Review: Incubus Dreams

Having faced down true demons and vampires that have left her shaking, Anita Blake, the hard hitting, smart mouthed vampire hunter and all around good Christian necromancer, finds herself battling more of her own inner demons than preternatural baddies in this new book. Forced to accept her role as lover to several different men, including the vampire Master of the City, Jean-Claude, his second in command, Asher, and her leopard king, Micah, Anita is lost in a sea of moral indecision as she fights the new powers, and feelings that have come with the bonding of the triumvirate. Flooded with new powers and added strength, Anita is struggling to find solid ground even as she is helping the police track down a kiss of vampires murdering strippers around the city, and dealing with an angry ex- boyfriend, the third of the triumvirate, and King of the Wolves, Richard.

Still trying to cope with all that has happened, she finds her personal relations with other non-magical beings (i.e. humans) more strained than ever. Forced into the role of Devils Advocate for the monsters, her relationship with the St. Louis police departments R.P.I.T. (Regional Preternatural Investigation Team) has become rocky. As they distrust her relationship with the monsters more and more, she finds that she isnt as welcome as she once was among their ranks. Fighting against their fear and her own weakness, Anita calls on the S.W.A.T. to help her try and stop the serial murders.

Jumping from one personal crisis to another, Anita does her best to keep from falling prey to what she has always seen as sin, but with the new powers and a new triumvirate that she herself created, Anita must feed the ardeur (a vampire power) to keep those she loves, and herself, alive. Thrown into situations where the only recourse is to feed off of people she doesnt know, Anita finally accepts the fact that she cannot manage without the help and support of those who love her.

Readers familiar with the Anita Blake novels find this story a little slower paced than normal for this series of books. While still full of the erotic danger, and that dark edge that give Hamiltons stories such drawing power, this book concentrates more on Anita herself, and her coming to terms with her new abilities, and roles, in the world that Hamilton has so richly created for her.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Tracy Jo - Kentucky

Book Review: Incubus Dreams