Laurell K. Hamilton’s debut novel introduces a vampire hunter with attitude and sass. Anita Blake doesn’t look the part, yet she definitely packs a punch. Hamilton’s book, first published in 1993 by Penguin Publishing Group, is available on Amazon in hardcover, paperback, Kindle, and audiobook formats, as well as at your local library or through the Libby App. The audiobook, published in 2009 by Penguin Audio, is superb. Read by Kimberly Alexis embodies Anita’s character through and through, and the audio effects add an extra layer to the storytelling, making it a truly excellent way to dive into this new world.

Hamilton presents her readers and listeners with a first-person, perceptive narrative in a world where the Supreme Court granted the undead equal rights, and most of the world sees them as ordinary people with fangs. Anita knows better; she’s seen the victims and carries the scars. Vampires call her the Executioner. Anita calls them words she prefers not to repeat. The execution of vampires isn’t her only job.

Primarily, Anita is an animator who raises zombies and lays them to rest, and she’s on retainer with the St. Louis Police Department for supernatural crimes. Working alongside Dolph Storr and Zebrowski, she helps them solve crimes as they’re experts when something goes bump in the night. Bert Vaughn, her boss at Animators Inc., loves the prestige the company gains from such an association. Not everyone is as happy with her skills as Bert; however, the city’s master vampire, Nikolaos, would like nothing more than to see Anita dead.

Not before Anita helps them figure out who is killing innocent vampires. Anita is not in the habit of working with the undead, but with some vampiric arm-twisting and blackmailing, she agrees to the terms set before her to help the master of the city. The help she offers also means she must face Jean-Claude, a suave vampire who desires to make her his human servant and who manages to give her the first two marks to do so. Anita promises Jean-Claude she will kill him if he doesn’t leave her alone.

Needless to say, Anita’s life is full of action, whether she wants it or not, so what’s one more challenge when Edward Forrester, an old acquaintance, comes into town with an ultimatum that might be her match.

Hamilton’s book is action-packed and fast-paced, with a strong-willed, independent, judgmental, abrasive protagonist who uses her wicked, barbed tongue and black humor to lighten the darkest situations. When Anita says, “I don’t date vampires. I kill them.” The truth of her words resonates loud and clear. The well-rounded characters, the vivid fear-clawing descriptions, the untamed violence of the vampires and humans who despise anything supernatural and seek to destroy it make this a 4-star read or listen.