The Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton
Paperback, 448 Pages
2008, Jove
ISBN: 0515144614
Series: Book 15 of Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter
Synopsis
Into Anita Blake's world-a world already overflowing with power-come creatures so feared that centuries-old vampires refuse to mention their names.
Review
The Harlequin brings back some of the mystery elements to the Anita Blake series. Not with working officially with the police, but with who exactly is messing with the vampires of St. Louis. The sex in The Harlequin is toned down a lot from the past few books as well, focusing on the threat at hand more than the arduer and Anita's growing abilities.
The idea of Anita becoming involved in the BDSM scene, for Nathaniel's sake, is mentioned many times in the book, but nothing actually happens on that front. It appears to be foreshadowing, giving us an idea of what to expect from future books. Other than some talk, no sex actually takes place in the book until chapter 16, and even then it's only happens sporadically. This is the kind balance I like to see in this series, where the story is actually in the forefront and the sex only occurs for a reason.
At one point, Anita has some dream sex with Belle Morte. This female on female action is just the thing to set off Anita's obvious homophobia, so I was a bit confused as to why she never seemed to freak out about it. It was nice not to have to listen to a diatribe about how uncomfortable it made her, but I doubt it's a sign of Anita getting over herself. More likely she could rationalize accepting the F/F by the fact it was in a dream and therefore doesn't count.
Edward and Olaf/Otto come to town to help Anita survive the visit from The Harlequin. I think perhaps it was the addition of Edward that toned down the sex in this book. Books with Edward are never full of sexcapades. Edward and Anita continue to bond on a deeper level and Otto/Olaf keeps Anita from getting to comfortable. Edward also brings Peter along, which opens up a whole can of worms with Anita's penchant for dismissing younger people without any real cause.
The Harlequin was a very good book. Edward was delightful as always and the book made some progress with the Mother of All Darkness story line. A few minor issues came to light during my reading though. Towards the end it is said that it's a shame Anita can't deputize her bodyguards. It is a shame, except she did just that when she first became a federal marshal, without repercussion. Also, at the end of the book there was a seemingly huge reveal revolving around a man named Jake. Problem was that I had no idea who this guy was. I couldn't remember him being mentioned earlier in the book or any other. I'm sure he has been mentioned before, but I would have liked him to have been focused on more and earlier if he was going to be part of this big surprise. Instead of being shocked at the reveal, I was only left to wonder who he was at all. I couldn't even recall if he was an vampire or a were.
All in all, The Harlequin sets the Anita Blake series up to continue in a better direction - where the story comes first and the sex is only used to enhance the action and mystery. Whether the pattern continues remains to be seen.
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