LKH and I have split ways, and I'm no longer interested in the Anita Blake series or how it continues. To be honest, I had thought it ended, and was wanting to give it a try again, but couldn't get much further than a couple of pages into this one.

Part police procedural, part sci-fi and I felt like there was a gap in connecting the two. It wasn’t for me, but people who like detective type novels will enjoy!

Laurell K. Hamilton is one of my auto-read author. She definitely wrote all of her books with passion and angst. This has been my third book from Laurell and I'm really loving her writing style. I love the characters and their portrayal, and also the story line is great as well as its pacing. It is a reader-friendly book and everyone who read this might enjoy this.

Honestly, I had a lot of hesitations about this 27th book in the Vampire Hunter Series. It takes Anita Blake away from Jean-Claude and drops her in the middle of another case in Michigan. I felt as if the main couple in the series never gets their own time. Yeah, can you tell I am a little disappointed?

Despite that, however, I became fully engrossed in Sucker Punch. There weren’t any graphic arduer feedings that I have come to expect in every one of these stories. Nonetheless, I was at the edge of my seat, trying to figure out what in the world is going on with Anita and her new “love” interest ( if I can even call him that). This new relationship was something I could’ve never imagine happening…ever. The angst and intrigue were undoubtedly there!

I thought the murder mystery was terrific too. I had so many suspicions about who did what and was glad that I was kept surprised until the very end. I would have to say, the story came with some disappointing deaths at the end, but justice was definitely served.

All in all, I thought this was a great addition to the series. I personally can not wait to see if something further develops between the potential new couple and how Rafael will fit into all of this.

Anita Blake is once again kicking a** and taking names. If you enjoy non stop action and a little bit of romance, this series will interest you.

So I was a little late getting to this ARC. I was reading it when it was released and because of my obsession with owning ALL of a series, I ordered the hard cover to go with this. I wasn't even half way through the ebook, thinking I must be near the end and there was some preview or something at the end making up all the percentage I had left. When the hard cover was delivered, I was shocked. That thing was ENORMOUS! The way the book was going while I was reading it, I thought we would be wrapping up in no time.

I was pretty excited at the beginning. The regulars of Anita's poly group were left at home and the marshal she is working with is not a well known one. I don't even remember when it was we saw him before. This works out well for the beginning of the story. We have a mystery that seems pretty simple, but the marshals are avoiding what they normally do, which is kill the bad guy. However, there is speculation that he is not the bad guy and Marshall Newman is determined to find a way to save him.

Of course, things can't stay simple. Anita calls in Ted, who I love. But, Olaf/Otto is closer and due to marshal rules, should be the first to respond to Anita's cry for help. Annddd here we go down the rabbit hole. Olaf's presence causes many loongg strings of dialogue and unnecessary scenes. It brings in characters from home which then create more unnecessary scenes. Everything turns into analyzing every word and action Anita does. It totally takes you out of what could have been a good mystery story reminiscent of the old Anita days and into this long, drawn out relationship analyzer.

Needless to say, it was a lot of work to get through this book. I am not one to DNF, so I forced myself to read it all and believe me when I say it took me over a month to read this book. The Anita Blake books have always been on my auto-buy list. Even when she started going through the books that just felt like nothing but sex between two covers. But I'm really hoping LKH finds a middle ground here. I think when Raphael comes out, I will check to see how many pages before I settle in to read.

Once again Anita Blake must right a wrong. She has been asked to come to Michigan to consult on a murder case but to her dismay the so-called easy case turns out to be something much more. Time is beginning to run out and Anita must figure out if the man accused is guilty or not. Can she solve the case before it is too late? The evidence is growing but Anita cannot shake the question and the worries about this case. Time is not on her side, but Anita always gets her man and she is determined that she will do just that with this case................................................

I have been a fan of Laurell K. Hamilton for a very long time. I live in the same area as the author so I have been lucky enough to go to quite a few bookish events and have waited hours to get my book signed more than once. Over the years, I have been distracted by other books and authors and have missed some of the books in this series but I would still consider myself to be a fan. It pains me to say that I didn't enjoy this book.

