Bloody Bones (novel)

Bloody Bones
Author	Laurell K. Hamilton
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter
Genre	Horror, Mystery
Publisher	Ace Books (Ace edition)
Publication date	1996 (Ace edition)
Media type	Print
Pages	370 p. (Ace edition)
ISBN	0-441-00374-5
Previous	The Lunatic Cafe
Next	The Killing Dance

Bloody Bones is the fifth in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series of horror/mystery/erotica novels by Laurell K. Hamilton. Bloody Bones continues the adventures of Anita Blake. This time, Anita travels to Branson, Missouri and is quickly enmeshed in a series of supernatural murders and disappearances that she and her vampire would-be lover, Jean-Claude must resolve. As with its predecessors, Bloody Bones blends elements of supernatural, hard boiled and police procedural fiction.

Timeline

Bloody Bones begins on Saint Patrick's Day, which is traditionally held on 17 March. Unless Anitaverse has moved things around, that means the events of this book events happen about three months after the main events of the previous Anita Blake novel, The Lunatic Cafe. In contradiction to that Anita claims she'd agreed to date Jean-Claude five weeks ago, even if that happened well before Christmas. Consequently, either the St. Patrick's Day falls on January and spring comes very early that year, or the five weeks is a mistake caused by the fact that the epilogue of The Lunatic Cafe reaches into February. The latter seems more likely.

Synopsis

There are several different synopsis versions for this book.

Author's website

“When Anita Blake’s boss at Animators, Inc., informs her that she’s expected to raise 300-year-old zombies from a field of jumbled bones just to settle a land dispute, she’s understandably annoyed. But as soon as she arrives in Branson, Missouri, to do the deed, the job gets more interesting. A psychotic sword-wielding vampire starts committing multiple murders in the area, and Anita must call on Jean-Claude, her powerful fanged suitor, for help. As always, Anita prevails over the undead, keeping Jean-Claude at arm’s length, clearing the cemetery land of an ancient enchantment, and nailing the vampiric killer in one fell swoop.”

“First, there were the dead in the graveyard – two-hundred years dead. I’d been hired to raise them to settle a dispute over who owned the land they were buried in.

Then there were the three dead teenagers in the woods, slaughtered in a way I had never seen before.

And then they found the dead girl, drained of blood and left in her bed.

I knew what that meant, all right. It didn’t take a degree in preternatural studies to figure out that something was very wrong in and around Branson, Missouri. My name is Anita Blake. Welcome to my life…”

Jove (2002)

In Laurell K. Hamilton's New York Times bestselling series, vampire hunter and animator Anita Blake sinks her teeth into her work. But this day is busier than most. Two jobs pop up that make even Anita doubt her own capabilities: raising an entire graveyard of two-hundred-year-old corpses and finding out what happened to three Missouri teenagers—slaughtered in a way she has never seen before...

"Come morning, some of us would be alive and some of us wouldn't...

Of course, maybe there was just the one newly dead vampire to deal with. If so, we might all see the sunrise. But I hadn't lived this long assuming the best. Assuming the worst was always safer. And usually truer."

Berkley (2005)

In Laurell K. Hamilton's "New York Times" bestselling novels, Anita Blake, vampire hunter and animator, takes a bite out of crime-of the supernatural kind. But even someone who deals with death on a daily basis can be unnerved by its power... 

When Branson, Missouri, is hit with a death wave—four unsolved murders—it doesn't take an expert to realize that all is not well. But luckily for the locals, Anita is an expert—in just the kinds of preternatural goings-on that have everyone spooked. And she's got an "in" with just the kind of creature who can make sense of the slayings: a sexy master vampire known as Jean Claude.

