World Book Day

I missed the day itself, being rather pre-occupied with my Jury Service, however I thought I'd catch up today.

I want to recommend an author I've found. Her books are not intellectually challenging, booker prize winning or indeed very "literature"-like but they are cracking good reads (if you like this sort of thing).

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.

The author is Laurell K Hamilton and she writes a series called Anita Blake, Vampire Slayer (yup, that gives you a big clue, hehe).

On the recommendation of a friend I purchased a boxed set of the first four books in the series:

Guilty Pleasures
The Laughing Corpse
Circus of the Damned
The Lunatic Cafe

On the downside, which I'm sure was just a decision by the publishing house, the books that I purchased had covers which put me in mind of trashy erotic fiction. But it wasn't the cover I was reading so I put up with that.

The storyline, if you hadn't guessed, feels like Buffy with balls! It is set in what appears to be modern day America, but it is an America in which vampires have legal status (they cannot be slain without a court approved execution order). Anita Blake is a young woman who has a certain affinity with the dead and, by extension, the undead.

Too much more would spoil the story but suffice it to say that she does her fair share of vampire hunting ... although perhaps not always for the reasons that you would expect.

The entire story is written in the first person which is not something I'm used to but it works very well in building tension.

I won't say these are the best books I've ever read and unfortuantely, there are times when you feel the publishers should look for a new proof-reader.
That said, she is very good at creating, maintaining and then heightening tension to almost unbearable levels. Her characters are well drawn and she skillfully manipulates your sympathies, so much so that I found myself in a particular scene concerned that a master vampire might be killed!

If you're looking for high-brow, avoid. If you're looking for an entertaining read in an unusual alternate reality then please give them a try.

Happy Journeys.