I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Slay
by
Laurell K. Hamilton
romance, erotica, paranormal fantasy in an eARC edition that was published by Berkley on November 7, 2023 and has 406 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Hit List, Bloody Bones, Killing Dance, Burnt Offerings, Narcissus in Chains, Obsidian Butterfly, Bite, Incubus Dreams, Micah, Danse Macabre, The Harlequin, Blood Noir, Skin Trade, Flirt, Bullet, Never After, Kiss the Dead, The First Death, Affliction, Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, Circus of the Damned, "Shutdown", A Kiss of Shadows, Lunatic Café, A Caress of Twilight, Seduced by Moonlight, A Stroke of Midnight, Mistral’s Kiss, A Lick of Frost, Blue Moon, Dead Ice, Jason, Crimson Death, Serpentine, "Wounded", Fantastic Hope, Cerulean Sins, A Terrible Fall of Angels, Swallowing Darkness
Thirtieth in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter erotica paranormal romance series and revolving around Anita, a necromancer with many skills and roles to play. The focus is split between Anita’s family, the wedding planning, and Deimos.
This ARC was sent to me by NetGalley and Berkley for an honest review.
There’s a cut scene at the very back of the book that you might enjoy.
My Take
Wow. This was a pip and had me on the edge of my seat so many times! That said, Slay is all about love and acceptance — ya just can’t go wrong there — in a combination of introspection and great danger with plenty of violence and more action than you can imagine from kidnappings to battle to mind manipulation to . . . well, you name it!.
The danger is that to which Anita thought she was immune. It was fascinating to listen in on Anita’s conjectures, realizations, and thoughts as she thinks back to her past interpretations and beliefs. The truths and the falsities. This has probably tipped you off that Hamilton is using first person protagonist point-of-view from Anita’s perspective . . . and you’d be right *grin*.
We finally meet Anita’s family, in the flesh so to speak, and wow. Wow. The revelations in those few meetings are astounding. Anita’s memories are certainly a good instruction manual for things not to do. It’s Judith’s and Andira’s behaviors that are the most astounding, although that “mean girls” analysis is scary. Childhood perceptions warring with that adult perspective. Her father . . . no. I can’t believe what an idiot he is! As for that grandmother of hers. Egods!! And still her father protects her.
Dad keeps giving the excuse that “she’s my mother” and Anita hands it right back to him that “she’s his daughter”. Jerk. His behavior during Anita’s childhood is too much like most parents, not believing their child.
Ya gotta laugh even as you cry when Anita calls her dad and Judith on their fixation about language, their ignoring Anita telling them of demons, of not understanding why Anita might be depressed, not registering the death threats against her . . . so much more they ignore in favor of their own prejudices.
I’m so pleased that Anita stands up for herself against Grandma AND her dad, including all the swearing, lol. I’m loving, too, Judith’s attitude towards Grandma Blake!
Richard is continuing his new behavior, which is a miracle in itself. While a definite positive, it does take some of the drama from the story. I do love his feeling guilty about Micah! Nicky is also noting how he’s changed due to Anita’s acceptance and love.
Anita’s musings on Jean-Claude’s lack of comfy clothing and his need to always be “on” humanize Jean-Claude — and weirdly make me more comfortable about some of his uncomfortable clothing choices. Well, my idea of uncomfortable.
That thought Anita has about people like her risking themselves to keep people like her family safe, safe enough to criticize Anita’s life choices, was sadly accurate. Nicky’s comment about it being okay to be afraid and not comparing her situation with someone else’s was also a good one.
Rodina is sooo disagreeable! She refuses to understand any way other than her own. Another jerk is that doctor! I wanna be there when Jean-Claude reinforces Anita’s order, lol.
Then there’s that comment about the average Joe wanting everyone to be like them, in that general sort of way. How boring that would be! In another way, vampires and humans are alike: there are good ones and bad ones on both sides.
The loyalty of Anita’s friends and lovers is so beautiful. Even better is Anita’s realizing her friends’ weaknesses and needs, giving to them.
Phew. At last Anita cops to only playing at being a sociopath! Must be all that therapy she’s getting. She sure admits that people who love you make you feel more comfortable not having to defend yourself all the time. It is such a turnaround from when Anita was terrified of being bound to anyone!
(This quote may not make it to publication, but I loved it.) ”. . . if we save the day every time they call, how will the other marshals get enough practice.”
And Becca calls out sexism wherever she encounters it! Go, Becca!
