Book review: "Flirt" by Laurell K. Hamilton

(Holy hell, I just realized I haven't written a review of this series in more than a year. I'm such a slacker. I read them, just didn't write it up. This book is too short to write a review without giving away plot points. You've been warned!)

When I first heard this novella was coming out, I was both excited and not expecting much. I love the Anita Blake series--I re-read them about once a year, if not more. So I was excited there would be another one to add to my collection. But I was also worried it was going to be like Micah, the other novella in the series. I think I read it in the store in less than an hour, bought it just to have the complete set, and have never opened it again. Micah isn't my favorite character, so a book that was largely about his past, and Anita's stupid emotional issues, and them having sex .... just not interesting to me. I was worried Flirt would be a book all about Jason (again, like Blood Noir) or worse, Nathaniel.

But hooray, it wasn't! It was actually a very nice blend of present and past-style Anita stories. It starts in her office, with two clients wanting her to raise the dead: one out of grief, one for nefarious purposes. She turns them down, before going out for a kind of hilarious lunch date with Jason, Nathaniel, and Micah; there's some of the emotional shit-shoveling that's present in all the books, but it's not belabored, which is nice.

Two weeks later, Anita is abducted by two strange werelions on behalf of one of the crazy clients from before. Of course, with her menagerie of metaphysical wereanimals, all sorts of furry issues erupt. The ardeur plays a part, as does her ability to "roll" wereanimals. In the end, though, Anita beats the bad guys largely with her own powers, in a gruesome and terrible way. Really, the way the primary villain dies is pretty devastating. I like that, and also the fact that the reason for the entire plot is rooted in Anita's world, in her animating, rather than furry or vampire politics. It was a nice return to older-style Anita.

There were a couple of things that bugged me; one was that, as with the last Merry Gentry book, there were spots where some copy editor clearly was asleep at the wheel. Also, this is the third book in a row where Jean-Claude is totally off-stage. He's mentioned, but he's not seen or even spoken to. I'm sick of Jason and Nathaniel; we're overdue for some JC. Also, Richard isn't mentioned at all, not in passing, not even hinted at. I know it's a small book, and things had to be left out; but I really hope that Bullet, the next full-length book, brings back both JC and Richard.

Overall, I enjoyed Flirt a lot more than I expected to. It brought a smile to my face, and unlike Micah, it's one I'll re-read as I go through the series in the future.

Book review: "Divine Misdemeanors" by Laurell K. Hamilton

(Big spoilers if you haven't read through the last book; minimal ones for this installment itself.)

I've been waiting on pins and needles for this book for a little more than a year now, even since finishing Swallowing Darkness, which was just incredible. I couldn't wait to find out what happened after Merry and her entourage left the Unseelie court, to find out what they would do in Los Angeles, if Andais would leave them alone .... a lot of questions were answered, but a lot of new ones were raised too, so I was just incredibly excited to read Divine Misdemeanors.

It starts with Merry at a crime scene, where a number of demi-fey have been killed and staged to look like a children's book. The police are working it, but since Merry is working for her old detective agency again she's there to look at the scene as well. (It's a set-up very similar to the Anita Blake books, really.) Overall, I liked the book, although there were some issues I had.

The good:

• A lot more of it is her dealing with all the men in her life, and being pregnant, and day-to-day life. Which is interesting, and there are some very sweet, touching scenes.
• One thing I've always loved in both the MG and AB books is the inclusion of very authentic, grounding details that really make it seem like this is happening in our world--there's a lot of that in Divine Misdemeanors, which I really enjoyed.
• The overall tone of the book really was very happy--despite drama, and problems, and tension, you get a sense of Merry being settled, and happier.
• The crew from the Gray Detective Agency is back--Uther and Jeremy, at least, and Roane is even mentioned in passing. The Hart brothers are included as well, and Maeve Reed is at least mentioned.
• We see some of the lasting impact of Andais' insanity; we also see some people recovering from it.
• The soldiers Merry healed in the last book haven't just dropped off the face of the earth, which is a nice continuity.
  
• A new type of fey, a Fear Dearg, comes on to the scene, which is really interesting.
  
• Great sex scenes--there's a moonlit beach scene with Rhys that's really just incredible. There's also one with Sholto that if you really stop and take the time to fully envision it, is, uh, quite striking.
  

