Club Vampyre [Hardcover]

Laurell K. Hamilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1997

I'm Anita Blake, expert on creatures of the night. 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 carry the scars. . . In my job -- I'm an animator; I raise the dead -- I've seen just about everything. I've dines with shapeshifters, danced with werewolves and been wooed, but not won, by Jean-Claude, the most poqerful bloodsucker in St. Louis. When a serial killer started murdering vampires, it was Jean-Claude who wanted me to find the killer. Later a rogue vamp named Alejandro hit town and wanted to make me his human servant. A war of the undead had begun. Over me. I'd have been flattered, if my life weren't at stake.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 727 pages
• Publisher: Guild America Books; Omnibus edition (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568655290
• ISBN-13: 978-1568655291
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laurell K. Hamilton is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of two series that mix mystery, fantasy, magic, horror and romance. Her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels from Berkley Books began with GUILTY PLEASURES (now a hugely successful graphic novel from Marvel - the first sexy paranormal comic ever!) and continues with the SKIN TRADE, number seventeen in the series, in which Anita's complex personal and professional relationships with a master vampire and an alpha werewolf continue to evolve. There are now more than 6 million copies of Anita in print worldwide, in 16 languages. Hamilton's Ballantine series features Fey princess and private investigator, Merry Gentry and there are now six novels exceeding one million copies in print. Divine Misdemeanors, the eighth in the series will debut Octobe 29, 2009. She lives in St. Louis County Missouri with her husband Jonathon Green, daughter, one pug dog and one boxer/pug dog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first three Anita Blake novels in one hardcover volume, April 19, 2005

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Club Vampyre (Hardcover)

Many fans of Anita Blake are not happy with the recent direction Laurell K. Hamilton has gone with her novels, but that does not take away from the fact that when she sets her mind to it Hamilton can come up with grand finales for her horror stories that Stephen King and Clive Barker should be jealous about. To evidence that claim the first three Anita Blake novels are collected in this hardcover volume, "Club Vampyre." Read these three and you are not going to want to stop, and while you might abandon the series before it reaches double figures you are still going to appreciate these initial volumes.

"Guilty Pleasures" is the first Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novel and the main thing you need to know about our heroine is that for all intents and purposes her Vampire Hunter days are over. When we are introduced to Anita she is well into her career an Animator, where she raises the dead, which is a fairly profitable occupation in this alternative America. In fact, Anita Blake is not so much killing vampires in this first novel as she is trying to avoid dating one. That would be Jean-Claude, the master vampire, who has put his first two marks upon Anita, which links them psychically and makes her somewhat immune to the mental powers of the vampires. Obviously this will have long-term repercussions in the series, but at this point we are hungry for more of the character's backstory and how she earned her reputation as "The Executioner."

We also learn the rules of the game in terms of vampires and this brave new world they inhabit, while also being caught up in the story that the thousand-year-old Master Vampire of St. Louis wants to hire Anita to solve the sudden rash of vampire murders. The world of Anita Blake is one in which the Supreme Court has granted the undead equal rights, so that you cannot kill a vampire without a warrant and you can just imagine the legal morass involving zombies, ghouls and were-beasts. Hamilton has created a world in which the undead are still creatures of the night but have become a part of society, which runs the spectrum from vampire strip clubs such as the Guilty Pleasures of the title to the Church of Eternal Life where becoming a vampire can help you achieve that particular goal. Anita Blake is not a two-dimension character, which is why once you read "Guilty Pleasures" you have to move on to the next story. Fortunately with this volume all you have to do is turn the page.

In "The Laughing Corpse" focus is still on Anita's job as an Animator. Once again the title is taken from the name of a St. Louis hangout for those who like to visit the dark side, in this case a comedy club (helpful hint: zombies do not like to be the butt of jokes). This time around Anita is in way over her head with a whole bunch of serious problems. A lord of the underworld wants to pay her big time bucks to raise someone who has been dead for a couple of hundred years and does not like it that Anita has refused because the only way to do so required a human sacrifice. Her friend Catharine is getting married and wants Anita to be a bridesmaid, which involves wearing a pink gown that has to be altered to cover all of her scars. The voodoo priestess for the entire Midwest has learned how to put a person's soul back in their dead body, which stops the zombies from decaying, and Anita refuses to help her raise more zombies for profit. Meanwhile, Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire of St. Louis who has already put two of his marks upon our heroine, demands Anita start acting like his human servant. But the case Anita is trying to focus regards a savage zombie that is going around murdering families in their home, making her problems with three powerful people who refuse to take "No" for an answer rather inconsequential. Like it says on the coffee mug her boss would not let her have at the office, "It's a dirty job and I get to do it."

"The Laughing Corpse" is not just an improvement over the first book in the series, but one of the best horror stories I have ever read. There is a lot going on her, but Hamilton weaves the various cases, most of which would have sustained an entire novel, into a coherent narrative. I really was surprised when everything came together in the end. Hamilton has a much surer sense of her character this time around and the big time warning here is that this is a gruesome book. Younger readers of "The Laughing Corpse" are going to be upset by several of the scenes, especially when Anita investigates the bloody crime scenes and the climatic encounter. I read these sections in the light of day and they were still disturbing. Those who come to this series because of their love for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" need to be told that this is a much darker world where the violence is brutally horrific and not beautifully choreographed. These books are much more intense. If they made this into a film it would give "The Exorcist" a run for its money. Remember, you were given fair warning.

