The Laughing Corpse

In Laurell K. Hamilton's "The Laughing Corpse," the second electrifying installment of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series, St. Louis's only licensed vampire executioner and necromancer finds herself entangled in a case far more twisted than her usual undead dealings. Anita Blake is hired by the incredibly wealthy and powerful Harold Gaynor to perform a seemingly simple task: permanently dispatch his reanimated 300-year-old son, Stephen. Stephen is not just any zombie; he's also a loup-garou, a werewolf, and a terrifyingly potent master vampire, making his very existence a moral and legal quandary for Anita, as killing a zombie without just cause is strictly forbidden. As Anita delves deeper into the Gaynor family's dark secrets, she uncovers a chilling world of black magic, human sacrifice, and an ancient, malevolent cult that threatens to consume not just St. Louis, but Anita herself. The line between good and evil blurs, forcing Anita to confront her own ethics and the terrifying depths of human depravity, proving that some secrets truly are better left buried. The novel plunges Anita into a brutal investigation where the stakes are higher than ever, and the monsters she faces are not always the ones from beyond the grave.