Hit List (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series #20)
4.1
1028
5
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780515150896 |
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| Publisher: | Penguin Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 05/29/2012 |
| Series: | Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series , #20 |
| Pages: | 336 |
| Sales rank: | 89,197 |
| Product dimensions: | 4.10(w) x 6.70(h) x 1.20(d) |
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Hit List (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series #20)
4.1 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
1028 reviews.
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Since not much is said about this book, here is a book description that I found online that could help us decide if we want the book or not. "Anita is upstate with Edward as US Marshals, trying to catch a serial killer that is killing Were Tigers across the country. Anita and Edward both know that the Harlequin still loyal to the Queen of Darkness are killing the Were Tigers, but they can't tell the police because they know that anyone who mentions the Harlequin without being invited, will be hunted down and killed and there are too many secrets from the other police. Anita can't explain everything, but because the Harlequin met each other masked, even the Harlequin on her side don't have faces or names to give to the police. Anita and Edward know everything and nothing that will help catch the killers. Edward begins to think that the killers are a trick to try and lure Anita away from Jean-Claud and all his bodyguards, so that the Mother of all Darkness can either have her kidnapped try and takeover her body, or kill her. Edward will propose to set a trap to lure the Harlequin in to try and take Anita. He bets that he, Anita, some guards from home and other Marshals will be better than millennium old vampire assassins. The vampires call Anita the executioner and Edward death but can even death and the executioner win against the Harlequin?"
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First, the price issue. After reading this book (digital copy on my nook) I don't think the discrepancy is actually on the ebook end, I think the publishers knew that no one would pay more than $15 for the hardcover version of the book. If a new hardcover comes out and it's $30, the $15 for the ebook doesn't sound too bad. In today's economy people are more likely to wait to purchase if the new hardcover was the typical $25-$30, and the bad reviews would catch up with them before they could get max sales.
**There will probably be spoilers in this review**
The first 230 pages or so are relatively pointless and full of filler. I spent a lot of time thinking "this is completely unnecessary and feels like it's just here to boost the pages #s." You spend much of the book rehashing Anita's "issues" over and over again...I personally am tired of her whining. We do get to see Edward, Olaf, and Bernardo...all of whom I love, but they were absolutely not used to their full potential. I used to look at Edward as someone who was truly to be feared, not so much anymore. Then there was the addition of yet another guy to Anita's man-harem. My main problem with the book was the ending. We've spent all this time reading about the Harlequin, who are so scary that you can't even say their names out loud, and Mommy Darkest who is basically evil personified only for them to be wiped out in a few pages with relatively little effort. I was completely disappointed. I was reading through the book waiting for it to get interesting and all of a sudden I'm 240 pages into a 259 page book and nothing too noteworthy has happened yet.
I'm disappointed that she wasted this story arc. It seemed very much like it got to a point where she was tired of writing this book and just sort of decided to wrap it up because she had something better to do. This story arc could have gone in so many directions, and had so much potential, to see it all wasted in a few pages makes me sick. I'm tired of watching the plots of these books take a backseat to all the whining, sex, and metaphycics...almost as if as when she's writing it's like "oh...I guess I should have some sort of plot in here too"
The series in general has taken a rather disenchanting turn over the last several books. Adding a new man at every turn does not keep things interesting, it just dilutes the character pool. After 20 books I should feel like I know the characters like my best friends, I should not be having to look up who's who just so I can follow what's going on. And what a convoluted mess all the metaphysics have become. It's made Anita weak. She used to be a strong female character, with brains, guns, and general bada$$ery...I miss that Anita. I very much dislike the self-deprecating, judgmental, super-skank she has become. I miss the old books, where you really got to know the characters, where the was adventure, mystery, and action. Where the plot wasn't just some afterthought to provide a vehicle for all the sex an metaphysics.
I think I may be done with the series all together, like a relationship that has run it's course, I think we're both just phoning it in at this point and it's best if we don't see each other anymore.
