Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, has dealt with - and destroyed - a lot of monsters. But her old mentor, Edward - ruthless killer, bounty hunter, assassin - may be worse than any of them.

But Edward's got problems. A malevolent and seemingly unstoppable force is mutilating and dismembering the citizens of Albuquerque - and if he is to stop it he'll need all of Anita's firepower and cunning.

It may not be enough. Obsidian Butterfly, the ninth of Laurell K Hamilton's Antia Blake Vampire Hunter novels, is not quite the mixture as before, concentrating as it does on Anita's occasional partnership with the stone-cold killer Edward rather than on her love for werewolf Richard and vampire Jean-Claude. Edward brings her down to New Mexico when Ted, his legal bounty hunter secret identity, is called in on an investigation he cannot handle. Some creature hitherto unknown in this world, where mere monsters are commonplace is transforming victims into skinless, bloody automata and no one has any idea why.

Hamilton provides the usual thrills, moments of perverse eroticism and extreme supernatural ickiness; she also delves rather more deeply than usual into what makes her heroine tick and into Anita's fears that she may be becoming too like the sociopathic ruthless Edward for her own sanity and salvation. The stark desert terrain of New Mexico is neatly visualised--the novel's background is effectively used as a counterpoint to the heroine's fears and uncertainties. As usual, Hamilton does an effective job of delivering what her audience have come to love and, for once, she gives them a little bit more. --Roz Kaveney

Genre: Urban Fantasy