Book Review: Guilty Pleasures

Title: Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #1)
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance, Mystery
Rating: 4/5
Favorite Character: Jean Claude, definitely. I try not to say the main character everytime because if I liked the book then it's probably a good chance I liked the main character (I did like Anita by the way), but I found Jean Claude every interesting.
Publication Date: 1993 (first published)

Plot: (From Goodreads)
"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... "

"In a world where vampires, zombies and werewolves have been declared legal citizens of the United States, Anita Blake is an "animator" - a profession that involves raising the dead for mourning relatives. But Anita is also known as a fearsome hunter of criminal vampires, and she's often employed to investigate cases that are far too much for conventional police. But as Anita gains the attention of the vampire masters of her hometown of St Louis, she also risks revealing an intriguing secret about herself - the source of her unusual strength and power.


Review:
This book was pretty good. I've heard that later in the series things get a little... weird, but I was willing to read the first couple. And this one as not half bad, I was actually kind of surprised about it, actually. I really liked the characters and what was happening. I also really liked the fact that she wasn't someone that was working with the police department, at least, that wasn't her main gig, because I have read that again and again and it's good to see something a little different.

I think the characters and Anita's backstory were my favorite parts of this. I like that she had this horrifying thing that had happened to her and yet she was still doing what she knew she was good at. I just like things like that. The characters, though, were very interesting. Aren't people around vampires always a little interesting?

Overall, it was pretty good. I mean, I don't really know what I was expecting but it wasn't what I read. It had much more to it then I thought it would. I'll probably end up reading the next couple, as I said, I've been told it's not really worth reading beyond like the 4th one, but if you've read this series, I'd be happy to hear your opinion on it!