The Laughing Corpse

 

Level: Explicit Lite

Genre: Urban Fantasy > Vampire

Obtained: Purchased at Borders.

Reviewed by: Nic Echo

Cover

I will be one to say that I really like the sexy Anita Blake covers. I find them to be very well done, intimately appealing, and sum up the books quite well. However, The Laughing Corpse cover always seemed a little odd to me. I still find it to be better than a good chunk of book covers out there, but what is going on here? First, the green colour that they chose just makes me think she is sickly, which kinda works for a zombie book, I guess. I could say something about her throwing her head back in what looks like erotic bliss, but that's not what bothers me. What bothers me is the tree. Why is there a freaking tree crawling up her skin? I understand it's supposed to be a tree in a graveyard, but you hardly notice the headstones, just this demmed tree. As I said, it's not a horrible cover. It's just weird.

About the Book:

Something is out there in St. Louis, and this something is tearing up families and leaving little more than chunks of meat. This is when RPIT, St. Louis' Regional Peternatural Investigational Team, calls in Anita to help solve the murders. This ends up leading her into a world of voodoo, where nightmares live even in the daylight hours. Then, if having an extremely powerful voodoo priestess after her wasn't enough, Anita also has to deal with Harold Gaynor, a wealthy man who is wanting Anita to commit human sacrifice so that she can raise a centuries old zombie. The problem is that he won't take no for an answer...

Rating: 9/10

Laurell K. Hamilton manages to write another thrilling novel that is bound to capture you in its pages. She had created a new villain for Anita that may even be more terrifying than Nikolaos. Dominga certainly always has me on edge when I read about her. Even in one book, she holds a lingering presence and a strong sense of character. The murders are also quite gruesome in this one. Although I have never considered the Anita Blake series particularly dark, the murders in The Laughing Corpse might not be for the faint of heart -- especially if it comes to gore.

Now, like Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse also has its problems. To be honest, they are pretty much the same issues that were in Guilty Pleasures. It seemed to me that the repetition had worsened though. However, that seemed to be the worst of it. The author does seem to be showing that Anita is one of the best when it comes to shooting and zombies, but I didn't find this the least bit annoying since Anita still has plenty of flaws, which is one of the things that endears me to her as a character.

Once again, Laurell K. Hamilton brings us a read that may not be the most well written, but its thrilling ride is bound to make any little issues fly by with very little notice. Even with my dislike of the later books, I would still highly recommend The Laughing Corpse (among a few other Anita Blake titles). What can I say? Hamilton knows how to create intriguing characters and a gripping tale with a near perfect blend of genres.

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