Laurell K. Hamilton, Danse Macabre

Danse Macabre, Laurell K. Hamilton, Berkley, Jul 2006, $25.95, 496 pp.

ISBN: 0425207978.

Federal Marshal Anita Blake, vampire hunter and zombie raiser, is worried that she is pregnant. She has no idea who the father is since she is sleeping with three vampires, two were-leopards, and one werewolf. She is part of a triumvirate with Jean-Claude Master Vampire of St. Louis and Richard the werewolf leader of his pack. Together they are stronger than they are apart.

However, the ardeur, a magical essence that needs sex to nourish it is growing more powerful inside Anita and she needs to keep feeding it or it will start selecting its own victims. As Anita's powers grow, so do those of the other two members of the triumvirate, While Anita looks for someone she is not metaphysically attached to so that she can feed the ardeur, masters of the cities from all over the United States are coming to St. Louis to attend a vampire ballet hosted by Jean-Claude. Not all of the attendees are friends; some want to gauge how powerful Jean-Claude is with his two allies at his side while others want to use Anita for their own ends. Unless Anita can control her ardeur their enemies might defeat them.

Every Anita Blake book is a fantastic urban fantasy and DANSE MACABRE is no exception. Readers wonder who amongst the guests is an adversary that the trio must deal with at a time when Anita is not at her best between the pregnancy and the increasingly out of control ardeur. This is a fabulous action-packed story line filled with characters readers have come to think of as friends.

Harriet Klausner