Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures, Volume 1 » (Bargain)

Toss everything you think you know about vampire stories and sword and sorcery novels into an open grave, because Laurell K. Hamilton is reinventing the genres with chills, thrills, and giggles. With her popular Anita Blake and Meredith Gentry series, Hamilton is making dark fantasy fantastically entertaining again.

New York Times Best-Selling author Laurell K. Hamilton offers readers a brand new experience in the world of Anita Blake! Fusing mythology, werewolves and vampires with a story loaded with mystery, action and romance, the Anita Blake novels take place in a world where vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of nightmare have been declared legal citizens of the United States. Anita Blake is an "animator" - a profession that involves raising the dead for a living. Anita Blake is also known as a fearsome hunter of criminal vampires, and she moonlights by investigating cases that are far too much for "conventional" police. But as Anita gains the attention of the vampire masters in her hometown of St. Louis, she also risks revealing an intriguing secret about herself - the source of her unusual strength and power.

As a special treat, Anita Blake fans will also discover an original side story featuring Anita and Dolph, written specially for the hardcover edition by Laurell K. Hamilton.

Collects Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures #1-6.

Martha Cornog - Library Journal

Suckers for vampires will find Marvel's adaptation a satisfying rendering of the Hamilton novel. Numerous details from the book turn up faithfully: Anita's stuffed penguins, Jean-Claude's blue eyes, and the same feel of overheated rottenness. Someone is killing St. Louis vampires, which is murder since vampires are now legal U.S. citizens, and the vamps want Anita to find the killer. No friend of fangs, Anita raises the dead for a living and kills criminal vampires as a sideline, but loyalty to a friend convinces her to take the case. Now she's in for wererats, ghoul attacks, vampire "freak" (swinger) parties, and too many encounters with nymphet vampire queen Nikolaos, plus a parade of gorgeous men (some human, some vampire), all trying too hard to be friendly. Interwoven for intellectuals are fascinating pseudoanthropological details about what a modern society with "real" vampires, ghouls, zombies, and werebeings might be like. The color artwork blends standard DC Comics/Marvel realism with a shojo manga swirl, especially with the bishonenmen. No nudity or explicitness, but the heavy sexual vibe and later direction of the Anita Blake stories make this best for adult collections.