What can I say? I loved the early Anita Blake books. The last 6 or 7 were on a fast downhill slide. Then came Harlequin -- it seemed like a throw-back to the days of a likable Anita. I had hope for Blood Noir. That hope has been dashed.

There is literally a run of FIVE ENTIRE CHAPTERS of her laying in bed with Jason just talking about having sex, the implications thereof, their relationship, etc. Come on... the woman gang-bangs with wolves and leopards... what's one little stripper? Finally, he literally gets down on his hands and knees and begs her to shut the f* up and just do him already - I practically stood up and cheered. Unfortunately, she has to talk about that for a while too.

If you're an Anita Blake fan - don't bother with this one. If you're not an Anita Blake fan - you should be, but stop around book 10. I'll let you know if LKH comes out with a good one in the future... for some reason I just can't stop reading them. I hate myself for it a little.

I finally finished it, and I added a star to the review (for a whopping two), because there is some plot in the last twenty pages or so. I am happy to see the possibility that Anita has lost the ardeur, because frankly I'm getting sick of that plot line... she's milked it for all it's worth. Come on, when a four-some with a woman and three animals becomes commonplace, I think something has gone terribly wrong.