** spoiler alert ** 
 I liked this book, however I was a bit disappointed in it at the same time. I was really excited to see more of Edward in this one, but his character seemed quite a bit different than he was in the last book he was prominently featured in. I realize that characters are supposed to grow and change just like regular people, but I took a while to get used to the new Edward, though there was definitely some of the old Edward in there. 
 The later books in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series have had significant problems balancing their porn/plot ratios, and this one seemed to be one of the better endeavors. It was much more based on plot than some of the more recent ones. Yes, Anita does pick up a new boy toy in this one, but honestly, what book lately has she not at least had sex with someone new. I do like the new guy, Ethan, but how many guys is she sleeping with now? I know I can't keep track of them all, and unfortunately this means that a lot of my favorite characters are being squeezed out of the pages by the new cast. 
 Overall, I'd have to say one of my favorite parts in this book is Donna calling Edward while Anita is in bed with him. It was very real for me, and I really enjoyed it. My least favorite part is probably the end of the book. We have all of this build up of Anita vs. Harlequin/Mother of All Darkness, and it just seems to resolve too quickly and too neatly for a plot arc that's been building for a few books. I'd much rather have had more pages, than the predictible plot that ends this book: Someone is trying to get Anita, Anita gets kidnapped, Anita gets out of it all by herself using her insanely powerful ability to kill something that should have taken so much more to kill. Because honestly, if she's that easy to kidnap, why not just steal her body while she's asleep, or just flat kill her if you don't think that she's going to let you have it? The Big Bad Mother of All Darkness seemed to be a lot of huff and puff, and not really much else in this one, which was just anti-climactic. I really enjoyed the book until we got to the typical ending though. 
 All in all, I think I really liked this book, and I'll probably read the next one and hopefully the characters I like the best will be more prominent in that one. This is no longer a series that seems to have new plot, just new character development, and new sex scenes. Sort of disappointed, but maybe the next one will renew my faith in the series.