courtesy of Jean-Claude) to take on Vittorio.

However there are numerous schemes at play in Vegas. Members of the supernatural community there want to use Anita for evil purposes. The Vegas sheriff, ill prepared to deal with a vampire like Vittorio, doesn’t trust her because she “sleeps with the enemy.” Edward, a long time associate and ally, appears to have a hidden agenda. And when Anita visits the crime scene of a recent vampire slaying she finds evidence of weretiger activity, a disturbing discovery because it may require Anita to go after people whose influence could affect her own pack.

This is old school Anita Blake. This book reminded me of why I used to love this series so much and why I love the fantasy book genre. It contains intrigue, suspense and action with healthy doses of mystery. And yes, there are some sex scenes in the book but they don’t overshadow the storyline. Anita has always been a good strategist and planner – that’s one of the reasons I liked her so much. She’s not one to rush headlong into situations and hope for the best – she’s fairly calculating. That’s the Anita we see in Skin Trade and I for one am glad she’s back.

All in all, the book works – it’s a vampire fantasy book you’ll want to check out.

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The Anita Blake Box Set
The first 4 books in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series are now available in a box set. The box set includes:


• Guilty Pleasures
• The Laughing Corpse
• Circus of the Damned
• The Lunatic Café

The New Anita Blake Box Set is currently on sale.