This, more than any other in the series, is "the zombie novel." Anita Blake actually makes her living as an "animator," raising zombies for a last conversation where you can learn, oh, where they put the will, or at least get some closure. Vampires are only a side dish here, and much of this one is gruesome, gory, and just plain disgusting. So what it says about me that I loved it, I don't know. In fact, it really was in this novel, not the first Guilty Pleasures that I found Anita Blake addictive. So addictive, as it turned out, it took several books to break the habit after they dropped into the abyss in the tenth book. In retrospect, having read 17 and a half books in the series (I dropped Flirt mid-read) I can see some of the seeds of the ultimate deterioration of the series. This book featured Manny Rodriguez, her mentor who was briefly mentioned in the first book. Manny is obviously important to her, and the ending suggests that what happens should have real consequences--but then we never hear from (or from what I can recall about) Manny again. It's a sign of things to come as Hamilton drops important plot threads, and eventually drops any relationship but the sexual. But this was vintage Anita Blake, back from when I could recommend them as a perfect Halloween read and guilty pleasure.
