Short book review: "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain

If you're not interested in food, cooking, and kitchens--or if you haven't worked in a restaurant--you probably won't find this book interesting. A lot of people would probably be nothing but offended at some of what Bourdain has to say about restaurants. Bourdain talks about how he first became interested in food, his path through the Culinary Institute of America and then through an array of kitchens; he talks about his years of drug addiction, and encounters with the mob in New York's restaurant business. In the second half of the book is when non-foodies will probably lose their focus, as Bourdain describes a typical day for him, and talks about the people who work for him in the kitchen. That was my favorite part, in contrast--although I've worked only in fairly crappy restaurants, nothing as exciting and sophisticated as Les Halles, I could still relate.

In short the book is interesting, and often funny, and sarcastic; it's foul-mouthed and honest, and was well worth the read.

Product review: Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth deodorant

The last time I went to the store to buy deodorant, I couldn't remember for the life of me which brand I used to get. I'd been using Lady Speed Stick, because they carried it at the dollar store, but it wasn't the best. I couldn't remember what I used before that, so I thought I'd try something new. As long as I was trying something new, why not try something that's supposed to have an added benefit? So I got the Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth kind, which is supposed to make your underarm hair finer and less annoying.

I haven't been using it long enough to know if it works on the hair, though that would be great. What I can say is that I'm totally impressed with the anti-perspirant capabilities of this! I've been using it for a week--a week of hellish, busy, stressful, miserable waitressing shifts. Not once have I felt at all sweaty or gross. When my shift is over, I don't feel like my armpits are sticky and gross. I'm quite impressed. Even if the claims about hair lessening turn out to be bull, I'll keep using this!

Product review: Always Infinity

I've been in a "feminine protection" product rut for several years now. Once I found stuff that works tolerably well, I just kept buying that same stuff. For several years I've been buying Always regular pads and Playtex tampons. Why mess with success, right? I tend to be suspicious of all the "new and improved" products--what's the advantage of having a braided string on your tampon, honestly?

On Sunday I had to buy new supplies for the first time in a year (long story). Usually I'd just buy my regular stuff, but the Infinity stuff was on sale. It was still a little more expensive than the regular pads, until I spied a coupon somebody had forgotten! With the sale and the BOGO coupon, I was sold. I got a large box of the regular absorbency and a smaller box of the ones for heavier flow.

When I first opened one up, I thought it was really strange looking. The front is narrower than the back, and the slip that holds the wings in place even says which direction is the front. The top layer is a soft sort of mesh. The next layer has horizontal slits cut out of it near the back, and a collection of small holes near the front of the pad, where most of the liquid would land. I wasn't sure what the point of those holes was, nor if this ridiculously thin pad would be worth messing with.

After my first use, though, I was impressed. Whatever this "infinicel" foam is they use to make these, it's amazing. It's like very thin, very flexible sponge. The blood gets channeled down through the small holes, to the bottom most layer of the pad; the top stays amazingly dry. The foam also absorbs an astounding amount of liquid--and it doesn't well back up to the top layer until pretty much the entire length of the pad is saturated. When it gets to that point, though, even a light touch will cause fluid to well up, so suddenly the entire length of the pad will show red. Still, it controls it well--I didn't ruin any underwear using these.

On a day like today, I usually would've used five or six of the regular "heavy flow" pads, and probably a couple of tampons as well. Actually, if I hadn't had to work, I'd've spent the day sitting on towels in case of leaks and taking frequent showers. Instead, I've used three regular flow Infinity pads and one heavy flow. That may sound like a lot for one day, but comparatively, it's amazing. Yesterday I only used two pads all day--because not only are they crazy absorbent, they're very durable. After eight hours, the wings were still firmly stuck, the mesh top of the pad was still intact, and there were no signs of the inner layers of the pad starting to break up or flake like some pads will.

My skin wasn't irritated by the pad, which is an improvement over others; it didn't come unstuck and end up adhering to my skin; the wings didn't chafe the insides of my thighs; it didn't bunch up or feel like it was migrating backward as I walked; and it handled even my heaviest, most obnoxious flow--during the dinner rush, no less, when I couldn't go to the restroom for hours. I'd say these pads are just about perfect; they're pretty damn impressive. My only complaint is that they are a little pricey, so I'll probably make a strong effort to always have a coupon to use, but even if I can't find a coupon, this is a product I'd be willing to pay full price for.

