Incubus Dreams is the twelfth book in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series of novels. The series also includes The Killing Dance, Burnt Offerings, Blue Moon, Obsidian Butterfly, Narcissus in Chains, Cerulean Sins and twelve additional books.http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/works.html The books are in print in sixteen different languages around the world, and have sold more than six million copies.http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/works.html

During the writing of Incubus Dreams, Hamilton discovered that she had finally reached a point where she had run out of different ways to plot sex scenes in her novel.http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/index.php/site/comments/no_not_another_damn_sex_scene In her blog, she wrote, “I've been threatening to have a shirt made up, PLOT CALLED ON ACCOUNT OF SEX SCENE, INCUBUS DREAMS by Laurell K. Hamilton,” when she reached the end of the book and became stumped by an unexpected sex scene.http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/index.php/site/comments/no_not_another_damn_sex_scene Because the book became so long, the author was forced to cut almost a hundred pages and several plot points and character appearances, including those of Edward and Olaf, perennial fan favorites whom she had announced early on would be featured in the book.http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/index.php/site/comments/no_not_another_damn_sex_scene

After publishing two novels – one in the Star Trek: The Next Generation series and another, Nightseer, which was meant to be the start of a series – Hamilton introduced Anita Blake in the book Guilty Pleasures.http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?cid=1021632 The character’s introduction brought Hamilton “a rabid following hungry for something new in the well-traveled vampire genre.”http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?cid=1021632 Laurell K. Hamilton was born in Heber Springs, Arkansas, but grew up in Sims, Indiana, a town with a population of approximately 100.http://www.iblist.com/author415.htmHamilton resides in St. Louis and has degrees in Biology and English. http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/Laurell.html She shares her home with her husband, Jonathon Green, daughter Trinity, two dogs (a pug and a pug-boxer mix), and an assortment of fish.http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/Laurell.html

The opening scenes of Incubus Dreams take place a few weeks after the closure of Cerulean Sins. Anita is struggling with an increase in her own power thanks to the triumvirate she is a part of with Jean Claude and Richard Zeeman, who are also experiencing this phenomenon, as is her vampire servant Damian. Jean Claude is involved in an issue of vampire diplomacy, as he has been challenged by The Dragon and Primo, two vampires who have arrived in town to challenge his authority. Because there are still some vampires in St. Louis that have not sworn a blood oath to Jean Claude (followers of Malcom, a vampire defeated in an earlier installment of the series), this complicates matters of calling all the vampires to arms.

The job offer in this novel comes from parents who are seeking justice for their son, Stevie Brown, a murdered high school student. Anita agrees to take on the case, though she cannot raise their son as a zombie which is their initial wish. Instead, she assists the police who are investigating the case. The police also call on her skills in investigating the case of a serial killer who has been targeting strip club workers and their patrons.

During the course of the novel, Anita is able to press Primo and two other powerful vampires into the service of Jean Claude, who is then able to negotiate a deal with The Dragon. She takes on Nathaniel as another lover and agrees to renew her former relationship with Richard Zeeman, as well as allowing Jean Claude to have dalliances with his club patrons. This arrangement is a new development for Anita since, in the past, she has demanded fidelity from her various lovers, even if she had multiple lovers at a time. The investigation plotlines remain open and unsolved at the end of the novel.http://www.amazon.com/Incubus-Dreams-Anita-Vampire-Hunter/dp/0515139750/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295386428&sr=1-1#reader_0515139750

• "Fans of bestseller Hamilton's vampire hunter Anita Blake will be thrilled with at least one aspect of this transitional 12th installment (after 2003's Cerulean Sins ): Anita finally resolves her relationships with werewolf ex-boyfriend Richard Zeeman and vampire boyfriend Jean-Claude. They'll also be pleased to see Anita finally get comfortable with her own behavior, despite crossing many lines—sexual, psychological, professional, paranormal—that she previously thought uncrossable. In her role as vampire-executioner and preternatural-crime investigator, Anita pursues a band of serial-killing vampires who prey on female strippers, but much of the novel focuses on her responsibilities as a leader in St. Louis's vampiric-lycanthropic community. Old foes threaten as new enemies emerge. There's plenty of life (and undeath) left in this series, and Hamilton's imagination is apparently as inexhaustible as her heroine's supernatural capacity for coupling." — Merrilee Heifetz, Publishers Weeklyhttp://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/reviews/search/index.html?page=2&search=1&author=laurell%20k.%20hamilton&issue=&category=&isbn=&publisher=&title=

• "It would be an exaggeration to say that Laurell K. Hamilton's Incubus Dreams is just one sex scene after another. This twelth novel in her bestselling Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series presents a wedding, a murder, and a lot of relationship angst before getting down and dirty on page 89; and the sex scenes pause on page 377 to let the mystery plot resume. The series deftly blends elements of alternate history, horror, romance, erotica, and mystery, but anyone reading Incubus Dreams for the murder plot is going to be frustrated. However, Incubus Dreams is a considerably stronger and more interesting book than its talky predecessor, Cerulean Sins, and fans will enjoy the many new developments in Anita's complicated love life." — Cynthia Ward, Amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.com/Incubus-Dreams-Anita-Vampire-Hunter/dp/0515139750/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295386428&sr=1-1