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I have been very disappoointed with this series. I loved books 1-9. After that though, is a different story. The books are all about sex and hardly about her work as an animator or a mystery that needs solving. On more than one occasion there is a wisp of a plot and sex sex sex sex sex and more sex to keep the book going. If I wanted to read a book full of smut I'd go buy a cheesey romance novel with fabio on the cover half naked and with better looking hair than my own. Anita Black was interesting, kicked butt, held her own when times got tough, and told men to stick it where the sun don't shine. I liked her strong tough-as-nails character. But it's kind of hard to get into a story that starts out with: There's a murder going on, I will investigate, oh wait I need to get laid ASAP! Before you know it you have ten pages left to the book and Anita Blake has 20 more men added to her list of sexual partners. It was a shame because I really liked Anita Blake. I will only read this book because I am curious to see how it all turns out, I won't be buying it of course but borrowing from a friend because I will not waste my money on this.
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I'm sorry, but I just had to leave a review. One of the commenters wrote that this series is never predictable. I'm sorry, but what? Where have you been? The book is so predictable, I honestly think that it's time for Hamilton to just stop writing this series. Every book has a very tiny piece of a plot, with a TON of sex. If you put the last 10 books together, minus the sex scenes, you have the plot needed for one book. This series is honestly just a bunch of supernatural harlequin novels that involve the same character having sex, with her male lover (whom at this point, are interchangeable during sex).
The stories at this point basically boil down to this: Mystery, SEX, new addition (or 10) to Anita's harem, mystery solved (or left for another book) end of book.
With a book structure like that, this series has no business being priced over the standard harlequin book. $10 is being generous, and the nook price should not be higher than $5, this series is no longer worth it.
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This was not a novella, but it should have been. I miss Jean-Claud and the others but several other books in the series have focused on Anita's U. S. Marshal activities and and were great reads, this was not. I was willing to look beyond missing some of my favorite characters, but too much is missing. The book has a real problem with continuity and it seemed like much of the story was just abandoned and the last few chapters were added in the middle of what could have been a good story. Where is the rest of the plot? This was the first book I ever pre-ordered and re-read the whole series in anticipation of Hit List's release. My favorite author has let me down, I should have waited my turn for the library copy.
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wish i could write something more positive since i have generally been a fan of most of her books but having just finished her latest was fairly unimpressed. save your money and wait for it to remaindered or in paperback. less gratuitous sex than the last few novels but not terribly exciting writing or plot development and thoroughly anticlimactic ending. not to mention short book at only 250some pages. i wish her luck and will keep reading her books but this one is not worth buying hardcover. just seems like a mismatched collection of subplots and so-so action scenes. hell, i would have enjoyed rereading one of her merideth gentry novels more, sad to say. but, more power to her for keeping the series going this long and hey, it's not like i'm a published author so take my review with a grain of salt.
and on an unrelated note, barnes&noble and the publishing houses... you can do better than full price for an e-book. if the author is getting the increased in profit from reduced overhead great, if not, knock off the fixed high price when you cut your expenses by going digital.
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I really wanted this book to be good. "old Anita" but no. I didn't buy this book thank goodness. I got it from the library (unabridged CD's). I am now on cd 7 and so far there have only been two encounters with bad guys. Enough with the whining, explaining mediphysics, and Anita's over the top I am woman hear me roar BS!!!!!!! I am sorry to say I don't believe I will be borrowing Laurell's next installment from the libary. I think the best thing for this series is to end it with this book. It is just painful like watching a train wreck or a bad movie. You want to look away or stop watching but you can't. You keep thinking if I just hang in there Laurell will turn the corner and it will be great again. I miss the cool discovery of the preternatural, new bad guys, how the good guys pull it off. This is not it. I can't defend her anymore. This is awful and she is just wanting a check.
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This book starts and continues as others - plenty of details of Anita's second guessing herself and other's motives. Typical Anita. You expect that - pure Anita. What I didn't like was the ending - once Ms. Hamilton hit the climax, it was a very thin description and ending. After all the descriptions in the beginning thru the middle, she ended it too suddenly. It felt as though she got tired of writing. Very disappointing. I've read better endings from Hamilton.
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Better than her recent attempts to write what constitutes a novel rather than simply erotica, but still lacking in solid plot. Leaves me missing the days when there was a real mystery and she didn't know who the killer was from the get go. What happened to investigation and solving?
