#BookReview-‘Guilty Pleasures’ by @AnitaBlakeBooks

About the book…

Book 1 in the Anita Blake series, ‘Guilty Pleasures’ by Laurell K Hamilton is published by Headline .

‘I don’t date vampires. I kill them.’

My name is Anita Blake. Vampires call me the Executioner. What I call them isn’t repeatable.

Ever since the Supreme Court granted the undead equal rights, most people think vampires are just ordinary folks with fangs. I know better. I’ve seen their victims. I carry the scars … But now a serial killer is murdering vampires – and the most powerful bloodsucker in town wants me to find the killer.

I first ‘discovered’ Anita Blake in the basement of Newcastle’s Forbidden Planet, as a nineteen year old student and I was completely entranced!
The first 3 books in the series were out, I read book 1 and went back for 2 and 3, then bought each one as they came out…

However, over the years they have either been lost between houses or given away in a reckless book cull-sob!-but I have no idea how or why I stopped reading them..there are libraries to order them from after all so being as I love vampires and horror, what’s the story?

Having picked up Books 1-3, I am starting again, twice the age I started reading Anita’s exploits, so let’s dig in and see what we find…

‘Willie McCoy had been a jerk before he died.His being dead didn’t change that’

Presented with an offer that she can refuse, we meet Anita , state sanctioned vampire killer, raiser of the dead, freelance retainer to the police’s ‘spook squad’ . In a world where vampires are legally recognised as people with rights, her services as part of Animator’s Inc are in demand,especially to the vamps who are under attack from a serial killer who has murdered 4 of them in the last few weeks.

Royally pissed off before she even heads out the door to raise a dead man to finally settle which of his two wills were his actual dying wishes for his aggrieved family, her day only gets better when she is rung after 2 hours sleep to be the designated driver for a friend’s bachelorette party. Yay.

It gets even better when the venue turns out to be ‘Guilty Pleasures’ a vampire strip club run by Jean-Claude, a master vampire,who notices Anita straight away, to be fair she stands out from the women that she is with having dressed to hide her guns, scars and knife sheath.

Why would anyone think a vampire killer would have a great time in a literal nest of vampires?!
From here on in things only get worse as Anita who has history with Jean-Claude watches the stage show from hell, which puts the Chippendales into the same category as Morris Dancers. An emergency police call rescues her from a scene which feels painfully real and uncomfortable .We’ve all been there, except not with bloodsucking-or have we?

Anita is clearly a lone wolf who lets no one, human or inhuman get close to her and that is exactly the way that she likes it-always in control and always on top.

When she is dragged into a serial killer hunt against her will, it brings out her angry side and this is what I love, she is a ballsy, kick ass hero in her own world who relies on no one.

For in the near future world where vampirism is legal, self reliance is sometimes the difference between life and death.

I love Anita, and her dance around her feelings for Jean-Claude is slowly and sensuosly unveiled as is the world they are living in. ‘Guilty Pleasures’ is a great series opener and this is a great mixture of horror and mystery, skilfully balanced by Laurell K Hamilton.

Highly recommended!

About the author…

Laurell K. Hamilton is one of the leading writers of paranormal fiction.

A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Hamilton writes the popular Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels and the Meredith Gentry series. She is also the creator of a bestselling comic book series based on her Anita Blake novels and published by Marvel Comics. Hamilton is a full-time writer and lives in the suburbs of St. Louis with her family.

Links-https://www.laurellkhamilton.com/

Twitter @AnitaBlakeBooks