"Circus of the Damned" suffers in comparison, but it would be hard not to. For the first time the focus is primarily on the vampires and once again she is the target of every character in the novel. Jean-Claude the Master Vampire of St. Louis wants to put his final two marks on Anita to make her his human servant, but so does Alejandro, an even older vampire who wants to take Jean-Claude's spot. On top of that there are two other master vampires in town this time around: Yasmeen, who simply wants to rip Anita's heart out, and Oliver, who wants to slaughter humans so that this nonsense about vampires having legal rights will come to an end. Meanwhile, over on the human side of the equation, the leaders of Humans First want to take out Anita for not helping them slay the Master, Edward is back wanting the name from Anita so he can do the same thing, Dolph wants her help in tracking down a pack of vampires that are killing humans, Bert wants her to train Larry Kinkaid the college student turned animator, and just to make things really interesting, Richard, the middle-school teacher who hangs out with Jean-Claude at the Circus of the Damned, wants to go out on a date with Anita where they spend the day spelunking.

While we do find out a bit more about Anita's discovery that she is a necromancer and are fooled into thinking that the issue of her being the human servant of a vampire is finally resolved (believe me, Anita Blake's love life is NEVER "finally resolved"). Ultimately what these three books have in common is how Hamilton looks at the world she had constructed and how it stands on its own. At the core is the character of Anita Blake, who has horrible scars on her body from her battles against the undead, her dreams are tormented by what she has seen and done, she is terrified by her current situation and does not know who she can trust or turn to for help. The fact that she feels fear, cries, gets sick to her stomach add to her heroism because despite all these obstacles, she gets the job done. There is a much harder edge here than what you find with other vampire slayers. The first two books in this collection are fives and the third is a four, and I have absolutely no problems rounding up. Just be sure you have "Midnight Cafe," the collection with Hamilton's next three Anita Blake novels on hand when you finish this initial trio.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Oh, why couldn't the series stay this good?, November 29, 2011

By 

VampireNovelFan "VampireNovelFan" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Club Vampyre (Hardcover)

GUILTY PLEASURES
Guilty Pleasures is Book 1 of the prolonged ongoing saga that is the Anita Blake series. Enter Anita, a necromancer by night and a vampire hunter...by night. You can imagine she has her plate full, raising the dead and staking fanged baddies.

And speaking of which, we meet Nikolaos, a 1,000 year old vampire. She's the most powerful in the city all the while inhabiting a body of a 10-year-old. She's causing a few problems for Anita that leads her to become allies with other vampires. Who better to help her than the second most powerful vampire, Jean-Claude? The other worldly beautiful, but dangerous man wants to take over and happily joins with Anita, as he's interested in more than just an alliance. While drawn to him, Anita resists the temptation since she kinda has a problem with those allergic to sunlight.

While on the darker side, I found myself drawn into this mid-western city of St. Louis with it's grit, excitement and thrills. Anita gets her hands dirty and isn't afraid of a few scars...and boy does she have them.

The plot is definitely fast-paced and the read is short but focused, telling the story fine enough. No worries if you think this series will only be short books. There will be plenty future volumes that are lengthy.

THE LAUGHING CORPSE
While the first book was a bit more vampire hunter focused, this book seemed to focus a little more on Anita as a necromancer. She's been offered $1 million dollars to raise a 300-year-old zombie. The only complication--it requires human sacrifice. Anita turns it down, but as deaths start to crop up, she puts two and two together that someone else has taken on the job.

We meet a new adversary for Anita, a voodoo priestess that seems to be controlling the zombie. While I personally prefer focus on vampires (Jean-Claude won me over in the first book, so I missed him), this entry wasn't a bad read. I was certainly wondering what was going to happen next and how Anita would get to the bottom of it.

This book is really dark and gory, giving you a true horror feel, so if you want something a little less gruesome, you may want to look elsewhere. But aside from that, as it is I would say that it's pretty well done. If you liked the first book, this one should keep you reading the series.

CIRCUS OF THE DAMNED
The third installment of the Anita Blake series pits our favorite necromancer against a vampire looking to make her his human servant and a giant cobra. Of course, Jean-Claude's none too thrilled about that as he wants Anita for himself. She needs him, too, but she also has her reservations.

This series introduces us a bit more into the world of lycanthropes and we meet another big player in the series, Richard Zeeman. He's Jean-Claude's wolf to call, and more competition for Anita's heart.

Building on the themes of the first two books, Anita grows more into her powers. I was glad to see Jean-Claude get more screen time in this book compared to the second. There is plenty of action and I enjoyed this book a bit more than the second. It's less gory, but you still feel the grit of the underworld. At this point in the series, I recommend continuing onto book 4.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good read, August 19, 2008

By 

g goebel "Lovereading" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Club Vampyre: Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, and Circus of the Damned (Hardcover)

I love strong women and that is Anita Blake to a tee. Hamilton writes a very good vampire hunter novel. Anita is a person really all alone in the world. She tries very hard to stick to her own code. Don't try me and I will not kill you.