Game review: Plants vs Zombies

Okay, so this game came out months ago and I'm behind the times as usual. But I freaking love it!

Made by PopCap games, it has a simple pretense: Zombies are attacking, and you have to defend your house! You do this by planting various protective plants in square on your lawn--like "Wall-nuts" that the zombies have to gnaw through, and "Melon-Pults" that bombard the zombies with watermelons. There are different levels to work through: daytime, night time, with a pool, and a roof level with catapulting plants. You have to use different plant strategies for the different levels--the nighttime ones can be really hard, since gravestones will pop up and regurgitate zombies behind your lines of defense.

It's a basic "defend your castle" sort of game, but what makes it so fun is the goofy-ass zombies and plants. There are conehead zombies, football zombies, and Zombie Bobsled Team: "Zombie Bobsled Team worked hard to get where they are. They live together, eat brains together and train together to become a cohesive zombie unit." I love it! There's also a "zen garden" for plants you find or buy while playing, that you can water and feed to gather coins from to buy more stuff. My favorite is the "Tree of Wisdom"--when you feed it, it gives you advice, and at different heights, you can make the zombies look different--or, you know, explode like pinatas. Whatever.

PopCap also parodied all those stupid Evony ads bouncing around (on the right). Their promotional "music video" below is how I first heard about the game, and it's hilarious:

TV review: "White Collar" on USA

I probably wouldn't have watched this show if it weren't for Matthew Bomer. Sure, USA has been advertising the hell out of it, but they do that for everything--but I've been less than impressed with some (Royal Pains, In Plain Sight, The Starter Wife). But I recognized Matthew Bomer from Tru Calling, and of course Willie Garson from Sex and the City. So I set my DVR and watched it.

Matthew Bomer is Neil Caffrey, a convicted felon, who escapes from prison at the start. He then steals a car with ease and makes his way to New York City. He doesn't get far, though; the FBI agent who originally caught him, Peter Burke, finds him again in the deserted apartment of his girlfriend. Caffrey goes back to jail, but ends up being temporarily released into Burke's custody, in order to help Burke and the FBI catch a forger they call "The Dutchman".

This really was a just about perfectly balanced premier. We got history, but not too much. We got hints of the future, hints of mystery, but not enough to be obnoxious and frustrating. The character interaction was authentic and often amusing; Caffrey and Burke have a good rapport. The storyline of catching the other forger was interesting, and also believable. The story had clever twists, and there were some interesting camera angles and zooms, but there was none of the over-the-top, Ocean's 11-type style that ended up turning me off of TNT's Leverage. I'm really glad I did watch this; I think it's going to be a great series.

And of course, the adorableness that is Matt Bomer doesn't hurt.

If you missed it, it'll be re-running on USA all week.

TV commentary: House M.D. episode 3, "The Tyrant"

I don't know that I can really maintain a weekly review/commentary of the series, but I just had to say something about this one! If you haven't seen it, stop reading, because I'm not going to shy away from spoilers.

In case anybody needs reminding, this is the episode where James Earl Jones plays an African dictator the team treats. House is still on the sidelines, as he doesn't have his medical license back yet; and I think that has a lot to do with why it ended as it did, because holy shit! Chase killed a guy! I am amazed. I didn't think Cameron would do it, even though she was so angry about treating him. And I didn't think Chase would, because he's, well, he's been such a pansy in the past!

Honestly, if House had been truly involved and invested in the case, I think things would've gone differently. I think House would've been savvy to Chase's actions if he'd been there every step of the way, instead of shoved to the sidelines. It's just another instance of Foreman falling short--he's an arrogant ass, and he's not half as smart as he thinks he is. He may solve the odd medical problem, but he doesn't have the innate understanding of other people nor the observant nature of House.

What would House have done, had he been in charge of the patient's care? He's implied in the past that he's helped terminal patients die; but I don't think he would kill the tyrant. I think he'd debate with him, and perhaps House's peculiar but spot-on logic would have swayed him. Even if it didn't, I think House would have treated him and sent him on his way--because despite his bullying of patients, and his denouncing of most as idiots, he also has respect for the free will of individuals, so long as they accept responsibility. House wouldn't condone the slaughter of an ethnic group, but he wouldn't think it was his responsibility to prevent either. He may take a ridiculous amount of responsibility upon himself, for his own decisions; but he won't accept the burden of others' choices.

