Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter-graphic-Issue 2006 — Guilty Pleasures Graphic novel

Affliction (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter -22) by Laurell K. Hamilton — Affliction (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #22) by Laurell K. Hamilton — latest release; June 3, 2014

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter is written by Laurell K. Hamilton.

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Genres and Sub-Genres[]

Urban Fantasy, Romantic Urban Fantasy, Horror Urban Fantasy

Brief Series Description or Overview[]

The series takes place in a parallel universe where supernatural creatures and powers are real and their presence is considered to be public knowledge. The supernatural beings are considered to be citizens with most of the rights of regular humans, which is sometimes the focus of some of the strife in the series. The novels follow Anita Blake's ongoing conflicts with the supernatural as she attempts to solve a variety of supernatural mysteries, come to terms with her own abilities, and navigate an increasingly complex series of romantic and political relationships. As the series progresses Anita's perspective on the supernatural changes, as the character initially sees the supernatural predominantly as "monsters" to be fought and later grows to see them as communities to be protected and as potential love interests. ~ Wikipedia

Books in Series[]

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series:

Guilty Pleasures (1993)
The Laughing Corpse (1994)
Circus of the Damned (1995)
The Lunatic Cafe (1996)
Bloody Bones (1996)
The Killing Dance (1997)
Burnt Offerings (1998)
Blue Moon (1998)
Obsidian Butterfly (2000)
Narcissus in Chains (2001)
Cerulean Sins (2003)
Incubus Dreams (2004)
Micah (2006)
Danse Macabre (2006)
The Harlequin (2007)
Blood Noir (2008)
Skin Trade (2009)
Flirt (2009)
Bullet (2010)
Hit List (2011)
Kiss the Dead (2012)
Affliction (2013)
Jason (Dec 2014)
Dead Ice (June 9, 2015)
Crimson Death (October 11th, 2016)
Serpentine (August 7th, 2018)
Sucker Punch (August 2020)
Rafael (February 2021)

Shorts, Anthologies and Guides[]

0.5. "Strange Candy" (2006) ~ Collection of shorts
1.5. "Blood Upon My Lips" in Cravings (2004) ~ Anthology
8.5. "The Girl Who Was Infatuated With Death" in Bite (2004) ~ Anthology
20.5. "Beauty" (2012) ~ eBook (an out-take, 33 pages)
22.5. "Dancing" (Sept 17, 2013) ~ eBook (52 pages)
22.6. "Shutdown" (October 8th 2013) ~ eBook: scene
13+: "Micah" and Strange Candy (2007) ~ Novella & collection of shorts

Freebies:

22.6. "Shutdown" (October 8th 2013) ~ eBook: scene (present to readers for duration of Government shutdown) ‎help.vook.com/download-shutdown/

Graphic Anita Blake[]

Marvel Comics series

Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The First Death 1-2
Anita Blake Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures 1-12
Guilty Pleasures Handbook (2007)

The Laughing Corpse Adaptation:

Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse – Animator 1-5
Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse – Necromancer 1-5
Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse – Executioner 1-5

Circus Of The Damned Adaptation:

Anita Blake: Circus Of The Damned – The Charmer 1-5
Anita Blake: Circus Of The Damned – The Ingenue 1-5
Anita Blake: Circus Of the Damned - The Scoundrel 1-5

World Building[]

Setting[]

St. Louis

Places:

St. Louis, Missouri: The story takes place here. So does the continuing series with travel to other places.
Guilty Pleasures: A strip club where male vampires and shape shifters dance for the masses.
The District: Also called Blood Square, a section of St. Louis where supernatural businesses and citizens cluster
Circus of the Damned: A converted warehouse. From the front it looks like a carnival with posters promoting the freak show, and dancing clowns twirling on top of the glowing sign. The warehouse contains a permanent carnival, a circus ring and a freak show that held mostly mythological creatures.
The Church of Eternal Life: A vampire church located in St. Louis. It is considered one of the fastest growing congregations in North America.

