Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #1) in Anita Blake Vampire Hunter

Jan 01, 2008 mlady_rebecca rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: author__laurell_k_hamilton__ab, genre__urban_fantasy, 2019, fictional_series__traditional, characters__necromancers_or_reapers, fiction__speculative, characters__vamps, troupe__mindlink_mates, characters__incubii_succubii, writing_as_laurell_k_hamilton

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is being reviewed after I've read the entire series through "Blood Noir" multiple times, so keep that in mind.

It's so strange to revisit Anita when she had no one who was really close to her. Having girlfriends - Ronnie and Catherine - doesn't seem to make up for the lack of anyone who's really special to her. Sigmund is awesome, but he isn't the same.

At the time Animating had only been a licensed business for about 5 years (chpt 1 LCo), vampires had only been legal for 2 (chpt 1), and RPIT This is being reviewed after I've read the entire series through "Blood Noir" multiple times, so keep that in mind.

It's so strange to revisit Anita when she had no one who was really close to her. Having girlfriends - Ronnie and Catherine - doesn't seem to make up for the lack of anyone who's really special to her. Sigmund is awesome, but he isn't the same.

At the time Animating had only been a licensed business for about 5 years (chpt 1 LCo), vampires had only been legal for 2 (chpt 1), and RPIT was brand new (chpt 1).

(Technically the first stat was written up in "The Laughing Corpse", but that's only the difference between June and August of the same summer.)

Anita had 14 vampire kills under her belt (chpt 6) and yet she didn't know - they could fly, they could wake before dusk, or how humans who were bitten differed from true human servants. She could only raise 3 zombies a night, a 100 year old zombie was a challenge (chpt 28), and a 300 year old zombie was a candidate for a white goat (chpt 1 LCo).

It amazes me, looking back, how little interaction Jean-Claude and Anita had before Jean-Claude marked Anita for the first time. A few police cases and one night ... so little time to make such a permanent decision.

For the record, two marks let them share dreams, and let Jean-Claude taste food and feed through Anita. The mind to mind talk didn't come till the third mark.

As for familiar faces, of course we saw Edward; Dolph and Zerbrowski; Catherine, Ronnie, and Monica; Bert and Jamison (another animator); oh, and Mrs. Pringle *g*. We also had our first tastes of Willie, Robert, and Buzz of the vamps, plus Malcolm; Rafael, Lillian, and Louie of the wererats; and Irving of the werewolves. (I hadn't remembered seeing any werewolves before "Circus of the Damned".)

We didn't really talk about vamps feeding on fear or rotting that early in the series, but I think that's what Nicholas was. Aubrey was hers, I think. But it sounded like Theresa might have been from Belle's line. She had the laugh.

And, poor Phillip. All the men Anita is attracted to seem to have such tragic pasts. Richard being the big exception. Phillip was "taken" for the first time as a child by Valentine. Not only the biting, but sex. No wonder he was so messed up. Still can't help crying for Phillip.

Tight story, since the animating, the RPIT case, and the vamp politics were all tied together.

(Reviewed 04/24/2009.) ...more

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Apr 29, 2010 Pat aka Tygyr rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, reread, paranormal, thriller, mystery, 2014-books, long-time-ago-read

This is a reread for me. After rereading Black Dagger Brotherhood start to finish I decided to reread some of my other series. I have some of Anita Blake's books in hard cover and some in paper back. What is missing I am filling in with Kindle editions like this one.
I am so glad I decided to reread this series. Anita Blake is a kick ass, short statured, underrated by most males, animator (raises the dead for a living), the Executioner (kills Vampires for the government and because she hates them This is a reread for me. After rereading Black Dagger Brotherhood start to finish I decided to reread some of my other series. I have some of Anita Blake's books in hard cover and some in paper back. What is missing I am filling in with Kindle editions like this one.
I am so glad I decided to reread this series. Anita Blake is a kick ass, short statured, underrated by most males, animator (raises the dead for a living), the Executioner (kills Vampires for the government and because she hates them), Episcopalian (Catholics hated her professions, so she converted) woman. The police in St. Louis where she lives (and I live across the river, so I really enjoy all the St. Louis references), pay her for her expertise on the monsters. She also works for Animators, INC. Her boss will ask her to do anything as long as it brings in enough money to the business. She is not the only Animator at work, but she is clearly the strongest.
In Guilty Pleasures we see Anita at work at both of her jobs. She is a bridesmaid and attends a party with the bride and one other bridesmaid at a Vampire Bar - Guilty Pleasures. There she learns that the other bridesmaid set her up, because she is enthralled by a vampire. The bride is enthralled as part of the "entertainment" for the evening, all because Anita had refused to work for Vampires to help them find who is killing their own off. The mad (insane) Master of the City puts Anita in a cell until she is ready to talk to her. Rats (were rats) go on the attack. They are the Master's animal to call. She fights them off until their King arrives and orders them off. Jean Claude is also a vampire. Without her knowledge he has given her 2 marks, making her is human servant. She still refuses to do his bidding. But she is stronger for the marks. Less likely to be enthralled by other vamps. An old friend, more deadly than Anita comes to town. Edward is hunting the Master of the City. He wants Anita to tell him where the Master resides. The climax is the battle. Who dies and who lives? Since it is a series, clearly Anita survives, but at what cost?
In each book, Anita loses a little more of her humanity. She was bit by a were rat, will she go furry now? She has 2 marks of 4, will she have to obey Jean Claude? The murders the cops bring her in on are horrific, but with each one she becomes just a bit more immune to the sights.
Hamilton writes a great supernatural thriller with memorable characters and situations. Anita is constantly being stretched in too many directions, existing on coffee some days and little sleep. Only her stuffed penguin collection brings her a sense of comfort. She works mainly with and for men, but she doesn't date in this book. How would she fit it into her non-stop, action packed days and nights? ...more

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Apr 16, 2010 Hollee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: anita-blake

Quote "An R Rated Buffy the Vampire Slayer...desert for the mind, with sprinkles!" - The New York Review of Science Fiction end Quote. Still waiting for the R Rated stuff!! It's a little sickly and cruel at times with the blood giving and taking, but all in all pretty tame!! I love the character Anita Blake she reminds me of an older version of Rachel Morgan. Every hunter needs sarcasm it is an ultimate must!! ...more

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Jul 19, 2010 warren pyatt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

AWSOME

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Jan 10, 2010 Cecilyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: anita-blake-vampire-hunter-series

I have read this book several times last year and still I could not help myself from re-reading this and all the other books in this series.

Jan. 10, 2010.... I joined this Anita Blake Challenge 2010... re-reading this entire collection... what a plus... I get to own a set of the series if I win. A most pleasurable challenge to undertake. I look forward to completing this series yet again.....

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Jul 01, 2010 Amanda D rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The first book in the series is a great look into a new world of supernatural beings. Love the horror factor and how finally vampires are being portrayed as monsters but some more likeable then others.

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Sep 25, 2009 Yulia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, paranormal, shape-shifters, urban-fantasy

It's an ok book.
Good on the action part and all, but too bad there isn't romance *pouting* though maybe if there was, it would've been a lot like Sookie Stackhouse series... ...more

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