Video and Chapter One of Hit List (Anita Blake Book 20) by Laurell K. Hamilton

 
Here is LKH talking about Hit List:



You can read Chapter One here.

Do you think Hit List is going to be getting back to the old crime fighting Anita? I'm happy we'll see her in that role again, and I'm pleased that it appears we get more Edward in this book.



 

* Series Ratings at-a-glance

Listed below are the most recent ratings (shown to the left of the series name) for the series I've reviewed, listed in alphabetical order by genre. Click the series name to go to my reviews of the books in the series.

This gives a good at-a-glance idea of what is out there and how I rate it, but to really get an idea of how a series has gone, you need to read more about the series. For instance, I've got the Stephanie Plum series rated a 6 of 10 because the latter books have gone from good to silly... but the first 8 or 10 books in the series were very good, many of them a 10 of 10.  The Dresden series is the opposite, with some of the middle books not rating very well, but the most recent book being good enough to raise the series by several points. 

There are also some debut series here, and in some cases there are only one or two books out. Not really enough for a full series rating, but I've got them listed here because it's not right to leave them off, either.

I guess the point is to just remember that the rating you see is how I've rated the series after the last book in that series that I've read - and that the rating may have been different at another point in the series.

Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Romantic Urban Fantasy, Fantasy

. 9 of 10 Allie Beckstrom series by Devon Monk (after six books)

. 8 of 10 Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs (two books, two short stories)

. 9 of 10 Anita Blake series by Laurel K. Hamilton (after nineteen books)

10 of 10 Black Sun's Daughter series by M.L.N. Hanover (after three books)

. 8 of 10 Blood series by Tanya Huff (after six books)

. 8 of 10 Bloodhound Files by DD Barant (after two books)

. 8 of 10 Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman (after six books)

. 6 of 10 Dante Valentine series by by Lilith Saintcrow (after five books)

. 8 of 10 Dark-Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon (after nineteen plus books)

. 7 of 10 Delilah Street series by Carole Nelson Douglas (after four books)

. 9 of 10 Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher (after twelve books)

. 8 of 10 The Edge series by Ilona Andrews (after one book)

10 of 10 Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep  (after four books)

. 5 of 10 Embers by Laura Bickle (after one book)

. 7 of 10 Felix Gomez series by Mario Acevedo (after five books)
10 of 10 Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh (after two books)

10 of 10 The Hollows / Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison (nine books, many shorts)

. 8 of 10 Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole (after eight books)

. 5 of 10 Iron Elves series by Chris Evans (after two books)

. 9 of 10 Jane True series by Nicole Peeler (after three books)

10 of 10 Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter (after three books)

. 8 of 10 Justine Jones, Disillusionist series by Carolyn Crane (after two books)

10 of 10 Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (after four books)

10 of 10 Kitty Norville Series by Carrie Vaughn (after eight books)

. 6 of 10 Master of None series by Sonya Bateman

10 of 10 Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs (after six books)

10 of 10 Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton (after eight books)

10 of 10 Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost (after five books)

. 8 of 10 Nightcreature/Moon series by Lori Handeland (after six books)

10 of 10 October Daye series by Seanan McGuire (after four books)

. 6 of 10 Phoenix Chronicles by Lori Handeland (after four books)

10 of 10 Psy-Changelings series by Nalini Singh (after nine books)

. 8 of 10 Rhiannon's Law series by J.A. Saare (after one book)

. 9 of 10 Riley Jensen, Guardian series by Keri Arthur  (after nine books)
10 of 10 Shadowchasers series by Seressia Glass (after two books)
10 of 10 Skindancer series by Anthony Francis (after one book)

. 9 of 10 Sookie Stackhouse / Southern Vampire by Charlaine Harris (after eleven plus books)

. 9 of 10 Soul Mates series by Jourdan Lane (also listed under Erotica) (after four books)

. 9 of 10 Succubus Diaries by Jill Myles (after two books)

10 of 10 Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer (after four books)

. 4 of 10 Unmentionables / Diesel  series by Janet Evanovich (after one book)

. 9 of 10 Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (after one book)

. 8 of 10 Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong (after eleven plus books)

Paranormal Chik-Lit

. 6 of 10 Bewitching Mysteries by Madelyn Alt (after six books)

. 8 of 10 Bronwyn the Witch series by Candace Havens (after four books)

. 7 of 10 Caruthers Sisters by Candace Havens (after one book)

