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lori85's review against another edition
3.0
Very strong opening, then Anita gets the ardeur (read: rape-magic) and the entire thing takes a drastic nosedive from which the series has never recovered. I'll just leave this here because they are spot-on.
the_lyon_reads_tonight's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
mollyctoone's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
lindzboots's review against another edition
4.0
I am a BIG fan of the Anita Blake novels, but this one got especially dark, weirdly p0rn0gr@phic, and horrifically gory. Just a heads up
covall's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book to the point that I almost couldn't put it down. I am surprised that I did not guess the end of the book, (other than Richard being a little bit of a dick, which seems to be the norm). I think I might get back into the series. I don't think that I should listen to them anymore though. It has nothing to do with the narrator, but I can read faster through certain points where I know they are going to talk something to death. I think this was part of my problem for most of the series. I think it makes many of the scenes drag on in the books. It's like there's too much talking and not enough killing going on. Other than that, a really good book.
totallykayt's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
crystalstarrlight's review against another edition
2.0
Anita Blake is spending some much needed time with her friend, Veronica "Ronnie" Sims, when she gets a call. Apparently, submissive Nathaniel went to the club, Narcissus in Chains, and got into some BIG TIME trouble. Against the wishes of Ronnie, Anita calls Jean-Claude to give her an assist. At the club, she reunites with her other lover, Richard. From there, BIG changes happen.
NOTE: For some odd reason, the only audiobook version I could find is the abridgement. So I'm sure there are tons of nuances and scenes I've missed.
If you gave me this book with no cover, no indication that this was part of the Anita Blake series, I probably would have thought this was part of a spin-off series or fanfiction or some crazy "What If?" book, so little connection does it have with any of the previous books. I've been very open that I have never been a huge fan of this series; it's had many faults, the number one being Anita Blake herself, another being the misogynistic view of women, another being pacing, writing, etc. But this book is so completely different, I am at a loss for words to describe how DIFFERENT it is.
Ever since Anita slept with Jean-Claude in [b:The Killing Dance|30244|The Killing Dance (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #6)|Laurell K. Hamilton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388609299s/30244.jpg|4197], sexuality has been increasing in the series. A couple of sex scenes, lots more discussions of BDSM, weird sexual acts, and of course, a hearty helping of rape. And honestly, I really didn't mind it (well, minus the rape part--honestly, you don't need rape to make things Serious Business). The series was kinda moving in that direction and after all those books of dancing around the sex issue, we really needed some bedroom action, if you catch my drift.
But this...this is just one long sex scene. I mean, Anita has sex at least THREE TIMES in this book. That doesn't include her makeout session with Jean-Claude and Richard at the beginning of the book nor all the mentions of the "ardeur". The previous books might have ONE sex scene, if you were really looking. Here? You have to try hard NOT to find the sex.
But the amount of sex isn't even the real problem; the real problem is the lack of a STORY. Now, I realize I listened to an abridgement, so I'm missing story details, but halfway through the book, there WAS no story, no plot. And then, at the 3/4 mark, LKH realized that she needed to toss one in for kicks, so we get a showdown with Anita and Chimera. Even with all my complaints to the previous books (mostly about Anita wasting time arguing with people), at least the previous books HAD a plot, HAD a story and a focus, HAD something they were building to. Here? It was just about the sex. And the thing is, the sex isn't sexy; it's over-the-top, extravagant, silly sex. That is, when we aren't talking about rape. Because LKH Rule #31: Great way to tell people who the bad guy is is to have him rape or talk about liking rape:
I can't complain too much about LKH's fetish for over-describing clothes, but I attribute that one more to the abridgment than her toning it down. Because we still get gems like:
and
I didn't find Anita so b!tchy and unlikable here, but again, gotta wonder how much got cut out in the abridgment. Does Anita really tone back on the p!ssing contests with everyone and his mother or did that end up on the cutting room floor? As for the notorious "ardeur" thing--on one hand, the previous books set it up. On the other, it just sounds like an excuse so that Anita can have as much sex as she wants and not be considered a slut. Which, if Anita wants to have sex, she shouldn't need some gorram "ardeur" to make her not a slut. And if the "ardeur" is supposed to make her more comfortable with having sex, why is every sex session like pulling teeth, one where she is constantly protesting it?
