''Guilty Pleasures'' is a 1993 horror and mystery novel by American writer

Laurell K. Hamilton Laurell Kaye Hamilton (born February 19, 1963) is an American fantasy and romance writer. She is best known as the author of two series of stories. Her The New York Times Best Seller list, ''New York Times''-bestselling ''Anita Blake: Vampire H ...

. It is the first book in the '' Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter'' series. ''Guilty Pleasures'' introduces the character of

Anita Blake Anita Blake is the title and viewpoint character of the '' Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter'' series by Laurell K. Hamilton. The series takes place in a parallel world in which supernatural characters like vampires and werewolves exist alongside reg ...

, a vampire hunter and necromancer, who works in an alternate universe where magic, vampires, werewolves and other supernatural elements exist. The novel blends elements of

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

and

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

Plot summary

In ''Guilty Pleasures'', Anita Blake is blackmailed by

Nikolaos Nikolaos ( el, Νικόλαος, ') is a common Greek given name which means "Victor of People", a compound of νίκη '' nikē'' 'victory' and λαός laos' 'people'. The connotation is "people's champion" or "conqueror of people". The English ...

, the vampire master of the city, into investigating a series of vampire murders. During the course of this investigation, Anita begins her relationship with

Jean-Claude Jean-Claude is a French masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Claude Ades, an Italian electronic music producer * Jean-Claude Alibert (died 2020), a French racing driver * Jean-Claude Amiot (born 1939), a French compos ...

, another master vampire, and receives two of the four marks necessary to make her Jean-Claude's "human servant." Ultimately, Anita identifies the murderer, but by that point has sufficiently antagonized Nikolaos and her underlings that she is forced to confront them. Ultimately, with help from Jean-Claude and

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

, a human associate who specializes in assassinating supernatural targets, Anita kills Nikolaos and many of her followers, making Jean-Claude master of the city.

Adaptations

On October 20, 2006 a twelve issue comic book adaptation of ''Guilty Pleasures'' began, published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

and

Dabel Brothers Productions Dabel Brothers Productions (also known as DB Pro, DBPro, Dabel Brothers Publishing and sometimes Dabel Brothers Production) is a U.S. publishing company of comic books and graphic novels. It was founded in 2001 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. I ...

. The set was collected into two volumes starting in 2007, with a complete edition releasing in 2009.

Reception

The Celebrity Cafe gave the book a positive review, calling it "engaging".

Main characters

Phillip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

References

{{Anita Blake 1993 American novels American erotic novels Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels Low fantasy novels Novels set in St. Louis Urban fantasy novels Ace Books books Novels adapted into comics