Plot

Like the previous novels, the novel opens with Anita considering a possible job. This time, her manager, Bert, is calculating a possible bid for a mass zombie raising in Branson, Missouri. Bert explains that a law firm is soliciting bids to raise an entire graveyard in order to determine who owns a piece of land needed for a resort complex. The graves are unmarked and may contain corpses at least 200 years old, which will make the raising very difficult. In Anita's opinion, she is the only person in the world who might be able to raise that many ancient unmarked graves without a human sacrifice. She agrees to take the job, and takes Larry along to boost her powers, and as a training experience. (She and Bert agree that although John Burke also has the power to make a good second, his pride is such that it's best that he not even learn that Anita took a job that he was not strong enough to take on his own).

Arriving in Branson, Anita meets Raymond Stirling, the lawyer in charge of the development project and his assistants, Lionel Bayard, Ms Harrison and Beau, and learns that Stirling is in a dispute with Magnus and Dorcas Bouvier, two siblings who claim to own the land at issue and refuse to sell. If the corpses on the land confirm that it belongs to the Bouviers, Stirling's project will be unable to continue.

After reviewing the site and making plans to explore the site further that evening, Anita receives a call from Dolph. Dolph asks Anita for advice on a crime scene back in St. Louis and also asks her to assist the local police with a nearby crime scene. Anita and Larry drive to the scene and meet Sergeant Freemont, who appears to want to crack the case herself and resents their intrusion. Anita inspects the murder victims -- three teen-aged or younger boys cut apart with a blade. Each of the boys' faces have been disfigured or removed, and Freemont reveals that a teenaged boy and girl were murdered earlier, with similar wounds. Anita warns Freemont that in her opinion, the boys were cut apart by a sword wielded something as fast and strong as a vampire, with enough mental power to hold two of the boys motionless while killing the third. Larry is seriously shaken by viewing his first murder scene.

Anita and Larry then go to the Bouviers' restaurant, named "Bloody Bones", to investigate the land dispute and to get dinner. There, they meet Magnus and Dorrie, each of whom is part-fey. Magnus is using glamour to host a date night. By touching the restaurant patrons, he makes them irrestably attractive for one night, in return for drawing some power for himself. After trying unsuccessfully to seduce Anita, Magnus is coy about why the Bouviers refuse to sell their land. Magnus also admits to destroying several trees outside the restaurant while in a drunken rage, causing Anita to consider him as a suspect for the recent killings.

During dinner, Dolph pages Anita again, and asks her to assist on another possible local vampire crime. Anita tells Dolph that Magnus is part-fey and a potential suspect, then Anita and Larry drive to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Quinlan. There, they meet Sheriff David St. John, his wife Beth, Deputy Zack Coltraine, Mr. and Mrs. Quinlan, and their son Jeff. Jeff's older sister, Ellie is lying in her bed, dead of a vampire bite. Anita and Larry eventually deduce that her death was probably voluntary, and learn that Ellie's boyfriend Andy recently disappeared. They guess that Ellie's boyfriend has recently been raised as a vampire and turned her as well, but Mr. Quinlan refuses to believe them and demands that Anita stake Ellie to prevent her from rising. Anita asks him to wait twenty-four hours to "cool off" and promises to stake Ellie if her father demands it after that time.

After instructing the Quinlans to place the Host at each doorway to prevent any vampires from reentering the home, Anita explains that the vampire that turned Ellie probably has a resting place nearby, and that they may catch it if they attempt a nighttime hunt. She heads out into the woods after it, together with Larry, Sheriff St. John, Deputy Coltraine, and two other police officers, Wallace and Granger. During the hunt, Anita learns that Wallace was a survivor of a vampire attack and shows him her own scars in an effort to put him at ease.

During the hunt, Anita and the others are ambushed by a pack of vampires. In the fight, Anita kills two vampires, but Granger is bitten, Wallace's arm is broken, and Xavier kills Coltrain with a sword. While the hunters regroup, Granger, now under vampire control, attempts to shoot Larry, and Anita is forced to kill him. The group then hears screams from the Quinlan home, and St. John and Anita run for the house, leaving Larry and Wallace to bring up the rear.

When Anita gets to the house, Beth St. John is dead and Jeff has been taken. (Apparently, Xavier was able to shapeshift and fit through a pet door). Sheriff St. John kills a brown haired, female vampire. Anita shoots at Xavier, but he's too fast to hit.

