Rating: 
Summary: Quick flowing and engaging story... What's missing?
Review: I can say that I enjoyed reading this book. I was at first a little uneasy about reading a book that involved investigation and vampires. I tend to think that this is an overused idea that ends up being a little too cliche, but my overall appreciation of the book was very high.The high pace of the story, and the storytelling ability, is the first high point of the book. The second high point of the book is the involving story with characters that make sense. You can understand the reason behind everything that all characters make and this helps to make the whole setting and characters more engaging. The only low point is that the story started and ended a little too fast. There were lots of things, in my opinion, that could be developed further. A better explanation of the world where vampires and humans coexist was something I was looking. But I guess I'll have to read the other stories to see if I can get a better idea of that! Overall, I recomend the book for everybody that enjoys the genre of high-paced vampire inveestigation and action stories.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good start
Review: I just finished this book and must say that it wasn't as good as I thought or hoped it would be. It was still good enough to garner a 3 star vote, but it seemed lacking something. Firstly, I don't necessarily agree that this is an "R-rated version of Buffy" like the back of the book proclaims. I've seen a lot of episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I think Anita Blake to Buffy Sommers is a poor comparison. The only thing they have in common is that they are both young females (though Buffy is younger than Anita's 24 years) and they both kill vampires. Buffy does it because she is chosen to do so but Anita does it because it's her job and she gets paid for it. The comparisons end there. Anita lacks the air of invincibility that Buffy has and thus she seems more human, which is ironic because the book hints that she may not be totally human now or in the future. Anita displays vulnerabilities that Buffy never showed...at least not until the last couple seasons of her TV show. I enjoyed the story itself but I would have liked more backstory. Laurell Hamilton fails to tell us much about Anita Blake and her background. How she got into the business that she's in. Why she's chosen to be an "animator". Stories about all of her scars (which we are to assume has come from fighting vampires and other supernatural creatures). Hamilton's style of writing is somewhat engaging and witty. I hate to say so, but I think the author thinks she's more witty than others may think of her. To be fair, I liked her style and her tone, but I don't know if others will. Moreover, I'm not sure I like the fact that Hamilton seems to leave out a lot of details about some characters, places, and events. I don't know if it's because she knew she was going to write more books in this series or if she didn't want to spend time filling the reader in. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and hope that it's the former. I bought the first four books of this series as a set because I anticipated liking this series. This first book was decent, but it didn't give me everything I wanted. I hope the next few books do a better job of expanding upon Anita Blake's background and making me like her character more.
Rating: 
Summary: Suave and Petite Vampire Slayer
Review: This first in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series sets the stage, mood, and tempo of the rest of the novels. If you're tired of the slow paced, action free, whimpy vampires and werewolves that plague much of the novels in this genre, then Anita Blake is a dream come true for you. This book, as well as the other to follow offer a fast paced, high action, street smart punch that rarely lets up. Anita Blake, a petite young woman is an animator; one who has the ability to raise the dead as zombies. Yes, this is her chosen profession, and not only is she one of the few in the country who has this ability, but she can more zombies per night than most, if not all of her peers. If that weren't enough, she is also a legal Vampire Slayer, meaning if she has the right papers from the courts, she can go out, hunt them down and kill them. Anita is tough, very violent when she needs to be, street smart, resourceful, and can keep up with the insults of those around her that question her abilities and authority. She packs guns and knives and has access to just about any other assault weapon available. The book is full of great one liners, vicious Vampires, graphic violence and brutality, and sexual tensions. For Vampire lovers, this is a book you have to read.
Rating:
Summary: UNPUTDOWNABLE!!!! FABULOUS!!!
Review: "Guilty Pleasures" was a wildly entertaining book..it gripped me immediately and held me tight..I m telling you I could not walk away from this book..it was just sooooo good! I have read other books similar to this, but none have come even close to being as brilliant..I am eagerly anticipating moving on to the other books in this series.I highly recommend this as a must read..however, be forewarned, if you find violence and a bit of gore upsetting, this may not be the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Used to like it better.
