The Laughing Corpse -- Laurell K. Hamilton

A book has to be pretty darned entertaining for me to read in a moving car. So far, Laurell K. Hamilton has a pretty good track record with me--two for two.

Chrissy was worried that I'd freak out about the rather graphic child-murders. Nope. Those parts didn't bother me much. (Okay, I admit that it was horribly disgusting when Anita and Merlioni have the gross-out contest at the crime scene). Usually, though, it's the little things that really get me--like when Anita shoves her thumb into a bad guy's eyeball and pops it! GROSS. I had to put the book down for a few minutes after that one. Just thinking about it gives me the willies.

But, as I've probably said before, what I like the most about the series is the politics:

Vampirism had only been legal for two years in the United States of America. We were still the only country where it was legal. Don't ask me; I didn't vote for it. There was even a movement to give the vamps the vote. Taxation without representation and all that.

Two years ago if a vampire bothered someone I just went out and staked the son of a bitch. Now I had to get a court order of execution. Without it, I was up on murder charges, if I was caught. I longed for the good ol' days.

(Note the 'if I was caught'--that's a perfect example of the Anita Blake attitude).

For people who don't know the series at all, not only is Anita Blake a vampire hunter; she's also an animator. (An animator raises the dead--apparently, as a child, before she learned how to control it, zombified roadkill followed her around a lot). Of course, as an animator, Anita has a special interest in the dead--so she takes issue with the fact that it's perfectly legal for people to raise zombies and use them as slaves. (Chrissy, I will admit that I did find the idea of raising zombies to be sex-slaves to necrophiliacs rather disturbing).

All of this is leaving out the whole Jean-Claude Master-of-the-City thing, but I haven't hit any raunchy sex scenes involving him (yet), so I'll let that one go. For now.