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The Harlequin
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Read The Harlequin
Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter: Book 15

The Harlequin (2007) (edit title/settings)

by Laurell K. Hamilton (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Readers haven't seen anything yet-new in the "fabulously imagined series" ( Publishers Weekly ) from the #1 New York Times bestselling author. Anita Blake is about to face the challenge of her life. Into her world-a world already overflowing with power-have come creatures so feared that... read more

Summary edit see section history

The Harlequin shows Anita and Jean Claude coping with a threat from Vampire Council enforcers. Desperate, Anita calls Edward for assistance although she also hesitate to involve Edward into the mess as Edward has his family now. Edward arrives the same day, bringing Olaf and Peter (now 16),... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The Harlequin shows Anita and Jean Claude coping with a threat from Vampire Council enforcers. Desperate, Anita calls Edward for assistance although she also hesitate to involve Edward into the mess as Edward has his family now. Edward arrives the same day, bringing Olaf and Peter (now 16), who we last saw in Obsidian Butterfly.

The Harlequin exists to police and punish vampire leaders who violate various rules, such as Malcolm's resistance to the blood oath. It was formed by the Mother of All Darkness, modeled in style on the Commedia dell'arte and by action on the wild hunt. It is composed of very old and powerful vampires who are capable of not just manipulating the behaviors and emotions of humans or younger vampires and lycanthropes, but of Jean-Claude, Anita, and Richard. Under this influence, Richard and Jean-Claude nearly kill each other, and Anita must also be repeatedly resuscitated. Anita keeps them alive by feeding on first Rafael (and through him, all the wererats in the city); Belle Morte; and later, all the swanmanes in the US via Donovan. Anita's second triumvirate also comes through, with Nathaniel and Damien "eating for five" so as to provide healing energy to Anita—and the others through her.

However, The Harlequin appears not to be following its own rules, so by vampire law Jean Claude's people can strike back. Edward doesn't actually kill a Harlequin, Anita does through a psychic link that she accidentally creates while trying to remove a sort of vampire spell that one of the Harlequin has put on her in order to keep track of her and Jean Claude's etc. movements. They subsequently end up killing the "human servant" of that vampire after Anita has fed off of Donovan the king of the swan manes. They recover in time to face off with the remaining members in Malcolm's Church of Eternal Life. They not only succeed, but determine that The Harlequin members were planning to take over Jean-Claude's territory and not operating on official Council orders.

Additionally, Anita almost allows the Mother of Darkness to become a full flesh being by allowing her anger to fester.

Anita also leaves her former allies, the werelions, to potential death. At a point where Anita and many of her other allies were injured, she asks to have sex with the werelion Rex Joseph so that she could gain the power to heal without the Munin. The Rex refused because he is married and values being faithful to his wife. Also there were rumors spread about Anita by the lions she refused because they weren't powerful enough for her inner lion. In a scene reminiscent of The Godfather series, Anita decides that this is a betrayal of their alliance and decides to abandon Joseph in favor of another werelion.