Supernatural Elements[]

Animator, necromancer, vampire, weres and shifters, zombies, voodoo,

Glossary:[]

Shapeshifting: In its broadest sense, it is when a being has the ability to alter its physical appearance. The transformation may be purposeful or not, depending on whether it has been the subject of a curse or spell. In some folklore, once the shapeshifter has become transformed, it becomes progressively more difficult for it to return to its original form.
Therianthrope: Refers to the metamorphosis of humans into other animals. Therianthropes change forms via “shifting.” There are two common types of shifts: the Mental Shift and the Physical shift. An M-shift is when the Therian changes their mind to think like their therian animal. A P-shift is when the Therian changes their body to that of their therian animal; they can do partial shifts (such as keeping a human body but having an animals head).
Wererat: A fictional lycanthropic creature akin to a werewolf, but shapeshifting into the form of a rat instead of a wolf. This type of therianthrope is rare in historical legends, but has become common in modern role playing games and fantasy fiction inspired by them. They are commonly portrayed as sewer-dwelling scavengers and opportunistic thieves.
Werewolf: Is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely, by being bitten by another werewolf, or after being placed under a curse. This transformation is often associated with the appearance of the full moon, as popularly noted by the medieval chronicler Gervase of Tilbury, and perhaps in earlier times among the ancient Greeks through the writings of Petronius.
Ma Petite: French: When used as an adjective it translates to honey-sweet. It is also a cute double entendre that refers to Anita's height.
Ma petite (actual): In French it means -ma = my petite = little. When used in conversation it is always followed by another word, whatever you are describing girl, boy, dog, flower, house. It doesn't matter.

~ Shelfari

Organizations:[]

Animators, Inc.: One of the most successful animator companies in the US. Although having begun as a small business in a spare room above a garage, it has grown, moving to bigger and better offices and hiring additional animators and secretarial staff. Though primarily aimed at raising the dead, the nature of the business has attracted other clients who wished to utilize the animator's expert supernatural knowledge, especially after vampires won civil rights. The firm usually receives contracts to have the dead raised as zombies, usually as witnesses in legal cases, setting will disputes, and sometimes as a last chance to have a word with a loved one who has passed away; Anita's place of employment
Regional Preternatural Investigation Team: RPIT, usually pronounced "Rip-It", is an extension of the St. Louis Police Department charged with keeping the peace between the human and supernatural communities by investigating all crimes with a supernatural aspect, and apprehending and/or exterminating the guilty parties. It has only recently been formed, largely as a half-hearted effort to placate the liberals and the press after the groundbreaking Addison vs. Clark case. Its remit is to investigate all supernatural crimes, whether it be committed against humans or against the supernatural beings themselves, including Vampires, Lycanthropes, Zombies, Ghouls, and more. Derogatorily known as the "Spook Squad", it is not considered a positive career move to join it, and it is comprised mostly of police officers who have aggravated their superiors in some way or another.
Humans Against Vampires: HAV is a pro-human organization that lobbies for the removal of human right to vampires. Their agenda is to make vampires illegal so that they may be hunted without a court order of execution; they use legal channels such as petitioning and protesting through the media and the political machine.

~ Shelfari

World[]

~ Fang-tastic Fiction: Laurell K. Hamilton: ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER - world building

Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Anita Blake Wiki - Vampire Hunter Novel by Laurell K. Hamilton

Protagonist[]

✥

Sidekick[]

Name: / What: / Sidekick-to: / About: / Book First Seen:

Characters Chart[]

Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter Series ~ Shelfari

Characters	What	About
Anita Blake	Vampire Hunter
Jean-Claude	Vampire

Cover Artist[]

Artist: Craig White
Artist:
Artist:

~ Resource: Anita Blake - Series Bibliography ~ ISFdb

Trivia[]

