Rachel B. (montbriac) - reviewed on 7/20/2011 + 10 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 9

Ive followed this series for years and loved most of it, but my opinion of this book is not good at all.

There are three real issues with this book, the first is one that other reviewers have remarked on and that is in the construction of the story itself. Here we have a story that is ostensibly a return to Anitas roots as a US Marshall involved in a manhunt but very little time is given to that in this book. Instead we have chapters of banter between Anita and the boys and the manhunt is reduced to a few chapters of largely incoherent action at the end almost as if the author realized she had a deadline to meet and decided to just wrap it up.

The second problem I had with this book is how terribly myopic and narcissistic the character of Anita Blake has become the perfect example of this issue is Anitas response to the return of Otto/Olaf. Instead of being disgusted by the fact that one of the vilest serial killers she has ever met is still alive and on the loose, all she can think about is what it means to her personally and how she can use him to her own ends. Earlier incarnations of Anita Blake would have happily put a bullet through his brain on general principal alone but this version of Anita isnt at all concerned about justice or protection for his victims rather, all she cares about is whether or not Otto/Olaf is going to make a play to get her into bed.

Whether this change in Anitas character is a deliberate design of the author to show just how far from the path of righteous savior Anita has strayed, remains to be seen. Id like to think that there will be a moral reckoning for Anita in respect to the violence and indifference to the brutalization of the lives of people she is not in love with however, the only moral considerations Ive seen Anita make recently have been about sex and really, what does a little nookie matter in comparison to lives?

The third issue I had with this book is the way in which all of the other women were portrayed as inferior. A particularly offensive scene was in the hospital when all of the female staff were gushing over Anitas bodyguards and the US Marshalls like a bunch of teenagers at a Justin Bieber event. These are all educated and accomplished women, yet theyre reduced to quivering, slobbering hormones at the sight of attractive men. The author needs to find a different way to elevate Anita without denigrating other women in the story its base, its objectification and its just plain old fashioned offensive.

I believe there has been some comparison between Hit List with Obsidian Butterfly and thats a shame because Obsidian Butterfly is a well-balanced installment in the series that skillfully mixed suspense, horror, magic and a manhunt into a page-turner whereas Hit List is a book that would probably never have found a publisher if it was penned by a first time author.

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