Crimson Death by Laurell K. Hamilton

Anita has never seen Damian, her vampire servant, in such a state. The rising sun doesn’t usher in the peaceful death that he desperately needs. Instead, he’s being bombarded with violent nightmares and blood sweats.

And now, with Damian at his most vulnerable, Anita needs him the most. The vampire who created him, who subjected him to centuries of torture, might be losing control, allowing rogue vampires to run wild and break one of their kind’s few strict taboos.

Some say love is a great motivator, but hatred gets the job done, too. And when Anita joins forces with her friend Edward to stop the carnage, Damian will be at their side, even if it means traveling back to the land where all his nightmares spring from...a place that couldn’t be less welcoming to a vampire, an assassin, and a necromancer: Ireland.

I am a long time reader of Laurell K. Hamilton. So much so, that I have been to conventions, book signings, and meet-ups because I was such a fan. But, something happened along the way. Maybe I have changed, or maybe she has. But, Anita Blake has lost its magic. I went into reading this story with both apprehension and hope. Maybe things have changed since the last Anita book I read, book 16? They haven't. After reading this all I can come up with is this story is the verbal sludge of Anita's brain. It is too many emotions, asides, and inner monologing. I like Anita as a character, and this being book 26 the reader has probably figured out a lot of what Laurell K. Hamilton tells us about what is going on inside her head. so we don't need 300 pages of inner monologing about how Anita feels about being poly. Or how she likes Nathaniel's ass or jean Claudes eyes.

I am done. It has been a “mostly” wonderful road Laurell. But this novel is middling at best. If you write another series, I will gladly take it for a spin. But I am done with Anita.

I use to love this series, now it's just boring and flat. The characters seem one dimensional. I'm finally done with this series.

I very much enjoyed getting to know JJ better. She makes Jason happy who has become one of my “go to” characters. Nathaniel JJ &Jason as a good friends group is just fun. A nice interlude. If you care about Jason and his future you will enjoy this quick read.

7/10/20
I can say that I definitely remember this book a lot more than I have the previous books in the series. I enjoyed the reread and knowing that I could just skip over the superfluous descriptions of eyes, guns, etc. (see review below for more info). I look forward to the next book because this installment definitely got me interested in the series again. I hope to see more character development which is pretty much all I'm here for at this point in the series.

9/8/18
This was honestly better than I expected. The last few books have been subpar and not memorable whatsoever. Like I didn't even remember that a certain male from the main polygroup died in the last one. Heck, I even forgot that the last one took place in Ireland.

This time we're in the Florida Keys. (As someone who's lived in FL for most of her life, it's a damn shame that I've never visited.) I thought the snake people would have taken a bigger role in the main story line but the author was subtle about incorporating it into the wedding plans shenanigans that WAS the main plot of the book.

I was surprised and excited to see the Four Horsemen back together again! I think the books with them around the mid-series time frame were some of my favorite because of the camaraderie they all shared; their thirst for the violent thrill underscored all of their adventures and made for a more thrilling read.

I didn't dislike the slower pace in this took with the wedding plans and the bridesmaids drama. I think it actually livened up the book and made it more lighthearted than we usually see in this series. But what let those moments really shine was the actual development of the main characters themselves. They're always rehashing the same therapy issues every book (not to mention the same damn descriptions about the males' eyes from the main polygroup, the type of guns they're carrying, where on their bodies they're carrying them, UGH JUST STAWP I DON'T CARE).

There were little interactions here and there between the Four Horsemen that got me all giddy and made me remember how I much I used to love this series. There was definitely much more potential here for the supernatural mystery to have taken the forefront but I don't mind the way the author handled it. I will always just wish for more growth and interaction between my favorite characters above all else.

Something I have to mention that I've been thinking about for the past 5 or so books is that I don't believe in Anita's character a lot of the time. What I mean is, her love, the way she displays affection sometimes doesn't translate well on the page. I just don't feel it. She can say that she loves them but I don't really see the actions that show it. She goes from extreme to extreme when displaying her affection - it's either a passionate embrace/full-on sex or a subtle intimate touch. I believe her anger more than I believe her love. I feel like she's been fighting her inner angst and pushing against her partners for so long that it's all that I expect of her character. Without it, there's like a blank space that ate her essence/personality.

This was a long ramble while running on VERY little sleep but it makes me wonder how much of this book I'll remember by the time the next one rolls around.