Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The story

Published over ten years ago by Ace, Guilty Pleasures marked the debut of a series that was destined to grow from cult favorite to a major New York Times bestseller. Now, for long-time Anita Blake junkies and newfound fans, Guilty Pleasures makes its trade paperback debut. Readers will learn how Anita Blake started raising the dead-and killing the undead. And how she met Jean Claude, the master vampire destined to become not only her biggest nemesis, but her greatest lover…

My take on it

Wow. This book had me from the beginning. The story is set in Missouri during the summer. The atmosphere is rich and sticky. I love the way the author makes us feel like we’re right there. I’ve never been to Missouri but I can see and feel the place in my mind. It gets even better when Ms Hamilton introduces us to the first character, as she puts it: “Willie Mac Coy had been a jerk before he died. His being dead didn’t change that.”

The characters are rich and plausible. Amazingly fast-paced yet in-depth. As a one-off, it would have been skimming over certain plot threads but since there are lots more novels to follow in the series, I can’t wait to see what Jean-Claude is up to.

All the characters are so well developed, even the secondary ones. I was surprised how much I liked Phillip and Anita is just amazing. Tough yet vulnerable, sexy yet insecure. Great complex heroine!

I love the fact that the author uses short, pithy sentences to characterise the interior monologue. The reader gets into Anita’s mind and that makes the character even more realistic.

I went and bought the second Kindle-book immediately, it was that good.

Do you agree with my comments? Let me know and post below 🙂

View all my reviews on Goodreads

[button text=”Amazon” url=”https://www.amazon.com/Guilty-Pleasures-Anita-Vampire-Hunter-ebook/dp/B0030MTPU6/marioherma20-20″ class=””]