The first of the
Anita Blake novels not to be named after a place in the book,
The Killing Dance centers on
assassins: specifically, the ones who are
anonymously hired (for half a
million dollars) to take out our
heroine
The book also gives insight into Anita's ever-more-strange
relationship(s) with
Jean-Claude (the
Master of the City) and
Richard, the challenger to the Master of the werewolves, and Anita's growing
psychoses:
what does it mean to be
one of the monsters?
when is it ok to kill?
The whole series, read in order, is a nice subtle look at what
combat-hardened really means...