I have been a loyal fan of Laurell K. Hamilton's novels from the very beginning of the Anita Blake series. The first six or seven books were phenomenal in their plot, writing, characters, everything! But sometime around the Narcissus in Chains novel, they started to take a downhill turn and up through the previous novel, it only got worse. There was no longer a point to the novels, villains were only half-ass, easily defeated foes that shouldn't have warranted a full novel and each book's plot was just tape to hold together the too often and crazy sex scenes that had no point towards the character building or plot-line.

So I went into this book with low expectations. I was actually pleasantly surprised to find that there was a point to this story, a logical progression to the plot and it moved the overall story arch into the next step. We've been hearing about Edward's upcoming nuptials for the past, I don't know: 5 books, with no forward progress and now here it is. The main story line is set in Florida where Edward (Ted) is finally supposed to be getting married to his long-time fiancee. During some of the pre-wedding visits to Florida, Micah and the Coalition have been asked to help a previously unknown, horrific type of snake shifter family.

The fun of this novel is that getting everyone together for a non-case, non-long time villain story means that there's more room for character building and relationships. Jean Claude is not a heavy presence as he does not travel to Florida with everyone, but Micah and Nathaniel are heavily featured. Ted (Edward) and the Marshalls crew all pop up again and the 'villain' is sort of a stumbled into situation that worked well and nicely tied everything together. Hopefully, Ms. Hamilton will continue to take the time she did with this novel for any future novels in the Anita Blake series and start a new leaf from here on out.

A complete turn-around and surprise from the crazy, sexpot, no plot line novels that the past 10 plus novels have been! Well done!

I keep reading this series hoping the author will go back to the tone of the early series. I keep being disappointed. I loved the plot and world building of the first 7 or so books in the series, but then the focus shifted heavily to endless sex scenes, and endless rehashing of Anita's many, many relationships. I respect polyamory as a life choice, but every chapter seems to be about Anita adding a new lover to the group and the issues that this causes. It makes for very dull reading. The author reuses a lot of phrases and descriptors, and over time it seems like you're reading about the same argument from 5 books ago. Overall this book did seem to have more plot than most, and the magical aspects of Anita's world are still interesting. I would only recommend this book to a serious Laurell K. Hamilton fan, however I highly recommend the early books of the series for anyone!

I must go on record and state that Laurell K. Hamilton’s books should be rated X – they are not appropriate for children or teens, and readers need to expect at least two scenes of explicit, detailed sex. They can also expect a complex mystery and a closing action scene that is thrilling.
This is the twenty-sixth Anita Blake book, and I believe it is one of Hamilton’s stronger ones. Rather than spending much time on her sex and personal life, the novel focuses on the upcoming wedding of Anita’s best friend, Edward, the secret assassin also known outside their circle as Ted. Edward’s personal life is nearly as complicated as Anita’s since he is marrying Donna, who knows nothing about Edward’s real job and history. In addition, Donna has always been jealous and suspicious of the relationship between Edward and Anita, which is almost comical, considering that Edward is one of the few men in Anita’s life with whom she is NOT having sex.
Anita and her two main guys, Nathaniel and Micah, have come to the destination wedding hoping for a romantic, sexy vacation. But when women start disappearing from the hotel and Nathaniel becomes the primary suspect, it becomes a working vacation, which enrages Donna and her best friend, Dixie. In addition, Dixie wants Donna to cancel the wedding because she is certain that Anita and Edward are having an affair.
One of the key elements that I like to see in a series is character development, and after twenty-six books, Hamilton has done that extremely well here. In the earlier books, Anita had significant rage problems, and in this story, she consciously works to dispel her anger when faced Nathaniel blows up unexpectedly. It also is entertaining to see Edward at nearly his wit’s end with Donna, starting to let pieces of the real Edward peek through. Hamilton also does a good job explaining about polyamory, the relationship that Anita has with multiple sexual partners.
Overall, the story is a mystery at its heart, and how the missing women are related to Micah’s discovery is neatly tied together. Hamilton also is very specific about the guns and other weapons that Anita uses, as well as police interrogation techniques and hostile entries. This is another strong entry in the Anita Blake series.

*This review will be available on the loveromancesandmore blog site soon.

The latest installment in Laurell K. Hamilton’s incredibly successful Anita Blake series, SERPENTINE, is set to arrive in bookstores in August and already the comments, both good and bad, are starting to show up on blogs and web sites. This reader does love an author that can generate that many strong opinions on her writing book after book.

SERPENTINE has Anita heading to a remote Florida island for the destination wedding of Anita’s best friend and fellow US Marshall, Edward/Ted. It also happens to be the first vacation Anita has had with two of the three men she is engaged to, wereleopards Nathaniel and Micah. Of course, nothing ever stays on course with Anita. While in Florida, Micah is investigating a new and frightening form of lycanthropy believed to be the result of an ancient Greek curse that slowly over time has victims growing snakes for limbs. And then there is that one bridesmaid who positively refuses to believe that Edward isn’t cheating on Donna, his intended, with Anita, despite everyone, including the bride and groom, telling her it simply isn’t true. Then women start disappearing from the hotel.

As with all the Anita Blake books, SERPENTINE, is filled with Anita’s many men and how they make their poly-relationship work. In addition to the sex inherent in Anita’s being of an incubus bloodline, the book is also heavy on magic. The storyline moves along quickly and the characters are well developed. The best part of all Laurell K. Hamilton books is the incredible way she has of setting the stage. All readers’ senses are engaged in every page of each book. Readers are able to almost feel what her characters are feeling, see what they are seeing, smell the scents around them and easily imagine themselves as an onlooker to the story unfolding. SERPENTINE is yet another wonderful example of that talent.

Shapeshifters, vampires, magical creatures and more are what you will find in Laurell K. Hamilton’s SERPENTINE. But it is the relationships between the characters and the incredible world building that always make Hamilton’s Anita books, and most recently SERPENTINE, such successful books.

Yeah, the first book in this series that I had to wait for, and I didn't have to wait the whole time! Though it was worth the wait! Such a great book, though snakes, ugh, I'm afraid of them. Though they weren't a big percentage of the story!

There were two big things in this book for me. The aftermath of Crimson Death, Anita's feelings regarding Nathaniel's close brush with death, and for the two remaining triplets. And then the wedding, because the lie that Anita had an affair with Ted rears its ugly head and causes a lot of problems!

There were other things going on as well, Micah trying to help the unusual shapeshifters, some dissatisfaction with the way things were going with the status quo, the missing bridal party members with a focus on Anita's guys as suspects, and those were so great to read, so there was always something going on!

I think this is the first book that Otto/Olaf has been in since he became a shifter. Which changes the dynamics between him and Anita, because she doesn't have that edge anymore. And that she doesn't have a guy for her lioness. So that was a fun situation for Anita to deal with, and totally read this sentence with full sarcasm!

That climax was totally creepy, and I totally wish that we had more of it! This book was pretty hefty, but that's almost always a good thing when it's a good book. And yeah, I kinda wish we had more, especially that epilogue, to get a few more answers, and more time with the happy ending!

This book was really awesome, and I can't wait for more in this series, it's just so great!

An interesting installment in the anita blake series. Cool monster, i wish it had been explored more than the relationships. Enjoyed the reunion of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

I enjoyed the newest Anita Blake, even if the snakes creeped me out. I loved seeing Edward and his entire family, I have missed the interaction with everyone. This book was surprisingly low on sex, but the mystery and emotional angst was great.