I am a big fan of Anita Blake and her circle of ever-growing people and paranormals and was eagerly awaiting this book. DEAD ICE does not disappoint. This book has Anita working to track down a necromancer who has discovered a way to capture the soul of a zombie so that they can feel pain and be tormented. The zombies are now being forced to do many things including non-consensual and snuff videos. With Anita's help, the FBI hopes to find and stop whoever is responsible. As the investigation moves along, we meet some new players as well as see some old characters return.

DEAD ICE relies more on the storyline than the previous books. There are a few twists and turns that took me by surprise. I was quickly lost in the story and kept turning the pages to see just what would happen next. The story moves at a good pace, keeping you in the story and always wanting more.

Anita's powers are always growing and along with Jean Claude she is known as his Queen to his King of Vampires, which along with that growing power there are threats to it that must be dealt with. Anita is becoming more comfortable with her powers and is ready to start dealing with many of the things people have been throwing at her. I enjoyed seeing the take no crap Anita coming back to the forefront and not trying to help and please everyone but herself. She is strong and shows that she is not to be messed with.

Once again Laurell K. Hamilton has done a great job of mixing the action and the personal interactions together. DEAD ICE brings us lots of information and action. We learn about many of the relationship and power nuisances. Anita is still learning how to control and use her powers. It was nice to see how Anita deals with the things thrown at her as her story continues. I was pulled into this story right from the start and am eagerly awaiting the next one in the series.

Book Summary

Anita Blake has the highest kill count of any vampire executioner in the country. She’s a U.S. Marshal who can raise zombies with the best of them. But ever since she and master vampire Jean-Claude went public with their engagement, all she is to anyone and everyone is Jean-Claude’s fiancée.

It’s wreaking havoc with her reputation as a hard ass—to some extent. Luckily, in professional circles, she’s still the go-to expert for zombie issues. And right now, the FBI is having one hell of a zombie issue.

Someone is producing zombie porn. Anita has seen her share of freaky undead fetishes, so this shouldn’t bother her. But the women being victimized aren’t just mindless, rotting corpses. Their souls are trapped behind their eyes, signaling voodoo of the blackest kind.

It’s the sort of case that can leave a mark on a person. And Anita’s own soul may not survive unscathed...