And what the hell is up with Anita's obsession with handshakes?
The other characters are meh. Nathaniel makes me want to break something; he is not a "submissive", he is a doormat. Micah needs to learn that "No means no"; and that when a woman doesn't want sex, he needs to back the frak off. Jean-Claude was barely present; Richard was grouchy the entire time; Ronnie has resorted to being one note: angry that Anita is dating Jean-Claude. No sign of Larry, Anita's daytime job, or a woman that isn't easily pushed around by the rapey men in this series.
By far, the most hilarious part of the book is the God-Awful writing. LKH has NEVER been the best writer in the world, but she is at her absolute worst here. Did an editor even SEE this book? Or did it go directly to publishing once LKH had finished typing?
Take a peek at some of these and you tell me:
If it hadn't been for all these unintentionally hilarious quotes, I would have been bored stiff. This book isn't interesting, doesn't really push Anita into having to face the problems of the previous books, and isn't sexy. If I had been an actual fan of this series, I would have been VERY disappointed; even as a non-fan, *I* felt betrayed by this book. If you have been a fan of the books up to this point, I recommend stopping before you pick this up and really consider whether you want to continue. Of course, if you want to read some hilariously bad writing, read on!!
NOTE: For some odd reason, the only audiobook version I could find is the abridgement. So I'm sure there are tons of nuances and scenes I've missed.
If you gave me this book with no cover, no indication that this was part of the Anita Blake series, I probably would have thought this was part of a spin-off series or fanfiction or some crazy "What If?" book, so little connection does it have with any of the previous books. I've been very open that I have never been a huge fan of this series; it's had many faults, the number one being Anita Blake herself, another being the misogynistic view of women, another being pacing, writing, etc. But this book is so completely different, I am at a loss for words to describe how DIFFERENT it is.
Ever since Anita slept with Jean-Claude in [b:The Killing Dance|30244|The Killing Dance (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #6)|Laurell K. Hamilton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388609299s/30244.jpg|4197], sexuality has been increasing in the series. A couple of sex scenes, lots more discussions of BDSM, weird sexual acts, and of course, a hearty helping of rape. And honestly, I really didn't mind it (well, minus the rape part--honestly, you don't need rape to make things Serious Business). The series was kinda moving in that direction and after all those books of dancing around the sex issue, we really needed some bedroom action, if you catch my drift.
But this...this is just one long sex scene. I mean, Anita has sex at least THREE TIMES in this book. That doesn't include her makeout session with Jean-Claude and Richard at the beginning of the book nor all the mentions of the "ardeur". The previous books might have ONE sex scene, if you were really looking. Here? You have to try hard NOT to find the sex.
But the amount of sex isn't even the real problem; the real problem is the lack of a STORY. Now, I realize I listened to an abridgement, so I'm missing story details, but halfway through the book, there WAS no story, no plot. And then, at the 3/4 mark, LKH realized that she needed to toss one in for kicks, so we get a showdown with Anita and Chimera. Even with all my complaints to the previous books (mostly about Anita wasting time arguing with people), at least the previous books HAD a plot, HAD a story and a focus, HAD something they were building to. Here? It was just about the sex. And the thing is, the sex isn't sexy; it's over-the-top, extravagant, silly sex. That is, when we aren't talking about rape. Because LKH Rule #31: Great way to tell people who the bad guy is is to have him rape or talk about liking rape:
"'I enjoy rape. Adds spice.'"
I can't complain too much about LKH's fetish for over-describing clothes, but I attribute that one more to the abridgment than her toning it down. Because we still get gems like:
"He was dressed in a black vinyl shirt that looked poured on."
and
"Knee-high leather boots completed his outfit."
I didn't find Anita so b!tchy and unlikable here, but again, gotta wonder how much got cut out in the abridgment. Does Anita really tone back on the p!ssing contests with everyone and his mother or did that end up on the cutting room floor? As for the notorious "ardeur" thing--on one hand, the previous books set it up. On the other, it just sounds like an excuse so that Anita can have as much sex as she wants and not be considered a slut. Which, if Anita wants to have sex, she shouldn't need some gorram "ardeur" to make her not a slut. And if the "ardeur" is supposed to make her more comfortable with having sex, why is every sex session like pulling teeth, one where she is constantly protesting it?
