My name is Anita Blake. Vampires call me The Executioner. What I call them isn't repeatable.

Ever since the Supreme Court granted the undead equal rights, most people think vampires are just ordinary folks with fangs. I know better. I've seen their victims. I carry the scars...

But now a serial killer is murdering vampires - and the most powerful bloodsucker in town wants me to find the killer...

List of books in the Anita Blake series:
1. Guilty Pleasures (1993)
2. The Laughing Corpse (1994)
3. Circus of the Damned (1995)
4. The Lunatic Cafe (1996)
5. Bloody Bones (1996)
6. The Killing Dance (1997)
7. Burnt Offerings (1998)
8. Blue Moon (1998)
9. Obsidian Butterfly (2000)
10. Narcissus in Chains (2001)
11. Cerulean Sins (2003)
12. Incubus Dreams (2004)
13. Micah (2006)
14. Danse Macabre (2006)
15. The Harlequin (2007)
16. Blood Noir (2008)
17. Skin Trade (2009)

I originally read this book in a bookring organised by CheriePie. Here's a link to the bookring copy.

Copy of my review, written on Saturday, April 22, 2006:
I received this book on Tuesday (April 18th) and started reading it right away, as I've wanted to read the Anita Blake series for years. I was surprised to find out that Guilty Pleasures was already published in 1993. Where have I been all these years? I probably would have finished the book in one sitting, if it weren't for pesky nuisances such as work and the like... Anyway, yesterday evening I had finally time to sit down and finish the book. :)

I enjoyed this book very much. It was interesting right from the beginning, and easy to read. I was glad to notice that even though the series has been compared to Buffy (Anita even calls herself a vampire slayer a couple of times) it was still different enough, so that I wasn't comparing the two series to each other while reading. At least after the first book, I have to say I still prefer Buffy. (Although, you can ask me about pretty much anything: "Do you prefer Buffy or x?" and the answer will always be "Buffy".) I'm pretty sure neither series has been influenced very much by the other: the creator of Buffy, Joss Whedon, says his main influence for Buffy was the character of Kitty Pryde from the X-Men comics, and even though the film Buffy the Vampire Slayer was released in 1992, I doubt Laurell K. Hamilton could have found any inspiration in it.

I had a few minor quibbles though. When Anita was first introduced, I thought "oh no, not another tough-chick heroine with intimacy issues" but thankfully I got over that as the book progressed. And I've understood Anita gets more comfortable with her own sexuality as the series progresses, something I'm very much looking forward to.

I was also offended by the following passage when I first read it (page 12): "It was a shame that it wasn't merely the shape of a cross that hurt a vampire. Unfortunately, the cross had to be blessed, and backed up by faith. An atheist waving a cross at a vampire was a truly pitiful sight." As I thought about the issue more, I came to the conclusion that I actually prefer this version of the vampire lore; this way, the power doesn't lie so much in the cross itself as in the person holding it. I have to admit I had a hard time accepting Anita's Christian faith at first too, but that was also something I got used to. Heck, I would probably believe in the Christian God too if I could see with my own eyes that a Christian cross hurts a vampire. (I have nothing against Christianity itself: I've read lots of books on it, and I read the Bible too, I only have issues with some of the beliefs of the church today. So as long as Anita doesn't start saying stuff like "Homosexuality is a sin, but fortunately you can be healed back into heterosexuality" I have nothing against her. ;) )

I'm very much looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series (and everything else Laurell K. Hamilton has written)! As AngelKitty said in her review, I too liked how there was all sorts of new legal issues after the undead had been granted equal rights by the Supreme Court. "Do heirs have to return their inheritance if the deceased becomes undead?" I hope we get to see more of this in future novels, and I'm especially interested in learning more about the Christian church's attitude towards vampires. I loved that this book had so many threads left open and questions left unanswered. I'm looking forward to learning more about Edward, Jean-Claude and the rest of the caracters.

Hmm, it would be interesting to read this again, knowing where the series is going...

Surprise rabck. Enjoy!

Superb!! Thank you so so much.