Acceptance of who people are would be such a blessing in this world. Getting to know each other and realizing we’re all the same. An excellent example was when Jean-Claude spoke of his love for Asher and the Wicked Truth who want this kind of love. Lousy examples abound as well with several hate groups murdering humans and vampires.
Hey, ya can’t say out government isn’t consistent. Soldiers defending their country who get bitten and turn furry? Yep. They’re out.
We get some back history on Judith and how she met Frederick as well as on Jean-Claude’s first wife. More history keeps popping out about the Harlequin, their vampire masters, and Mommie Darkest — I definitely prefer Jean-Claude and Anita’s approach of love. There’s one dream which shows Anita Rodrigo’s, Rodina’s, and Ru’s childhood nightmare.
There’s quite a bit of “gratitude” going on with Dolph crediting Anita with making him more aware.
Okay, we’re supposed to hate Deimos since he’s the bad guy. But he’s such a troglodyte when it comes to women. That alone makes me hate him. I didn’t much care for how much control he had over Anita, either! Okayy, Otto, ahem, explains why he killed the doctor in Obsidian Butterfly, 9.
While it’s sweet to hear all the positives Anita and crew have learned about themselves, it gets to be a bit much. As for the Deimos scenes, some of those are just plain confusing — and feel quite hopeless for “our” side!
Ohhh, I did love all the metaphor about the great bear mother — we could learn one heck of a lot from her! She makes a great foil as Anita rolls out the wonders she’s learned from Jean-Claude and contrasts her with the horrors of the Mother of All Darkness.
That cliffhanger at the end? Oh. Man. I have got to know how that happened!
The Story
It’s been eight years since Anita saw her family. Now they’re coming to St Louis to meet Jean-Claude for the first time. To see if her dad can “stomach” giving her away.
It’s a visit complicated by a flurry of hate crimes against vampires throughout the city.
The Characters
Anita Blake has many roles: a US Marshal nicknamed “War” by her fellow marshals, a vampire executioner known as “Death”, and Jean-Claude’s human servant and part of his triumvirate with Richard. Power-wise, she’s a necromancer, holds many animals within herself, eats rage, can raise the ardeur for sex and/or healing, and she has the ability to break bonds. Sigmund is her favorite stuffed penguin. Jason Schuyler, a werewolf and a dancer in NY, is Nathaniel’s and Anita’s best friend.
Living in Indiana, Dr Frederick Blake, Anita’s father, is a veterinarian with a huge blindspot. Judith is Anita’s stepmother who sells real estate; the perfect (and blonde) Andria is her stepsister, a lawyer engaged to the jerky Kirk; and, Josh is her half-brother double-majoring in business and biology. Grandmother Blake is an absolute, bigoted, religious nightmare. Grandmother Flores is Anita’s maternal grandmother to whom her dad sent her to learn to control her animating abilities.
Jean-Claude, an incubus, is the first vampire king of America and engaged to marry Anita. His bloodline includes the ability to feed on lust. Asher is a vampire with so many issues. It doesn’t help that he was so cruelly tortured and disfigured. He works as the ringmaster at the Circus of the Damned and has been Jean-Claude’s off-and-on lover for centuries. There’s an interesting bit on why the Church didn’t disfigure all of Asher. Kane, a werehyena, is Asher’s overly jealous moitié bête. Claudia (wererat) is in charge of Jean-Claude’s security. Pierette is Anita’s official girlfriend; Pierrot is her vampire master.
Nicky Murdock is a werelion and Anita’s Rex. Ru, a.k.a. Wyatt, is one of three wereleopard triplets who are/were Harlequin; Rodina is his sister, who hates how nice Anita is; Rodrigo had been the third until he died in Crimson Death, 25. Ethan Flynn, a weretiger with a rainbow of tigers within him, is one of Anita’s bodyguards; he’s in love with Nilda, a werebear. Magda Sanderson is one of the bodyguards and one of Anita’s lovers. The Wicked Truth are twin vampires and the only descendants left of their bloodline. Mephistopheles, a.k.a. Devil or Dev, is a gold tiger who acquired a second shape, that of a red lion.
Nathaniel Graison, a leopardshifter, a.k.a. “Brandon” the stripper at Guilty Pleasures, is the one who controls Anita’s triumvirate with Damien, the Viking vampire manager of Danse Macabre. Micah Callahan, the Nimir-Raj of the leopardshifters with black tiger his second animal, is also the head of the Furry Coalition, more formally known as the Coalition for Better Understanding Between the Human and Therianthrope Communities. Leopards were Anita’s first animal to call. It seems Micah, unfortunately, has a gift for negotiation. Micah’s mom is giving out hair-care advice.