~ ranked #61 on Goodreads | Best Urban Fantasy SERIES (181 books)

Publishing Information[]

Publishers: Penguin Group, Berkeley,

Pages:

Guilty Pleasures: Paperback, 355 pages, Pub: Aug 3rd 2004 Berkley—ISBN 0425197549 — (All Editions)
The Laughing Corpse: Paperback, 301 pages, Pub: Aug 2nd 2005 Berkley—ISBN 0425204669 — (Editions)
Circus of the Damned: Paperback, 320 pages, Pub: January 2nd 2007 by Berkley—ISBN 0425201392 — (Editions)
The Lunatic Cafe: Hardcover, 352 pages, Pub: March 1st 2005 by Berkley Hardcover—ISBN 0425201376 — (Editions)
Bloody Bones: Paperback, 336 pages, Pub: November 1st 2005 by Berkley Hardcover—ISBN 0425205673 — (Editions)
The Killing Dance: Paperback, 368 pages, Pub: April 4th 2006 by Berkley Hardcover—ISBN 0425209067 — (Editions)
Burnt Offerings: Paperback, 392 pages, Pub: Sept 24th 2002 by Jove—ISBN 0515134473 — (Editions)
Blue Moon: Paperback, 418 pages, Pub: Sept 24th 2002 by Jove—ISBN 0515134457 — (Editions)
Obsidian Butterfly: Paperback, 596 pages, Pub: Sept 24th 2002 by Jove—ISBN 0515134503 — (Editions)
Narcissus in Chains: Paperback, 644 pages, Pub: September 24th 2002 by Jove—ISBN 0515133876 — (Editions)
Cerulean Sins: Paperback, 529 pages, Pub: August 31st 2004 by Jove—ISBN 0515136816 — (Editions)
Incubus Dreams: Paperback, 722 pages, Pub: September 27th 2005 by Jove—ISBN 0515139750 — (Editions)
Micah: Paperback, 245 pages, Pub: February 28th 2006 by Jove—ISBN 0515140872 — (Editions)
Danse Macabre: Paperback, 517 pages, Pub: March 27th 2007 by Jove—ISBN 0515142816 — (Editions)
The Harlequin: Paperback, 432 pages, Pub: June 5th 2007 by Berkley Hardcover—ISBN 0425217248 — (Editions)
Blood Noir: Paperback, 340 pages, Pub: May 27th 2008 by Berkley Hardcover—ISBN 0425222195 — (Editions)
Skin Trade: Paperback, 486 pages, Pub: June 2nd 2009 by Berkley Hardcover—ISBN 0425227723 — (Editions)
Flirt: Paperback, 192 pages, Pub: February 2nd 2010 by Berkley Hardcover—ISBN 042523567X — (Editions)
Bullet: Paperback, ,356 pages Pub: June 1st 2010 by Berkley Hardcover—ISBN 0425234339 — (Editions)
Hit List: Hardcover, 320 pages, Pub: June 7th 2011 by Berkley Hardcover—ISBN 0425241130 — (Editions)
Kiss the Dead: Hardcover, 359 pages, Pub: June 5th 2012 by Berkley—ISBN 0425247546 — (Editions)
Affliction: Hardcover, 570 pages, Pub: July 2nd 2013 by Berkley Hardcover—ISBN 0425255700 — (Editions)
Jason: Paperback novella, 255 pages, Pub: December 2nd 2014 by Jove—ISBN 0515156078 — (Editions)
Dead Ice: Hardcover, 576 pages, Pub: June 4th 2015 by Headline—ISBN 0755389069 — (Editions)

Book Cover Blurb[]

✤ BOOK ONE—Guilty Pleasures (1993): Published over ten years ago by Ace, Guilty Pleasures marked the debut of a series that was destined to grow from cult favorite to a major New York Times bestseller. Now, for long-time Anita Blake junkies and newfound fans, Guilty Pleasures makes its trade paperback debut. Readers will learn how Anita Blake started raising the dead-and killing the undead. And how she met Jean Claude, the master vampire destined to become not only her biggest nemesis, but her greatest lover. Goodreads | Guilty Pleasures

✤ BOOK TWO—The Laughing Corpse (1994): Animator and vampire hunter Anita Blake is about to discover that some secrets are better left buried—and some people better off dead.

