Fear not! Laurell K Hamilton – and, therefore, Anita Blake – is getting back to her roots. Let there be rejoicing! But not too much; Jean-Claude isn’t in The Harlequin nearly enough. Ah, but let me backtrack a bit. First off, if you will, a synopsis:

“Anita Blake is about to face the challenge of her life. Into her world-a world already overflowing with power-have come creatures so feared that powerful, centuries-old vampires refuse to mention their names. It is forbidden to speak of The Harlequin unless you’ve been contacted. And to be contacted by The Harlequin is to be under sentence of death. Long-time rivals for Anita’s affections, Jean-Claude, Master Vampire of the City, and Richard, alpha-werewolf, will need to become allies. Shapeshifters Nathaniel and Micah will have to step up their support. And then there’s Edward. In this situation, Anita knows that she needs to call the one man who has always been there for her…”

Okay, so maybe even us die-hard Anita fans were groaning over the last couple of books (too much of this, not enough of that, etc.,) but Hamilton focuses more on plot in this installment then she has in the previous few. And the group known as the Harlequin are very interesting indeed. So. If you’ve given up on this series, you may want to pick up a copy of The Harlequin; it just might tempt you back. (Even though, as I mentioned previously, Jean-Claude’s black-haired, blue-eyed, Master-vamp presence doesn’t grace the pages as much as one might like. But then, I’m a really BIG Jean-Claude fan. If I don’t see his name on every page I just might get a little cranky. Shrug.)