And what the hell is up with Anita's obsession with handshakes?
"She offered me a hand and gave me one of the best handshakes I've ever had from another woman."
The other characters are meh. Nathaniel makes me want to break something; he is not a "submissive", he is a doormat. Micah needs to learn that "No means no"; and that when a woman doesn't want sex, he needs to back the frak off. Jean-Claude was barely present; Richard was grouchy the entire time; Ronnie has resorted to being one note: angry that Anita is dating Jean-Claude. No sign of Larry, Anita's daytime job, or a woman that isn't easily pushed around by the rapey men in this series.
By far, the most hilarious part of the book is the God-Awful writing. LKH has NEVER been the best writer in the world, but she is at her absolute worst here. Did an editor even SEE this book? Or did it go directly to publishing once LKH had finished typing?
Take a peek at some of these and you tell me:
"His eyes had gone drowning blue." What color is that exactly?
"He kissed me hard enough to bruise, hard enough to force my mouth open, then he crawled inside." It's Aliens!!! Quick, get Sigourney Weaver!!
"The POWAH didn't just build; it exploded. It was like lying at ground zero of a nuclear explosion, the shockwaves shooting out, out, out into the room, while we melted together in the center."Aren't similes typically supposed to compare something less tangible with something more tangible? Now answer this question honestly, Anita: How many nuclear explosions have YOU been through?
"He literally breathed, bit, ate the healing into me."I literally have a hard time believing you understand how to use the word "literally".
"Someone was making small animal noises...and it was me."If you can't tell you are making noises, you might want to see someone for that.
"It deepened my breathing, made me have to swallow my pulse."This sounds painful!!
"I found my voice, shaky, but mine."Good thing, we'd hate to have you be silent for the rest of the series. We got lots more cop p!ssing matches to get into!
"I drank him in as he exploded inside me."Again, this sounds IMMENSELY painful. And somewhat impossible
"And I spasmed underneath him, bodies slamming against the bed, not from Richard's thrusts, but from the power of the orgasm itself. Screams spilled from my throat."Things I've learned about sex from Anita Blake: 1) Spasming during sex is normal, 2) Orgasms are strong enough to slam bodies into bed, 3) screams are now a white, translucent liquid.
“’Lovers?’ I made it a question.”Good thing you let us know that was a question; I would NEVER have been able to tell otherwise. I mean, aren't questions marks meant to be thrown in at random? (BTW, that last part was a question.)
"The room was black, utterly black, like being flung into blindness, nothingness, like a cave."Adjectives were buy one, get one free the day that LKH wrote this sentence.
If it hadn't been for all these unintentionally hilarious quotes, I would have been bored stiff. This book isn't interesting, doesn't really push Anita into having to face the problems of the previous books, and isn't sexy. If I had been an actual fan of this series, I would have been VERY disappointed; even as a non-fan, *I* felt betrayed by this book. If you have been a fan of the books up to this point, I recommend stopping before you pick this up and really consider whether you want to continue. Of course, if you want to read some hilariously bad writing, read on!!
kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
Tenth in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter horror/urban fantasy series and revolving around Anita, a necromancer and totally conflicted woman.
It's been a six weeks since Obsidian Butterfly, 9.
My Take
Hamilton does crack me up with her sense of humor. I love Anita's snark whether its actually said or she simply thinks it.
Anita's hypocrisy drives me nuts:
What is with Anita Blake? She almost dies in Obsidian Butterfly due to the holes in her aura. Holes she has to fix, so she's still futzing around two weeks after she gets back from New Mexico?
Yup, Jean-Claude has learned to be very cautious around Anita. I appreciate some of her requirements. Truth is always best. However, if it's a currency you insist upon, don't get angry when you don't like the truth. Don't blame others because you lie to yourself. Honor is always good. But whining and punishing people because you didn't ask the right questions, ignored the truth, or didn't think through possible consequences is not one of the things which I like about her. There are times I simply want to smack her upside the head. She pulls her damned blinders over her head and never considers what consequences may be to others. But then she gets angry when others do the same to her. Arghh. Then again, Jean-Claude has taught her to be suspicious.
Jesus, it was bad enough what they did to Gregory, and their attack. There's still Nathaniel to come. And Anita finally understands the smell of weakness and defeat.
