Rating: 
Summary: Good Bloody Fun
Review: I'm a sucker for "tough chick" books, and these definitely qualify. Good writing, even if the series does get a bit repetitive after a while. This is the first book, though, and it's quite fresh. The main character, Anita, is a necromancer who has a sideline hobby of hunting vampires. She starts out very black and white: people good, vampires bad. This book begins her slide toward a world populated with a few more colors: shades of grey, and quite a bit of red. Although, granted, even her shades of grey are a bit more black-and-white than real life... but hey, the books are really good fun.
Rating: 
Summary: My least favorite Anita Blake novel...
Review: I had read all the books in Hamilton's series except this one-and I am quite disappointed. Don't get me wrong, she is a great writer, but I wouldn't waste my money on Guilty Pleasures. The plot was weak and VERY predictable, from the first chapter I could tell you how it would end and who would die. If you want a really good read, and haven't read the Anita Blake series yet, start off with Circus of the Damned.
Rating: 
Summary: Neat, but choppy - what's all the fuss?
Review: I enjoyed the book and read it quickly. It is very short. The ending was somewhat of an anticlimax after all that build-up.
It reads like a graphic novel, or serial novella. Imaginative, but nothing new here in my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: Sensual and Wonderfull.. how else do you describe this book?
Review: Actually how else do you describe this series? If you have not read this book you must! And if you have read it before do it again! In fact gather all of the series and read them in one sitting back to back (well maybe not one sitting). What I am trying to say is that these books are sexy, fun, enchanting, and just enjoybale to read. You will love Laura's way of developing this world of hers to the point that you will become som enraptured that you may forget the worlld around you for a time.
Rating:
Summary: Cool Vampire Book
Review: There are so few vampire books that are fun to read. I almost missed this since vampires are typically in the Horror section rather than the SciFi section. Glad I saw it. Anita Blake is so cool and tough. The action and sexual tension in the story keeps you right on edge. The vampires are vicious monsters, but something more. And Anita, who feels vampires are MONSTERS, is now attracted to one. Its nice to have a female vampire killer that is not totally inane and aimed at the younger crowd. Soooooooo much better and totally unlike Buffy. Repeat, this is not even close to Buffy. Yay! So much better than Anne Rice! Unfortunately, later in the series Laurell goes overboard on the graphic violence and sex. Especially the sex. If I want soft porn, I can get Playboy. Hopefully, it was the editor/publisher's idea and not her's. If you liked this, try Mercedes Lackey's Diana Tregarde novels.
Rating:
Summary: Read this book in a day!! Could not put it down
Review: Well I was hooked...... (never mind that it took me 2 years of looking at it in my TBR pile to get to it)LOL Anita Blake is (as the cover says) Badddddddd with the capitol "B". This is my first Vampire book, I don't generally read gore but suprisingly enough it doesn't contain a lot of it. Descriptive fight scenes, gun battles, creatures of all kinds and "sort of" love story is what this quick read had to offer. I am not a Science Fiction professional reader so my review is actually coming from someone that is new to this genre it seems to me that Laurell K. Hamilton tried to mesh the world of Romance with Science Fiction and she did it (in my honest opinion) rather smoothly, don't get me wrong there is a slight reference of a "possible" attraction between 2 characters (sorry no spoilers here) but there isn't a lot of romance going on. The suspense is within the murders that are going on and the potrayal of the Nickolaus character (who reminded me a lot of the Kristin Durst role in "Interview with a Vampire")will haunt me for a day or two I am sure. The one thing that I was a little perplexed about was how did Anita develop some of her skills... but I do have faith a figure that these may be revealed in later books so I look forward to delving into the rest of the series. I highly recommend this series if you are a Romantic Supsense Reader that needs a break from the "norm". Respectfully Reviewed
Rating:
Summary: Highly addictive introduction to series...
