Sucker Punch: (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Novels) Book 27 by Laurell K. Hamilton
Description….
A brutal murder, a suspect in jail, and an execution planned—but what if the wrong person is about to be killed?
When a fellow U.S. Marshal asks Anita Blake to fly to a tiny community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on an emergency consult, she knows time is running short. When she arrives, there is plenty of proof that a young wereleopard killed his uncle in the most gruesome and bloody way possible. As the mounting evidence points to him, a warrant of execution is already under way.
But something seems off about the murder, and Anita has been asked for her expert opinion on the crime scene. Despite escalating pressure from local cops and the family’s cries for justice for their dead patriarch, Anita quickly realizes that the evidence doesn’t quite add up.
Time is against Anita, as the tight-knit community is up in arms and its fear of supernaturals is growing. She races to uncover the truth and determine whether the Marshals have caught the killer or are about to execute an innocent man—all in the name of justice…..
Anita Blake is the title and viewpoint character of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. The series takes place in a parallel world in which supernatural characters like vampires and werewolves exist alongside regular humans, with Blake’s jobs including the re-animation of the dead as well as the hunting and executing of supernatural creatures (mostly vampires) that have broken the law.
Anita Blake was born with the power of necromancy, a power that she inherited from her grandmother. Her mother died in a car accident when Anita was 8, which greatly impacted her throughout her childhood and adult years. When Anita was 10, her father remarried after her mother’s death to Judith, whom Anita often clashed with over her powers and differences. Anita could ‘see’ ghosts, and raised her dead pet dog and even road kill, to her, her father and step-mothers dismay. Anita initially exerted little control over her powers, eventually leading her father to request that her maternal grandmother teach Anita how to “turn off” her abilities. Her Maternal Grandmother taught her how to control her abilities, but seeing how powerful Anita was, encouraged Anita’s dad to raise her as a Christian instead of vaudun. During college she raised a professor who had killed himself-her roommate moved out the next day. Anita majored in preternatural biology and became engaged to a fellow student, who later broke off the engagement due to his parents disapproving of him dating a Mexican woman. He was her first sexual experience. This would cause Anita to remain celibate for much of the initial books in the series (until The Killing Dance) After graduation Anita was recruited by Bert Vaughn to join Animators, Inc. as a professional zombie animator, where she was trained by Manny Rodriguez and became a licensed vampire executioner. She also met Edward, and learned about weapons. During the events in First Death she met the vampire hunter Edward and received several of her scars, which includes a cross-shaped brand on her arm.
Publication date 4/8/2021
My Review……
Book 27 in the series!! And the only read book I read was book 26!!
I don’t think you need to read the others, it stands alone pretty well, but you get the feeling some of the jokes or meanings are “in house” so if you’ve read them all, you’ll probably get them. And of course it explains her background and livers in more detail.
So …….
Anita is our main character in all the books. It’s told in her perspective (not a big fan, but it’s not a biggie)
We start with Anita getting off a tiny plane, not her idea of fun, but it gets her to her destination of Michigan.
She thinks it’s better not to get involved with the locals and the guy they have locked up. But chatting to him, Anita can’t distance herself, but is that a bad thing? She thinks he’s innocent, and the more time she spends poking around the small town, the more she’s convinced he didn’t do it. But if he didn’t do it, then who did? And why?
There is lots of technical jargon, some of it explained and some of it gets really explained (page filling? You do have to wonder) there is lots of internal monologue (some of it pretty funny) there is also the fact she’s seeing seven other people (from lovers, to fiancées) the group texting made me chuckle, her griping at the fact she needs to text and talk more to the people in her life. She doesn’t mind, but she does feel a little resentment at being told what to do! (Did we need to know that?)
She likes her weapons, there is lots of weapons, there is lots of talking about the weapons.
As we get further into the book, there are a few red herrings to try to catch you out, there are the usual suspects, but only one in jail. My money was on the family members that tried to rob their dead relative.
And what was with one of the deputies, chip on his shoulder or what!!
The marshal Anita teams up with is a great character, Marshal Newman is an old friend of hers, so it was great to read that interaction. The Sheriff in charge was a bit of an idiot, very singleminded and not open to change. It was fun to watch him squirm under Anita’s stare.
Oh and Anita is trying to get married…. she’s marrying Jean-Claude (a six hundred year old vampire) she’d marry Nathaniel and Micah if she could (shifters) but the alternate universe frowns on multiple people marrying!
Then we have Edward “Ted” not a sexual partner at all (In fact he got married in the last book and Anita was his “best man”)
And what about this Marshall Otto “Olaf” Jeffries?! Creepy guy if you ask me. It goes into a little detail, but I’m assuming there is past history there (don’t think sexual, but you never know with Anita)
So….. a murder mystery story basically.
Well written, very descriptive, and a fast paced read. I didn’t read any characters that didn’t seem unnecessary, they were all well thought out, and I grew to dislike a few of them.
We spend time getting to know the killer, and I really didn’t think he did it. But you’ll have to read it to find out😉
And I really liked it. The author drew me in and kept me there until I was done.
🦋
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