So now Chase is a murderer, Foreman is an accomplice, and next week the hospital has to submit a report of the president's case. Can scleroderma be disproved after death? Will Cuddy spot something hinky with the files? Spoilers have been let out that Cameron will be leaving the show--something which shocks me--and that it has something to do with this episode. Will she leave her husband and Princeton Plainsboro when she finds out what Chase has done? Or will she take the fall for him and leave because of that? Gah!

This was just an amazing episode overall. I loved seeing House's old team together again, although it felt a bit stilted with Foreman in charge. Chase's sarcastic coffee cup salute was awesome and made me laugh. Cameron, with her "insane moral compass", was excellent at once again giving the ethical dilemma while not resolving it.

Wilson, who I usually love, made me want to slap him. His best friend just had a mental breakdown and spent months in the psych ward, and he's kicking him out of his stable, safe environment over a goddamn fountain? What a jerk! Of course, in many ways Wilson has always been a jerk--after all, who does House go to when he wants to manipulate a patient?

And House, of course, was still struggling with the aftereffects of his breakdown. I miss his sarcastic witticisms, which seem dulled by his attempt to change. Change is healthy, of course, but the strain of holding his tongue when dealing with the jerk downstairs was obvious. I hope that next week shows a return of House to the center stage--Foreman is obviously not capable of running the department, and after all, the show is called House.

The stand-out of this episode was really Jesse Spencer, though. His internal conflict, his approach to the patient and its evolution, and his confrontation with Foreman .... absolutely amazing. I hope he has more chances to season to do such great work.

Short book review: "Broken" by Kelley Armstrong

I think Broken may be my favorite book in this series so far. We've reverted back to the first main character, Elena the werewolf. She's now pregnant, and going nuts being babied by the rest of her pack. She's also terrified she's going to lose her baby; and that internal drama got a little tiring at times.

Still, the basic story was really good. Elena accepts what they think is just a research job, but predictably turns out to be more. She's hired to steal back a letter supposedly written by Jack the Ripper, which is actually some sort of dimensional portal that releases a couple of disease-ridden zombies from 1800s London. To hunt them down, and determine if Jack the Ripper was released as well, Elena, Clay, and Jeremy enlist the help of a couple of vampires and Jamie Vegas (necromancer).

This was the first book in the series that I couldn't put down from start to finish, I highly recommend it.

Short book review: "Industrial Magic" by Kelley Armstrong

I put off reading this one for a while, since Dime Store Magic didn't really thrill me. Once I started it, I was pleasantly surprised. Paige, Savannah, and Paige's Cabal sorcerer boyfriend Lucas have moved to Oregon and are living happily. Then Lucas' father shows up, wanting them to help the sorcerer Cabals with attacks on a number of their employees' teenaged children. At first they resist, thinking it's another ploy for the elder Cortez to lure his wayward son back to the fold, but eventually they agree to help.

I really liked this particular book; this was the first one in the series I had a hard time putting down. It was also a nice bridge to the next book: in addition to Lucas and Paige, we see the werewolf pack again, and the necromancer Jamie Vegas. Savannah's ghostly mother is part of the story too, which leads to the next book--which I rushed to read after this one. Becoming one of my favorite series.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince review number 87,353,343

Okay, so 87 million might be an exaggeration, but not by much. But I'm going to toss my opinion out there anyway!

I'm not going to shy away from spoilers, since I'm assuming most people know how things end. You've been warned! If you don't know what happens at the end of the story, don't read this review.

To give a little context: I've read all the books, and see all the movies. My favorite out of all the movies is the third--I'm not a huge fan of the first two. This is partially because of the terrible acting and cheesiness (the end of the second one makes me cringe), and partially because it looked so different from how I pictured it. The first two were also so obviously kid-oriented; I think the latter ones do a much better job of balancing the humor and magic of the books with the darker aspects. So even though the last three movies haven't been as faithful to the books, I like them a lot better.

