I have spoken before in this forum on my declining respect for, and interest in, the Anita Blake series. Nonetheless I have consistently picked up the latest book when it was released, hoping for something of a turnaround or change in direction. So far I have been disappointed, though not enough to make a firm commitment to refuse the next installment. Danse Macabre may well be bad enough to break that barrier.
Why do I say that? Simple enough. My major complaint has been that the sexual and romantic liasons of the main character have taken over the series. Recent books have almost no plot that does not revolve around Anita’s personal life, and supernatural murders are thrown in almost as an afterthought. Danse Macabre does not even maintain the thin pretext. Every supernatural threat represents little more than an excuse for Anita to have more sex. The supposedly non-threatening parts of the plot revolve around Anita choosing someone to have more sex with. The major plot shocker is whether or not Anita will face the consequences of having unprotected sex with lots of people all the time.
And it’s just not interesting anymore.
Count me out of the next one, unless I can pick it up in a bookstore and open it to random pages without finding mostly sex.
