Title: Dead Ice.
Author:
Laurell K Hamilton.
Genre:
Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Zombies, Vampires, Crime, LGBTQIAP+ and Polyamorous
Series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter (#24.)
A
few starting notes:
I
received a free paperback review copy of this book from the UK publisher, Headline, in exchange for a fair
and honest review.
This is #24 in the series - I know, it's a big series. I'd read a few before, and really enjoyed them, but haven't read all of them, and certainly not in order.
Dead Ice can be read as standalone with very little problem, but there are a few spoilers for previous events in the series, so be aware of that if you want to read this book as standalone.
As usual, the level of spoilerage in this review won't go beyond what's in the blurb of the book.
Premise:
US marshal, zombie animator, and legal vampire executioner, Anita Blake, is on the trail of someone making zombie porn.
That's ick enough in itself, but there's something different about these zombies... zombies shouldn't be capable of fear.
If that wasn't enough, Anita also has wedding plans to deal with, and relationships - both personal and political - to juggle as well. Things are going to get interesting.
Best
bits:
I love the frenetic energy of these books - things happen in a whirlwind of personal, professional, fur (there are wereanimals,) and fangs.
Anita's sarcasm and exasperation are, quite simply, awesome. And she's pretty kick-ass in general.
This series is pretty much the pinnacle of urban fantasy (and I do love me some urban fantasy - what with all the paranormal faffing around cities and everything...) and this instalment does justice to Hamilton's reputation as the queen of this genre.
The plot here is involving enough to keep you reading - keeping the right mix of Anita's personal and professional lives with the promise of a criminal case leading through it all.
Strangely, this book is also pretty emotionally healthy. Nope, I mean it.
Sure, bad stuff happens, a lot, and everyone is slightly broken because of it (of course,) but Anita and her household work pretty damned hard to make sure everyone is open, and no-one ignores what they're feeling. Nice and refreshing in any book.
Not
so great bits:
Not everyone is going to be happy with the references (though no graphic scenes,) to BDSM.
There are also explicit sex scenes, including with wereanimals, which ultimately aren't going to be to everyone's taste. They are however handled about as tastefully as you could reasonably expect of explicit sex scenes.
There's a lot of characters here - which can get a little confusing when you're trying to remember who said what with who. But overall, it's not too difficult to regain your bearings.
Some of the LGBTQIAP+ representation - especially regarding intersex people - might be a bit off; though there is so much going on here that it's difficult to fully define that. Overall though, just having this amount of LGBTQIAP+ rep in a book is great.
Verdict:
An enjoyable instalment in a tried-and-tested urban fantasy series, showing that Ms Hamilton has enough in reserve to keep the involving plots and intrigues going for quite a while yet.
Buy Now UK - Buy Now USA - Goodreads - Author's Site
Amended 29th October 2016
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