Everyone knows or has heard of the various legends and myths surrounding vampires and lycanthropes; libraries are filled with varying tales and characteristics of these creatures. However, there are few stories surrounding necromancers. In the second novel, The Laughing Corpse, Hamilton brings Blake’s talent to the forefront and includes us in Blake’s discovery of her own powers.

Her discovery begins when she rejects a job offer by a millionaire who wants to raise a 100+ year old ancestor. The older the ancestor, the more death is needed for the ritual and Blake is unwilling to sacrifice a white goat for the job, no matter how much money is involved. While repeatedly turning down his offer, Blake becomes involved in a murder investigation that sends her to the door of voodoo priestess Dominga Salvador, who has a reputation of using the black arts. Due to her beliefs, Blake turns down an offer from Salvador to be included in a new enterprise and begins a war of morals. Throughout all of this, Blake must also deal with the idea that she is now the human servant of the Master of the City, Jean-Claude. While he is willing to give her some space, Jean-Claude needs Anita to act like his servant in order to deal with the power struggle that is happening in the vampire world.

Hamilton hasn’t stopped throwing Blake into a world of trouble and this time Blake finds out that her limits are not what she thought they were. As we get to know Anita more and more, we begin to see how her views on the world are changing and how she begins to deal with it.

Click here to read an excerpt from The Laughing Corpse.

Also reviewed by:
Love Vampires
Serial Experiment
Bitten by Books

Read Order:
Guilty Pleasures
The Laughing Corpse
Circus Of The Damned
The Lunatic Cafe
Bloody Bones
The Killing Dance
Burnt Offerings
Blue Moon
Obsidian Butterfly
Narcissus In Chains
Cerulean Sins
Incubus Dreams
Micah
Danse Macabre
The Harlequin
Blood Noir
Skin Trade