Scan barcode
A review by reader44ever
Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton
5.0
I think this book may very well be my favorite in the series. At the very least, it's my favorite every time I read it. ;-) I just love it so, so much! It has funny moments, sad moments, moments that give me chills. I really enjoy everything in this book.
(I feel I should say, though, that this edition has some errors in it that I find disappointing and distracting, but they were scattered far enough apart that they don't detract from my love for this story. The story was amazing; the editing was not:On page 346: "The high-scuplted [sic] cheekbones..." is an especially "favorite" error. Wasn't spell-check run on this book??? Also, on page 243, we have, "I'd never meant [sic] anyone, monster or not, who seemed so divided." There were others, but these are the two that stand out the most. I really don't understand why the editor didn't catch them.)
In this book, the vampire council comes to town unannounced and a firebug is burning down empty buildings. Anita is asked to help on the latter before anyone is killed.
We meet a few new series characters, includingNathaniel, Zane, Cherry, and Vivian. :-) Officer Smith is also introduced in this book. And almost more importantly, we meet Asher. Though knowing what's coming in later books makes it hard for me to be happy about this.
I think of this book as being my favorite partly because in it, Anita ishappy with Jean-Claude and her conflict over the sex hasn't yet risen to annoying proportions. Also, Dolph hasn't yet let his hatred for all things vampire completely overwhelm him; and Richard's self-loathing isn't quite as destructive as it will become in later books. On this note, Asher is also bearable in this story. It's my favorite for this reason because I know what's coming in later books, so it's nice to see the characters before they become truly, and fully, unlikable. Though in Richard's case, it's hard for me to like him even a little bit in this book. And I at least know that, though Anita's inner monologue will become tiresome, she eventually matures and accepts her life enough to stop the whining.
Another reason why I think of this book as a favorite? See quote # 4 and my reason for loving it. :-)
I didn't make very many status updates this time through. I just find this book to be so very good that it's hard to find quotes that are short enough to share. And it was very hard to pause my reading to make the few updates I did pause to make.
Here are a few quotes, though. The underlined parts are those that I enjoyed most when more of a quote is shared for context; anything in italics is as written in the text:
1. From Chapter 7, lines leading into the second to last paragraph (my edition: page 52):
2. From Chapter 16, closer to the beginning than the middle (my edition: pages 114-115):
3. From Chapter 40, closer to the beginning than the middle (my edition: page 291):
4. From Chapter 51, nearer the end than the middle (my edition: pages 381-382):
My reasons for highlighting these four quotes are as follows:
# 1: This bit of dialogue quite literally makes me LOL every time I read it. :-)
#s 2 and 3: These always make me smile. :-)
# 4: The whole chapter, but especially these lines, never fails to give me chills. :-)
Most recent (penultimate?) reread of Burnt Offerings was on February 13, 2014.
This current reread took place from July 10 to 11, 2015. :-)
The following spoiler is a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of what happens in the book. I wrote it for myself and I'm going to try to keep spoilers out of it, but I'm going to hide it just in case...
Chapter 1: Fire Captain Pete McKinnon wants Anita's help to catch a firebug. Larry calls from the hospital.
Chapter 2: Larry tells Anita how he got hurt. Anita is paged.
Chapter 3: Stephen paged her. He asks for her help at St. Louis University Hospital. Zane is threatening over the phone.
Chapter 4: Zane is trying to take Nathaniel out of the hospital. Anita stops him.
Chapter 5: Anita's at the hospital with Stephen and Nathaniel. Irving visits; shares alarming news. Anita calls pack member Kevin and two others.
Chapter 6: Kevin, Lorraine, and Teddy arrive. Anita finds the words to reassure them thanks to marks/bond with Richard. (But he cuts her off abruptly. I really don't like him.)
Chapter 7: Anita goes on a date to "Demiche's, a very nice restaurant," with Jean-Claude. :-)
Chapter 8: When they have finished their meal, Yvette and Balthasar pay them a visit. After they leave, Jean-Claude explains who they are and what it means that they are here.
Chapter 9: Anita and Jean-Claude are met by Asher in the parking lot.
Chapter 10: Anita and Jean-Claude learn that two council members are in St. Louis and that the Circus has been taken over.
Chapter 11: At the Circus, Jean-Claude and Anita talk with Asher in the Jeep, in the parking lot. He becomes rage-filled and flies off.