The bad, or at least not great:

• Although the murder case comes up several times through the book, it feels very much like a side storyline--but there's not a primary storyline, so the book feels rather unfocused.
• There's also next to nothing about either of the courts--Taranis is being accused in public of Merry's rape, Merry killed Prince Cel and tons of other sidhe, her grandmother was killed, she and Sholto were crowned ruler of the sluagh, she and Doyle were crowned and gave up their rule for Frost, and all of that is hardly mentioned. LKH has said that this is the beginning of a new story arc for Merry, and that it's a transitional book--but there's so little of the old, and only a half-step toward the new, that the book feels a little directionless.
• There's a weird "fairy godmother" character that's just sort of thrown in, and you think her presence is going to be really important .... and then she's just sort of dropped.
• I'm already sick of Merry commenting on her stomach still being flat, but she's pregnant. We get it. Really. You don't have to state that exact thing every time you touch your stomach.
• I love the sex; I really do. But there was a bit much of it. In a 333 page book, there are five sex scenes, with six of the men, three of them new.
  
• The narrating voice of Merry seems to be getting lost. Until this book, I could've read an excerpt without names or locations, and told you if it was a Merry Gentry or an Anita Blake book. But this one, there were many, many places where I was tripped up the fact that it seemed like Anita was suddenly in a faerie princess' story. There was even one scene that seemed directly lifted from an Anita book--Danse Macabre, I think--where Anita says she's Prince Charming, she doesn't need rescuing. I suppose some cross-over is to be expected when you have one author writing two supernatural kind of series--but there's been such a distinct difference before that I was surprised to see it.
• Copy edits appear to have been very, very sloppy. There are sentences that don't make sense because they're missing words, or their structure makes them say something different than they're supposed to. There are repetitious situations--for example, the cop named Lucy is told at the beginning of the book that certain demi-fey can become human sized, but half-way through the book she apparently doesn't know this. And then there's a spot that's just ridiculous: Rhys's matter-of-fact voice was my first hint that... "The barrel of a gun isn't a very friendly way to start a visit."

Although there were a number of things that bothered me, I didn't dislike the book. It just felt like fluff, especially after the incredibly action-packed Swallowing Darkness. So little of note happened that I feel like this book could be skipped without the reader being confused. I can recommend it because it was a pleasant read, but it's really nothing earth-shattering.

First impressions book review: "Skin Trade" by Laurell K. Hamtilon (Anita Blake 17)

I've had the book for nine hours and I'm only 86 pages in. It's just not holding my attention, which is really unusual. Normally I'd be finished with it by now.

On the other hand, 86 pages in and no sex, which is an improvement--I think the first 86 pages of the last book were all sex.

TV review: Nip/Tuck

Without spoiling storylines, it's hard to fully express how absolutely insane this show is. It's a soap opera on crack with occasional lucid periods. It's absolutely a drama, absolutely outside the realms of reality--but with enough touches of the mundane to make it swallowable. It's depressing sometimes, exploring the vulnerabilities of peoples' lives and neurosis, and then there are touches of humor (usually morbid) that make me laugh out loud. It's touching, and horrifying, and uplifting, and hilarious, and suspenseful, and I absolutely fucking love it.

To give a basic rundown: Nip/Tuck follows the lives of two plastic surgeons and their families. Christian Troy (played by McMahon) is hot and knows it. He's a man-whore, an arrogant jerk, a womanizer, and generally an asshole. Sean McNamara (played by Dylan Walsh) is married with two kids, is vaguely miserable, and is the kinder, gentler member of McNamara/Troy, their plastic surgery business. The contrast between their two lifestyles is made immediately apparent: Christian picks up a model in a bar and takes her home, where he snorts coke off her body and has crazy hot monkey sex with her. Interspersed into that scene are shots of Sean at home in bed with his wife, lethargically humping while she stares at the ceiling.

Of course, that static shot of their lives is only the surface--through the course of four seasons, we've learned that Christian has a lot of secrets he hides from with sex, and Sean has a lot of issues he represses. They both envy what the other has, and make various attempts to live each other's lives with varying degrees of success, and often spectacular failures. This is not a happily-ever-after show.

In addition to the frequent and gratuitous sex, there are graphic surgery scenes in every episode--definitely not for the squeamish. I think that's the thing that turns most people off the show; when I mention it, people either love it or say they can't stand surgery scenes. But the fact is, the surgery scenes are an underscore, a way of drawing to attention to the bloody, painful, ridiculous lengths people go to for beauty. And although each episode is named for the patient being operated on, the storylines are rarely about the patients. They're there, but always in relation to how they affect Sean or Christian.

One important thing with Nip/Tuck: start from the beginning. If you come in anywhere else, you'll be confused. You'll also not have as good an appreciation for the characters and their motivations--one of the things that makes this a great show is the fact that the characters don't make their choices in a vacuum. Their actions make sense in light of their past (for the most part--nothing's perfect). When Christian blatantly, intentionally fucks up a relationship, we understand why even though we think he's a stupid ass. If you're new to the show, you'll see the superficial motivations for things, but not the finer points.

For all the T&A, flashy production, and bloody surgery scenes, Nip/Tuck is a thought-provoking show. Fast-forward through the surgery scenes if you have to, but give it a try.