This book takes Anita out of town to help deal with shifter involved murder case. I will say that I have had mixed feelings about some of the books that take Anita away from the cast of characters that are a part of her world at home. That being said, I tend to love books that include Edward, which this one does, so I was hopeful. Unfortunately, it felt like next to nothing happened in this entire book. There is a lot of talking but that is about it. The case seemed really easy to figure out and I had hoped that there would be some kind of surprise that would change everything but that never happened.

So what did they talk about? They overexplained a lot of things through different conversations but it seemed like the bulk of the discussions focused on Olaf/Otto. Olaf is a U.S. Marshal, like Anita, but in his free time, he is a serial killer. He has his sights set on Anita and wants to have a relationship with her instead of just wanting to kill her. Anita is not quite as eager but instead of saying no and moving on, they go on and on about what he would need to do to date her. It was agonizing.

I thought that Kimberly Alexis did a great job with the narration. I do think that her narration was one of the reasons that I was able to finish this book. She did a great job with all of the character voices and I found her voice to be very pleasant to listen to.

I wouldn't recommend this book to others. I am not throwing in the towel with this series just yet but I wish that I had skipped this book. I found this book to be rather slow and lacking any real excitement. I do have hope for the next installment in the series.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.

Sucker Punch was one of my favourite books this year. I highly recommend this novel if you are looking for something to captivate you with phenomenal writing.

Wow! 27 books in this series! Some parts make it seem like so much less and others make it seem like it should be more. That's been my feeling about this series for a few books now. I've loved some parts and could've done without others, but I've read them all and am thoroughly invested in these characters, at least most of these characters. Sucker Punch was pretty much the same - I loved some parts, and others... well, not so much.
I'll start with the length of the book. This thing is massive. I read it on my Kindle, but I think the retail listing has it at over 600 pages. I'll just be honest here, this book could've easily been cut in half, and it would've benefitted from the cut. A whole lot of this one was a rehashing of almost the same conversations or discussing those conversations or planning a conversation. Seriously, pages and pages of that along with tediously lengthy descriptions of everything. Those, I could've done without.
Speaking of, you'll be doing without Jean-Claude in this one. There is a noticeable lack of the sexy vampire, and I missed him. What we do get is an interesting case for Anita and company. That case was a little too easy to solve since the who behind the whodunit was glaringly obvious, but it was still interesting and I did want to see how that all played out. I don't want to spoil it, but I will say that the title makes perfect sense.
Another very noticeable missing element was the sexy time. There was lots and lots and lots of talk about it, but no actual steam was generated, which was a shock with such a long book. That didn't bother me, especially since nearly all of Anita's inner circle was absent, but it is worth noting with the direction these last several books have gone.
As far as favorite characters from the series, a couple of mine are front and center through much of this one. Edward/Ted has always been a favorite. He loses his cool in this one - only a bit, but it was still an interesting turn. Then we have one more of the horsemen, the creepiest - Olaf/Otto. Now., I won't pretend to like Olaf, but he does add a little spice to things. And that's the beauty of fiction. It's fun to have that character who is completely corrupt, completely broken, and to watch things play out. To see what he'll do next. That's Olaf for me.
The ending of this one surprised me, but looking back at everything that happened, a lot of it makes sense for this storyline. I will add that there was one thing in particular that happened at the conclusion that has me curious. Okay, there were a couple of things, but one of those was pretty much a given when you consider the people involved. The other thing is what I will be anxiously waiting to see play out.
To sum it up, Sucker Punch was a bit of a mixed bag for me, but when it was all said and done, I came away liking more than I disliked. Either way. I'm this far in, so I kind of feel like I know this nutty bunch of people, and I'll keep going because I enjoy visiting them from time to time, and I want to see where their stories go.

Sucker Punch comes much closer to being the Anita Blake story her fans have been waiting for. As Anita focuses on her US Marshall job, she will investigate a shifter's murder where the evidence does not support the execution of suspect in custody. Her instincts will lead her...and her loyal fans...to the identity of the true killer. Thank you, Laurell Hamilton for this book!

Guys She is back and My Lord. This book was amazing. I read it in 2 nights and it was dark and not anything like I thought it was going to be.