Characters edit see section history

  • Anita Blake: Lead character, Animator, Vampire Executioner, Lupa and Bolverk of the Thronnos Rokke Clan, Nimir-Ra of the Blooddrinkers Clan
  • Jean-Claude: Vampire, Anita's flame, Master of the City, Animal to call is Wolf
  • Richard Zeeman: Anita's ex, Ulfric of the Thronnos Rokke Clan, Werewolf, Junior High Science Teacher
  • Nathaniel Graison: Wereleopard, dates Anita, stripper
  • Micah Callahan: Wereleopard, Nimir-Raj of the Blood Drinker's Clan
  • Malcolm: Master Vampire, Leader of The Church of Eternal Life
  • Edward: Anita's friend, Assassin, Bounty Hunter, Vampire Hunter, Bodyguard
  • Olaf: Human, Serial Killer, Hates females, Wants to stalk Anita and hunt with her
  • Remus: Bodyguard
  • Buzz: Young Vampire, Security at Guilty Pleasures
  • Requiem: Jean-Claude's third in command, master vampire
  • Clay: Werewolf, security at Guilty Pleasures
  • Lisandro: WereRat
  • Byron: Vampire of Belle Morte's line, was turned when he was 15. Prefers men sexually, but has helped feed the ardeur.
  • Graham: Werewolf, Security at Guilty Pleasures, bodyguard. Wants to sleep with Anita. Is potentially addicted to the ardeur
  • Claudia: Wererat, bodyguard. Is very large in stature-especially for a woman.
  • Fredo: Wererat, bodyguard. Carries knives
  • Sampson: Son of a master vampire, half-mermaid. Potentially a siren but his power's have not been awoken. His mother wanted Anita to try to awaken his powers.
  • Rafael: Wererat King
  • Louie: Wererat, Rafael's 2nd in command. Is also dating/living with Anita's best friend, Ronnie
  • Dr Lillian: Wererat, doctor for most of the lycanthrope community
  • Cherry: Wereleopard, registered nurse
  • Wicked: Vampire, Truth's brother
  • Truth: Vampire, Wicked's brother
  • Donovan Reece: The Swan King for the entire USA
  • Willie McCoy: Vampire, manager of the Laughing Corpse, dating Hannah
  • Hannah: Vampire, dating Willie McCoy
  • Avery Seabrook: Vampire, former member of the Church of Eternal Life, but was drawn to Anita by her necromancy during a murder investigation. Is now blood oathed to Jean Claude. Newly dead- less than 2 years.
  • Joseph: Werelion, rex of the local pride
  • Asher: Master Vampire, Second in command to Jean-Claude and manager of Circus of the Damned. Is dating Anita and Jean-Claude. Horribly scarred during the Inquisition.
  • Haven: Werelion from Chicago. Anita's beast had recognized him, but he has returned and is planning to take over the St. Louis pride.
  • The Mother of all Darkness: The leader of the vampire council, Vampire, Were-sabre-toothed tige, first known vampire. Smells of rain and jasmine. Has been 'asleep' for a very long time. Also known as Marmee Noir
  • Peter Parnell: Edward's almost-step son. Wants to be a bounty hunter like Edward- but is still young, only 16.
  • Donna Parnell: Edward's girlfriend- he is debating about marrying her, she wants children. Does not know about his cold, killing side.
  • Damian: Old vampire who will never be a master. Is Anita's vampire servant. Is also part of a triumvirate with Anita and Nathaniel. Dancer at Danse Macabre
  • Jake: Werewolf, member of the Harlequin
  • Giovanni: Add a description of this character.
  • Auggie: Also known as Augustine, he is the master of the city of Chicago. Lions are his animal to call.
  • Dolph: Also known as Sgt. Storr, he is the head of the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team. Has issues with the 'monsters'. His son is marrying a vampire.
  • Jason: Werewolf. Nathaniel's best friend. Also a dancer at Guilty Pleasures.
  • Raina: Previous lupa of the Thronnos Rokke clan. Major sexual sadist. She was killed by Anita, but her munin (memory) is still with Anita, and sometimes tries to completely posses her. Can help Anita heal with sex.
  • Soledad: Weretiger
  • Gabriel: Wereleopard, previous leader of Anita's pard of leopards. Sexual sadist- often worked in coordination with Raina. Killed by Anita while he was trying to rape her.
  • Thea: Sampson's mother. A siren.
  • Samuel: Sampson's father. Master of the city of Cape Cod
  • Zerbrowski: A member of the RPIT, more understanding of Anita and the monsters, likes to tease and joke.
  • Narcissus: Werehyena, head of the local hyenas.
  • Greg: Werelion. Submissive and weak
  • Travis: Werelion. Submissive and weak.
Show all 49 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Maybe God isn't the sex police, Richard. Sometimes I think Christians get all hung up on the sex thing because it's easier to worry about sex than to ask yourself, Am I good person? If as long as you don't have sex with a lot of people you're a good person, that's easy. It's easyt o avoid that. It's easy to think, I'm not fucking anyone, so I'm good. It makes it easy to be cruel, because as long as you're not fucking around, nothing you do can be that bad. Is that really all you think of God? Is he just the sex police for you and Malcolm? Or is it that sex is easy to worry about, easy to avoid, and the whole love-your-neighbor-as-you-love-yourself thing that's hard? Some days it's so hard, I feel like trying to take care of everyone in my life will break me apart. But I do my best. I do my best for everyone in my life every damn day. Can you say that, Richard? Do you do your best for everyone in your life every damn day?"”
    Anita Blake
  • “Not true, and someone’s having a better fantasy life with my life than I am.”
    Anita Blake
  • “Do not tempt me, Byron. My anger seeks only a target.”
    Requiem
  • “I mean, I was like their only chance to avoid a family tragedy of epic proportions.”
    Anita Blake
  • “This cloak-and-dagger shit is getting old.”
    Fredo
  • “Guns, unlike pagers, do not float.”
    Anita Blake
  • “One of my other boyfriends said I hated being in love, and he was right. It always felt so stupid, like your insurance rates should go up, because you’re impaired. Romantically handicapped.”
    Anita Blake
  • “You hate most in others what you’re afraid of in yourself.”
    Anita Blake
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • “Only love of a good woman will make a man question every choice, every action. Only love makes a warrior hesitate for fear that his lady will find him cruel. Only love makes a man both the best he will ever be, and the weakest. Sometimes all in the same moment.”
    Highlighted by 104 Kindle customers
  • love isn’t absence of pain, it’s a hand to hold while you’re going through it.
    Highlighted by 89 Kindle customers
  • sometimes all you need to get someone out of your head is to remind yourself who you are—who you really are, not who they think you are, or who they think you think you are, but you, the real you.
    Highlighted by 37 Kindle customers
  • needs left unanswered can curdle love like milk left to spoil in the sun.”
    Highlighted by 27 Kindle customers
  • Love’s hard to come by, Edward; you should never throw it away just because it’s a bad idea.”
    Highlighted by 18 Kindle customers
  • One of my other boyfriends said I hated being in love, and he was right. It always felt so stupid, like your insurance rates should go up, because you’re impaired. Romantically handicapped.
    Highlighted by 15 Kindle customers
  • “‘Where both deliberate, the love is slight: Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight?’”
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  • “‘Darkling I listen; and, for many a time I have been half in love with easeful Death, Call’d him soft names in many a mused rhyme.’”
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  • ‘There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’
    Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers
  • ‘A glooming peace this morning with it brings; The sun for sorrow will not show his head. Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things; Some shall be pardon’d, and some punished; For never was a story…’” I finished with him. “‘…of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.’”
    Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers
Show all 18 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