Later, Sergeant Freemont arrives at the scene. She explains that after Dolph told her that Magnus was part fey, she went to arrest him. Mangus used glamour to escape, and is now wanted for using magic on police officers during the course of his escape. FBI agents Elwood and Bradford arrive and speak to Anita, who agrees to attempt to identify and contact the Master of the City.

Anita calls Jean-Claude for information. Jean-Claude explains that he thinks he knows the vampire Anita saw, and that it is an "exotic" vampire of a sort concealed from humans. Among other things, it is a pedophile. Jean-Claude offers to come to Branson to set up a meeting with the Master of the City. With Jeff Quinlan in the hands of a monster, Anita is forced to accept Jean-Claude's help.

With no way to pursue the Quinlan case, Anita and Larry return to the graveyard to "walk the graveyard" and attempt to sense the location and identities of the corpses in preparation for a later attempt to raise the dead. Anita and Larry experiment with combining powers, and are surprised at the degree to which they are able to magnify each other's abilities. However, their powers attract Magnus, who appears and insists that they not raise the dead in that graveyard. Stirling orders Beau to shoot Magnus for trespassing, but Anita, realizing that Stirling intended the evening as a trap for Magnus, draws her own gun and buys Magnus time to escape.

Anita and Larry return to their hotel suite to find Jean-Claude and Jason. Jean-Claude has flown in on his private jet, but it is now too late in the night to track down the Master before dawn. Jean-Claude informs Anita of Xavier's name, then retires for the morning in her bed. Jason visits with Anita and Larry, and challenges Anita for dominance. Anita wins, of course, and figures out that Jean-Claude has ordered Jason to show his lycanthrope side in an effort to dissuade Anita from marrying Richard. Jason acknowledges Anita as dominant and goes to bed.

Later that morning, Dorcas Bouvier bursts into Anita's hotel suite and demands to see Magnus. After Dorcas bursts into the bedroom and sees Jean-Claude and Jason, she accepts that Anita has not fallen victim to Magnus's charms and explains why the Bouviers refuse to sell their land. Centuries ago their ancestor, a member of the fey, emigrated to colonial North America with a more powerful fey, Rawhead and Bloody Bones trapped in a magic box. While Rawhead was trapped, Bouvier was able to create a potion from its blood and increase his own powers, but eventually, Rawhead escaped and went on a murderous rampage. After a pitched battle, Rawhead was sealed beneath the ground, and the Bouvier family has remained in Branson in order to prevent Rawhead from escaping. Anita convinces Dorcas to take her to see the mound where Rawhead is trapped, and they agree to go to the mound the following day.

That evening, Jean-Claude prepares the group to meet Serephina, the master of Branson. He explains that his visit raises issues of vampire politics. Although vampires' interactions with one another are somewhat constrained by the laws of the Vampire Council, conflicts are still possible, and he has negotiated a delicate truce with Serephina. Although the group must be prepared to fight, they may not strike the first blow. Jean-Claude and Anita, accompanied by Larry and Jason, visit an apparently ruined and abandoned home, cloaked in magical shadow, and meet Ivy, Bruce, Kissa, Janos, Pallas and Bettina.

The Branson vampires engage in a calculated plan to force Jean-Claude's party to break the truce. Without offering violence to his group, they threaten to torture two young women, then sexually harass Jason. Jean-Claude is forced to challenge Janos to a contest of power, which he begins to lose. Ultimately, Anita escapes the trap by baiting Ivy into attacking her, allowing the group to use violence in their own defense. In the ensuing battle, Larry kills Bruce, and Pallas and Bettina are first shot, then torn apart. (However, because they are rotting vampires, they are almost impossible to kill.) Anita is forced to give blood to save Jean-Claude's life.

Once Jean-Claude is stabilized, Magnus appears and offers to convey the group to see Serephina under a flag of truce. Serephina toys with the group, but ultimately agrees that a murderous pedophile master vampire in her territory is a threat, and agrees to track down Xavier. Jean-Claude is astounded that Serephina has somehow become powerful enough to assert mastery over vampires as formidable as Janos.