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I just finished reading it last night (book store by me has them for sale already). I have to say that the Hit List is better than the last 10 books and it offers some, if not total, closure. It was a good quick read and there was only one sex scene in the whole books (which in my humble opinion made it a much better read). Edward and Anita team up in Tacoma to stop what looks like serial killings of weretigers but really is a larger plot. Ed and Anita recognize the handiwork of the Harlequin, a secret society who works for the first vampire, the Mother of All Darkness. After the failed attempt to kill the MOAD by the vampire council, MOAD has no corporeal body and thinks Anita's will be a perfect replacement. Good read. Several of her most neglected characters make appearances. Just when I thought the Anita Blake series was beyond the point of no return, it is revived with a good book (finally). I guess I'll just have to keep reading LKH.
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If you are an Anita Blake fan from the early days, you should put this one on your list. There are some echos of Obsidian Butterfly, and Edward is always a treat. If you like the sexier Anita Blake from more recent books, maybe wait for the paperback.
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It has only one sex scene...yes, you read that correctly, ONE.
I still don't think it is up to par with the early books, but it is a VAST improvement over the last two. It is less than three hundred pages though and only took me about 2 hours to read, but it kept my attention enough that I read it straight through. It is Obsidian Butterfly-esque and that was my favorite book out of the entire series followed by the first three and then Skin Trade (I do have a preference for the Edward books overall though).
I think it could have had more meat to it, but overall I was happy with it.
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This story was very similar to two or three of the other novels where Anita goes out-of-town for her work. This one, however, was low on plot and good, engaging characters. It's almost like she would touch on a topic and then never finish with it. We almost visit the red tigers but really don't see much of them. We almost have a major confrontation with Olaf but it fizzles. We hear a lot about Edward's protective attitude towards Anita but we never figure out why. We never really get the whole story on why the Harlequin are killing tigers (if the "trying to lure Anita" reason is the real reason then I find that to be a flimsy plot point). This is just another toss-off to make money book. It doesn't do that much for the overall plot of the series and only contains one interesting new character (Ethan). There was also WAY too much (endless) talk about the predjudice against Anita in her field of work and WAY to much describing of characters via their clothing and/or hotness factor. Overall this one was a BIG, BORING, PRICEY, let down.
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For the first time in a long time I really enjoyed this series. This book is more reminiscent of the first books (before the ardeur was introduced). I love Edward's character and felt it was good to see Anita away from her usual harem of men. The price of the book was crazy but I am not disgusted with myself for buying it. At least this time there was more to the story than just sex. I literally counted chapters and was surprised that it wasn't until the end of chapter 12 where sex even entered the picture. I think if LKH can keep writing more Anita stories like this one she will maintain, if not regain any readers she lost with the last few novels that were little more than sex from cover to cover. I very much recommend this novel!
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To start with, this is a review about the book not about the pricing of the ebook vs hardback. I just finished reading the book and was slightly disappointed. Downloaded the book to my nook and found that it was only 259 pages. Was expecting/hoping for a more substantial sized book. I read the entire in only a few hours. Storyline: New players/old players nothing dealing with Anitas' necromancy. Story arc comes to a close with this book, curious to see where this is going to go. Will LKH finally get back to a storyline that doesnt contain chapters of gratuitous sex? All in all, a decent book though I wouldnt recommend it to anyone new to the series. Recommend waiting for the price to come a bit or borrowing from your locale library to see if you think its worth the price to add to your Anita Blake collection.
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I agree with some of the other reviews. All of the more recent books read the same way with minor changes. All the characters have the same arguments and conversations, all the plots read the same. This book had a seriously anti-climactic ending to a problem that had been putting Anita in mortal jeopardy for several books now. I was extremely disappointed with how it turned out. One of the good aspects was all the Edward time she included. He is my favorite character in this series with the exception of Anita and his roles are never disappointing. It seems Ms.Hamilton is losing interest and/or inspiration for this series. I hope she takes her time to develop the next book if she continues the Blake novels. I'd prefer to wait longer for a quality story than read hastily churned out reheated leftovers. That being said, I still adore this series and only wish it a long-lived, creative, entertaining life.