More of Anita’s bodyguards include Custer, a.k.a. Custard, Pudding, or Pud, a former Navy SEAL; Milligan; Jamie; Kirby; Lelio (Anita reckons he belongs to an extinct branch of Homo sapiens); Echo Constantine, head of security for Danse Macabre, is with Fortune Fortunada; Envy; Kaazim (werejackal) is the cranky Queenie’s animal-to-call; Jane, a vampire nicknamed “Ice”, and Seamus (a werehyena nicknamed “Water” and Jane’s animal-to-call); Mischa, an abusive vampire, and Goran (a werebear and Mischa’s animal-to-call); Scaramouche is the animal-to-call of Capitano, a vampire; and, Hermes has two kids.
Rafael is the rat king of the rodere and while he’s over fifty, he looks thirty at most. He’s also Anita’s rat-to-call. Bobby Lee (a wererat) does a lot of mercenary work. Neva, a wererat, is one of Rafael’s brujas. Benito is Rafael’s main bodyguard. Dr Richard Zeeman is a werewolf and the Ulfric for the local werewolf pack who appears to have gotten more comfortable with himself. The wolves were Jean-Claude’s first animal to call. Jamil and Shang-Da are werewolf bodyguards for Richard. Demolition Man, a.k.a. “Demo”, a werewolf, is on probation. The events in Tennessee with Richard’s family were in Blue Moon, 8. Socrates is a werehyena with a wife and three kids.
Jean-Claude’s properties . . .
. . . are primarily in the Riverfront and include the Circus of the Damned which is his home base. Burnt Offerings, Guilty Pleasures, and Danse Macabre are also his.
The Lunatic Café is a werewolf business.
The Harlequin had been servants of vampires on the Vampire Council, the best covert operatives in the world. A Bride is a person whose mind has been rolled so badly that they must obey (and desperately want to please) the person who rolled them. They can also feel her emotions and read her mind.
The Regional Preternatural Investigation Team is . . .
. . . headed up by a reformed Captain Rudolph “Dolph” Storr. (Lucille is Dolph’s wife. Their son, Darren, is married to Erica, a vampire.) Geez, time sure flies. Anita reckons she’s been working with Dolph for 11 years! Sergeant Zerbrowski (Katie is his accepting wife). Officers Linley and Maric are idiots. SWAT includes Hill. Officer Smitz has a convenient radio.
US Marshal Ted Forrester, a.k.a. Edward the assassin and “Death”, will be Anita’s best man at the wedding. Peter, his stepson, is following in his footsteps and teaching at the dojo. Donna is Ted’s wife; Becca is his stepdaughter, thoroughly absorbed in ballet. Larry Kirkland and Arlen Brice are local US Marshals. US Marshal Otto Jeffries, a.k.a. Olaf, is a werelion and extreme serial killer (he used to run with the same crowd as Nicky). US Marshal Bernardo Spotted-Horse is the fourth in their quartet.
Deimos, the son of Ares, who is the god of war, and Tisiphone, one of the Greek Furies, is a vampire who can shapeshift into a dragon. He is POWERFUL and feeds off fear. Primo, a descendant of the Dragon, gained power through violence. Rodrigo is now Phobos. Trappolino is an asexual vampire and Harlequin. Hortensio and his master, Magnifico, a vampire, are on the run.
The Brotherhood of Samson is a hate group consisting of Christians, Muslims, and Jews. The hate group Holy Flame includes Humans Against Vampires and Humans First members.
Nikolaos had been the previous Master of the city (Guilty Pleasures, 1). Burchard had been Nikolaos’ human servant. Phillip had been the human junkie trying to kick his habit in Guilty Pleasures. The Mother of All Darkness had been the first vampire; this modern vampire strain is quite different from hers. Paul is the waiter at the restaurant where the Blakes dine. Belle Morte, Beautiful Death, had created Jean-Claude.
Dr Christopher Boden thinks he’s all that and wants to try his experimental technique on vampires. The Church of Eternal Life is a vampire church that does what they can to help with group homes and deacons trained in security. The ardeur is a hunger for lust; Anita can combine it with a sexually based healing from Raina, the late lupa of the wolves. An endlling is the last being in existence of their kind.
The Cover and Title
The cover is the reds, oranges, and yellows of dragon scales twisting and twining to form a background for the white info blurb at the top to the cracked font of the author’s name in white below it. In the center is a testimonial in white with the title in a yellow cracked font below that. At the very bottom is the series info in white.
The title is an imperative, for Anita and friends must Slay the evil one.
