Anita Blake

[Mistral404]

Laurrel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Killer books are excellent!  Anita Blake is a kick-ass board. Takes no off of anyone.

The guns and gun fights descriptions are actually pretty good for a woman writer.  [yeah i know, i expect to get slam for being a sexist pig]

Her books have all the elements:

Guns

Gunfights

Vampires, etc.

Sexuality

Some Sex

Decent plot and a fun story.

She has another series out that is pretty good also.

[Duane Thomas]

I've been reading Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books since there were only three entries in the series. I like them very much, and I'm looking forward to her latest, Cerulean Sins, when it comes out in a few weeks. I have to give her low marks on gun stuff, though. I've actually considered - ever time I read one of her books - writing her and saying, "Look, I do this for a living. Please send the manuscript to me and I'll be happy to vet it before publication." In her last Anita book, we had (1) Anita's lecture on how AP ammo creates SO much more damage than standard hollowpoints (it's actually less damaging); (2) a Browning Hi-Power that has the safety on with the hammer down (impossible); and Anita deciding to answer the door to her apartment carrying her Hi-Power instead of an Uzi because, "If I need more than a 9mm to answer my own door...." Someone needs to tell Laurell the Uzi IS a 9mm.

[rhino]

The first several books were excellent reads. Unfortunately, the last few have been crap in my opinion. She went from something really fresh and interesting to something akin to a Harlequin romance with vampires.

Plus I always imagined she'd be much cooler with a pair of customized Para-Ordnance P12 or P13 .45s (or something similar from STI) in a double shoulder rig.

[Duane Thomas]

Anita is barely five feet tall, with proportionately small hands. A fat-gripped double-stack .45 would be a total non-starter for her. Laurell's choice of the Browning Hi-Power as Anita's carry gun is one of the the few things she got right.

[rhino]

Anita is barely five feet tall, with proportionately small hands. A fat-gripped double-stack .45 would be a total non-starter for her. Laurell's choice of the Browning Hi-Power as Anita's carry gun is one of the the few things she got right.

Well, it's fiction and I think some dramatic license is okay in such a case. I said "cooler" and not "more realistic."

Given that, my experience differs from your assertion. I have freakishly short fingers and my primary carry gun is a P14.45 with a short trigger installed. I find it significantly easier to shoot and reach the trigger than the trigger of a P35. And that's with a stock Para frame, which could be contoured for a smaller hand quite nicely.

[Duane Thomas]

Ya wanna talk dramatic license? Pallas by L. Neil Smith. A great novel IMHO. BUT the main character, Emerson Ngu, is a small-statured oriental, living on an "world" with 1/15th Earth gravity. His gun? An LAR Grizzly .45 Win-Mag. Surrrrrre it is. Jesus wept. Assuming his hand size comes anywhere close to matching the rest of his body, the poor guy could barely reach the trigger or fit his hand all the way around that huge honkin' grip. And when he fired the thing, I think he'd go airborne.

Also in this book we have the guy who's had his SMLE rechambered for .460 Rigby. Easily accomplished, doncha know, because the gun was "overengineered for the original cartridge. This is kind of like sticking a Peterbilt engine in a Ford Taurus.

[rhino]

Ya wanna talk dramatic license? Pallas by L. Neil Smith. A great novel IMHO.

Yes, that's another good read. I've enjoyed most of the L. Neil Smith books I'v read. I wish he would do more!

[Duane Thomas]

I've heard a rumor he's working on a sequel to Pallas. Now that's a book I'd like to read. He left himself set up so well for a sequel.