by HM Wilson

Created on: October 04, 2009   Last Updated: October 05, 2009

A law firm has some clients building a resort, but there's a property dispute. In order to settle it, the clients want for Anita Blake to raise an old cemetery full of bones to find out who is buried there. Anita agrees to try, and she and zombie-raiser in training Larry Kirkland head for Branson.

Anita finds out that if the dead in the graveyard are Bouviers, the construction will be off. Magnus and Dorcas Bouvier will be the true owners, and they won't sell the land. To prevent this, Raymond Stirling, a senior partner, tries to bribe Anita to lie. She refuses.

Anita then gets called in to a murder investigation. Three dead boys have been discovered nearby. Anita and Larry go to check it out and find that the boys were killed by something, most likely a vampire, wielding a sword. These aren't the first such murders, either. It looks like a serial killer vampire is on the loose.

Anita decides that she and Larry should have dinner at Bloody Bones so that they can talk to Magnus Bouvier. Once there, she finds that Magnus and his sister are fey.

Dinner is interrupted when Anita's pager goes off. Another dead teenager, a girl, has been found. However, Anita finds that the girl, Ellie Quinlan, had chosen to become a vampire made a crime by the fact of her age. This leads to a vampire hunt, during which one officer dies at the hands of a sword-wielding vampire who seems to be nothing more than a shadow. Another of the group is shot by Anita after he tries to kill Larry while under the influence of a master vampire.

The vampires invade the Quinlan's home using the unprotected dog door. Anita and the others rush back to fight, but Anita fails to kill the sword-wielding vampire. The Quinlans' teenage son, Jeff, is abducted, and Ellie's body is removed from the house.

Federal agents arrive, and Anita agrees to find out more about the vampires in the area. So, she calls Jean-Claude to make arrangements to meet the Master of the City. Jean-Claude gets Anita to admit that she needs his help, and he agrees to fly in.

Anita and Larry go to walk the cemetery. This is interrupted when Magnus shows up; walking into the trap Stirling has set. Stirling and his people retreat when Anita makes it clear she won't let them kill Magnus.

After a confrontation with Magnus that ends in him tumbling down a slope into the darkness, Anita and Larry return to the hotel. Anita finds Jean-Claude waiting in her room. He tells her that the meeting with Seraphina, the Master of the City, has been

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>