Published on blog: Literary Salon
http://mkjohnson.dyndns.org/archives/2004_01.html
Main Entry: ce-ru-le-an
Pronunciation: s&-ru-lE-&n
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin caeruleus dark blue
Date: 1667: resembling the blue of the sky
"Sometimes love makes you selfish. Sometimes love makes you stupid. Sometimes it reminds you why you love your gun." -- Anita Blake, Cerulean Sins
Now that I've read all the other books in the series, lovely Mike bought me the latest, "Cerulean Sins" as a Christmas present. I wanted to wait to finish other books before I started this one - but of course I have no will power, and I read it immediately.
If, dear readers, you've read the books leading up to this one, you know that our heroine, Anita Blake, has gone from being celibate to boinking nearly everyone in the books. This story is no exception. I won't divulge who - but I doubt you'd be surprised. Aside from the drastic morality shift, the only two annoyances to the plot are the main character's continuing badly timed guilt, and the increasing predictability of the crimes she investigates. The bad guys get increasingly bad - but she has increasing power to deal with them. Here's the basic equation:
Step One: Bad guys arrive in town and challenge one or all of the triumvirate (Richard/Jean-Claude/Anita). (Usually there is also some really horrendous crime committed - but not always related to the Bad (Supernatural) Guy.)
Step Two: An action, usually unethical/immoral/repugnant is the key to increasing power and thus defeating Bad Guy.
Step Three: Agonize over the decision.
Step Four: Do it anyway.
Step Five: Feel guilty.
Step Six: Beat the Bad Guy, but not before being introduced (somewhere in the plot) to a new imminent Badder Guy, that will probably arrive in the next novel.
Step Seven: Feel a bit more guilty. Think about Richard. Sum up.
I can't complain too much because having a successful formula will keep your fans happy and you employed. I just miss the mysteries being a bit more complicated. Though portions of the book are quite good - the main plot was just to obvious. The character, Anita Blake, seems to have only one weakness now, her own battle with her morality, which seems to get a bit more trite in every succeeding book.
The secondary characters hold much of the interest now, particularly Asher, the old lover of Jean Claude. In fact, in several instances it is those characters that propel the story forward, especially Jason in this instance. Jason finally calls Anita on her feelings of guilt and angst - and draws attention to her defense mechanisms that are making her life harder and more complicated than it needs to be. I wouldn't have thought of his character as being the analytical type, but if follows the plot well.
That's it for now. Not exactly a thumbs up - but not a thumbs down either. I still buy the next book, of course, because I'm addicted and hopeful that I'll be surprised. We'll see. . .