Flirt

So, I gave in and checked out Laurell K Hamilton’s one of the newer Anita Blake books – Flirt. Honestly, until I looked up the book to include the hyperlink, I didn't realize there was Bullet - a book that is much longer, released about a month later. Where does that one fit in? I've been out of the loop.

I was a big fan of her early work – and then joined the “WTF happened?!” club. Now it’s just bad. It’s really just orgies, and Anita being all badass and emasculating men and being undefeatable. Yet I still read them. It’s a guilty pleasure. I’m a little infatuated with some of the male characters, after I imagine they don’t have really long hair that Hamilton has portrayed them with (a man with ankle length hair? Not sexy).

Last year's book, Skin Trade, I thought things were getting better. There was only like, 2 sex scenes in the whole book! And it’s not even really about the sex. If the story line is good and the sex emphasized the story, and added a little flair, fine. But it is just over the top. And remember Micah?, that was bad. It was a little novella. A mere side story. Flirt was the same way! It was less than 160 pages. I read it over my lunch hour! It was practically a short story. And not a good one at that.

Here’s the story line (spoiler alert!)

Anita turns down a rich guy – she won’t raise his wife, can’t raise her to be real.
Anita goes out and flirts and Hamilton makes things really awkward between her 3 guy friends.
Anita turns down a rich lady – she won’t raise her husband so she can ax murder him.
Anita goes to lunch at the same place, has awkward flirting with the waiter.
Anita is taken by two lions.
Her lion wants to mate with them.
They manage to make it over to the rich guys’ house – he hired them to threaten Anita and all that.
Her lion wants to mate with them again.
Anita gets hurt.
Anita must get power to heal – Anita must have sex
Anita takes power over lion #2 by having sex with him.
Things get a little violent
Anita raises the wife – but there is a ton of power
Anita raises lots more zombies.
Anita has zombies kill the rich guy.
Anita’s guys come to the rescue
Anita takes lion home with her.

The End.

They barely talk about Jean Claude, and only mention Asher in passing. None of the other characters barely even have roles in the book. It’s just all-powerful Anita. Like always. But Hamilton did work in Anita crying in there… you know, to show you that she is more than just a tough gal.

Hamilton also included an intro and an ending “how I come up with ideas” portion… probably to make the book longer because it’s pretty obvious she is running out of material and had to meet a deadline.