Stake a Claim at Guilty Pleasures (Guilty Pleasures - Laurell K Hamilton)

Member Name: lavizelle

Product:	Guilty Pleasures - Laurell K Hamilton
Date:	22/11/01 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: vampires, horror, good read

Disadvantages: none

Check your crucifix at the door and step into the alternative reality of present-day St Louis, Missouri, USA and meet some nightlife that wants to do more than just bite.

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

The monsters have crawled out of the closet, from under the bed and vampires are legal citizens with rights.

'Welcome to the world's only vampire strip club.'

But vampires aren't the only local colour, there is an assortment of ghouls, zombies and Were animals, oh my.

'"I've never seen a blond rat before."'

Throw into the mix a tough, sassy, wise cracking heroine,

'"You smell of other people's blood, ma petite."
I smiled at him sweetly. "It was no one you knew."'

And you have the beginnings of an imaginative side step into a darker reality.

Meet Anita Blake, 24 years old.

'I was wearing black jeans, knee high boots, and a crimson blouse. My hair was made to order for the outfit, black curling just over the shoulders of the red blouse. The solid, nearly black-brown of my eyes matches the hair. Only their skin stands out, too pale, Germanic against the Latin darkness.'

Already an expert when it comes to dealing with the preternatural. She has the power to raise the dead - not vampires, but zombies. It's a rare gift and much in demand at the agency where she works, Animators Inc.

'My boss would do anything for money. Problem was he thought I should too.'

Raising the dead is not Anita's only talent, she is also licensed to hunt and kill vampires.

'"They call you The Executioner, did you know that?"
"Yes." He had done nothing to threaten me, yet nothing at that moment would have forced me to pass him. They might as well have barred the door.
"How many
kills do you have to your of credit?"
I didn't like this conversation. It wasn't going to end anywhere I wanted to be. I knew one master vampire who could smell lies. I didn't understand Jean-Claude's mood, but I wasn't about to lie to him. "Fourteen."
"And you call us murderers."

Someone powerful wants Anita to investigate a recent spate of vicious crimes against vampires, but Anita isn't too keen on the idea.

'I remembered his body pinning me to the ground. His teeth tearing at my arm while I tried to keep him off my throat. The clean sharp snap of bone where he bit through. My screams. His hand, forcing my head back. Him rearing to strike.'

On top of this she is also on call to the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team, (R.P.I.T), or 'Spook Squad' - a special police unit who are already investigating the murders.

And then there's Edward.

'He was not and imposing man, not frightening, if you didn't know him. He was five-eight, slender, blond, blue-eyed, charming. But if I was The Executioner, he was Death itself.'

The action never stops.

'I took one more thing to bed with me, a stuffed toy Penguin named Sigmund.'

Well, almost never, and as the story is written from Anita's point of view you're right there with her - fighting for your life, sacrificing chickens to raise zombies, and trying not to be seduced by things that go bump in the night!

'He looked like a vampire was supposed to look. Softly curling hair tangled with the high white lace of an antique shirt. Lace spilled over pale, long-fingered hands. The shirt hung open, giving a glimpse of lean bare chest framed by more frothy lace. Most men couldn't have worn a shirt like that. The vampire made it seem utterly masculine.'

In fact, this story would make a great computer game ala Tomb Raider. I
would recommend this book to anyone who's into horror/fantasy/vampires.

'Now it's the vampires that need protection...'

Any takers?



Guilty Pleasures
Paperback
ISBN 0-450-59560-9
Published by New English Library
1993.
Fiction:Horror


This book is number 1 in the Anita Blake series, which so far has reached 10 books in total.


Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake books:

1. Guilty Pleasures *
2. The Laughing Corpse
3. Circus of the Damned
4. The Lunatic Café *
5. Bloody Bones
6. The Killing Dance
7. Burnt Offerings
8. Blue Moon
9. Obsidian Butterfly
10 Narcissus in Chains

A * denotes a review I've written on DooYoo just for you!


Laurell K Hamilton Website:
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/lkhamilton /

If you'd like to read about more Vampire Tales visit my page at:
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/7317/AMAZON /vampirebooks.html

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