Rating: 
Summary: Guilty Pleasures did not please this romance reader
Review: I just got through reading Guilty Pleasures and I am still puzzled as to why this novel was recommended to me when everyone that knows me knew that I liked to read romances or books with a hero and heroine where they fall in love (or at least some "acknowledged" attachment) whether there were vampires, dukes, princes, pirates, or detectives and rulers set in the future.I feel so mislead! I was told this book was sexy, sensual and a little erotic. I got none of that from this book. I got the same impression as when I read Ms. Hamilton's other book, A Kiss of Shadows: A bunch of scenery that takes pages of descriptions to set up but after that, NOTHING. (But at least the main character in A Kiss of Shadows got laid, poor Anita didn't even get to first base in this book) Yes, she can draw a great fantasy picture of people and places. Freaky people, freaky places. Lots of blood and pain. But there is no emotional draw. No passion. So what that Phillip lost alot of blood and Anita went to a party that had a few weirdos wearing bondage gear. Why should I cares? The only time I cared was when the goat got slaughtered and that was for the goat. Not Anita, the main character. I sit here shaking my head. I just don't get it.
Ms. Hamilton's books are like those draw by numbers pictures, you spend your whole time connecting the dots and you see the picture at the end but there is no warmth, no emotional attachment and definitely not a keeper.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard to catorgize author
Review: I don't normally read books that are in the horror section, but I have gotten totally hooked on Laurell K. Hamilton's books. I am a mystery fan, and the mysteries in her books work. The characters and plots are interesting, and she is consistent with the rules of her universe. The only thing that kept me from giving the book five stars is they tend to be a little bloody for my taste.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining dark fantasy
Review: The Anita Blake series, which began with this novel, is an entertaining light read about an "animator" (someone who raises zombies from the dead for a living, for eg. to check the details of their will) who also is a legal vampire slayer - she's sent out with a court order to slay vampires who break the law. As you can guess, this series is set in an alternate reality where fantasy creatures exist and vampires have recently gained legal "human" status. Anita herself has some interesting personal conflicts - she is a committed Christian who works with dark forces and kills a little too easily, and a very dainty and pretty-looking person who considers herself to be "tough as nails" (it makes it hard for the bad guys to take her seriously). Each of the books is loosely based around a supernatural mystery and the ongoing story of Anita's life (she's 20-something at the start of this book). The writing is a little sloppy, but quite compelling, and the series steadily improves for the first few novels (the later ones get a little bogged down with Anita's issues).
Rating:
Summary: Start here right away
Review: This book is the first of the Anita Blake series. It is not quite as strong as the next few (which I'd give five stars to) but of course you'll want to start here. Hamilton's last couple of Anita Blakes, especially Narcissus in Chains, are not so good as the first several, but if you start here you'll have a real treat in store for several volumes. Then you can decide on your own if the later books are as good as these.
Rating:
Summary: Guilty Pleasures
Review: This was the first Anita Blake book I picked up and I have picked up every single one since. Anita is one of the toughest women I have ever read about but she does not give up her ideals, values and feminine softness. I recommend Laurell Hamilton books to all my friends and will continue to do so. Please Laurell don't ever stop.
Rating:
Summary: The start of a wonderful series and a bit more in the hardba
Review: This is the first Anita Blake Book. It is where we meet Anita and get our first taste of her life. It is also the start of one of the best series ever written. You immediately like Anita. She grabs you from the opening paragraph and never lets go. As a special treat, the hardback edition includes an essay from Laurell about writing and publishing Anita. So if you ever wondered where she got the idea and how it came about, this is the book for you!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent guilty pleasure!
