Review ~ Sucker Punch by Laurell K Hamilton

Sucker Punch by Laurell K Hamilton
Narrator: Kimberly Alexis
Length: 18 hrs 26 mins
Series: Anita Blake #27
Published by Berkley on August 4, 2020
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 617

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I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A brutal murder, a suspect in jail, and an execution planned—but what if the wrong person is about to be killed?

When a fellow U.S. Marshal asks Anita Blake to fly to a tiny community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on an emergency consult, she knows time is running short. When she arrives, there is plenty of proof that a young wereleopard killed his uncle in the most gruesome and bloody way possible. As the mounting evidence points to him, a warrant of execution is already under way.

But something seems off about the murder, and Anita has been asked for her expert opinion on the crime scene. Despite escalating pressure from local cops and the family’s cries for justice for their dead patriarch, Anita quickly realizes that the evidence doesn’t quite add up.

Time is against Anita, as the tight-knit community is up in arms and its fear of supernaturals is growing. She races to uncover the truth and determine whether the Marshals have caught the killer or are about to execute an innocent man—all in the name of justice.

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So I was a little late getting to this ARC. I was reading it when it was released and because of my obsession with owning ALL of a series, I ordered the hard cover to go with this. I wasn’t even half way through the ebook, thinking I must be near the end and there was some preview or something at the end making up all the percentage I had left. When the hard cover was delivered, I was shocked. That thing was ENORMOUS! The way the book was going while I was reading it, I thought we would be wrapping up in no time.

I was pretty excited at the beginning. The regulars of Anita’s poly group were left at home and the marshal she is working with is not a well known one. I don’t even remember when it was we saw him before. This works out well for the beginning of the story. We have a mystery that seems pretty simple, but the marshals are avoiding what they normally do, which is kill the bad guy. However, there is speculation that he is not the bad guy and Marshall Newman is determined to find a way to save him.

Of course, things can’t stay simple. Anita calls in Ted, who I love. But, Olaf/Otto is closer and due to marshal rules, should be the first to respond to Anita’s cry for help. Annddd here we go down the rabbit hole. Olaf’s presence causes many loongg strings of dialogue and unnecessary scenes. It brings in characters from home which then create more unnecessary scenes. Everything turns into analyzing every word and action Anita does. It totally takes you out of what could have been a good mystery story reminiscent of the old Anita days and into this long, drawn out relationship analyzer.

Needless to say, it was a lot of work to get through this book. I am not one to DNF, so I forced myself to read it all and believe me when I say it took me over a month to read this book. The Anita Blake books have always been on my auto-buy list. Even when she started going through the books that just felt like nothing but sex between two covers. But I’m really hoping LKH finds a middle ground here. I think when Raphael comes out, I will check to see how many pages before I settle in to read.

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