Danse Macabre

An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Novel, Book 14

By: Laurell K. Hamilton

Narrated by: Cynthia Holloway

Length: 21 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

In the thralls of supernatural passion, Anita Blake faces a most human dilemma.

©2006 Laurell K. Hamilton (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Anita Blake [is] a 'Tom(asina) Jones' for the 21st century if ever there was one." (Star-Ledger)

"Erotic and evocative." (Best Reviews) 

Story Rocks. Narrator BUTCHERED it.

FABULOUS STORY. Difficult to listen to though because of an ignorant, HORRIBLE narrator, director and the WORST CASTING EVER!

Dear Narrator & Audible, if you're going to take on an epic tale like Anita Blake, make sure your director AND actor know what they're doing!!! Since this is the 10th+ book in the series, they SHOULD have done some research /homework. What.The.Heck?!?!??! Maybe LISTEN to some of the other books, or minimally READ AT LEAST ONE!!!

Okay, Lesson 1: Were- is pronounced "Where" NOT WE'RE! like Werewolf.... not We're wolf. (Has this actress never read a book before? Or seen a werewolf story?) Meng Die is pronounced "Dee" not DIE. She actually pronounced Arduer correctly, so I started to have some hope. But sadly, she missed the fact that "Belle Morte" is FRENCH. So no, you do NOT pronounce the "T." Like "Belle More" not "Mort" as in mortuary. It's VERY distracting to have a "french" character mispronounce their OWN NAME!!!"

Also, Anita Blake is not a heavily feminine character. Yes, she's a female but she's tough, edgy and doesn't pull any punches. This narrator sounds like the announcer at a Beauty Pagent. She also is very poor at the male voices.... AND SHE CHANGED JEAN CLAUDE'S ACCENT TO ENGLISH???? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?!?! ANYONE READING HIS NAME CAN SEE THAT HE'S ***FRENCH***!!!!!!! If the lazy narrator bothered to listen to ANY ONE of the prior books, or HECK, even READ a book before doing this narration, she would have seen that Jean Claude has a heavy french accent!!!! Who did the casting on this? Obviously, the narrator, casting and director DID NOT READ THE BOOK BEFORE PRODUCING THE AUDIO BOOK!!!! SUCH a DISSAPOINTMENT!!! I haven't heard worse narration and butchering of a book in a long, LONG time! The equivalent would be to narrate a title like Gone With the Wind and give the main character Scarlett, a born and bred Southern Belle, an English or French accent. The unprofessional quality of this narration, casting and direction is staggering.

Please Audible, if you're going to pick a book up mid series, make sure the narrators, casting and the director do their homework, and CAST ACCORDINGLY. The beginning novels have a fabulous narrator, edgy female voice that exudes power like the main character (not femininity like this one does), and one that can actually do the male voices with correct pronunciation. That said, if you pick up a book mid series with a new narrator, the new narrator should try to approximate the same type of voices for the original characters (ie: a feminine male voice for feminine male characters, stronger for more masculine characters, staying true to at least MAIN characters' accents AS DESCRIBED IN THE BOOKS and not changing them for the convenience and laziness of the narrator, etc). The narrator should not invent new voices and accents that aren't true to the book!!! I'm half way through the book and was so offended I had to stop to write this review it was so bad. I'm praying this narrator is NOT on the other books. But I'm not holding my breath.

The story is Fabulous, like all the Anita Blake novels. And for the record, I'm glad audible tried to fill in the open spots in the audio book line of this series. But, DON'T produce a shoddy audiobook just because you believe the fan base is strong enough that people will buy the audiobooks anyway. LKH & Anita Blake fans deserve better. This is so bad I'm honestly considering cancelling my membership.

Not Kimberly Alexis

Ok, there were several times when I literally wanted to stop listening, but I have been waiting for the audio version of the missing books for forever and so I tried to ignore (not easy at all) the fact that the new girl is no where near as good as Kimberly. Jean Claude is French and there’s no accent or anything and I can’t tell if I liked it more or less how she makes Anita sound.. more girly? Anita always sounds like a hard ass, and she sounds way different in these audio. I’m honestly most upset about Jean Claude, I love the way Kimberly does his accent and everytime Cynthia did his voice, I was like “Come on, noooo!” The story itself was really good, but I couldn’t enjoy it as much with the new girl.

please Mrs. Holloway DON'T EVER DO ANOTHER

I love LKH'S books. I love reading them and hearing them. but Mrs. Holloway should not even try! She miss pronounces Wareanimal, and all related words.. Then doubles down and tries to use an English accent.. omg! My ears are bleeding!

Absolutely terrible accents

The story is typical Anita Blake. lots of sex and metaphysics. But the reader has the worst accents. especially the English. totally distracting from the story how awful she is.

Ardeur Flares

Please note that the sex level increases if you’re squeamish about it.
**Spoilers** Anita deals with a pregnancy scare that brings her issues with Richard to the forefront. She also has several challenges from other Masters of the City who want to take advantage of her Ardeur. Jean-Claude helps Anita fend off and feed from Augustine and his people. They have their first major power feed and, when shared, up the power levels of their own people.
They also fend off an attack from Merlin and his all vampire dance troop, followed by the Mother of Darkness. Asher jumps to a new power level with near tragic results.
Anita finds out that the strains of lycanthropy she carries are wolf, leopard, lion, and a mystery.

Decent narration, but not the best in the series.
I love this series and I’m impressed with Hamilton’s ability to write the progression of Anita’s growing power and the changes in her world.
Recommend

meh

the narrator is *so not* who I would have chosen for this character. Also the voice acting is awful, accents were painfully bad. I love the anita blake series amd heave read through it several times now but these middle ones are always hard to get through. I'm so glad she started to refocus the content to crime fighting later in the series

Not the best

This was 21 hours of Anita drama. From the first paragraph to the last. There was no plot at all. Just a lot of sex, fighting with her honeybuns, and others. There was no crime scene or interaction with the police. Nothing. The narrator once again was terrible. I am sorry to say that. She is trying to get better and be more like the Kimberly Alexis but she is not nearly as good as her. So in the end I am sorry I bought this audio.

Please no more British accents!

Like this whole series, a fun and entertaining book. Despite the horrid accents,not bad book.

Bring back Kimberly Alexis.!!!

I feel that the books are lacking since Cynthia Holloway started narrating. Please bring back Kimberly Alexis and also the rest of the Anita Blake series. It only goes up to Harlequin

I miss...

I truly miss the older story writings of LKH. specifically, the Anita Blake series. I'm determined to make it through the series. but, damn.  I like sex as much as the next person, but I miss...honestly miss, the plot, the story coming together and being told. I've re-read/listen to Guilty Pleasures through  Narcissists in chains between 5-8 times. (1st 3 books more bc I freaking LOVE them + the graphic novels) It's still in my top 3 favorite series.  I just miss the details, crime scenes, situations or events that don't involve sex. I miss the story telling. 
about to start the next book, The Harlequin. 🤞