✤ BOOK THREE—Circus of the Damned (1995): In Circus of the Damned-now in trade paperback for the first time-a rogue master vampire hits town, and Anita gets caught in the middle of an undead turf war. Jean-Claude, the Master Vamp of the city, wants her for his own-but his enemies have other plans. And to make matters worse, Anita takes a hit to the heart when she meets a stunningly handsome junior high science teacher named Richard Zeeman. They're two humans caught in the crossfire-or so Anita thinks.

✤ BOOK FOUR—The Lunatic Cafe (1996): Vampire hunter and zombie animator Anita Blake is an expert at sniffing out the bad from the good. But in The Lunatic Cafe-now in trade paperback for the first time-she's about to learn that nothing is ever as it seems, especially in matters of the not-so-human heart.

Dating a werewolf with self-esteem issues is stressing Anita out. Especially when something-or someone-starts taking out the city's shapeshifters.

✤ BOOK FIVE—Bloody Bones (1996): When Branson, Missouri, is hit with a death wave 'four unsolved murders' it doesn't take an expert to realize that all is not well. But luckily for the locals, Anita Blake is an expert in the kinds of preternatural goings-on that have everyone spooked. And she's got an 'in' with the creature that can make sense of the slayings-the sexy master vampire known as Jean-Claude.

✤ BOOK SIX—The Killing Dance (1997): Though she’s dating a vampire and a werewolf, Anita is keeping them at arm’s length. Which isn’t easy considering that Jean-Claude is the master vampire of St. Louis and Richard Zeeman is the sexiest junior high school teacher she’s ever seen.

Just to complicate Anita’s already messy life, someone has put a price on her head. Love cannot save her this time, so she turns to Edward, hit man extraordinaire for help. But finding the person behind it won’t be easy, because she’s made a lot of enemies—human and otherwise.

✤ BOOK SEVEN—Burnt Offerings (1998): Anita Blake is a vampire hunter. But when someone else sets his sights on her prey, she must save them both from the inferno.

✤ BOOK EIGHT—8 Blue Moon (1998): In her eighth adventure, Anita Blake can't turn her back on a former lover during the full moon. Especially since he's behind bars-and he's a werewolf...

✤ BOOK NINE—Obsidian Butterfly (2000): Edward is a hit man, specializing in monsters, vampires, shapeshifters, anything and everything. There are people like Anita who do it legal, but Edward doesn't sweat the legalities, or, hell, the ethics. He's an equal opportunity killer.

Anita may be one of the few friends that Edward has, but it’s like being friends with a tame leopard. It may curl up on the foot of your bed and let you pet its head, but it can still eat your throat out...

✤ BOOK TEN—Narcissus in Chains (2001): In her tenth adventure, nothing can save vampire hunter Anita Blake from a twist of fate that draws her ever closer to the brink of humanity.

✤ BOOK ELEVEN—Cerulean Sins (2003): Once a sworn enemy of all monsters, Anita is now the human consort of both Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire, and Micah, the leopard shapeshifter. Not quite as human as she once was, she is consumed by both their hungers—desires that must be sated time and time again. And when a centuries-old vampire targets Jean-Claude and his clan, Anita finds herself tested as never before—needing all the dark forces her passion can muster to save the ones she loves the most...

✤ BOOK TWELVE—Incubus Dreams (2004): Vampire hunter Anita Blake finds her life is more complicated than ever, caught as she is between her obligations to the living-and the undead.

