The Edge Of The Sea: A Place Where the Mermen are psychotic

The Edge of the Sea by Laurell K. Hamilton

Laurell K. Hamilton is a good writer and I’m convinced of that. Even now she is good. She’s just in a rut of writing stuff that’s X- rated at the moment rather than actually writing a story. Edge of The Sea is a short story she recently wrote that hits much closer to home for anyone who read her earlier stuff. It can be found in the Strange Candy Collection.
The story starts with Adria, who find that her room mate Rachel is missing in middle of the night. It is a beach front house so when she can’t find her, she decides to search the beach. Then she finds that her friend is raped and killed by odd pale man, who in discovery dashes into the sea. His feet turned to fish tale as he ran or I should say swim away. Even though Adria denies it at first, she realizes he’s merman. And he is the one that the news is calling the “Beach rapist” committing killings of young women. And as the killings continues, Adria is determined not be his victim. And if possible, she will get revenge if she can.
This is a short story that appears to take place in an Anita Blake world. Because they briefly mention other monsters such as vampires and monsters to this in one, as in one of Anita’s books they did mention there were mer people. But of course in those books they just never went to the coast to encounter these mer folk. But still, this is the same e world taken to a character that lives there.
So the good? It is an expansion of the Anita Blake world we never seen. Plus I like the mermaid idea. I find that it’s a great concept a lot of authors don’t touch. It’s fairly original. And detail is so well done. From the sound of ocean, to smell of the air, to Adria’s fear and lastly how gorgeous this merman is. She is so full of detail. It’s some thing I loved about Laurell’s work in the past. She can describe everything perfectly. (Especially the men, but I’m not going there in this review) And one last thing. There is a rape scene and I have to say this to Hamilton. Thank you for not some how morphing it into a descriptive sex scene like you do in all our newer books. Those are getting old.
The bad? Well it kind of feels like an Anita story without Anita. Adria didn’t have much character to her at all, but done what Anita would have in the end. So I guess if you read Hamilton’s other works, it’s predictable.
So overall. It’s a tragic loss of a friend and crime spree of a rapist who is a merman. Weird, but still fine. I mean it’s not memorable or anything. But it’s fun.

Overall Rating: I Nice Step Into Fantasy Where the Mermen are psychotic

3 smoothies out of four

Those Who Seek Forgiveness: A Reminder To All Of Us Of How Much We Miss Anita

Those Who Seek Forgiveness by Laurell K. Hamilton

Okay, this is another smoothie review based in an individual short story. Why not a whole book? Well tell me how to review a collection of short stores with it having a meaning behind it, and I’ll start. Every story in my opinion whether it’s a novel, novella should be seen as it’s own piece of work and should be treated as such. This one comes from Laurell K. Hamilton short story collection called, Strange Candy. And this one is called, “Those Who Seek Forgiveness.”

“Those Who Seek Forgiveness,” is the official first written piece involving Anita Blake. And if you know anything about Laurell K. Hamilton, you will surely know about the great Anita: Blake Vampire Hunter series that she created and sadly destroyed with the later books. This takes place before Guilty Pleasures (which is the first official Anita book) and long before Jean Claude and Richard came along. This was when Vampires were still illegal. The events focus on a job of raising a dead husband for a woman, who wants him to forgive her. She says he died of a heart attack and she wanted to say she is sorry to him because she had affair and wasn’t faithful. Oh and by the way, Anita is a Necromancer.

But if you have read Laurell K. Hamilton, you clearly know things are never what they seem. And I won’t say more about the story because it is an awfully short story. It plays as an introduction as the character and world more than any else, but I better get on with the review.

The good? Its the old Anita Blake. It is the woman that all the fans fell in love with at the beginning of the series. It’s not the sex addict Anita appears to be in the latest books. Its the Anita we love. And also without Jean Clause and Richard, it was less complicated. It was simple, sweet and just made me realize how much I miss Anita.

The bad? Not much to say other than it is really short. The story is officially fifteen pages long. And I did want more. But guess beggars can’t be choosers.

So overall, it was short and simple. Maybe too short. But compared to Laurell’s other works lately, I will accept fifteen pages of fun over five hundred pages of erotica. Because let’s face it people. Laurel K. Hamilton is so much more talented than that. Guilty pleasures and sex scenes can only go so far until you say, “That’s Enough! I want the old Anita Back!” And here we get our wish, even if it is so short.

Overall Rating: Reminds Me of How Badly I Miss Anita

3 smoothies out of four

P.S. check out book and ebook website at http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/