Richard learns the negatives of the democracy he's forced onto his pack. And Anita may well kill him for it. God, Richard is so naive. Richard is just as schizo as ever wanting Anita and not wanting her. He's another like Anita in wanting his cake and eating it too. I could wish she would simply wash her hands of him. His experiment in democracy shows up for its uselessness although it does provide a lovely platform for the ideal of shifter harmony.
What's worse is Anita learns of the ardeur and how little control she has. I have to wonder if the ardeur suddenly showed up because of Anita, Jean-Claude, and Richard marrying their marks and then Anita's little "accident" at Narcissus in Chains? It gets worse too as it opens Anita up to Belle Morte! Eeeeek.
I love the show Anita and her pard put on at the lupanar! Just goes to show what can be done! A nice poke in the eye for Jacob, especially when the munin come out to play.
Ooh, talk about throwing it back in her face when Richard offers to go into the ground to rescue Gregory! Give Anita something to think about, because we all know it wouldn't cost Anita anything to kill Jacob for him.
Ah geez, turnabout and turnabout. This time it's Richard getting all squeamish about Anita's ardeur.
It is one way to remodel the kitchen.
Hmm, we get some background on Rafael!
The Story
Anita has been avoiding everyone. And I mean, everyone for the past six months as she attempts to bolster her shields. Only to find that her shields are crap and everything has fallen apart in her absence.
All of St. Louis is ripe for a takeover—the vampires, the wolves, the leopards, everyone.
Then the rats and swans arrive at the lupanar in support of Anita and her leopards…snicker…no one was expectin’ that one!
Celebrating Ronnie's 30th birthday, Anita gets a call for help from Gregory to come rescue Nathaniel. And learns too late of betrayal from one of her own.
The Characters
Anita Blake wears many hats: Nimir-Ra, leopard queen; lupa to the wolves; the human servant in a vampire triumvirate; munin channeler; and, necromancer.
Ronnie Simms is her best friend, unhappily. She's also dating Dr. Louis Fane, wererat, one of Rafael's lieutenants, and Richard's best friend. Marianne is the psychic (and vargamor for the Tennessee pack) with whom Anita's been working on her meditation, learning ritual magic, and blocking the marks Jean-Claude bestowed on her and Richard.
Jean-Claude is the vampire Master of the City and is at least 400 years old with the ability to gain power by feeding from blood or sexual energy, an incubus. As the master, he runs a number of clubs in St. Louis including the Circus of the Damned where his daytime resting place is, Guilty Pleasures, and Danse Macabre. Asher, his body horribly damaged, is his second-in-command, a former love who has chosen to remain in St. Louis while looking for the chance to hurt Jean-Claude in retaliation for how his human servant, Julianna, died. Willie McCoy was a weaselly human when Anita first knew him; now he's a weaselly vampire. Ming Die and Faust are vampires new come to St. Louis. With Anita's return to the supernatural life of St. Louis, Damian and Gretchen are both revived from their cross-locked coffins with Damian; that six-month distance has had a bad effect on him while Gretchen has been in a cross-wrapped coffin for three years now.
Arturo, one of Belle's favorites. Belle is negotiating for Musette (a name that horrifies Asher and Jean-Claude) to come visit.
The wolves
Richard Zeeman is the third of their triumvirate, the alpha king of the Thronnos Roke Pack, and a junior high school science teacher. Jason Schulyer is Jean-Claude's little dress-up wolf (he's twenty-two now). Jamil is Sköll, Richard's chief enforcer. Shang-Da is his Hati, the other enforcer. Sylvie is his second-in-command, his Freki who sells insurance in her day job. Jacob is his new Geri, his new third. Paris is the more forward of the candidates for lupa. Irving Griswold is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and just one of the many Anita has saved.
Wereleopards
Gregory; Zane; Vivian, she's dating Stephen, a wolf; Cherry, a former nurse; Nathaniel, a pet, even less than a slave in the BDSM world who becomes her pomme de sang; and, Elizabeth, who had been Gabriel's sweetie and is not playing well with others, are part of Anita's pard.
