Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter and Necromancer finds herself caught in a political power struggle in the world of the vampires when the Vampire Law Enforcement knows as The Harlequin threaten to come to St. Louis. St. Louis on the brink of a supernatural war and Anita Blake, vampire hunter, necromancer and federal marshal is once again caught in the middle. When Jean Claude, the master vampire of St. Louis and one of Anita's many boyfriends receives a threat that the Vampire Council law enforcers known as the Harlequin may be coming to St. Louis he fears not only for his people's lives but for Anita's as well. The Harlequin were created by the Mother of All Darkness (Mother of All Vampires) with the simple order to punish and reprimand all vampire leaders who were found in violation of the Vampire Code.
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Due to the extensive nature of the threat, Anita calls in backup and asks her good friend and once partner Edward to come to St. Louis. He obliges and brings a member of his team, Olaf, a known murderer and rapist who has an unhealthy obsession with Anita, in tow. And just in time, as the Harlequin who are composed of some of the most ancient vampires in creation arrive in St. Louis with a plan to punish Jean Claude. This is mainly due to the fact that Jean Claude has grown in power and in his supernatural connections. This has made him a threat to not only other vampire masters but to the very Vampire Council themselves.
When the Harlequin arrive they use their ancient powers to mess with everyone's emotions and behavior. This leads to a power struggle where Anita finds herself overcome by the ardeur, a powerful sexual energy which causes her to feed on sex and something she has been coming to terms with for several months. As Anita is overcome with too much raw power her heart fails over and over, causing Jean Claude and Edward to have bring her back to live multiple times. The other lycanthropes who have gathered also find themselves being manipulated which causes their leader, Richard, a werewolf and Anita's ex-boyfriend coming to blows with Jean Claude. This leads to a pinnacle fight between the two of them leaving them both for dead.
Needing more power to save them, Anita feeds on the wererats leader, Rafael as well as the leader of the swans, Donovan in an epic tryst of raw sexual energy. She also forms a link with her boyfriend Nathaniel, a werepanther and her lover Damien, a vampire and old friend of Jean Claude. Through these powerful links, Anita is able to revive Jean Claude and Richard. Through this surge of power she also realizes the Harlequin have put a spell on her in an effort to track Jean Claude's movements. Enraged, she uses a funnel of power to destroy the spell, but kills a member of the Harlequin in the process.
The discovery of the spell proves to be in Anita and her friends' favor as it means the Harlequin have not followed vampire law. It is also revealed they planned to act on their own behalf and against the Vampire Council and murder Jean Claude and take over St. Louis. Anita refuses to let this happen. In an epic battle, Anita and her friends' destroy every member of the Harlequin. Knowing there could be retaliation from the Council, Anita and Jean Claude agree they must reach out to other members of the supernatural community to strengthen their forces.
Best part of story, including ending:
I found the story to be slow moving and contained mostly back and forth conversations. This also culminated in an epic 35 page sex scene that seemed to go on for way to long.
Best scene in story:
I loved when Anita formed her power link with Nathaniel and Damien as it strengthen her power twice as over. It held beautiful imagery as she tapped into the emotions of both Nathaniel and Damien and she could feel their love for her and desire to protect her.
Opinion about the main character:
Anita continues to spiral down this path of sex and lust that is so far from the woman we were introduced to in the first novel, Guilty Pleasures. She now has fallen so far from her original characterization that you can no longer identify with her as a reader.