The group returns to the hotel to clean up. Anita learns more about Jean-Claude's history and momentarily surrenders to her lust and kisses Jean-Claude, but stops when he draws blood (though he claims it was by accident). She stays with Jean-Claude as dawn comes and he "dies" for the day and is surprised at her growing sympathy towards him. Anita then falls asleep herself and is visited in her dream by Serephina, who promises to reunite Anita with her deceased mother if Anita agrees to serve Serephina. Anita wakes, and begins planning to kill Serephina.

Anita and Larry meet up with Dorcas Bouvier, who takes them to the mound where Bloody Bones is imprisoned. When they arrive, they surprise Magnus in the act of drinking Bloody Bones's blood, and Dorcas realizes that Magnus has been using Bloody Bones to boost his power for years. Anita proposes that instead of raising the entire Bouvier graveyard, she raise just enough zombies to confirm the Bouviers' claim to the land and prevent Stirling from digging up the graveyard and freeing Bloody Bones.

That evening, accompanied by Stirling, Bayard, and Harrison, Anita and Larry combine their powers to animate a few of the ancient corpses in the Bouvier graveyard. Just before Anita completes the circle of blood needed to activate their power, she feels Bloody Bones stir and realizes that raising even a few zombies will free the monster. She stops, but Ivy flies from the darkness and attacks. Anita kills Ivy in self-defense, but Ivy's blood falls on the remaining span of the circle, closing the loop and activating her power. Similar to Anita's inadvertent human sacrifices in The Laughing Corpse, Ivy's death supercharges Anita's power, forcing her to animate every corpse in the graveyard.

At that point, Stirling and Harrison draw guns, and Stirling shoots Bayard. Apparently, Serephina and Bloody Bones promised Stirling the land in return for Bloody Bones's freedom, and Stirling had planned on killing Anita once she raised the Bouviers and freed the fey. Anita orders the zombies to attack Stirling and Harrison and incapacitates them both. While she considers whether to kill them, Janos arrives with a newly risen Ellie, accompanied by Bettina, Pallas, Kissa, Xavier and their hostage, Jeff Quinlan. The vampires feed on and kill Stirling and Harrison, and inform Anita that Xavier has been serving Serephina since her arrival in Branson.

Serephina's vampires fly away, and Anita goes to confront them and attempt rescue Jeff, with the help of Jean-Claude, Larry, and Jason. Bloody Bones arrives and demands its freedom, but Serephina breaks her word to the fey and announces her intent to continue drinking its power forever. With her oath broken, Larry and Anita are able to break her spell over Bloody Bones, and it draws a sword and impales Serephina. Bloody Bones admits to Anita that it has been able to manifest its form as a result of Magnus's interference, and that it killed the teenagers for being bad children. Realizing that Bloody Bones is mortal as long as it continues to share power with Magnus, Anita shoots the boggle, slowing it down long enough for Xavier to kill it with a greatsword forged of cold iron. Anita infers that Xavier is a fey raised as a vampire, although Xavier denies it. Serephina regains control, and decides that Anita's blood might make an acceptable second choice for Bloody Bones's. In return for Anita surrendering herself, Serephina agrees to let the others go.

The next morning, Anita wakes up next to Serephina in her coffin. Anita forces her way out and learns that the coffins of Serephina's vampires have been moved to the Bloody Bones bar and grill. (Ellie does not have a coffin and is sleeping on the floor.) Anita tries to escape, but Magnus stops her. In the course of the fight, Anita drips some of her blood on Ellie and realizes that she can raise Ellie as if she were a zombie. Anita does so and orders Ellie to hold Magnus while Anita makes her escape. With Ellie clinging to his waist, Magnus chases Anita outside and is burned to death when Ellie burns in the sunlight.

