Micah

Hamilton (Incubus Dreams ) delivers a highly palatable portion of what makes her series heroine, federal marshal and vampire-hunter Anita Blake, a bestseller: equal portions hot sex and supernatural crime fighting—with a dollop of old-fashioned male-female melodrama—served up in a world where new were-animals have their own crisis hotline. Filling in for a colleague, Anita travels to Philadelphia to reanimate a deceased federal witness, accompanied by Micah, her wereleopard lover. The jaunt serves as a chance for them to share some rare one-on-one time—without any of her five other lovers around—which Anita fears is not necessarily a good thing. Even worse, since her magic energy has grown unexpectedly strong, she suspects this won't be your run-of-th e-mill reincarnation. A good entry point for the uninitiated, this offering provides further insight into both characters and their universe. A bonus excerpt will whet fans' appetites for the 13th full-length novel in the series, Danse Macabre , coming this June. (Feb. 28 )