Blue Moon is the eighth book in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series of novels. The series also includes The Laughing Corpse, Circus of the Damned, The Lunatic Cafe, Bloody Bones, The Killing Dance, Burnt Offerings and twelve additional books.http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/works.htmlWorldwide, there are more than six million copies of the series in print, in sixteen different languages.http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/works.html

As the eighth book in her Anita Blake series, the author felt Blue Moon was a turning point for her, a place where she truly began to hear the voices of her characters loudly and clearly in her head. http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/index.php/site/comments/chapter_two_by_accident “That was the point when I totally fell in love with Anita and her world,” Hamilton stated in her blog. http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/index.php/site/comments/long_term_loves

Laurell K. Hamilton was born in Heber Springs, Arkansas and grew up in Sims, Indiana.http://www.iblist.com/author415.htm The first horror stories she read as a child were a part of Robert E. Howard’s collection Pigeons From Hell. http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/index.php/site/comments/long_term_loves The author states that “the moment I read that I knew that not only did I want to be a writer, but this is what I wanted to write.” http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/index.php/site/comments/long_term_loves She currently resides in St. Louis, much like the main character of her series, Anita Blake. She has degrees in Biology and English, and shares her home with her husband, Jonathon Green, their daughter and two dogs.http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/Laurell.html

Blue Moon continues the saga of Anita Blake, and her now ex-lover Richard Zeeman, along with her vampire mate Jean Claude. The novel opens with Anita receiving a call from Richard’s brother to alert her that Richard has been arrested for rape in Tennessee. She travels to the state with a group of wereleopards and two vampire companions, Asher and Damian. Once in the city, she discovers that the local Master of the City views her presence in his territory as an act of war.

Anita finds she must battle the local police department to determine why they framed Richard for a crime he did not commit while trying to repair diplomatic relations with the local vampires. She kills the Master of the City’s human servant during a series of rituals. She and Richard reconcile and sleep together, with Anita making the decision to resume dating both Jean Claude and Richard at the same time. With the assistance of Marianne, a practitioner of Wiccan magic who works with the local werewolf pack, she continues her investigation and is able to free Richard.

Anita and Richard discover the underlying causes of the charges against him. Richard’s brother and mother are both kidnapped by Frank Niley, a land developer who has devised the charges as a way to ward off the scientific research that Richard has been doing, which may mean a ruling on a contested piece of land, turning it into a preserve. Anita must find a way to save the kidnapped parties and defeat Niley.http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Anita-Blake-Vampire-Hunter/dp/0515134457/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295230750&sr=1-2#reader_0515134457

• "Blue Moon is the eighth book in Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series; newcomers should start with earlier books. The protagonists' development and their relationships to each other and to the large cast of continuing secondary characters are what make these books so compelling. Be warned--there's steamy sex and graphic violence here, though Anita does reflect on her moral position. But if dark urban fantasy featuring those who hunt the night appeals, pounce on this series." — Amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.com/Blue-Anita-Blake-Vampire-Hunter/dp/0515134457/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295230750&sr=1-2

• "I was enthralled - a departure from the usual type of vampire tale which will have a wide appeal to any reader hunting for both chills and fun." — Andre Nortonhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0515134457/sr=1-2/qid=1295230750/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books&qid=1295230750&sr=1-2