Chapter 12: Liv shows up at the car and boasts. Anita is careless, but saves herself. She weapons up. Jean-Claude punishes Liv.
Chapter 13: There's something on the door to the downstairs. When Anita realizes what it is, Jean-Claude cautions restraint.
Chapter 14: Anita meets the Traveler; he's in Willie. He is joined by Balthasar and talks with Anita and Jean-Claude.
Chapter 15: Fernando joins them in the living room. He has Hannah, Willie's love. Padma, Master of Beasts, joins them, too. The gloves come off.
Chapter 16: Jean-Claude saved Anita; she shares her warmth to bring him back to power.
Chapter 17: In the hallway, Anita saves Damian with Jean-Claude's help.
Chapter 18: Yvette joins them in the hallway. She has Jason. Warrick is punished. Jean-Claude rescues Jason.
Chapter 19: The Traveler offers help, but it's a trap. Anita breaks free.
Chapter 20: Anita sees Rafael and Sylvie, swears vengeance. She gains their release.
Chapter 21: Anita talks with Rafael, reassures him; with Sylvie, learns that there were others who expected to be saved.
Chapter 22: Anita calls home, where Jean-Claude and the others went, to talk with Jean-Claude. Dolph pages.
Chapter 23: Anita talks with Detective Perry at the Burnt Offerings crime scene. Something's off.
Chapter 24: Anita talks with the "victim." Dolph knew something was off but not what.
Chapter 25: Zane and Cherry arrive at the shapeshifter hospital just after Anita.
Chapter 26: Richard's arrival wakes Anita up. He'll be backup to retrieve those left behind at the Circus.
Chapter 27: Richard and Anita argue on the way to the Circus.
Chapter 28: Jamil is waiting when they arrive at the Circus. Anita, Richard and Zane talk with him.
Chapter 29: Anita calms Richard. Gregory and Vivian are released. Everyone lives, for now.
Chapter 30: At Anita's house, she catches Vivian, falls. Zane is sent to get Cherry. Alone again, Warrick pays her a visit.
Chapter 31: Ronnie and Louie arrive at Anita's house. Richard joins them in the kitchen. He's such a dick.
Chapter 32: A guy who says he's delivering flowers comes to the house. Zane gets hurt, badly.
Chapter 33: Anita talks with Richard, Jamil, Ronnie.
Chapter 34: Dolph and Pete McKinnon call. Vampire businesses have been hit in a mass attack. Anita is needed to help, first at the hospital where Stephen is, second at the Church of Eternal Life.
Chapter 35: Anita has rather emotional conversations with both Richard and Ronnie.
Chapter 36: At the hospital, Anita calms the cops and helps the wolves. Nathaniel is awake; Anita learns how she may be able to help him heal.
Chapter 37: Anita heals Nathaniel.
Chapter 38: Anita talks with Stephen, Nathaniel, Teddy, Kevin and Lorraine. She sends them to her house.
Chapter 39: Anita responds to two pages: Dolph needs her at a new location; Larry needs to be picked up.
Chapter 40: Anita gets Larry into her Jeep; they talk on the way to the new location.
Chapter 41: Anita talks with the Incident Commander and others on the scene of the fire.
Chapter 42: Anita talks with the human liaison for the burned halfway house for vampires of the Church.
Chapter 43: Anita calls Jean-Claude. He's stunned speechless by what she proposes to do.
Chapter 44: Anita calls the Circus to speak with the Traveler.
Chapter 45: Anita talks logistics and goes into the building with two paramedic firemen and Detective Reynolds (as her armed backup).
Chapter 46: The rescue of the vampires in the halfway house does not go well.
Chapter 47: Anita wakes up in hospital. It's been 24 hours. Larry catches her up and Dolph finishes the news.
Chapter 48: Anita and Jean-Claude get ready for the night's entertainment at the Circus.
Chapter 49: At the Circus, Anita practices restraint; Jean-Claude is appreciative, Richard's an ass.
Chapter 50: Anita gives Asher something more precious than blood and then helps Jason feed Yvette.
Chapter 51: Anita saves Richard and takes on the Master of Beasts. :-)
Chapter 52: Yvette has a plan that the other council members and representatives do not agree with, and neither does Warrick.
Chapter 53: Denouement.
