I went into this book not expecting much at all. I had heard bad things about this series but I was in a vampire mood and this is the only vampire book I own so I said 'What the heck?' and started reading it.

Anita Blake is a short, sarcastic animator. She raises zombies for a living and on the side, she's a vampire hunter. When vampires start turning up dead, the master vampire of the city, Nikolaos, calls on her to solve the problem. Nikolaos doesn't ask politely, though. Anita has to find the murderer or she'll be dead. Now she's in a race to find a killer with absolutely no clue as to where to begin before Nikolaos loses patience.

Honestly, it wasn't horrible. Not intellectually stimulating by any means, but it was a nice lazy read. Judging from the cover art and the comments on the back hinting towards erotic situations, I was expecting a lot of sex. I don't mind sex in my books, but I'm not a fan of erotica. It just doesn't hold my interest. Imagine my surprise, however, when I finish the book without encountering one single sex scene. In fact, the book as a whole was more of a mystery novel than anything else, just with vampires, werewolves and wererats, ghouls, and zombies thrown in to the mix. Not bad.

I liked Anita. She was witty and sarcastic. A lot of her comments had me snickering. She's tough and independent, which I always like to see in my girls. I was actually going to rate this higher until I got to the end of the book. Once Anita gets to the cemetery where the ghouls are (those who've read this will know what I'm talking about), it's all downhill. The pacing is suddenly extremely rushed and some of the stupidest decisions, like Anita setting a shed on fire in which she has locked herself inside of, are made. That irritated me to no end and made me want to bang my head against a wall. The final showdown between Anita and Nikolaos is horrible as well. For all her thousand years of power and for being the strongest vampire in the city, she sure didn't stand up to Anita very well. It took about a page to kill her. Way too much build-up for such a pathetic fight.

Apart from not really being able to write a fight scene, the few passionate moments in the book were also found wanting. There were only a couple and they never moved past a kiss or two, but they were even more boring than the final fight. Hamilton clearly has not figured out how to write passion or action.

I don't know if I'll continue with this series. I might borrow the next book from the library, but I definitely did not like the first book enough to spend any more money on the series. ( )

Anita Blake is an animator, working for Animators, Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri. Petite and beautiful, with long black curly hair and an almost elfin face, Anita resembles a delicate china doll, but looks can be deceiving. She's also known as The Executioner because she's dispatched over a dozen vampires (found guilty of murder -- feeding is fine, just don't overdo it and don't approach the unwilling) along with her regular job raising zombies. She doesn't date vampires, even if one of the strongest vamps in the city, Jean-Claude, is one of the sexiest beings she's ever been tempted by. She knows better than to get close to any of the undead. But when someone starts killing off vamps methodically, Anita is forced to find the killer by the thousand year old Master of the City, Nicolaos, a sadistic creepy vampire who just happens to be a 13 year old girl.

Hamilton's vampires are of the Anne Rice sort -- easy to look at with usually impeccable manners and absolutely lethal personalities. The universe she has created is one of horror and fear, and you definitely have to suspend belief when opening the pages of one of these novels. The writing is just a tad too straight-forward and blunt. The action starts immediately and seldom lets up, and the writing style reminds me of those old "noir" crime novels, but with a heroine who is anything but dainty and delicate. Still, it all comes together oddly enough, and I've managed to collect several more in this series so I'll be revisiting Anita fairly often, I think. This first episode was a tad too blunt, with characteristics that have little of no backstory to explain things. I'm hoping that further books in the series will begin to flesh out these characters just a bit more. The fact that it takes place in St. Louis is a plus for me, too. I don't live too far from there and an pretty familiar with most of the places she mentions in this book. I'll give it a 3 and hope for better in future reads. ( )

Pre09:
Without her, there just wouldn't be paranormal romance eh? And no Buffy! Oh the horror.

As an author though... I only somewhat enjoyed her word. Edward was the shit. I mean the total shit. Other than that though, she let Anita become superwoman too much. Needed more reality check. I never read the soft core porn after the first 4 though. ( )

I did not pick this book, I asked a young lady working at the local B&N to pick two random science fiction/fantasy books for me. This was one of them.

One of the blurbs stated "R-rated Buffy..." so I figured it was a cross between Buffy and Twilight. I wasn't too far off. The main character, for a zombie raising, vampire hunter who hated her coworkers and has very few friends, seems to get attached way to easily to the love interest, a human who seems to be heavily into vampire BDSM. There isn't any sex, although much is hinted at towards various scenes and characters. And the violence is written in graphic detail. I can't find the R rating anywhere in this book.

There are a few twists and turns, but nothing page-turning. Overall it was a decent book to read while I was bored. ( )

"Guilty Pleasures" is the first of the Anita Blake series. What makes the series unique is the strong, tough-minded character of the heroine and narrator. Before "Guilty Pleasures" vampire stories rarely had female leads, let alone one with the hard-nosed style of Anita Blake. She is a professional animator (one who raises the dead) and a licensed vampire killer in an alternate earth where vampires have come out of the closet (coffin?) and are active participants in the daily grind of American life.

Hamilton's vampires are of the Anne Rice genre. There is a steady sexual undercurrent that veers towards sadistic and fetish oriented pleasures. You could say that it is a natural outgrowth of the vampire personality and is as chilling as it is erotic. The Anne Rice genre of vampires are generally hauntingly beautiful, deadly and follow their own code of ethics. The only difference with that of Hamilton's is that many humans have become enthralled with vampires, but many are deeply suspicious at the same time.

"Have you ever wondered what would it be like to feel my breath upon your skin? My lips along your neck. The hard brush of teeth. The sweet, sharp pain of fangs. Your heart beating frantically against my chest. Your blood flowing into my veins. Sharing yourself. Giving me life. Knowing that I truly could not live without you, all of you."

"Welcome to Guilty Pleasures. We are here to serve you. To make your most evil thoughts come true."

To Anita they are monsters who, when they go out of control, must be killed. But U.S. law protects vampires that behave themselves (you actually need a license to kill them). Even so, when someone starts killing the vampires of St. Louis, authorities make little progress. Angered, two of the strongest vampires in the city, Jean-Claude and Nikolaos, convince Anita to hunt down the killer.

Jean-Claude is one of the modern romantic vampires, easy to look at with fine manners and style. Nikolaos, on the other hand, is a thousand year old sadistic horror in the body of a thirteen year old girl. Her powers are unimaginable and dark hungers hide under her innocent looks. The vampiress takes an immediate dislike to Anita's feisty style and our heroine spends as much time dodging Nikolaos' efforts to injure and enslave her as she does seeking the killer. Jean-Claude (the master vampire destined to become not only her biggest nemesis, but her greatest lover) comes under attack as well as he tries to help Anita.

Anita finds herself in a number of hair-raising situations as she seeks to discover the killer. Along the way she is plagued by vampires, wererats, ghouls, other animators, and fellow humans. The plot is fast-paced and intriguing. Its characters capture the reader's imagination. While most of them are not particularly well-fleshed, as it is basically a plot driven book, the main character, Anita Blake, is quite interesting, as well as compelling, and resonates with the reader.

Book Details:

Title Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter)
Author Laurell K. Hamilton
Reviewed By Purplycookie ( )