The movie hit all the important points for this particular storyline: Slughorn and his altered memory, the trips into the Pensieve, Malfoy's scheme with the vanishing cabinet. Harry finds the used potions book, and uses the sectumsempra spell; he accompanies Dumbledore to get the Horcrux, watches Snape's apparent betrayal, and discovers the Horcrux is a fake. Sometimes the ways we get there are different--most notably, we see Malfoy's experiments with the cabinet and can see all along what's coming, even though none of our main characters would have knowledge of it--but the main points are all there.

The side plotlines of the relationships were fiddled with; Ron and Lavendar are hilarious, but Harry and Hermione bonding over their unrequited love for Ginny and Ron was created out of whole cloth. Harry and Ginny's relationship is boiled down to one kiss, essentially, and that's about it. Tonks calls Remus "sweetheart" at one point, but other than that there's nothing about their relationship at all.

A couple of other scenes were added, particularly a scene Bellatrix and Fenrir Greyback show up at the Burrow and lure Harry out of the house. Although it didn't happen in the book, I thought it was a good addition--mostly because there was so little actual action in the book until the very end. The fact that the Weasley's house is torched is going to cause problems later, though, I think.

Speaking of problems ... I'm interested to see how the heck they arrange for Harry, Hermione and Ron to find the rest of the Horcruxes, considering 99% of Harry's conversations/Pensieve trips with Dumbledore were completely left out. We don't see young Tom Riddle visiting the old lady with the Hufflepuff cup, or his mother and her family in their squalid hut. There's also nothing about nonverbal spells, Bill and Fleur, the Dursley's, Kreacher or the house on Grimmauld Place. Sirius is mentioned once, in passing. I know a lot of things would have to be left out; it's a very long book. But I'm not sure how they're going to weave all the pieces together for Deathly Hallows.

My biggest problem with the movie, though, is that the end felt very, very rushed. There was no battle in Hogwarts; Harry's duel with Snape was all of two spells. Snape tells Harry he's the half-blood prince but not why--not that it seems important in the scope of the movie. Dumbledore's memorial service is completely left out, as is Harry's ending conversation with Ginny.

All of this isn't to say I dislike the movie; I thought it was pretty good. It was very visually interesting, and it was funny and suspenseful. I'm not just sure how they're going to bridge the gap between this movie and everything that happens in Deathly Hallows.

Oh, one last thing--Tom Felton, the guy who plays Draco, does a great job.

Book review: Bloody Bones by Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake 5)

Warning: Contains spoilers for earlier books in the series.

Bloody Bones is one of my favorite books in the series, because this is the first book where we really see Jean-Claude as a person, rather than just a scheming master vampire, and it's fun. We also learn more about Anita's deceased mother, and how her death affected Anita. Jason the werewolf is back too, being a pain in the ass as always.

Anita (and Larry Kirkland, animator/vampire hunter in training) goes out of town to attempt to raise centuries-old zombies from a mass grave that's been disturbed. A high-powered law firm is footing the bill; the ground was being broken to build expensive homes, but now the ownership of the land is being disputed. If the corpses are members of the Bouvier family, then the law firm is SOL--but why won't the Bouviers, who are poor, sell this out-of-the-way piece of land? Magnus and Dorcas Bouvier are interesting characters all on their own; it's cool to see another "fairy tale" sort of being living day-to-day in the modern world.

Of course, a simple animating job isn't all the story: the state police call Anita in to look at the murders of three teenage boys, who appear to have been killed with a sword by something with preternatural speed. Then Anita gets another call, to the home of a family who's daughter was found bitten and dead in her bedroom. While hunting the vamp that killed the girl, Anita encounters the sword-wielding beastie, and realizes she might be in over her head. To try to solve these murders (and a kidnapping), Anita needs to contact the local Master of the City--and for that she needs Jean-Claude. He flies into town and bunks in her hotel room (though she, of course, takes the couch). That's a very interesting proposition, considering that in the last book Jean-Claude essentially blackmailed her into dating him as well as Richard--and Anita doesn't deny that JC has "a cute butt for a dead guy".

This is definitely one of the high points in the series. Anita is still struggling with her love life, struggling with her powers, and fighting against her attraction to Jean-Claude. There's plenty of conflict, there's plenty of action, plenty of Anita being sarcastic and hard-asses, and also some naked Jean-Claude!

