“Yes, it’s long and yes, there are spoilers, but I’m aiming this review at fans of the series, people on the sidelines about whether or not to read it and those who’ve already read it. Mary’s review already sold the book, mine is questioning its place in the series.” — Jennifer Schendel

When Mary said in her review that this book was a crossroads where many fans would abandon the series, I wrote and asked why. She told me, then I read more spoilers, and I had to think long and hard before picking up Narcissus in Chains. Now I’m starting to wish I hadn’t.

Before I dive into the synopsis, let me give you my point of view as a reader where I was coming from in the series, what the appeal of it had been for me and hence my disappointment. As primarily a romance reader, I am drawn to stories by the character more than I am the plot. My focus on this series has been the characters. What hooked me at first was Anita, a kick-ass heroine and necromancer who was attracted to the monsters she vowed to kill and the moral dilemma that presented.

We watched her grow through her experiences and her relationships. First there was Jean-Claude, the vampire with a Machiavellian streak who used Anita in Guilty Pleasures to become Master of the City. A man who had given up his soul for immortality and power, he represented the seduction of the dark side, the monsters, and power for Anita. Then came Richard, a junior-high science teacher with the little secret that he was an alpha werewolf who would eventually become Ulfric, wolf king, of the local pack. A man torn by his own strict moral code and his primal need to hunt and kill, he questioned the ease with which Anita killed and in many ways represented the humanity he clung to so fiercely.

The triangle was balanced, the conflict clear, and then they joined to form the triumvirate of power first discovered in The Lunatic Café when Jean-Claude and Richard were playing the testosterone-induced jealous idiots in Anita’s living room. We had spent every book building up to the final convergence of this power, this union, and what it would mean to these characters. And for the first eight chapters of Narcissus in Chains it seemed that after waiting for nine books and watching the buildup we were going to finally get that story.

Anita, after being gone for six months, called the boys and asked for their help. She agreed to the marriage of the marks, the final step to make her Jean-Claude’s human servant and bind the three of them together for all eternity. Anita, with this newfound access to power, then goes to rescue members of the Pard (wereleopard group) and is nearly killed. When she awakes days later the boys are gone and we meet Micah, her Nimir-Raj, and everything we’d believed or known about the Anitaverse is suddenly turned on its head and inside out.

The story we’d been enjoying is dropped because Anita has to go get Jean-Claude out of prison before daylight (he’s accused of her murder) and rescue one of her wereleopards being held prisoner by the wolf pack for killing her, their lupa. First, she calls Richard, who in her absence turned the pack into a democracy; and he informs her she’s been voted out as his lover, the pack lupa, and she’s got one day to prepare to rescue her leopard. Before she can handle any of this, Micah informs her everyone expects her to turn into a wereleopard next full moon and that he’s Nimir-Raj to her Nimir-Ra (leopard king and queen). Anita thinks he’s cute, but she’s already got two boyfriends. Then the ardeur, a side effect of the marks that has to be fed with sex and blood, takes over and Micah ends up on the boyfriend roster after all.

Things only proceed to get more confusing from there. Anita has to sort out pack politics, pard politics, set up a information sharing program for the wereanimals of St.Louis, decide whether or not she’s dating Richard, rescue a few friends, rescue a few strangers, learn what the hell ardeur is from Jean-Claude, feed off a few people and kick some bad guy butt. Do we see a problem here? A little too much going on, perhaps?

Maybe this wouldn’t have disappointed me if Hamilton weren’t such a talented writer. If she hadn’t built up such a powerful beginning only to drop it like she put the book down after chapter eight, walked away, and came back months later to write something else. I could even deal with the plot if I hadn’t had to tiptoe through what for me amounted to character destruction. Anita is no longer human. We’ve been expecting this, but the cold blooded woman who on the last page is more interested in a victory party than whether or not a man she’s professed to love is okay is jarring.

And what happened to Jean-Claude? I’ve always felt his character has been underdeveloped since book one, so much potential and so little follow through, but this vampire is just sad. He’s more annoying older brother to Anita and giving out sex advice than the seductive bloodsucker we’ve come to know and love. Then there’s Richard. Poor angst- ridden, falling apart at the seams, Richard. One minute he accepts his beast, the ardeur’s need for Anita to take on multiple lovers, and that as Ulfric he must be supreme ruler of the pack. Then the next minute he hates his beast, his life, Anita, and his self-loathing tendencies get the better of him.

Instead we are supposed to focus on Micah, the new love of Anita’s life. He’s the new answer to the tri. Unfortunately he’s boring, superfluous to the story, and not very attractive – being described as effeminate except for being well-endowed in the nether regions. Anita likes him because he doesn’t question her, he accepts everything about her, and while it sounds all wonderful and rosy, it’s bloody boring reading. At least the triangle had balance, conflict, and passion. Anita and Micah have complementing auras and that’s about it.

Fine, Anita has found truelove, her soulmate (though Edward and Olaf might disagree), and she now accepts she’s one of the monsters, but where does the story go from here? We know Anita won’t turn furry from her history in The Killing Dance, the triumvirate is moot if Richard is no longer a full-bodied lead character, and while Anita might consider herself sexually awakened, it’s disturbing as a reader to realize she only initiates sex when under the influence of an outside source (rebound sex in The Killing Dance, influenced by the Munin in Blue Moon, and led by ardeur here). Why should I continue reading when everything I’d loved about the series is basically gone? No more moral dilemmas, no more conflict between the characters, and now Anita’s got so much power we know no one can defeat her. Where’s the mystery or potential danger in that?

So I am a fan at a crossroads. One road is hope; in book eleven the rumor is Olaf is coming to town, and maybe if we’re lucky he’ll take out Micah, or perhaps Micah will turn into the villain he has the potential to be. The hope that Richard will see a psychiatrist and return as a full-fledged character instead of a bi-polar cry-baby. Hope that Jean-Claude will become the out and out Machiavellian bloodsucker Anita accused him of being to deal with the impending visit of Belle Morte’s representative. And that Anita will finally go back to work and unload some of the ever growing list of boyfriends, lovers, and responsibilities she’s accumulated over the books. But most all hope that we’ll get to explore the promise of the triumvirate in all it’s glory as we’d been looking forward to. Unfortunately the other road is Murhpy’s Law of the universe: “if something can go wrong it will,” and do I want to rubber neck through another car crash of a plot?

Each reader must decide whether or not to follow. I’ve got a year or so before the next book to decide. I accept that many will love Narcissus in Chains and wish them joy of it. I unfortunately am deeply disappointed in the lost story potential and know others will be too.