Review: Years ago, on the first reading, I really ejoyed this book. Now... I am a bit disappointed with the character. Still, a quick and dirty read, with a lot of violence, bloodletting, and sexual tension. Not for the fainthearted in any way, shape, or form.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific first of many...
Review: Laurell K. Hamilton does a great job on Guilty Pleasures of laying the backdrop for the series. There are definite parallels with other vampire tales (Buffy, The Vampire Chronicles) - However the fun twist on this one is the political aspect:
what would American life be like if we walked side-by-side with the undead? Would they have the right to vote? How do you create laws governing people with preternatural powers? What would happen to religion if we all had eternal life and the power to raise the dead?
Hamilton creates a very cool heroine who is strong, smart, witty and has a very real internal monologue. We listen to Anita's thoughts, and they are an awful lot like our own: How can you be a slave to fashion when you have to find clothes baggy enough to hide your gun?
This series is easy to read, and has just enough twists to keep you guessing. Most of the plotlines are predictable for the avid mystery reader, but it's OK, 'cause the characters and scenery are rich and believable.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I thought that this was a wonderful start to a wonderful series. Ms. Hamilton creates a world that is like no other. Werewolves, vampires, zombies! What more could you ask for?! I bought this book off a reccommendation from a friend, and i'm SO glad I listened to her. BUY THIS BOOK! You won't be sorry!
Rating: 
Summary: re: Bloody & Muddy
Review: As much as I wanted to like this book, I did not. The plot never emerged. As they say, "the plot thickens," but in this books case, it thickens into a paste of mud. In order to get me interested, I really should be enticed into liking Anita Blake from the start. I don't or perhaps I've not been given enough info to form an opinion. To me, it was just a slightly gory horror book with some kinky vampire fantasy thrown in for good measure. I picked it up because I was told, "If you like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, you'll like this." Unfortunately, I didn't. Sorry.
Rating:
Summary: A fast paced and entertaining novel
Review: The vampire novel is perhaps the most abundant in horror literature and also the one filled with the most cliches, and author Laurel Hamilton uses more than a few. Guilty Pleasures puts vampires in an almost mundane light as they co exist with humans along with werewolves, zombies and other supernatural creatures. It is this familiarity that makes the novel interesting but also takes away the horror and brings us more into the crime/detective genre. The book cover states that its a mix of romance and horror but there was no romance that I could see and the horror is pretty light. However the story stands well on its own and sets up what has become a series of Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books.
The character of Anita Blake is really quite interesting and the story is told through her first person point of view, this makes the novel rather one-sided but the book doesn't suffer because of it. One interesting thing is that Anita has a moral code and even goes to church since belief is crucial to making crucifixes and holy water effective on vampires.
Rating:
Summary: High on Action, Weak on Plot
Review: Hamilton's Anita Blake series began here, and perhaps certain crudities of plot and narration can be excused by Hamilton's inexperience at the time. She is quite skillful at creating surprising, suspenseful, often violent and even disgusting action scenes. The book is never boring. The weaknesses here are that the action scenes do not seem connected by a plausible storyline and that the first-person narrator (Blake) tells us her thoughts far, far too much. The narrative approach is something of a blend of Sam Spade and Kinsey Milhone, and Hamilton would do better to stick with the Spade. I found myself longing to take a blue pencil to the page, marking out the constant inner commentary and explanations and leaving just the action and dailogue. If the character provides her own inner reaction to every action and line of dialogue, the book leaves nothing for the reader to do. There is nowhere to enter into the story oneself. The plausibility issue has to do with Hamilton's lengthy set-up for the main action. It takes 100 pages, nearly half the book, for Blake to actually begin her investigation. Moreover, considering the amazing powers that vampires enjoy in Hamilton's world, it is just not believable that they would go to such lengths to employ a mere human investigator like Blake to track down a vampire killer. The whole idea, based on Hamilton's own premises, is implausible. The plot seems a manipulated, flimsy structure that exists at the author's whim for the purpose of stringing together (rather good) action scenes. In sum: an enjoyable read, if sometimes frustrating in its execution. One senses that it falls short of its potential and would have benefited from stronger editorial advice.
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