TV review: Nip/Tuck

Without spoiling storylines, it's hard to fully express how absolutely insane this show is. It's a soap opera on crack with occasional lucid periods. It's absolutely a drama, absolutely outside the realms of reality--but with enough touches of the mundane to make it swallowable. It's depressing sometimes, exploring the vulnerabilities of peoples' lives and neurosis, and then there are touches of humor (usually morbid) that make me laugh out loud. It's touching, and horrifying, and uplifting, and hilarious, and suspenseful, and I absolutely fucking love it.

To give a basic rundown: Nip/Tuck follows the lives of two plastic surgeons and their families. Christian Troy (played by McMahon) is hot and knows it. He's a man-whore, an arrogant jerk, a womanizer, and generally an asshole. Sean McNamara (played by Dylan Walsh) is married with two kids, is vaguely miserable, and is the kinder, gentler member of McNamara/Troy, their plastic surgery business. The contrast between their two lifestyles is made immediately apparent: Christian picks up a model in a bar and takes her home, where he snorts coke off her body and has crazy hot monkey sex with her. Interspersed into that scene are shots of Sean at home in bed with his wife, lethargically humping while she stares at the ceiling.

Of course, that static shot of their lives is only the surface--through the course of four seasons, we've learned that Christian has a lot of secrets he hides from with sex, and Sean has a lot of issues he represses. They both envy what the other has, and make various attempts to live each other's lives with varying degrees of success, and often spectacular failures. This is not a happily-ever-after show.

In addition to the frequent and gratuitous sex, there are graphic surgery scenes in every episode--definitely not for the squeamish. I think that's the thing that turns most people off the show; when I mention it, people either love it or say they can't stand surgery scenes. But the fact is, the surgery scenes are an underscore, a way of drawing to attention to the bloody, painful, ridiculous lengths people go to for beauty. And although each episode is named for the patient being operated on, the storylines are rarely about the patients. They're there, but always in relation to how they affect Sean or Christian.

One important thing with Nip/Tuck: start from the beginning. If you come in anywhere else, you'll be confused. You'll also not have as good an appreciation for the characters and their motivations--one of the things that makes this a great show is the fact that the characters don't make their choices in a vacuum. Their actions make sense in light of their past (for the most part--nothing's perfect). When Christian blatantly, intentionally fucks up a relationship, we understand why even though we think he's a stupid ass. If you're new to the show, you'll see the superficial motivations for things, but not the finer points.

For all the T&A, flashy production, and bloody surgery scenes, Nip/Tuck is a thought-provoking show. Fast-forward through the surgery scenes if you have to, but give it a try.

Book review: The Lunatic Cafe by Laurell K. Hamilton (Book 4)

Contains spoilers for the previous books in the series.

The Lunatic Cafe feels, to me, to be where Hamilton really hits her stride writing about Anita Blake. I can't put my finger exactly on why; things just seem to flow better. We start out with Anita meeting a client whose werewolf wife is missing, but he won't go to the police because she'll lose her job if anyone finds out she's a lycanthrope. After doing what she can for the client, Anita goes to the theater with local werewolf Richard Zeeman, who she met in the last book. She's then called away to visit a murder scene in a neighboring county. The local police were calling it a bear kill, but Anita thinks it's a rogue shapeshifter.

And of course, her night isn't over yet. Her reporter friend Irving is waiting at home to take her to a meeting demanded by the werewolf pack leader at a place called The Lunatic Cafe--turns out her client's wife isn't the only missing shapeshifter, and they want Anita to help them find out what's going on. Anita also discovers that her boyfriend has fought the pack leader twice, but refused to kill him--and considering how practical Anita can be when it comes to survival, that's something she doesn't understand. To top it off, while leaving the cafe, Anita spots her assassin friend Edward in the crowd, and he asks for her help identifying his target.

One thing I like about this book is how the storylines mesh, but don't all meld. In Circus of the Damned, all the storylines ended up leading to the same point, which was a little too convenient. I also like the dynamic set up between Jean-Claude, Anita, and Richard, and how Anita is struggling to choose what she wants her life to be: to continue with her current lifestyle, "covered in blood and corpses", or to try for a more normal life, with more normal hobbies. While she's struggling with this idea, she's also getting more ruthless and pragmatic, and less bothered by killing.