Caleb and Micah Callahan, Nimir-Raj for the Maneater Clan who can call flesh, are the wereleopards Anita wakes up to. Micah, the leopards' Nimir-Raj to Anita's Nimir-Ra, appears and is the first "casualty" of the ardeur. A beacon to recall as we get further into the series. Seems Elizabeth invited him to be Nimir-Raj, but won't help any other way. Merle is the former leader who gave it up as Micah did a better job. Now he and Noah are Micah's bodyguards. Gina and Viola are more of Micah's.
The wererats
Dr. Lillian is a wererat who treats the shapeshifters in town. Rafael is the Rat King allied with Richard; he will bring his rodere. Some of Rafael's rats, Bobby Lee (he appears for the first time), Claudia, and Igor, serve as bodyguards for Anita.
Other shifters in St. Louis
Donovan Reece is the new swanking. Christine is a weretiger; Nilisha MacNair is Kadra of the werecobras, and she and her children, Ethan and Olivia want their husband and father, the Kashyapa, Henry MacNair, back; Boone is a werebear is missing Rebecca Morton, his Ursa; Gil is a werefox; Janet Talbot is missing her son, Andy, a weredog; and, Joseph, a werelion, is missing. His mate, Amber, is pregnant.
Regional Preternatural Investigation Team (RPIT)
Detective Sergeant Dolph Storr heads up this team with Zerbrowski as his irrepressible second. Lucille is Dolph's wife; Darrin is Dolph's oldest, a lawyer, and he's engaged to a vampire. Paul is an engineer, the youngest, and he and his wife can't have kids. Detective Clive Perry is the polite one amongst them. Detective Jessica Arnet is keeping Nathaniel busy.
Orlando King had been one of the country's premiere bounty hunters before a shapeshifter nearly killed him.
Narcissus in Chains
Narcissus in Chains is a club run by shapeshifters and a neutral place for them. Narcissus himself is a cross-dressing hermaphrodite with a taste for pain — he can top or bottom. He's also the leader of the werehyenas, the only army allowed within the club's walls. Ulysses and Ajax are his bodyguards and they're lovers. Bacchus and Dionysus are lovers. Zeke is a werewolf.
Chimera's people
Chimera is a panwere, a lycanthrope that can take more than one form. Marco is a lion shifter. Coronus of the Black Water Clan is a snake shifter.
Shielding goes outside one's aura. Master vampires can hide their allegiances. The munin are the pack's spirits of their dead. They are a repository of all the knowledge of the pack. Raina, the old lukoi lupa, is the munin who likes Anita best.
The Cover and Title
I’m not quite sure about this cover. Against a dragged-green background hang two shackles suspended from chains…they look more like stirrups at first glance.
The title, Narcissus in Chains, is certainly appropriate for all the actions continue to revert back to Narcissus’ club and usually in chains. Certainly Narcissus himself ends up in chains as the Chimera takes over.
It's been a six weeks since Obsidian Butterfly, 9.
My Take
Hamilton does crack me up with her sense of humor. I love Anita's snark whether its actually said or she simply thinks it.
"...other girl talk … pretty ordinary talk. Sex, guys, turning thirty, vampires, werewolves. You know, the usual."While Anita does tick me off with her self-righteous, holier-than-thou approach to the men in her life, I appreciate that she's capable of change. Able to absorb new information and change her mind to accept truths. Ronnie, now, she's really buggin' me with her sanctimonious pronouncements. A friend is supposed to be supportive. To say no, to push you to reconsider bad choices. Then there's being so damned stubborn and unyielding, not listening to your friend, not taking her lessons or experiences into account.
Anita's hypocrisy drives me nuts:
Tell me the truth, but not if it pisses me off.With "I didn't know" and "I didn't understand" Anita's only rallying cries.
Why didn't you tell me this would happen, but yes, I'd have wanted to kill you if you had.
Richard should have counseled Louisa better, forced her to practice beforehand, but don't make Anita do it.
Let's worry more about appearance than about reality.
Yes, give me the mark so I can save you, but don't expect me to follow through on anything.
Don't feed on me, but don't feed on anyone else.
Don't sleep with anyone else, but don't sleep with me either.
I can sleep with anyone and everyone, you can't sleep with anyone but me.
And you don't get to sleep with me.
"You are simultaneously one of the most direct women I know, and one of the most self-deluding."
What is with Anita Blake? She almost dies in Obsidian Butterfly due to the holes in her aura. Holes she has to fix, so she's still futzing around two weeks after she gets back from New Mexico?
