Reminiscent of her own steely character Anita Blake, Laurell K. Hamilton has blown the competition out of the water and provided a flesh-feast of sensuality unrivaled by anyone. It is definitely not a tale for everyone and in some cases with the later sequels, the plots have made or broken some die hard fans. Some might prefer to read about Harrisons' Rachel Morgan, Armstrongs' Elena Michaels and Paige Winterbourne, or Harris' Stookie Stackhouse. I was introduced to this genre through Laurell K. Hamilton's series. Yes, everyone starts off with Anne Rice, but I think that Hamilton developed a special place in the genre for her characters that's worth exploring. Her niche appears strongly reliant on Jean-Claude and his interactions with Anita. Without JC...well the series would be flat.

I read all the installments in less than two weeks, sacrificing sleep and reading until I was sated, until the wee hours of the morning. Jean-Claude, Master Vampire Extraordinaire is a frothy confection of "sex, blood and majick" and the errogenous tug-of-war between he and Anita sets the pace for the whole series.

What is very important for readers to remember is that this latest book is another level of Anita that we have never seen. Throughout each book, we have been taken on a development of her character and finding answers to questions we've had. It is impossible to explore this heroine without understanding why she is so angry-why she fights having someone close to her. It is an exploration into her humanity and that includes sexual experimentation and softness in her character that we had never seen before.

She has new powers developing all the time as a Master Necromancer and as she is taken on a discovery of them, so she takes her companions...After all, why did the Vampire Council kill necromancers on site?-because they were dangerous! Anita's metamorphosis into her new non-human self is not nearly complete. Maybe the culmination of this metamorphosis will occur when she, Jean-Claude and Asher meet up with Belle Morte (read Queen Succubus) in the next book. It can only get sexier and bloodier. Will Belle Morte ensnare our delicious "ma petite" Anita-who knows?
This is tricky genre to write and read-but Ms. Hamilton has done an admirable job of exploring it thoroughly. If you even have the merest hesitation reading these books, throw it aside and indulge, feel it hook you and take you into their world. Narcissus in Chains explodes with ferocity between Jean-Claude, Anita and Richard, and leaves the reader panting for more. ( )

Re-reading this book, it was interesting to see how the ardeur started when Anita, Richard and Jean Claude bind themselves close together. Not quite as sex heavy as I remembered, but the torture scenarios are still disturbing. I need to re-read the rest of the books to find out what happens with Narcissus. ( )

Okay, either I've turned into a prude as I've gotten older, or these books have turned into an excuse for Hamilton to publish porn under the guise of furthering her Anita Blake mythology.

Confusing, disjointed, virtually plotless. Occasional advancement of the story line in between the sex and the bloodshed. Too many new characters make the story (what little of it there is) extremely difficult to follow. I suggest you skip to the last few pages and read the epilogue. That will tell you everything you need to know.

The last of this series I will read. ( )

This was the one hole I had in the series, and it's probably the book most important to this later portion, because it has the first appearance of the ardeur. I still have mixed feelings about the direction of the series, yet I read them like I'm starving. Apparently she's doing something right! ( )

This book was so tedious, so boring, that I never managed to finish it. Never bought another book by LKH again. ( )