Review: I got addicted via the latest book NARCISSUS IN CHAINS, and then decided to get the rest of the series. I tried to read the whole series in order, beginning with GUILTY PLEASURES. One of the delights in coming late to a series is that you get to devour several books over a matter of weeks (two weeks in my case). As a late-comer to the world of Anita Blake, Vampire Slayer ("The Executioner"), or Anitaverse in the terminology of those addicted to the series, I can attest to its addictive qualities. Instead of packing for a move, I was reading and re-reading LUNATIC CAFE (a book at the mid-point) and THE KILLING DANCE. I will try not to spoil the series for those beginning with this book. Some words of caution (apart from the fact that your sleep will be disrupted) are in order. Firstly, although the level of gore never really rises above that of the second book (THE LAUGHING CORPSE), in the latter books, Anita engages in more and more violent acts, mostly in self-defense but also to protect those she cares for. Secondly, the distinctions between humans and monsters becomes questionable. Anita's actions (both violent and otherwise) lead to her (and others) questioning both her humanity and her morality. Thirdly, the sexual element in this series increases from about the 5th or 6th book. Some people are comfortable with this, others are not. Personally, I have always viewed this series as NC-17 (if it were a film), although GUILTY PLEASURES might possibly be considered R. This series is not for the squeamish, either in terms of violent acts or in terms of the sexual element. Finally, although it is not essential (I think) to read all the books, it is useful to read them in order. I read most of the series skipping CIRCUS OF THE DAMNED and BLOODY BONES. There were enough references in the latter books to pick up on what had happened, and I did not feel that I had missed a lot. I would however recommend against reading the later books - starting from THE LUNATIC CAFE out of order, if you want to understand some of Anita's strengths and weakness or to understand her relationships with those around her. This book, the first in the series, introduces Anita Blake, a young vampire executioner in her early to mid twenties. She works as an animator (a person who can raise the dead), but she also works as a vampire executioner. In her world, vampires and other paranormal beings (mostly lycanthropes, one kind of shape-shifter that includes werewolves and wererats) have been legalized by a Supreme Court decision. As a result, humans are learning to co-exist legally if uneasily with paranormal beings. Rogue vampires do exist (those who kill humans), and a few licensed executioners destroy them. In this book, we see not only Anita's workday and work environment, but we are also introduced to some vampires who will play a major role in Anita's life. Anita is asked by the most powerful vampire in the city [not Jean-Claude!] to solve the mystery of disappearing vampires. Is there a rogue vampire destroying his own kind? Or is there a human group out to destroy vampires illegally? In the search for answers, Anita will find some old enemies and make some new friends and allies. We are also introduced to one particular vampire Jean-Claude who will play a major role in the series. Rating for book = 4.4 [A-]
Rating for series = 4.5 [A-] Recommendation - Quick fast read; not recommended for those who dislike violence or sex in their reading.
Rating:
Summary: Anita Kicks!!
Review: Thank God!! Literature finally has a tough female herione! Anita is awesome. She has a twisted sense of humor and some of the things she thinks make me laugh out loud, which is pretty rare for a book. Jean-Claude comes off as a bit of a streo-tpye, but later he grows into a believeable person. Undead person, of course. I'm with Anita though. I don't like it when he calls her Ma Petite. Maybe, Laurell, in the next one, he could drop it? Huh? Please? What I'm trying to say is that this is a really good book. The entire series is good. ... This is the first book in the Anita Blake series. In this one, someone has been murdering vampires in St. Louis, (I think, but don't y'all quote me) and Anita gets blackmailed into finiding out who's doing it. She eventually does, but she meets her match on Jean-Claude, the seductive owner of a vampire strip club called "Guility Pleasures."
Rating:
Summary: Promising start
Review: I must admit, I picked this one up because of the blurb on the back about it being "an R-rated Buffy..." While that's not entirely true, it's a good enough description for those unfamiliar with the series. It features a strong heroine who fights vampires and other monsters and combines the action and horror genres quite well. As a plus, it also uses the elements of hard-boiled detective fiction, sort of like Dashiell Hammett meets Stephen King. While I normally prefer third-person narration-don't ask me why-I found that I really enjoyed Anita's first-person voice. Her sarcasm-tinged descriptions add a great deal of flavor to the proceedings. While I got a little tired of the "Ooh! Look! Another sexy male vampire!" nature of the book, it never ventured too far into romance novel territory (or Anne Rice territory, for that matter). As I said, this book is a promising start and I look forward to reading further Anita Blake adventures.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: This was my very first book by this author and I loved it! I read this book during October 2001. Since then I have read all of her books except for the latest one "A Caress of Twilight". I love her character Anita Blake, she is too much to put into words. I would guarantee that anyone who loves 'monsters', death, sex, love, blood, courage and hope would love this author's books.
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