Anita Blake is at it again butt his time she is sent in to save someone that is condemned to be killed. Yes guys, he is on the hook to help exonerate a shifter and this story just broke me. I honestly had no idea where is was going from the start to the end. Every-time I thought I had it figured out they threw me another loop.

Throw in some fun other Marshall twists and this book is a thrilling read that you wont put down. You get to see a lot of our favorites and Anita makes some big like choices that you know have been on the horizon. Hands down another 6s star in this series.

I dipped back into this series after a multi book break and was able to pick right back up on the characters/stories like I'd never left. Exactly what I expected and wanted!

Talk about a blast from the past. Back in the beginning so many of the Anita Blake novels were thoroughly drenched in the mystery of her latest chase with the romance dipped in to drive her personal story along the way. Then we hit the period of the romance taking over the story completely. Not that I don't hate a little romance, but it seemed so out of character for Anita's world. I can safely say that Anita is back in her stride with Sucker Punch. It has all the makings of the original series format. Mystery. Crime. Murder. This book was about as perfect as you can get when comparing it from where it started to where the last few books have been. The twists at the end make for a very interesting next book and I can say for the first time in a very long time, I can't wait to read it.

I just could not get in to this one and will try to give it another shot in the future. I will update my review at that time.

Sucker Punch
by Laurell K. Hamilton
Boring. No action. Can't believe how bad her books have gotten. It was a struggle to finish.

I admit that I haven’t been loving this series for a long time now but I still read it hoping I will see what first got me into the series and this book was the payoff after reading so many that left me disappointed. The plot has Anita providing backup to another US Marshall that thinks the were he is supposed to execute is innocent of the murder of his father. To complicate matters, it is in a small town and everyone knows everyone else so the Marshall is loath to kill the were. There was sexual tension but no emergency feedings which was a real plus. The book was padded out bit but it was nice to see the mystery taking front and center for a change. With all the details about the Marshall service, I wouldn’t be surprised if more books have the old vs new Marshalls going head to head or have Anita do some schooling for the new kids. And maybe she will actually get some more crime solving tools in her skill set. Fans of Olaf and Edward will be happy with this book.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

Pros: Excellent mystery.
Con: No Romance, No sex. Unless you count kissing and a sort of girl on girl type action.

Questions:
Does Anita really need that many men and women 'guarding' her?

The series is far past “going downhill”. I'm grateful for the eARC provided by NetGalley.
and the publisher. But this book was not one for me.

Laurel K. Hamilton has made a very bold move, she went back to roots of the original Anita Blake and wrote a strong mystery. The type of mysteries that made me fall in love with the beginnings of the Anita Blake series. I have to admit, I was one of those readers that had become pretty disenchanted by all the self- analyzing and analyzing the psyche of every character in the story without a strong story but I’m excited to say this wasn’t the case…and I was happily pleased.

Anita is called away from her main stomping grounds when she is called in by the U.S. Marshal as a consultant in a tiny community in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A shifter is arrested for a murder and there is suspicion that he was being framed.

Throughout the investigation, Anita calls in for help and Edward comes into the story. Edward's and Anita's dynamics were one of my favorite storylines, so I have to admit this thrilled me…And then Olaf “the serial killer” – US Marshall – recently turned lion shifter stalks in. This is where it gets VERY creepy and if Anita goes there, I have to say this series will completely lose me! But for now, he (Olaf) is playing nice and assists investigation.

In the end, this was rather good like for me, 3.5. LKH went back to the roots of the storytelling and even though I am not a fan of Olaf and no matter how you spin it a serial killer will be a serial killer, I enjoyed this installment of the Anita Blake series.

I received this ARC copy of Sucker Punch from Berkley Publishing Group. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you Sandy with The Reading Cafe and Berkley Publishing for choosing me as the winner of this fantastic book. I enjoyed it and the entire Anita Blake series. Sucker Punch reminded me of the earlier novels in the series. It was a treat to be sure. Those were my favorite books and now this is too.

This review will be posted on my IG bookstagram, Twitter and Goodreads accts. Thanks again.