. 8 of 10 Psychic Eye Mysteries by Victoria Laurie (after eight books)

Crime Solving Women

. 8 of 10 Izzy Spellman series by Lisa Lutz (after three books)

. 6 of 10 Kinsey Millhone Alphabet series by Sue Grafton (after seventeen books)

. 9 of 10 Mercy Gunderson mystery series by Lori Armstrong (after one book)

. 9 of 10 Nadia Stafford series by Kelley Armstrong (after two books)

. 9 of 10 Nikki Heat series by Richard Castle (after two books)

. 6 of 10.Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell (after seventeen books)

. 6 of 10 Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich  (after 16+ books)

Other

. 9 of 10 Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay (after four books)

10 of 10 Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly (after eight books)

Erotica and BDSM

10 of 10 Butterfly Unpinned by Laura Bacchi and Bonnie Dee (after one book)

. 9 of 10 Chaos Magic series by Jay Lygon (after three books)

. 7 of 10 Dark Elves series by Jet Mykles (after two books)

10 of 10 Deviations Series by Chris Owen and Jodi Payne (after four books)

. 8 of 10 Jarheads series by Sean Michael (after six books)

. 7 of 10 The Master Chronicles by Jamie Craig (after five books)

. 6 of 10 Masters of the Shadowlands by Cherise Sinclair (after four books)

. 8 of 10 Daughter's of Arianne by Joey W.Hill (after three books)

10 of 10 Nature of Desire series by Joey W. Hill (after seven books)
. 9 of 10 Soul Mates series by Jourdan Lane (also listed under Urban Fantasy) (after four books)

. 6 of 10 Trattenbourgh Affair series by JJ Giles (after one book)

For more erotica and BDSM reviews please visit BDSM Book Reviews.

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Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 11) by Charlaine Harris

With only a few books left in the series, I was a bit disappointed with  Dead Reckoning. I was expecting the remaining books to be heavy hitters, but this one felt like more of a filler.

We do get some interesting information, though some of it doesn't seem to to fit with previous books. Which is another problem all together.

I complained in the past book, Dead in the Family, that I wasn't happy with Sookie and Eric together. that they aren't working well together. I had hoped that situation would be resolved without stretching it out too much, but apparently we're going to have to suffer for a while before the situation resolves.

I also complained that I felt that Dead in the Family felt like a set up book, a book setting us up for the next book. We've now had two set up books in a row.

Honestly, it feels a bit like Charlaine Harris is done with these characters. Like her heart isn't in it anymore.

Here's the blurb:

With her knack for being in trouble's way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte's, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover Eric Northman and his "child" Pam are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, Sookie is drawn into the plot-which is much more complicated than she knows...

As for the writing elements - the plot was okay but predictable, pacing was mostly okay, prose was beautiful but the dialogue pulled me out of the story a few times. Character development was very well done in earlier books but I think Charlaine Harris is just resting on what has already been done now, so I'll have to give it low marks for this book. World-building has also been superbly well done in the past but I don't think we had anything to add to it in Dead Reckoning.

This series has been a 10 of 10 for me up until now, but I'm moving it back to a 9 of 10 with this book. Two books scoring a 6 of 10 in a row... I don't see how I can keep the series at a 10.

• Book Rating: Dead Reckoning: 6 of 10
• Series Rating: 9 of 10

And now for some slightly spoiler-ish discussion:

I believe I saw some things that are setting us up for the end of the series. I think we're being led to believe that Sookie's HEA is going to be Sam. I do think Sam is a good friend, but I'm just not sure I can see the two of them being together and being left alone by the rest of the supernatural community. Sookie is going to have to end up with someone powerful in order to be left alone. Well, unless she becomes powerful in her own right... but is she really smart enough to handle being powerful? She's still pretty gullible at times, though at least she's finally realizing it when she is. I think we also saw a hint that her HEA might end up being a fairy. Can she meet someone and fall in love quickly enough with only a few books left? I'm not convinced. And why is Hunter being given so much attention? How is Charlaine Harris going to use this little boy? Do we see shades of Keri Arthur here? (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

1. Dead Until Dark
2. Living Dead in Dallas&
3. Club Dead
4. Dead to the World
5. Dead as a Doornail
6. Definitely Dead
7. All Together Dead
8. From Dead to Worse
9. Dead and Gone
10. Dead in the family
11. Dead Reckoning

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