Anita contacts Agent Bradford and tells him where the vampires are resting. With Anita, Larry and the local authorities, Bradford douses the Bloody Bones restaurant with gasoline and prepares to set it on fire. Anita feels Serephina in her mind and forces the agents to handcuff her and lock her in a car so that Serephina cannot use her control over Anita to interfere. As the fire consumes all of the vampires inside, including the now-dead Jeff Quinlan, Serephina forces Anita to relive the death of her own mother, renewing her earlier trauma.

In the epilogue, Anita explains that Dorcas, now free of the family curse, sold the Bouvier land and left Branson with her children, that the Quinlans are suing Animators, Inc. because of Anita's refusal to stake Ellie when asked, and that Anita herself is continuing her life in St. Louis, not withstanding the fresh emotional wounds.

Characters

Bloody Bones Introduces the following characters.

Major Characters

• Anita Blake: In Bloody Bones, Anita further develops her role as Larry's mentor, and is forced to ask Jean-Claude for substantial help for the first time. She also relives the trauma of her mother's death. According to Hamilton's notes in the afterword, writing the novel was also traumatic for Hamilton herself, because it required Hamilton to reexperience her own mother's death, the event that served as a model for Anita's childhood experience).

• Jean-Claude: Jean-Claude's admission that the Vampire Council has divided his territory, together with his conflict with Serephina and Janos, further underscores the difficulty he is having as the newly installed Master of the City, a conflict that appear in several of the early novels. In addition, the appearance of vampires from Jean-Claude's past allows Anita to learn more about the circumstances that have made him into the vampire she knows.

• Richard Zeeman: Richard appears in person only in the beginning of the novel, when Anita visits to tell him that she's going out of town. He is also mentioned briefly after Jean-Claude arrives to Branson, as well as in the epilogue.
• Serephina: Master of the City of Branson, MO.

Other Characters

• Recurring characters in Bloody Bones include:
  • Anita's co-workers Bert Vaughn and Larry Kirkland
  • Police officer Dolph Storr
  • Jean-Claude's pomme de sang Jason Schuyler

• Non-recurring characters in Bloody Bones include:
  • Raymond Stirling;
  • Lionel Bayard;
  • Ms Harrison;
  • Mr and Mrs Quinlan, and their children Ellie and Jeff
  • Dorcas Bouvier
  • Magnus Bouvier
  • Sergeant Freemont
  • Beau
  • Lisa and her unnamed friend, two college girls who agree to visit Serephina's lair.
  • David St. John
  • Officer Wallace, a police officer that accompanies Anita on her vampire hunt.
  • Federal agents Elwood and Bradford.
• The death toll in Bloody Bones includes:
  • Three unnamed murdered teenaged boys, killed by Bloody Bones.
  • A teenaged boyfriend and girlfriend, killed before the novel begins by Bloody Bones.
  • Andy, presumably killed by Anita in an early firefight.
  • Deputy Zack Coltrain nearly decapitated by a vampire in an early firefight.
  • Officer Granger, killed by Anita to prevent him from shooting Larry.
  • Beth St. John, killed by an unnamed brown haired female vampire.
  • The brown haired female vampire herself, killed by Beth's husband, David St. John.
  • Bruce, shot by Larry at Serephina's house.
  • Lionel Bayard, shot by Stirling.
  • Ivy, killed by Anita in self-defense.
  • Ms Harrison, was severely injured after Anita ordered a zombie to attack her, later drained by Ellie and Xavier.
  • Raymond Stirling, drained by Pallas and Bettina.
  • Rawhead and Bloody Bones, killed by Anita and Xavier.
  • Ellie, turned into a vampire by Andy and killed when Magnus Bouvier dragged her into sunlight.
  • Magnus Bouvier, burned to death when Anita forced Ellie to hold onto his waist as he ran out into sunlight.
  • Serephina, Xavier, Janos, Pallas, Bettina, (presumably) Kissa, and Jeff Quinlan, burned when authorities set fire to the Bloody Bones.

Images

Ace reprint cover

Japanese edition cover. Title translation: The Hill Where Ghosts Fly.