Thursday, July 25, 2013

Review: Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton

Affliction
Release Date: July 2, 2013
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN:  0425255700
ISBN13: 9780425255704
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher

Some zombies are raised. Others must be put down. Just ask Anita Blake.

Before now, she would have considered them merely off-putting, never dangerous. Before now, she had never heard of any of them causing human beings to perish in agony. But that’s all changed.

Micah’s estranged father lies dying, rotting away inside from some strange ailment that has his doctors whispering about “zombie disease.”

Anita makes her living off of zombies—but these aren’t the kind she knows so well. These creatures hunt in daylight, and are as fast and strong as vampires. If they bite you, you become just like them. And round and round it goes…

Where will it stop?
Even Anita Blake doesn’t know.

I really enjoyed the last two installments of the Anita Blake series but AFFLICTION fell short to me.  This is a big book so when you see it know that only 1/2 of it actually comes close to being enjoyable. I did like the main storyline. Zombies are always fun but they take on a new life in AFFLICTION.

The constant spread out and over explained dialogue was annoying. I seriously skipped through 1/2 of each chapter in the book. Something important is going on yet people have to sit and have chapter long conversations about their relationship or other miniscule things. Hello! Crisis going on!

It was fun to witness Micah's family. The whole meet and greet was nothing like I (or the characters) thought it would be. It was a neat surprise. As usual the local law enforcement looks down at Anita and her men. They as usual treat Anita like a whore and we have to listen to her and them banter about it for a while until she does something crazy and they finally see she is not like her reputation makes her out to be. Same story different town. I loved that Edward was once again in the book. He is a great character, I always enjoy his dialogue. Am I the only one that felt he is being set up to sleep with Anita? I was getting that vibe but it could just be me seeing things that are not there so I would love to know if anyone else felt that way.

Sigh. I'm not sure what else to say. I miss the early Anita books and thought we were getting back to those but I'm not sure after AFFLICTION.

I gave it 2.5/5 stars