This is definitely one of my favorite books in the series.

Book review: Circus of the Damned by Laurell K Hamilton (Anita Blake 3)

Contains spoilers for the previous books in the series, Guilty Pleasures and The Laughing Corpse.

Circus of the Damned is the third book in the Anita Blake series, and I always seem to forget one of the plotlines, as it has several. At the start of the book, Anita has a meeting with two men from an anti-vampire group (Humans First). They try to convince Anita to give them the resting place of the Master of the City, so they can kill him. Although Anita is still royally pissed that Jean-Claude gave her two vampire marks, she doesn't betray his identity, and the two men leave, although they come back later for different reasons.

Anita then gets a call from Dolph, with the RPIT squad, to come look at a body with multiple vampire bites. To try to find out who is responsible, Anita visits Jean-Claude the next night, but he doesn't have much information. She does meet Richard Zeeman, a seemingly normal guy stuck hanging around the vampires, and also a shapeshifter named Stephen. When she gets home her assassin "friend" Edward is waiting for her, and threatens to torture her to obtain the identity and location of the Master.

And yet another person is looking for the Master--a rogue master vampire named Alejandro. He forces the first two vampire marks on Anita after attacking her. Along for the ride is Larry Kirkland, a new animator who Anita is training for Animators, Inc. There are a lot of events and storylines jammed into this one book, and occasionally it gets a little confusing.

The writing is about on-par with the first two books in the series; we get a bit more development of vampire lore and laws, and also a bit more on shapeshifters. There's some development of the relationship between Jean-Claude and Anita as well, including how drawn she is to him while simultaneously wanting to be free of him--with all the people seeking the Master, and all of them wanting him dead, will Anita finally get rid of JC? The threads of the different stories eventually tie together, and the climactic battle scene at the end is pretty damn cool.

One thing that does bug me, about the early books in the series in particular, is the attention to describing Anita's clothes. If it's something that serves a purpose, because for some reason her clothes are important in a coming scene, I'm all for it. But I don't need a description of every item of clothing, including her socks. The times when she's discussing the trouble with hiding a gun in womens' dress clothes has a point; pointing out the blue Nike swoosh on her socks just because is overkill.

In the end, it's tough to write a review of this book because it is so packed full. The narrative is hilariously sarcastic and cynical, as usual, and again we get everyday, normal sort of details that really flesh out Anita's world. I don't like it as much as the first couple of books in the series, but it still kept me reading.

Book review: The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton

Contains spoilers for the first book in the series.

The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake #2)takes place a month or two after Guilty Pleasures. It's a relatively short book (under three hundred pages), and because we got to know Anita Blake in the first book, we can jump right in to the story.

Anita and her boss, Bert, meet with a client in the first chapter, a man named Harold Gaynor, who wants Anita to raise a 300-year-old corpse. Anita turns the job down, because raising that old a zombie would require a human sacrifice--but Gaynor isn't happy with that answer, and doesn't let it go that easily.

Simultaneously, the RPIT squad is investigating a series of gruesome murders that appear to be the work of a rampaging zombie. I'll be honest, the first time I read this book I may have blanched a bit because of this storyline--hey, I was young and innocent! Hamilton doesn't shirk when it comes to describing the partially eaten remains of suburban families. There's a particularly detailed scene where Anita and another police office try to out-gross each other at a crime scene.

In trying to find the origin of the killer zombie responsible, Anita visits the local voodoo priestess, Dominga Salvador. Because of this, we meet Anita's mentor and trainer, Manny Rodriguez, and find out something about his past. We do see Jean-Claude in this book, in his new role as Master of the City, but he's not involved much in the main plot--instead his screen time is mostly to continue the tension between JC and Anita. Willie McCoy, who Anita knew pre-vamping, is also in the book, and Anita continues to be unsettled by the fact that she doesn't despise him for being a vampire.

One of the things I love about the Anita Blake books, especially the early books, are the little details thrown in. In this book, while visiting the morgue, Anita describes a guard station that "looked like a WWII bunker, complete with machine guns. In case the dead should rise all at once and make for freedom. It had never happened here in St. Louis, but it had happened as close as Kansas City." Those sort of casual add-ins tickle me.

