47.
Author(s): Laurell K. Hamilton
Title: Hit List
Publication: Hardback
Pages:
Genre: Horror (I still haven't bought into these "paranormal" or "urban fantasy" labels)
Acquisition: Preordered
Date Completed: June 8, 2011
Rating: ***1/2

Alright boils and ghouls, it's June, and we all know what that means - the latest Anita Blake has hit the shelves (sporting an outrageously hideous cover, no less). The twentieth in the series, Hit List opens with Anita and Edward standing over yet another body - only this time they're together to work as Marshalls tracking a serial killer who is hunting down weretigers. What Anita and Edward realize, and the other Marshalls can never know, is that the killings are the work of the Harlequin (I'm not spoiling anything - it says so right at the beginning), as they attempt to manipulate Anita for Mommy Dearest's benefit.

Anita is away from home, away from her harem, and thoroughly distracted - but not too distracted to sense some relationships changing and others beginning. It seems like Hamilton is attempting to placate the readers who have expressed dissatisfaction with the romance elements of the series, and she greatly limits herself in these aspects (I can recall just one "full-romance" scene, and considering it's a plot device she simply can't start ignoring, I think it's the best those readers can hope for right now).

This novel introduces a number of weaknesses in Anita's character, humanizing her in a way we haven't seen before - or at least not for awhile. Even as she grows supernaturally, the reader sees her softening emotionally, and can recognize the toll that her personal relationships are taking on her life - for both good and bad.

The conclusion of the novel, however, is far from satisfactory; the sudden change of heart seems fairly ridiculous, and the conflict itself is resolved far too simply and easily. Events that could have (and perhaps should have) taken a hundred pages to properly develop are presented in just a few, with a neat little wrap-up at the end to put a bow on the whole ordeal.

However, with the exception of that conclusion, I found Hit List enjoyable, and was especially interested in some unexpected character development. And yes, I'm going to keep reading.