(I feel I should say, though, that this edition has some errors in it that I find disappointing and distracting, but they were scattered far enough apart that they don't detract from my love for this story. The story was amazing; the editing was not:
In this book, the vampire council comes to town unannounced and a firebug is burning down empty buildings. Anita is asked to help on the latter before anyone is killed.
We meet a few new series characters, including
I think of this book as being my favorite partly because in it, Anita is
Another reason why I think of this book as a favorite? See quote # 4 and my reason for loving it. :-)
I didn't make very many status updates this time through. I just find this book to be so very good that it's hard to find quotes that are short enough to share. And it was very hard to pause my reading to make the few updates I did pause to make.
Here are a few quotes, though. The underlined parts are those that I enjoyed most when more of a quote is shared for context; anything in italics is as written in the text:
1. From Chapter 7, lines leading into the second to last paragraph (my edition: page 52):
...We both wanted the steak.
"The petite cut," I told the waiter.
"How would you like that prepared?"
"Half well-done, half rare."
The waiter blinked at me. "Excuse me, madam?"
"It's an eight-ounce cut, right?"
He nodded.
"Cut it in half, and cook four ounces of it well-done, and four ounces of it rare."
He frowned at me. "I don't think we can do that."
"At these prices you should bring the cow out and have a ritual sacrifice at the table. Just do it." I handed him the menu. He took it.
Still frowning, he turned to Jean-Claude. "And you, sir?"
Jean-Claude gave a small smile. "I will not be ordering food tonight."
"Would you like wine with dinner, then, sir?"
He never missed a beat. "I do not drink--wine."
I coughed Coke all over the tablecloth. The waiter did everything but give me the Heimlich. Jean-Claude laughed until tears trailed from the corners of his eyes...
2. From Chapter 16, closer to the beginning than the middle (my edition: pages 114-115):
"Does the Beast Master have to sink fang to jump-start his heart?"
"Oui, ma petite."
"How ... vulgar," I said. It was one of the most civilized insults I'd ever come up with. It worked, too.
3. From Chapter 40, closer to the beginning than the middle (my edition: page 291):
[Larry:] "You said it would hurt worse the second day. Why are you always right?"
"Hard to be perfect," I said, "but it's a burden I've learned to cope with." I gave him my best bland face.
4. From Chapter 51, nearer the end than the middle (my edition: pages 381-382):
Padma collapsed backwards onto the floor with me riding his body.
I rose up, hands flat over his chest, legs straddling his body. "We are the Thronos Rokke, the Throne Rock people, and we are no one's pawns."
My reasons for highlighting these four quotes are as follows:
# 1: This bit of dialogue quite literally makes me LOL every time I read it. :-)
#s 2 and 3: These always make me smile. :-)
# 4: The whole chapter, but especially these lines, never fails to give me chills. :-)
Most recent (penultimate?) reread of Burnt Offerings was on February 13, 2014.
This current reread took place from July 10 to 11, 2015. :-)
The following spoiler is a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of what happens in the book. I wrote it for myself and I'm going to try to keep spoilers out of it, but I'm going to hide it just in case...
Chapter 1: Fire Captain Pete McKinnon wants Anita's help to catch a firebug. Larry calls from the hospital.
Chapter 2: Larry tells Anita how he got hurt. Anita is paged.
Chapter 3: Stephen paged her. He asks for her help at St. Louis University Hospital. Zane is threatening over the phone.
Chapter 4: Zane is trying to take Nathaniel out of the hospital. Anita stops him.
Chapter 5: Anita's at the hospital with Stephen and Nathaniel. Irving visits; shares alarming news. Anita calls pack member Kevin and two others.
Chapter 6: Kevin, Lorraine, and Teddy arrive. Anita finds the words to reassure them thanks to marks/bond with Richard. (But he cuts her off abruptly. I really don't like him.)
Chapter 7: Anita goes on a date to "Demiche's, a very nice restaurant," with Jean-Claude. :-)
Chapter 8: When they have finished their meal, Yvette and Balthasar pay them a visit. After they leave, Jean-Claude explains who they are and what it means that they are here.
Chapter 9: Anita and Jean-Claude are met by Asher in the parking lot.
Chapter 10: Anita and Jean-Claude learn that two council members are in St. Louis and that the Circus has been taken over.
Chapter 11: At the Circus, Jean-Claude and Anita talk with Asher in the Jeep, in the parking lot. He becomes rage-filled and flies off.
