The Vampire Council comes to town to force Jean Claude to take the place of Earthmover, the council member that Anita killed.

Good series, gets steamier every book. I am glad that Richard is back in this book, even when he and Anita are snarking at each other, they are hot together. ( )

Con "Dono di cenere" la struttura dei libri della serie comincia a cambiare: il caso investigativo, che prima era l’elemento portante della trama, diventera’ di libro in libro sempre piu’ marginale lasciando invece sempre piu’ spazio alle vicende personali di Anita, comunque abbastanza ricche d’azione e movimentate da non far assolutamente rimpiangere il cambiamento. ( )

Anita Blake is back having chosen vampire Jean-Claude over alpha werewolf Richard Zeeman. She is Richard's lupa (like werewolf Queen) despite not being his girlfriend or a werewolf herself (she is a necromancer who shares marks of power with both Jean-Claude and Richard). Richard hasn't taken the rejection well, but must live with her choice. They live in a world where vampires, werewolves etc are recognised as legal citizens although there are factions still massively against this.

Life is never dull or easy for Anita. First she has to deal with fires being started across the city that are targeted at the monsters (mostly vampires) only. Then she has to contend with the werelepords. She killed their sadistic leader in the previous book without realising it would leave them powerless and at the mercy of all the other supernatural creatures out there. If that wasn't enough the vampire council are in town trying to get answers from Jean-Claude and Anita as to how they killed one of their most powerful members and why Jean-Claude hasn't taken the spare seat for himself.

Tonnes of violence and interesting language, not too much explicit sex (I think that comes in later books), but much is hinted at and implied. This series isn't for everyone and I wasn't too taken with it myself at first. Coming back to it after a couple of years break, I am really appreciating it much more. Either this book was a lot better than the first 6, or I am just enjoying it more. I like Anita, she doesn't take any crap (although she does have an obsession of listing her guns and knives repeatedly). I like that it is violent and sexual and there is no holding back on the language. If I was being attacked b supernatural creatures with super strength who wanted to tear my throat out, I don't think I would care who heard me swearing! Definitely a happy homecoming and I am looking forward to the next in the series, Blue Moon. ( )

AB's privatliv undergår en del forandringer i denne bog samtidigt med at hun må stå ansigt til ansigt med vampyrrådet og det går ikke stille af. En god bog med spænding og action fra start til slut. ( )

Still going strong. I love this series! ( )