Dreading introducing her fiancé, the newly crowned vampire king of America, to her ultra-religious human relatives, necromancer Anita Blake, as she tries to keep the peace between the family she left behind and the family she’s chosen, must battle against the dark forces putting her happily-ever-after at risk.
Thirty years ago just after the premiere of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer film, a vampire hunter book series began by Laurell K. Hamilton.  The first novel revolved around a vampire hunter who was also a necromancer in St. Louis. Her name was Anita Blake and she could resurrect zombies from the dead in addition to being a weapons and self defense expert. She was tough with many scars but she had heart and compassion.  Her Mexican lineage gave her an exotic dark look and her short height didn’t deter her from fighting creatures much larger than her.   Her ongoing romance with Jean Claude, a king vampire was always alluring and dynamic.  This began a series which had continued to this day and that has expanded into comic books and short stories.  The books have sold over six million copies.  Most of the novels have been on the New York Times Best Sellers List.  Many have classified the books as urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and supernatural suspense.  Slay is the 30th Anita Blake novel.Â
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I will be honest I was hooked on the series from volume one where the main villain was a queen vampire trapped in a young girl’s body.  The first ten books had enough action mixed with romance to keep me interested.   Around book 12, the series became very repetitive going back to themes already explored and concentrating on the sexual scenes and reducing the action.  I gave up on the series about that time.  With Slay, the newest book by Hamilton, I decided to give the series another try.  In the latest installment, Anita is finally going to marry the love of her life, the mysterious Jean Claude, a king vampire.  She will also be fighting the traditional baddies including a dragon in this novel.  More terrifying than the dragon is Anita having to deal with her family coming to visit for the wedding.  The novel deals heavily with family relations and it does have some action but then it rebounds back to the sexual scenes very quickly.   Hamilton's prose is simple yet descriptive and she’s pretty good with character development though with this being her 30th novel, one wonders if she has worn out the series.  Anita Blake fans will have enough to satisfy them with this novel but there is no new revelations in this book.  - Van, Reference Librarian