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 - Only the last chapter is worthyI gave it 2 stars for the last 75 or so pages where Ms. Blake had to rely on her brains. The previous hundreds of pages were tedious beyond belief. Enough with the relationship rehashing and coddling the egos of the men in her life. It's like listening to break-up story over and over again. One word: PLOT. Always go with plot. Otherwise, it's beginning to read like a bad Dr. Phil episode. Rating:  - Laurell K Hamilton went back to her old formula!!For the past 2 years or so, Laurell K Hamilton has been taking Anita to places she shouldn't be going. Her first books were wonderful. She strayed from the winning formula. In The Harlequin, she started putting it all back together again. In Blood Noir, she succeeded in getting Anita back on track. I really enjoyed this book!! If you enjoyed the first 10 or so, you will enjoy this book. I am not disappointed. I refuse to tell the plot or "ruin" the book for any of the other readers. I can't wait until the new one comes out. I am also an avid fan of the Merideth Gentry series. Rating: - Waste of a good titleI am insulted that I had to pay top dollar for a hardcover copy of a "filler" book that was nothing more than a fluffed up novella. A more appropriate title would have been "Jason," in keeping with the previously published filler book, "Micah." The plot is idiotic: his family is o.k. with Jason being a lunarly challenged male stripper, but NOT o.k. with his being gay...which he is not? Huh? In rides Anita to the rescue, offering to pose as Jason's girlfriend - this is contrived, even for fiction. It's not like Jason needed Anita to convince anyone that he's straight, since he was hitting on every female member of the bridal party, most of whom it seems he "knew" (as in the biblical sense) in high school. And then we had Richard's brief cameo near the end of the book where he appeared merely acting as a were-messenger, a job any other character could have covered. Gee, I hope this wasn't a school day. I love Hamilton's books, but after reading Bloody Noir Not, I have to wonder whether she's out of ideas, out of money, her editor held a gun to her head, or if she has started believing her own press releases. Lucky for her there wasn't a money back guarantee with this book. Rating: - Cynthia Holloway provides a moving, absorbing and charged reading Cynthia Holloway provides a moving, absorbing and charged reading to another Anita Blake vampire hunter/werewolf novel: this revolving around Jason, her best friend and sometimes-lover whose father is dying on the same weekend as an ancient vampire decides to make her move, cutting the connection which ties Anita with Jean-Claude. An outstanding vampire novel evolves with many unpredictable twists and turns perfect for general lending libraries. Rating:  - Trust the authorI have to disagree with most of the other reviewers for this book. While it clearly isn't up to some of LKH's better Anita Blake books, it moves the series forward...there's an explanation (of sorts) for what has been happening between Anita and Richard (or rather, what hasn't been happening). There's also a return to the idea of Anita acting more like J-C's servant and less like a sexualized loose cannon. That being said, if you don't trust that LKH has a plan, then just quit reading the series and leave it at that. We've all known that Anita is a stand in for LKH. If you aren't comfortable with what she's doing and working out, then stop reading. But don't keep reading and keep complaining. Authors are human too, and while LKH probably needs more people helping her edit, the emotions and growth that she is exploring is real. If that makes you queasy, then don't read...don't buy another book. But if you believe that there is something building, it's worth it to keep up. I really wonder how much of the last couple of books were pressure from her publisher rather than fully developed stories. That happens, unfortunately, and especially to very popular authors. Overall, it was a worthwhile read...I enjoyed it.
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