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I love Anita Blake and the Merry Gentry series as well but this book and the series in general has become stale. I am tired of hearing about Anita agonizing if she is a monster or not, tired of cops giving her crap because she sleeps with the monsters, tired because all of these things remain constant book after book. Not to mention the fact that we wait so long for a new Anita or Merry book and then when it comes out it is a mere 259 pages?? I am very disappointed. I don't think I am going to buy the next one- I will borrow it from the library because I can definitely wait unless there is a major shake up to liven this series back up. The magic and charm from the earlier books has been lost. This ending was also SO DULL! All the books build up to this and then I was done reading it and I said to myself, "that's it?????" I can't believe it!
Love the characters but this needs a huge shake up. Anita needs to actually become a shifter in reality, or she needs to kill Olaf, or how about visiting characters we haven't seen in awhile like Dolph and the "regular" police to see what is going on with them? How about Ronnie? Richard?
Hate to say it but don't waste your money on this one- it is not worth the ebook price which is ridiculous.
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Well, just finished the new book, Hit List #20. Good story (only 1 sex scene) as a standalone book as an out of town murder investigation with Anita's Marshall friends Edward, Olaf, and Bernard. Two of her sweeties Nick and Domino join her towards the very end of the book. A new character Ethan (waretiger) is introduced. I was really hoping for scenes with her regular sweeties Jean-Claude, Micah and Nathaniel, even Richard. A HUGE disappointment that there were NONE. Not even a phone call conversation between them. Bummer! I really missed the dynamic of those relationships. Hopefully the next book will explore those again. The book is about 250 pages. I hope another one comes out this year with her main charecters in the story plot.
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Many reviewers have said the books written before the onset of "the ardeur" have a much better plot. I agree! Nothing in the past few books on necromancy or killing the monsters.
Now that Anita has become one herself she just screws them all to death instead. Yes, I liked the monsters meeting a violent ending in the beginning of the series. Please go back to killing the boogeyman not sleeping with them.
So tired of reading about her pard of lovers who move as if they have no bones, the puppy piles, and other useless details in the series over and over just filling up space. Those of us with photographic memories get tired of the repeating of all these mundane details again.
End the series or go back to having Jonathon (or whomever was doing the proof reading before) supply some fresh plot ideas. Or get an editor that actually edits the book and pushes the author to crank out something other than porn. This series has turned into drivel post author's divorce so I am taking a pass on Anita.
Why no new Merideth Gentry books either? Those were better and more creative stories.
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The downward spiral continues. The series has too many characters, not one of them likeable. Anita's super power list also grows, up to 101 or 102? abilities so far. Monsters described are from Sesame Street (not scary). Edward?! Assassin turned family man, so not the character we learned to fear. So ¿. Very¿¿.. disappointed.
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After waiting so long, this was just not what I was expecting. None of the main characters were there... Yes we get to catch up on Edward... If I had known ahead of time I would not have pre-ordered this book and waited to read it for free in my public library. (if I decided to read it at all)
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I am a huge fan, but the last 3 books in this series has been a bust. This book was alot of pages of no content, only really had 3 good areas in the book, the rest was garbage. i hope after we wait a year for the next one that is MUCH better and worth the wait, because this one wasn't.
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I'm a long time reader of LKH and the Anita Blake series. I agree with others that said that the first 9 or 10 books were good, then they went off the deep end with sex and seemed to lose some of the essence of what made the characters interesting. Hit List seems to be an attempt to steer back in the right direction, but still too many scenes where Anita is defending her 'reputation' or proving herself, and its getting tiresome that every single book either results in a new power/new animal to call. Leave the powers as they are and let her use them in a well written plot next time. It also gets a bit tiresome that LKH seems to be falling into the trap of many female authors I've read that arrange it so every man in the book wants to sleep with her. There's also so many recurring characters now it's a bit hard to keep track from one book to the next. I also miss Jean Claude being a main character, he once seemed so powerful, now he just seems to be one of the Anita Groupies. However.... the last bit about Olaf in this book, scary stuff, nice touch! Olaf is an excellent character really, but, sadly, he ALSO wants to sleep with Anita (sigh).
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The BIGGEST battle of Anita's life against the Queen Mother of Scary as Hell lasts 11 pages? Arguements and sex scenes have been multiple CHAPTERS in other books. I've read them all multiple times because I love the series. But seriously? 11 pages? Big let down. Disappointed.
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LKH seems to have forgotten how to write a complete book. What is here is good but there is so much missing . I like Edward
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