Laurell K. Hamilton almost originated the noir female protagonist in urban fantasy. Over the years, the works have sometimes strayed from "the mystery" into "the sex." Although still steamy and ripe with layers of relationship elements, HIT LIST seems aimed at readers who love Anita Blake when she's hip-deep in a mystery and discussing strategy with Edward, the friendly neighborhood assassin and/or bounty hunter (it all depends which hat he's wearing and if he sounds like a good-old-boy).

In HIT LIST, Anita seems to have matured in many ways. She recognizes that she still has to kick tail and will always be battling her petite and pretty looks, the rumors and truths about what goes on between her and the Master of St. Louis, as well as a handful of others. She understands that not only is her self-perception most important, it is the question of how well she can back up that self-perception with power in order to keep everyone she cares about safe.

In HIT LIST, some of the people she's trying to keep safe are the clanless tigers. Anita would have thought that the killings would have stopped once she and her St. Louis power-base emphatically demonstrated their claim over the gold tigers (in the previous novel, Bullet). In addition, Anita and Edward can't let the normal police powers in on all of the hocus-pocus for their own protection; therefore, Edward's got to call in the big guns. Olaf and Bernardo are on their way, and Olaf is more dangerous than ever. Meanwhile, Anita is cities away from her power-base, and she needs her own backup.

Obviously, one should probably read the multiple other books in the Anita Blake series in order to get the nuances of character development and growth represented by this work. As a long-time fan of Laurell K. Hamilton, I was excited to have Anita back on a longer mission with Edward, and I was interested in how their relationships and worldviews has enriched their relationship with each other. An excellent work, and I'll anxiously await the next!