Chapter 12: Liv shows up at the car and boasts. Anita is careless, but saves herself. She weapons up. Jean-Claude punishes Liv.
Chapter 13: There's something on the door to the downstairs. When Anita realizes what it is, Jean-Claude cautions restraint.
Chapter 14: Anita meets the Traveler; he's in Willie. He is joined by Balthasar and talks with Anita and Jean-Claude.
Chapter 15: Fernando joins them in the living room. He has Hannah, Willie's love. Padma, Master of Beasts, joins them, too. The gloves come off.
Chapter 16: Jean-Claude saved Anita; she shares her warmth to bring him back to power.
Chapter 17: In the hallway, Anita saves Damian with Jean-Claude's help.
Chapter 18: Yvette joins them in the hallway. She has Jason. Warrick is punished. Jean-Claude rescues Jason.
Chapter 19: The Traveler offers help, but it's a trap. Anita breaks free.
Chapter 20: Anita sees Rafael and Sylvie, swears vengeance. She gains their release.
Chapter 21: Anita talks with Rafael, reassures him; with Sylvie, learns that there were others who expected to be saved.
Chapter 22: Anita calls home, where Jean-Claude and the others went, to talk with Jean-Claude. Dolph pages.
Chapter 23: Anita talks with Detective Perry at the Burnt Offerings crime scene. Something's off.
Chapter 24: Anita talks with the "victim." Dolph knew something was off but not what.
Chapter 25: Zane and Cherry arrive at the shapeshifter hospital just after Anita.
Chapter 26: Richard's arrival wakes Anita up. He'll be backup to retrieve those left behind at the Circus.
Chapter 27: Richard and Anita argue on the way to the Circus.
Chapter 28: Jamil is waiting when they arrive at the Circus. Anita, Richard and Zane talk with him.
Chapter 29: Anita calms Richard. Gregory and Vivian are released. Everyone lives, for now.
Chapter 30: At Anita's house, she catches Vivian, falls. Zane is sent to get Cherry. Alone again, Warrick pays her a visit.
Chapter 31: Ronnie and Louie arrive at Anita's house. Richard joins them in the kitchen. He's such a dick.
Chapter 32: A guy who says he's delivering flowers comes to the house. Zane gets hurt, badly.
Chapter 33: Anita talks with Richard, Jamil, Ronnie.
Chapter 34: Dolph and Pete McKinnon call. Vampire businesses have been hit in a mass attack. Anita is needed to help, first at the hospital where Stephen is, second at the Church of Eternal Life.
Chapter 35: Anita has rather emotional conversations with both Richard and Ronnie.
Chapter 36: At the hospital, Anita calms the cops and helps the wolves. Nathaniel is awake; Anita learns how she may be able to help him heal.
Chapter 37: Anita heals Nathaniel.
Chapter 38: Anita talks with Stephen, Nathaniel, Teddy, Kevin and Lorraine. She sends them to her house.
Chapter 39: Anita responds to two pages: Dolph needs her at a new location; Larry needs to be picked up.
Chapter 40: Anita gets Larry into her Jeep; they talk on the way to the new location.
Chapter 41: Anita talks with the Incident Commander and others on the scene of the fire.
Chapter 42: Anita talks with the human liaison for the burned halfway house for vampires of the Church.
Chapter 43: Anita calls Jean-Claude. He's stunned speechless by what she proposes to do.
Chapter 44: Anita calls the Circus to speak with the Traveler.
Chapter 45: Anita talks logistics and goes into the building with two paramedic firemen and Detective Reynolds (as her armed backup).
Chapter 46: The rescue of the vampires in the halfway house does not go well.
Chapter 47: Anita wakes up in hospital. It's been 24 hours. Larry catches her up and Dolph finishes the news.
Chapter 48: Anita and Jean-Claude get ready for the night's entertainment at the Circus.
Chapter 49: At the Circus, Anita practices restraint; Jean-Claude is appreciative, Richard's an ass.
Chapter 50: Anita gives Asher something more precious than blood and then helps Jason feed Yvette.
Chapter 51: Anita saves Richard and takes on the Master of Beasts. :-)
Chapter 52: Yvette has a plan that the other council members and representatives do not agree with, and neither does Warrick.
Chapter 53: Denouement.
...Jean-Claude certainly has the keys to my libido, but my heart ... Can a walking corpse hold the keys to my heart? No. Yes. Maybe. How the hell should I know? [fin]