Reviewed by JustJen
Title: Serpentine
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #26
Heroes: Anita Blake
Genre: MF Paranormal
Length: 512 Pages
Publisher: Penguin USA
Release Date: August 8, 2018
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, returns for her twenty-sixth adventure. Fans of Charlaine Harris and Anne Rice will delight in this series by Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton. ‘A hardcore guilty pleasure’ – The Times Anita Blake faces new, even deadlier enemies as she and the people she loves confront major changes in their lives…
Vampire hunter Anita Blake has managed to overcome everything she faces. But this time there’s a monster that even she doesn’t know how to fight…
A remote Florida island is the perfect wedding destination for the upcoming nuptials of Anita’s fellow U.S. Marshal and best friend Edward. For Anita, the vacation is a welcome break, as it’s the first trip she gets to take with just wereleopards Micah and Nathaniel. But it’s not all fun and games and bachelor parties…
In this tropical paradise, Micah discovers a horrific new form of lycanthropy, one that has afflicted a single family for generations. Believed to be the result of an ancient Greek curse, it turns human bodies into a mass of snakes.
When long-simmering resentment leads to a big blowout within the wedding party, the last thing Anita needs is more drama. But it finds her anyway when women start disappearing from the hotel, and worse–her own friends and lovers are considered the prime suspects. There’s a strange power afoot that Anita has never confronted before, a force that’s rendering those around her helpless in its thrall. Unable to face it on her own, Anita is willing to accept help from even the deadliest places. Help that she will most certainly regret–if she survives at all, that is…
Review: It’s pretty crazy to be reading book 26 of a series. I missed a few later on when the ardeur took over and there was just too much sex and not enough story for my tastes. But, when I saw that this installment contained a reunion with Edward, I couldn’t resist. I’m glad I jumped back in!
So, at this point in the story, Anita is in a relationship with Jean Claude, Micah and Nathaniel, to include Nicky and a few other regular playmates. Anita is engaged to Jean Claude (whom she plans to marry), as well as Micah and Nathaniel (whom are planning to marry), there not being a law against numerous fiances. Work has kept Anita and Micah away from home recently, and it is starting to take a toll. What better way to reconnect than to take a much needed vacation away?
So, the group, sans Jean Claude, head to the Florida Keys to attend the wedding of Edward/Ted and Donna. I’ve loved Edward from the beginning, so it was really great to see him again. There is a lot of backstory as you can imagine from 26 books, and many memories were brought back for me while reading this. Of course, this wouldn’t be an Anita Blake story without some monster hunting and danger. Who knew it would come in the form of Donna’s friend, Dixie, aka bridesmaidzilla? There is quite a bit of drama afoot, but it is taken a step further when Dixie goes missing.
Work follows Micah and Anita, which puts them in the doghouse with Nathaniel for a bit. But when everything starts blending together, they must pull together to help figure things out. Also on the scene is our favorite creepy psycho, Olaf, aka, Otto, who is just as stalkery as ever where Anita is concerned.
I really enjoyed getting back into this story again. There are a lot of details surrounding the who’s who in Anita’s life and the reasons for them being there. It definitely helps having most if not all of that backstory, but Ms. Hamilton does a good job of explaining what’s going on without recapping too much for those in the know. While an important aspect of this is about the foursome navigating their relationship together and in their various couplings (aka Micah and Nathaniel), there is surprisingly little sex. It is much more story driven than some of the previous books, and that makes it a winner for me and definitely got me back on board the crazy train.
Overall Impression: I really liked it!
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*
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