Yup, Jean-Claude has learned to be very cautious around Anita. I appreciate some of her requirements. Truth is always best. However, if it's a currency you insist upon, don't get angry when you don't like the truth. Don't blame others because you lie to yourself. Honor is always good. But whining and punishing people because you didn't ask the right questions, ignored the truth, or didn't think through possible consequences is not one of the things which I like about her. There are times I simply want to smack her upside the head. She pulls her damned blinders over her head and never considers what consequences may be to others. But then she gets angry when others do the same to her. Arghh. Then again, Jean-Claude has taught her to be suspicious.
"To give up his moral code is to give up who he is."Narcissus is so pushy and demanding, and Jean-Claude gets his own back on him. At last. And we learn, right along with a horrified Anita and Richard, a lot more about Jean-Claude's past. Appeasing Narcissus is Asher's opportunity to hurt Jean-Claude and explain the basis for dominance and submission.
Jesus, it was bad enough what they did to Gregory, and their attack. There's still Nathaniel to come. And Anita finally understands the smell of weakness and defeat.
Richard learns the negatives of the democracy he's forced onto his pack. And Anita may well kill him for it. God, Richard is so naive. Richard is just as schizo as ever wanting Anita and not wanting her. He's another like Anita in wanting his cake and eating it too. I could wish she would simply wash her hands of him. His experiment in democracy shows up for its uselessness although it does provide a lovely platform for the ideal of shifter harmony.
What's worse is Anita learns of the ardeur and how little control she has. I have to wonder if the ardeur suddenly showed up because of Anita, Jean-Claude, and Richard marrying their marks and then Anita's little "accident" at Narcissus in Chains? It gets worse too as it opens Anita up to Belle Morte! Eeeeek.
"True power comes when others offer it to you and you merely accept it as a gift, not as the spoils of some personal war."Let me smack her! Please, let me whap her upside the head a few times...please, please, please…! She makes me so nuts. Why must she always fight so damn hard? She hears what Jean-Claude tells her, and I swear, she doesn't take it in. Doesn't apply it to herself.
I love the show Anita and her pard put on at the lupanar! Just goes to show what can be done! A nice poke in the eye for Jacob, especially when the munin come out to play.
Ooh, talk about throwing it back in her face when Richard offers to go into the ground to rescue Gregory! Give Anita something to think about, because we all know it wouldn't cost Anita anything to kill Jacob for him.
Ah geez, turnabout and turnabout. This time it's Richard getting all squeamish about Anita's ardeur.
It is one way to remodel the kitchen.
Hmm, we get some background on Rafael!
The Story
Anita has been avoiding everyone. And I mean, everyone for the past six months as she attempts to bolster her shields. Only to find that her shields are crap and everything has fallen apart in her absence.
All of St. Louis is ripe for a takeover—the vampires, the wolves, the leopards, everyone.
Then the rats and swans arrive at the lupanar in support of Anita and her leopards…snicker…no one was expectin’ that one!
Celebrating Ronnie's 30th birthday, Anita gets a call for help from Gregory to come rescue Nathaniel. And learns too late of betrayal from one of her own.
The Characters
Anita Blake wears many hats: Nimir-Ra, leopard queen; lupa to the wolves; the human servant in a vampire triumvirate; munin channeler; and, necromancer.
Ronnie Simms is her best friend, unhappily. She's also dating Dr. Louis Fane, wererat, one of Rafael's lieutenants, and Richard's best friend. Marianne is the psychic (and vargamor for the Tennessee pack) with whom Anita's been working on her meditation, learning ritual magic, and blocking the marks Jean-Claude bestowed on her and Richard.
Jean-Claude is the vampire Master of the City and is at least 400 years old with the ability to gain power by feeding from blood or sexual energy, an incubus. As the master, he runs a number of clubs in St. Louis including the Circus of the Damned where his daytime resting place is, Guilty Pleasures, and Danse Macabre. Asher, his body horribly damaged, is his second-in-command, a former love who has chosen to remain in St. Louis while looking for the chance to hurt Jean-Claude in retaliation for how his human servant, Julianna, died. Willie McCoy was a weaselly human when Anita first knew him; now he's a weaselly vampire. Ming Die and Faust are vampires new come to St. Louis. With Anita's return to the supernatural life of St. Louis, Damian and Gretchen are both revived from their cross-locked coffins with Damian; that six-month distance has had a bad effect on him while Gretchen has been in a cross-wrapped coffin for three years now.