I'd rank The Laughing Corpse a little above Guilty Pleasures; the story is fast-moving, all the pieces tie together, and we get more of a sense of Anita--including her powers and her growing practicality and ruthlessness. I rushed out to get the next book in the series as soon as I'd finished this one.

Book review: Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

I don't even remember now who suggested the Anita Blake books to me. It took me a long time to start reading them. The first time I picked one of them up, I was totally turned off by the sensual covers--not because I was prudish, but because they looked like the kind of books I didn't go for, which is to say romances. The second time, I was more interested, but after reading a couple of pages I was so frustrated with Laurell Hamilton's writing style that I put the book down in disgust. Why I gave them a third shot I'm not really sure; I think I was just at Barnes & Noble one night, depressed and looking for something not too deep to distract me from my wallowing. That was about five years ago. I believe I finished Guilty Pleasures that night, and was hooked from then on--the year wait in between books is as torturous as waiting for Harry Potter was.

In Guilty Pleasures, we're introduced to an interesting world. Anita Blake lives in Saint Louis, Missouri, in modern times ... but in her world, vampires and werewolves, witches and fairies, and all manner of other things that go bump in the night, are real. Vampires are legal citizens, with the same rights as anyone else--they can vote, they have to pay bills, they can be arrested. But because vampires have super strength, and can bespell humans with their powers, "due process" is a little different for them, and that's where Anita comes in: she's the legal vampire executioner for the state of Missouri and surrounding areas. So when a vampire sucks a nice citizen dry, a judge draws up a warrant, and Anita goes after said vampire--with wooden stakes and holy water, sure, but also a sawed-off shotgun. The vampires call her The Executioner, because she has the highest legal kill count of any vampire slayer.

But Anita does something other than kill vampires: she's also an animator, someone who raises zombies for a nice cushy fee. As part of her job with Animators, Inc., Anita is also on retainer for the Regional Preternatural Investigations Team (RPIT). So when a serial killer starts killing vampires in St. Louis, RPIT calls Anita in to help them find the monster killing monsters. Then Anita gets dragged into the investigation by someone much less civilized: the Master of the City, a 1000 year old childlike vampire named Nikolaos who threatens to kill Anita's friend Catherine if Anita doesn't help them.

Guilty Pleasures is fairly clean--I had no problem letting my fourteen year-old cousin read it. Anita visits a strip club (which is where the title comes from), and also attends a "freak party" with definite sexual content, but there are no outright sex scenes or graphic descriptions. The book reads less as an erotic thriller than a detective story with supernatural characters, and it's more about getting to know Anita and her universe.

In this book, we learn that Anita's mother died when she was young. Her father re-married someone who was the opposite of Anita's mother, which contributed to Anita's apparent low self-esteem regarding her looks. She was raised Catholic, and discovered her zombie-raising powers when she accidentally raised her childhood dog from the dead. Anita at the start of the series is rather emotionally reserved, living alone and working a lot. She doesn't take crap from anyone, sometimes going overboard to prove that being short, female, and well-endowed does not make her lesser than anyone else. There are times I laughed out loud from the sarcastic comments in the narrative, which provide a nice spark of humor amid the violence and mystery.

We meet the sexy and manipulative vampire Jean-Claude, who's got the hots for Anita and who she resolutely shoots down--for now. We also meet Edward, Anita's assassin friend who the preternatural community has nicknamed "Death"--what else do you call someone who goes after the beasties with a flame-thrower? Anita meets with Rudolph Storr (Dolph), head of RPIT, and also his "sidekick", Zebrowski. I think there's a brief glimpse of Anita's boss from Animators, Inc., Bert Vaughn. We get enough of all these characters to see them as real, but don't get to know them completely.

It can be difficult to introduce a lot of characters in a first book without it being overwhelming, but Hamilton manages it. She also manages to make the "Anitaverse" rich and detailed, combining details from reality with little factoids from the fantasy side woven in without being heavy-handed.

All in all, this is one of my favorite books, from one of my favorite series. At 272 pages, it's a quick read, well-worth checking out.