✤ BOOK 13—Micah (2006): Vampire hunter Anita Blake is called on to raise the dead-while trying to suppress her ever-growing feelings for a certain wereleopard.

✤ BOOK 14—Danse Macabre (2006): In the thralls of supernatural passion, Anita Blake faces a most human dilemma.

✤ BOOK 15—The Harlequin (2007): Into Anita Blake's world-a world already overflowing with power-come creatures so feared that centuries-old vampires refuse to mention their names.

✤ BOOK 16—Blood Noir (2008): A favor for a friend puts Anita Blake in the center of a full-blown scandal that threatens master vampire Jean- Claude's reign-and makes her a pawn in an ancient vampire queen's new rise to power.

✤ BOOK 17—Skin Trade (2009): When a vampire serial killer sends Anita Blake a grisly souvenir from Las Vegas, she has to warn Sin City’s local authorities what they’re dealing with. Only it’s worse than she thought. Police officers and one executioner have been slain—paranormal style.

Anita heads to Vegas, where’s she’s joined by three other federal marshals, including the ruthless Edward hiding behind his mild-mannered persona. It’s a good thing Edward always has her back, because, when she gets close to the bodies, Anita senses “tiger” too strongly to ignore it. And the weretigers are powerful in Las Vegas, which means the odds of her rubbing someone very powerful the wrong way just got a lot higher…

✤ BOOK 18—Flirt (2009): Anita Blake has been asked to raise the dead-but the results aren't going to make everybody happy...

✤ BOOK 19—Bullet (2010): Anita Blake is back in St. Louis and trying to live a normal life-as normal as possible for someone who is a legal vampire executioner and a U. S. Marshal. There are lovers, friends and their children, school programs to attend. In the midst of all the ordinary happiness a vampire from Anita's past reaches out. She was supposed to be dead, killed in an explosion, but the Mother of All Darkness is the first vampire, their dark creator. It's hard to kill a god. This dark goddess has reached out to her here-in St. Louis, home of everyone Anita loves most. The Mother of All Darkness has decided she has to act now or never, to control Anita, and all the vampires in America.

The Mother of All Darkness believes that the triumvirate created by master vampire Jean-Claude with Anita and the werewolf Richard Zeeman has enough power for her to regain a body and to immigrate to the New World. But the body she wants to possess is already taken. Anita is about to learn a whole new meaning to sharing her body, one that has nothing to do with the bedroom. And if the Mother of All Darkness can't succeed in taking over Anita's body for herself, she means to see that no one else has the use of it, ever again. Even Belle Morte, not always a friend to Anita, has sent word: "Run if you can..."

✤ BOOK 20—Hit List (2011): A serial killer is hunting the Pacific Northwest, murdering victims in a gruesome and spectacular way. The local police suspect "monsters" are involved, and have called in Anita Blake and Edward, U.S. Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer.

✤ BOOK 21—Kiss the Dead (2012): When a fifteen-year-old girl is abducted by vampires, it’s up to U.S. Marshal Anita Blake to find her. And when she does, she’s faced with something she’s never seen before: a terrifyingly ordinary group of people—kids, grandparents, soccer moms—all recently turned and willing to die to avoid serving a master. And where there’s one martyr, there will be more…

But even vampires have monsters that they’re afraid of. And Anita is one of them…

✤ BOOK 22—Affliction (2013): Micah’s estranged father lies dying, rotting away inside from some strange ailment that has his doctors whispering about “zombie disease.”

Anita Blake 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.

✤ BOOK 23—Jason (Dec 2014): "Enjoying pain with your pleasure is something you either get, or you don't. If you get it, then you don't really need it explained, because you know how good it feels, and if you don't get it then no amount of talking is going to convince you it makes sense."

But sometimes you have to explain the unexplainable, especially if the love of your life needs to understand, or she'll leave you. Jason Schuyler is one of Anita Blake's best friends and favorite werewolves, with benefits. J.J. is his lady love, an old flame from childhood who dances at one of the top ballet companies in New York. She's accomplished, beautiful, and she's crazy about him, too. Neither of them wants to be monogamous, so what could go wrong?

