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Review: Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake #17)

December 9th, 2009 — 3 Stars, Book Review, Contemporary, Crime and Protection, G-I, Lycanthrope, Necromancer, Paranormal, Rape/Abuse, Survival, United States of America, Urban Fantasy, Vampire

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Ever start a series and just want to keep reading it even when parts of it make you want to abandon ship and never look back? Anita Blake is like that for me. It's very love-hate right now when earlier it was all love-love. There have been times when I was so disappointed in how the story was progressing that all I wanted to do was dump the books off my keeper shelf and lock them away forever in a silver chain wrapped coffin. Other times I was so giddy with glee over what was happening that I could hardly stand how much time it took to read a page and turn it!

I surprised myself by picking Skin Trade up in the library recently. I’m glad I did because the last few books bummed me out a lot. I have very definite opinions on this series and how exactly I want Hamilton to handle Anita Blake’s ardeur. She’s got lust and anger versions of it and I am still anxiously waiting for it to turn solidly into love because as Anita says she’s got too many men on her plate! (Of course I love 90% of them and would hate to see them go but the large cast makes it hard I feel to truly develop them into full fleshed out characters.)

Skin Trade starts with a head mailed to Anita at her Animators Inc. desk. The message in St. Louis and Las Vegas is clear: “Come and Get Me.” Vittorio is a serial killing master vampire with extraordinary powers and a penchant for strippers. Joining Anita are Marshals Otto Jefferies (Olaf), Ted Forrester (Edward), and Bernardo Spotted Horse giving Skin Trade a feel of Obsidian Butterfly.

Jean-Claude is upset to find Anita has run off again to solve crime without notifying him. He sends her a team of bodyguards that double as food: notably Wicked and Truth, the bad boy vampire brothers. They get to star in very yum scenes later in the novel.

If a serial killing vampire on the loose with an unheard of weapon wasn’t bad enough Marmee Noir makes a reappearance giving Anita all kind of trouble (and I suspect that though she seems to be taken care of that in fact won’t be the case.)

Beyond vampires, Anita is having trouble controlling her gifts such as keeping shields in place and is dealing with local cops attacking her sex and personal life every chance they get. It got to be very frustrating because every time you thought the trust and dislike issues were solved they cropped up again.

Overall it wasn’t a favorite of mine, but it wasn’t half bad. I can’t wait to get back to St. Louis and Jean-Claude.

Rating: 3 Stars

Buy: Skin Trade (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 17)

PS On one note as I was checking out the upcoming ABVH novels on LKH's site, I was surprised and as creeped out as LKH that a lot of readers like Olaf romantically. Say what?! He's not Edward. The man's an absolute crazy sociopath/serial killer! No. Bad reader. No cookie for you!

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New Moon Bash: Party Ideas

October 18th, 2009 — News, Paranormal, Stephenie Meyer, Vampire, Werewolf

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The New Moon movie is right around the corner. Many places already have tickets for sale. Want to plan a party? Here are some ideas!

Theme Ideas:

Hot and Cold.
Fire and Ice.
Day and Night.
Forest and Rock.
Summer and Winter.
Bronze and Sparkle.
Sun and Moon.
Werewolves vs Vampires.
Paranormal Creatures vs Humans.

The Invite:

Need: Gluesticks, cardstock, fancy edged scissors, red and black construction paper

Font: Download Edward Font or Jacob Font for FREE.

Instructions:

Write up invitations on the computer using your choice of font.
- The invite should be able to fit two to three times on one page.
Print on cardstock paper and cut apart.
Glue invite to black construction paper.
Cut strips of red with fancy scissors.
Design strips around invite and glue down.

Movie Treats:

All girls get a red and white ruffled parrot tulip, the kind that is found on the cover of New Moon, to carry into the theater.
- Additionally they can be tagged with a number to ensure fair seating and nobody feels left out because others didn’t want to sit with them.
Hot buttered popcorn for Jacob fans and ice cold slushies for Edward fans.
- If you alternate Team Edward/Jacob in seating arrangements it’s easy to share! Get two straws and a bunch of napkins.

Specialized Edward/Jacob themed goodie bags.

Try to do a survey or poll with the partygoers before starting on the bags. This way there aren’t any shortages or surpluses.

Edward Themed:

Need: vampire plushie, Hershey Kisses (for those yummy Edward kisses), a silver chain bracelet, plain black T-Shirt

Jacob Themed:

Need: wolf plushie, Hershey Hugs (for those big Jacob hugs), a silver chain bracelet, plain black T-Shirt

Party Projects:

Here are some quick ideas to provide fun and entertainment for the guests.

Create your own charm bracelet:

Needs: silver chain bracelet, sculptee clay in white, black, and red, pie plates, toothpicks

Instructions:

Each girl will make a heart and wolf charm using sculptee clay.
Drill a hole in both charms with the toothpick.
Put on pie plates and bake in oven based on packaging instructions.
When cool, attach to bracelets.

Creation ideas: Clay Wolf, Cullen Crest, Wired Heart

Buy a wolf charm:

Cheaper Wolf Charm:

Buy a crystal heart charm:

Fan T-Shirts:

Needs: black T-Shirt, red and white puff paint, cardboard

Instructions:

Put cardboard inside the shirt.
Design your own fan shirt in puff paint. Proclaim your Team, draw the Cullen Crest or a wolf, recreate the book cover, whatever it’s up to you.
Let dry and then wear to the movie/bed.

Games:

Have each invitee come to the party with a list of 10 New Moon questions, facts, and pieces of trivia. Collect them all and divide the party into two groups. Group which answers the most correct wins a New Moon themed prize. I suggest a quick trip to Walmart for a few items such as the Rosalie's Necklace or Alice's Choker Necklace.

Keep a score sheet during the movie for certain words or phrases that are said in the film or by the crowd. Person with the most tallies wins! Think of it like that road trip game where the passengers select a color and count to see which color appeared the most in the oncoming traffic over a period of five minutes.