Review: Having read and loved A Kiss of Shadows, I decided that it was time I gave the Anita Blake vampire series a whirl. Guilty Pleasures is a fast-paced, enthralling horror novel that kept me turning the pages until the wee hours of the night. The series starts out when Anita, a professional vampire executioner, is forced to investigate the recent murder of various vampires. But Anita's job is to execute vampires, not help them, but the master vampire Nikolaos is not someone you can turn down. There are various twists throughout the novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat... I love Anita's narration and the story's steady motion. There isn't a single boring moment in this novel. I can see why so many people have become addicted to this series. Laurell K. Hamilton is a great talent of paranormal fiction. There is plenty of horror and suspense throughout the novel, but there isn't a trace of romantica. That's the only thing I didn't like about the first installment. But I was told that the romance and erotica come along later in the series (and I hope that Jean-Claude, a dark and sensual vampire in the story, will be part of said romance and erotica). Even though I prefer vampires as sex gods rather than evil, this is one series that I intend to read from cover to cover. A great start to the Anita Blake series! This novel is definitely a guilty pleasure...
Rating:
Summary: GUILTY PLEASURES
Review: HAVE L.K.HAMILTON'S COMPLETE SERIES ON "ANITA BLAKE VAMPIRE HUNTER' HER BOOKS WERE VERY BLOODY READS. BUT I STUCK WITH THE
SERIES, FOR I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT ANITA IS DOING NOW. I WILL BE ONE OF THE FIRST PERSONS TO BUY CERULEAN SINS. JEAN CLAUDE, RICHARD ARE THE FAVORITES IN ALL THE SET. THESE ARE KEEPERS.
Rating:
Summary: Good Junk Food Read!
Review: I'm just starting the series, and I'll be reviewing them as you would read them: one at a time without knowing what comes later. I don't usually read either horror or mysteries, but this was great fun, like a ride through a really good haunted house. In this first installment, we meet Anita, who is not just starting out in this business. She already has a lot of backstory and history that adds a feeling of depth to the world and character. People come out of the past, rather than all being invented new. I loved the character (nah, looking like her and sharing her violent attitude in life couldn't influence that) and enjoyed being her for the length of the book. Twenty-four seems a little young sometimes for who she has been and how she comes across, but one can say it's the mileage from her chosen activities. While most reviewers concentrate on the continuing characters, I can't understand how they can review without noticing the chance Philip gives for Anita to be thoroughly human, and Edward for her to be properly scared of the thoroughly human. Philip won me over as grudgingly as he does Anita, and I'm looking forward to seeing Edward again. Note these things about Anita's moral stance as you go. When the Pope made animating a mortal sin, she left Catholicism and became Episcopalian rather than give up raising the dead. She herself says that if she examined her stance on killing vampires, she could not do her work, indicating she is already aware her current principles are not well-founded. If there were writing flaws, the narrative drive, action, and character carried me right past them. I'm easily turned off by poor writing, so I have to call this good. It's scary where it needs to be, gruesome where it ought to be, and sometimes tender when you don't expect it. My only tech complaint is that the fight with the were-rat seemed a bit contrived. That, and Nikolaos is a male Greek name. A girl would be Nikolao. Now, for the minor down side. When I read a book, if I really like it I normally reread it immediately to catch all the nuances I didn't the first time and watch the structure of the plot and the characters build up. I read this and put it aside. It's not deep. You can get everything on the first run-through, and frankly there are some things I'm trying mightily *not* to think about because it will break down the believability of the story-world for me. I want to enjoy it while it lasts. So this book is like a bag of potato chips, not a full meal. I'll read the series now, and probably again in a few years, for light entertainment. I don't know if it will hold up for a third re-read. The basis of how vampires would intersect with the legal system if they were "legalized" (they aren't illegal now, I'll have you know), while supposedly the core of the books, is actually very shaky. In most ways, this is a gread lead character moving in a world where supernatural creatures are viewed as newly natural but doing the usual lone wolf adventures while avoiding official help. It's a good adventure, but the speculation does not quite mesh. I leave you with one final question: why is the drool-object male vampire always French? It's getting to be so cliche.
Rating:
Summary: Jeans and sneakers are not inspiring as ceremonial garb!
Review: The Executioner has arrived. In this well-penned tale, we are introduced to a character who has become one of my all time favorites. Vampire hunter and animator, Anita Blake is dead set in her ways and views of the preternatural world as a whole. Vampires aren't things you date, they're things you kill. But little does she know all of that could change with one encounter with the enigmatic Jean-Claude, a vampire who's powerful in his own right. This is gripping tale that you won't want to put down!
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