Guilty Pleasures
Book One of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series
Laurell K. Hamilton

In this novel, Laurell K. Hamilton introduces Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter. Anita's small, dark, and dangerous. But when one of the city's most powerful vampires comes to her for help, Anita is faced with her greatest fear - a man capable of arousing in her a hunger strong enough to match his own...

I know that the description of this novel sounds like a bodice ripper, and rumor has it that some of the later novels in this series turn into this, but this novel is not like that. It's sound, well written, and a definite good read for someone who is into the supernatural/vampires/and lycanthropes. This first book of the series has made me want to read the rest of the series, though I wonder if they can hold up to the standards that this book sets.

From the beginning of the novel, the reader is introduced to Anita, who is much more than a simple vampire hunter. She is also an animator - a person with the ability to raise zombies and that's her life's work. While some of the sidelined characters are a bit two dimensional, the main characters are fleshed out nicely and I found myself liking both the characters of Anita and Edward. It's interesting to see opposites who have similar views on vampires, but different approaches to it.

This novel does not soften up the vampire myth the way some others do. The head vampire of the city, a small child-like girl, is about as ruthless and sadistic as they come - and in my opinion this is a good thing. There is the romantic aspect there as well, but it's overshadowed by the main plot.

This novel also has some of the best lines I've ever read. Examples being:
"I took one more thing to bed with me, a stuffed toy penguin named Sigmund. I don't sleep with him often, just every once in a while after someone tries to kill me. Everyone has their weaknesses. Some people smoke. I collect stuffed penguins. If you won't tell, I won't."
"It is hard to wear a gun in St. Louis in the summertime. Shoulder or hip holster, you have the same problem. If you wear a jacket to cover the gun, you melt in the heat. If you keep the gun in your purse, you get killed, because no woman can find anything in her purse in under twelve minutes. It is a rule."

In the end, I do recommend this book, and we'll just have to wait and see what the rest of the series holds.

My rating: Four out of five snails.