- Paperback: 293 pages
- Publisher: Orbit; New edition edition (7 Sep 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1841490474
- ISBN-13: 978-1841490472
- Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.9 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 41,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Andre Norton
'I was enthralled by a departure from the usual type of vampire tale...'
Review
'I was enthralled by a departure from the usual type of vampire tale...' - Andre Norton 'This fastpaced, toughedged supernatural thriller is mesmerizing reading indeed' - Locus
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"The Laughing Corpse" is the second in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton, although the focus is much more on her job as an Animator than as the person the vampires call The Executioner. Once again the title is taken 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."
I was surprised to decide at the end of "The Laughing Corpse" that it was not only an improvement over the first book in the series, but one of the best horror stories I have ever read (and I read a lot of horror novels). 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. The first half-dozen books in the Anita Blake series offer some of the most horrific endings you are ever going to find. Then there is the train wreck that is Anita's love life, which picks up more and more speed as we go merrily along (and the sexual content of these books becomes more and more prominent).
Big Time Warning: 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 which I think is the high point of the entire series. 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 and it would be rated NC-17. Remember, you were given fair warning.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
"The rush of power was like the memory of painful sex. Part of you wanted to do it again."
4 Oct 2006
Format:Paperback
Enter the world of Anita Blake, licensed vampire executioner and necromancer of mixed Anglo/Mexican heritage. In this second installment of the series, she is bombarded with mystery, violence, blood and sex. Anita has a talent for the dead which she became aware of at the age of 13 when her dog died--and then showed up a week later curled up in Anita's bed. Her Mexican grandmother was a voudun practitioner and was able to teach Anita to control her ability. As an adult, Anita uses her power over the dead as a business to help people who have unfinished business with the dead.
Anita is investigating some very gory murders and she suspects the local voudun master, Dominga Salvador. In the process of the investigation she discovers a grisly plot to exploit the dead as well as a twisted financiers unscrupulous plan to profit from human sacrifice. Anita is also attempting to dodge the new vampire Master, Jean Claude, the most powerful and sexy vampire in the city, who is determined to court Anita. He has a strange power over Anita which she is not prepared to acknowledge.
Hamilton delivers a paranormal thriller drenched with violence and gore, and hinting at twisted sex. The character of Anita is charming and appealing. She has a taste for weapons, coffee and straight talk, as well as a mordant sense of humor. Hamilton maintains a nice degree of suspense which keep the pages turning! Highly recommended.
Anita is investigating some very gory murders and she suspects the local voudun master, Dominga Salvador. In the process of the investigation she discovers a grisly plot to exploit the dead as well as a twisted financiers unscrupulous plan to profit from human sacrifice. Anita is also attempting to dodge the new vampire Master, Jean Claude, the most powerful and sexy vampire in the city, who is determined to court Anita. He has a strange power over Anita which she is not prepared to acknowledge.
Hamilton delivers a paranormal thriller drenched with violence and gore, and hinting at twisted sex. The character of Anita is charming and appealing. She has a taste for weapons, coffee and straight talk, as well as a mordant sense of humor. Hamilton maintains a nice degree of suspense which keep the pages turning! Highly recommended.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After reading the first book in this series, "Guilty Pleasures", I decided that Hamilton was a good writer, but that if somebody wanted to read novels about vampires they should try Anne Rice first. Now that I have read the second book in the series I realize that Hamilton is clearly among the best in the genre.
Anita Blake has a job unlike anyone else, she is an animator and vampire slayer. Therefore, she raises the dead and executes vampires that have broken the law (vampirism on itself is legal in USA). Anita's physical appearance is peculiar considering her job; her height is five foot three inches and she weighs a hundred and six pounds! She also has a black belt in judo and has been marked twice by the master vampire of the city, Jean Claude, who is in love with her.
In this installment of the series, Anita is offered one million dollars, by one of the most wealthy and powerful men in the city, to raise a two-hundred-and-eighty-three-year-old zombie; task that requires a human sacrifice. After she denies doing this, half of her problems begin. The other half has to do with the gruesome murder of a couple and the disappearance of their child. It is clear that the murderer is not human, but...is it a vampire, ghoul, zombie? Anita sets out to help the police in their investigation and ends up requesting the assistance of Señora Salvador, the most powerful voodoo priestess in the Midwest.
The different story lines come together to make a highly entertaining book. For those who have read the first book in the series you will also get a glimpse of some further aspects of Anita's past, like information about her mother and grandmother and some "secrets" about her tutor during her first steps as an animator. The action is fast-paced and Anita usually refreshes the mood with witty jokes and comments in situations that are definitely gruesome.
I really cannot wait to read the next book in the series, "Circus of the Damned".
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
"Anita Blake Vampire Hunter" series book 2
Anita Blake is knee deep in blood and guts as she assists the police investigating the vicious murder of a family. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Book Addict
My first real zombie fix to be honest
Not a lot of vampire love and/or slaying in this installment. This one is all about, yep you guessed it, zombies! My first real zombie fix to be honest. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Rebecca
I enjoy all Laurell K Hamilton books.
I enjoy all Laurell K Hamilton books.
Never read a bad book by her yet.
Never read a bad book by her yet.
Published on 21 Jan 2010 by Mr. Aj Rigby
That voodoo you do-do
Anita Blake is an Animator. Anita and co. raise the dead to settle will disputes and the like, for a reasonable fee. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2009 by Persephone
way better than Guilty Pleasures but still seriously lacking
The Laughing Corpse, part 2 of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series, is a far better novel than its predessesor, Guilty Pleasures. Read more
Published on 2 April 2008 by Toby Andersen
Anita Blake is back.
Anita Blake may be a professional zombie raiser, but the millionaire Graynor wants her to raise a very old zombie, which would require human sacrifice. Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2007 by John Nunn
best anita book by far
I am about to finish the last book to date (Danse Macabre) and without a doubt The laughing corpse is the best by far!
Its entertaining, witty, clever, scary. I love it!
Its entertaining, witty, clever, scary. I love it!
Published on 21 May 2007 by Mrs. Lynn Tulloch
Superb !!!!
"The Laughing Corpse" is the second book in Anita Blake series. It is as exciting, thrilling as the first one (if not more actually). I am amazed at L.K. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2007 by Morbida
Brilliant!
I found the sequel to "Guilty Pleasures" just as amazing, refreshing and exciting! I loved Anita in this book. Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2004 by humrose
A bloody good read!
Anita blake will undoubtably be compared to Buffy. This is understanable but the Blake adventures read more like a private eye crime story with monsters for villains, where as the... Read more
Published on 20 Sep 2003 by J. HILTON
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