Arturo, one of Belle's favorites. Belle is negotiating for Musette (a name that horrifies Asher and Jean-Claude) to come visit.
The wolves
Richard Zeeman is the third of their triumvirate, the alpha king of the Thronnos Roke Pack, and a junior high school science teacher. Jason Schulyer is Jean-Claude's little dress-up wolf (he's twenty-two now). Jamil is Sköll, Richard's chief enforcer. Shang-Da is his Hati, the other enforcer. Sylvie is his second-in-command, his Freki who sells insurance in her day job. Jacob is his new Geri, his new third. Paris is the more forward of the candidates for lupa. Irving Griswold is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and just one of the many Anita has saved.
Wereleopards
Gregory; Zane; Vivian, she's dating Stephen, a wolf; Cherry, a former nurse; Nathaniel, a pet, even less than a slave in the BDSM world who becomes her pomme de sang; and, Elizabeth, who had been Gabriel's sweetie and is not playing well with others, are part of Anita's pard.
Caleb and Micah Callahan, Nimir-Raj for the Maneater Clan who can call flesh, are the wereleopards Anita wakes up to. Micah, the leopards' Nimir-Raj to Anita's Nimir-Ra, appears and is the first "casualty" of the ardeur. A beacon to recall as we get further into the series. Seems Elizabeth invited him to be Nimir-Raj, but won't help any other way. Merle is the former leader who gave it up as Micah did a better job. Now he and Noah are Micah's bodyguards. Gina and Viola are more of Micah's.
The wererats
Dr. Lillian is a wererat who treats the shapeshifters in town. Rafael is the Rat King allied with Richard; he will bring his rodere. Some of Rafael's rats, Bobby Lee (he appears for the first time), Claudia, and Igor, serve as bodyguards for Anita.
Other shifters in St. Louis
Donovan Reece is the new swanking. Christine is a weretiger; Nilisha MacNair is Kadra of the werecobras, and she and her children, Ethan and Olivia want their husband and father, the Kashyapa, Henry MacNair, back; Boone is a werebear is missing Rebecca Morton, his Ursa; Gil is a werefox; Janet Talbot is missing her son, Andy, a weredog; and, Joseph, a werelion, is missing. His mate, Amber, is pregnant.
Regional Preternatural Investigation Team (RPIT)
Detective Sergeant Dolph Storr heads up this team with Zerbrowski as his irrepressible second. Lucille is Dolph's wife; Darrin is Dolph's oldest, a lawyer, and he's engaged to a vampire. Paul is an engineer, the youngest, and he and his wife can't have kids. Detective Clive Perry is the polite one amongst them. Detective Jessica Arnet is keeping Nathaniel busy.
Orlando King had been one of the country's premiere bounty hunters before a shapeshifter nearly killed him.
Narcissus in Chains
Narcissus in Chains is a club run by shapeshifters and a neutral place for them. Narcissus himself is a cross-dressing hermaphrodite with a taste for pain — he can top or bottom. He's also the leader of the werehyenas, the only army allowed within the club's walls. Ulysses and Ajax are his bodyguards and they're lovers. Bacchus and Dionysus are lovers. Zeke is a werewolf.
Chimera's people
Chimera is a panwere, a lycanthrope that can take more than one form. Marco is a lion shifter. Coronus of the Black Water Clan is a snake shifter.
Shielding goes outside one's aura. Master vampires can hide their allegiances. The munin are the pack's spirits of their dead. They are a repository of all the knowledge of the pack. Raina, the old lukoi lupa, is the munin who likes Anita best.
The Cover and Title
I’m not quite sure about this cover. Against a dragged-green background hang two shackles suspended from chains…they look more like stirrups at first glance.
The title, Narcissus in Chains, is certainly appropriate for all the actions continue to revert back to Narcissus’ club and usually in chains. Certainly Narcissus himself ends up in chains as the Chimera takes over.
kerryks's review against another edition
5.0
So far, I have loved all of the Anita Blake books I've read. Halfway through and now starting on Cerulean Sins.