J.J. is enthusiastically bisexual, with an emphasis on the female side of things. She plans to keep sleeping with women, because Jason can't meet that need, just like she can't meet Jason's need for rough sex and bondage. J.J. doesn't understand why Jason isn’t content to go elsewhere for a need she can’t fulfil, so Jason asks Anita to help him explain.

Anita is having her own relationship growing pains with her only female lover ever, Jade. Jason suggests that J.J. might be able to help Anita with her girl problem, while she helps him with his kinky explanations. With some encouragement from a few other lovers in Anita's life she reluctantly agrees, and J. J. makes plans to fly into town for an experience that none of them will ever forget.

✤ BOOK 24—Dead Ice (June 9, 2015): Becoming the fiancée of master vampire Jean-Claude is wreaking havoc with Anita Blake’s reputation as a hardass—to some extent. Luckily, in professional circles, she’s still the go-to expert for zombie issues. And right now, the FBI is having one hell of a zombie issue.

Someone is producing zombie porn. Anita has seen her share of freaky undead fetishes, so this shouldn’t bother her. But the women being victimized aren’t just mindless, rotting corpses. Their souls are trapped behind their eyes, signaling voodoo of the blackest kind.

It’s the sort of case that can leave a mark on a person. And Anita’s own soul may not survive unscathed...

✤ BOOK 25—Crimson Death (June 2016): Anita has never seen Damian, her vampire servant, in such a state. The rising sun doesn’t usher in the peaceful death that he desperately needs. Instead, he’s being bombarded with violent nightmares and blood sweats.

And now, with Damian at his most vulnerable, Anita needs him the most. The vampire who created him, who subjected him to centuries of torture, might be losing control, allowing rogue vampires to run wild and break one of their kind’s few strict taboos.

Some say love is a great motivator, but hatred gets the job done, too. And when Anita joins forces with her friend Edward to stop the carnage, Damian will be at their side, even if it means traveling back to the land where all his nightmares spring from...a place that couldn’t be less welcoming to a vampire, an assassin, and a necromancer: Ireland.

✤ BOOK 26—Serpentine (August 2018): A remote Florida island is the perfect wedding destination for the upcoming nuptials of Anita’s fellow U.S. Marshal and best friend, Edward. For Anita, the vacation is a welcome break, as it’s the first trip she gets to take with just wereleopards Micah and Nathaniel. But it’s not all fun and games and bachelor parties…

In this tropical paradise, Micah discovers a horrific new form of lycanthropy, one that has afflicted a single family for generations. Believed to be the result of an ancient Greek curse, it turns human bodies into a mass of snakes.

When long-simmering resentment leads to a big blow-up within the wedding party, the last thing Anita needs is more drama. But it finds her anyway when women start disappearing from the hotel, and worse, her own friends and lovers are considered the prime suspects. There’s a strange power afoot that Anita has never confronted before, a force that’s rendering those around her helpless. Unable to face it on her own, Anita is willing to accept help from even the deadliest places. Help that she will most certainly regret—if she survives at all, that is…

✤ BOOK 27—Sucker Punch (August 2020): A brutal murder, a suspect in jail, and an execution planned—but what if the wrong person is about to be killed?

When a fellow U.S. Marshal asks Anita Blake to fly to a tiny community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on an emergency consult, she knows time is running short. When she arrives, there is plenty of proof that a young wereleopard killed his uncle in the most gruesome and bloody way possible. As the mounting evidence points to him, a warrant of execution is already under way.

But something seems off about the murder, and Anita has been asked for her expert opinion on the crime scene. Despite escalating pressure from local cops and the family’s cries for justice for their dead patriarch, Anita quickly realizes that the evidence doesn’t quite add up.