Malcolm, the head of the Church of Eternal Life, the vampire church, sat across from me.

Glossary edit see section history

  • Ulfric: the leader or alpha of a werewolf clan
  • ardeur: an intense sexual need that some vampires of Belle Morte's line carry. It needs to be fed regularly with sexual activity, can spread to others by touch, and while you are in the hold of it, you are not really in control of yourself. Jean-Claude holds the ardeur, as well as Anita. The ardeur is what causes them to be referred to as 'incubus' and 'succubus', respectively.
  • Nimr Ra/Nimr Raj: leaders of a group of wereleopards. The Nimr Ra is the female counterpart to the Nimr Raj, the male.
  • Lupa: The female counterpart to the leader of a werewolf clan. Unlike the Nimr Ra/Raj, the Ulfric and lupa are not equals. The lupa is below the Ulfric in status.
  • Munin: the werewolves believe that if they devour (literally) part of their dead, then their spirits and memories will always remain with the clan. The spirits can then be accessed by some of the clan members to find out specialized information that the deceased had carried. Anita is also able to access the munin, and one of them- Raina- stays with her all the time.
  • triumvirate: this is a specialized term within this series to refer to a grouping of a Master vampire, her/his human servant, and the Master's beast to call. Jean-Claude, Richard, and Anita are one triumvirate. Somewhat out of the rules, Anita, Damian, and Nathaniel are another triumvirate.
  • Ma Petite: In French it literaly means "my child" Jean Claude uses 'Ma Petite' as a term of endearment for Anita Blake"Petite" meaning small in French is maybe a reference to her size.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 15 of 24 in Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter. (standard series)

Preceded by Danse Macabre, and followed by Blood Noir.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Laurell K. Hamilton (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Craig White (artist) (Cover Artist)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Berkley Books
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2007
ISBN: 0425217248
Page Count: 422

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3558.A443357 H37 2007
  • Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

Sexually explicit material

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • 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

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