Time is against Anita, as the tight-knit community is up in arms and its fear of supernaturals is growing. She races to uncover the truth and determine whether the Marshals have caught the killer or are about to execute an innocent man—all in the name of justice.

✤ BOOK 28—Rafael (February 2021): Rafael, king of the wererats, must fight to the death to defend his crown. He wants Anita Blake, one of his closest allies, with him as he faces an opponent unlike any he’s faced before. He will ask Anita to risk everything to be at his side....

But some of the wererats fear that Rafael depends too much on Anita and her ties to the vampires. They believe that there is only room in America for one supernatural king, and Rafael will turn them into nothing more than food for the bloodsuckers.

Among his enemies, a new challenger has arisen who is younger, hungrier, and has dark secrets that could destroy both the wererats and the vampires. Rafael will go into the magical heart of his people to find the power and violence that he needs to save them all, or die trying.

First Sentences[]

Guilty Pleasure (1993) — Willie McCoy had been a jerk before he died.
The Laughing Corpse (1994) — Harold Gaynor's sat in the middle of intense green lawn and the graceful sweep of trees.
Circus of the Damned (1995) — There was dried chicken blood imbedded under my fingernails.
The Lunatic Cafe (1996) — It was two weeks before Christmas.
Bloody Bones (1996) — It was St. Patrick's Day, and the only green I was wearing was a button that read, "Pinch me and you're dead meat."
The Killing Dance (1997) — The most beautiful corpse I'd ever seen was sitting behind my desk.
Burnt Offerings (1998) — Most people don't stare at scars.
Blue Moon (1998) — I was dreaming of cool flesh and sheets the color of fresh blood.
Obsidian Butterfly (2000) — I was cover in blood, but it wasn't mine, so it was okay.
Narcissus in Chains (2001) — June had come in like its usual hot, sweaty self, but a freak cold front had moved in during the night and the car radio had been full of record low temperatures.
Cerulean Sins (2003) — It was early September, a busy time of the year for raising the dead.
Incubus Dreams (2004) — It was an October wedding.
Micah (2006) — It was half past dawn when the phone rang.
Danse Macabre (2006) — It was the middle of November.
The Harlequin (2007) — Malcolm, the head of the Church of Eternal Life, the vampire church, sat across from me.
Blood Noir (2008) — I came home to find two men sitting at my kitchen table.
Skin Trade (2009) — I'd worked my share of serial killer cases, but none of the killers had ever mailed me a human head.
Flirt (2009) — "I want you to raise my wife from the dead, Ms. Blake," Tony Bennington said, in a voice that matched the expensive suit and the flash of the Rolex on his right wrist.
Bullet (2010) — I was working my way through a mass of parents and children with a tiny clown hat clutched in one hand.
Hit List (2011) — The main piece of the body lay on the ground, on its back in the middle of a smooth grassy field.
Kiss the Dead (2012) —On TV, interrogation rooms are roomy and have big windows so that you can watch everything.
Affliction (2013) — My gun was digging into my back, so I shifted forward in my office chair.
Jason (Dec 2014) — Jason Schuyler, one of my best friends and favorite werewolves, stood in the morning sunlight of the kitchen.
Dead Ice (June 2015) — "So, you're engaged," Special Agent Brenda Manning said.
Crimson Death (June 2016) — I'd fallen asleep cuddled between two of the men I loved most, with one arm flung across their naked bodies so I could touch the third.
Serpentine (August 2018) — I was standing in the air-conditioned hush of Forever Bridal in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but since all I could see was a rack of plastic-wrapped wedding dresses taller than my head, I could have been in any bridal shop in any part of the country.
Sucker Punch (August 2020) — The tiny plane landed in the dark on a runway that felt way too short.
Rafael (February 2021) — I was working out in the weight room with Claudia, who was a more serious weightlifter than I would ever be, but she was teaching me how to trust my new supernatural strength.