Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 3)

by Laurell K. Hamilton

Book Overview

When a powerful centuries-old vampire hits Anita Blake's town, a battle of the undead ensues. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0515134481
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Berkley
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.1"

Customer Reviews

The angst…the drama… *chef’s kiss*

If the Anita Blake series has taught me anything, it’s that I love a good drama. Power struggles, repressed feelings- I eat it up. It very much reminds me of an early episode of Supernatural, or my sister says it reminds her of the drama of Vampire Diaries (I cannot verify as I have not watched). I’m am currently on book 5, Bloody Bones, and I am having a lot of fun letting younger me indulge herself with the drama, tension, and spooky themes in this books series. I also recommend bumping Alejandro by Lady GaGa. It adds to the atmosphere lol

Aaahhhhhh!!!

I am still loving this series. I have ordered books 4, 5, and 6. I got them in the mail and I started book 4. This was an amazing book. I am team Jean Claud, so I was sad but I still believe there is still hope for him :)

Good Book

Book 3 in the Anita Blake series. Good read, cant wait to start the next in line.

Suspenseful! Humor with a Dark twist!

Mrs. Hamilton can really drag you into the story. She will have you laughing out loud with every chapter. The spin of dark humor with life threatening adventure is a nail bitting suspenseful journey. Everyone will enjoy it! Can not wait for the next book.

Will the real Master of the City please stand up?

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Zombie Queen, Necromancer, really didn't love Jean-Claude. At least, that's what she kept telling herself. But soon Jean-Claude is not the only vampire trying to make her his servant. There seems to be a bunch of Master Vampires and they ALL want to become Master of the City. To do that they have to find and kill Jean-Claude. Which means they need Anita to tell them where he is, whether she wants to or not!The undead battle is about to begin, with vampires, werewolves and even an immortal tossed in for the fun of it. Add Edward (and his lovely flamethrower) and you have the fight of the century. Winner take all. The only problem Anita has with all this is she seems to be First Prize.Lets get ready to rumble!

The one that got me hooked

Looking back many years ago to when I was reading this book for the first time, I think this is the one that got me hooked. This is partly because of the love triangle that is introduced and partly because this is where the series hits it's stride. This installment, more than any other, has the perfect blend of romance and plot. This is one of my favorites in the series and after four or five rereads it's still highly enjoyable.

In Full Stride

Having led off with "Guilty Pleasures" and "The Laughing Corpse," Laurell Hamilton has laid all the necessary groundwork to make this series work. In "Circus of the Damned" she builds on the previous to volumes give a fuller, and more frightening picture of an alternate earth where vampires, werewolves and other monsters are commonplace members of modern society.While helping the St. Louis Police investigate a pair of human murders carried out by an unknown vampire pack Anita Blake realizes that there is a new master vampire in the city. One that is intent on terrorizing the populace and challenging Jean-Claude as Master of the City. In a series of startling confrontations she finds out there are not one, but two such vampires. The first, Alejandro, was young when the Aztecs were spilling the blood of sacrifices. The other, Mr. Oliver, has roots that extend into time immemorial. Either vampire is powerful enough to challenge Jean-Claude, and neither has any intention of observing the uneasy truce between humans and the undead.In addition, Anita must deal with a Lamia, weresnakes, out-of-control zombies, and a whole host of vampires that are envious or opposed to her relationship with Jean-Claude. And Jean-Claude himself keeps pressuring her to take the third and fourth marks of the vampire, becoming his human servant. If dealing with all the really bad guys isn't hard enough, Anita has to deal with a new romantic interest, Richard Zeeman and an overly enthusiastic apprentice animator, Lawrence Kirkland. Did I mention Edward the assassin and a very large number of werewolves?When the conflict between the three masters come to a head, Anita finds that she has become one of the focuses for the battle to come. Not only Jean-Claude, but Alejandro as well, are intent on having her as human servant. Alejandro, however, has no intention of being polite, and is capable of forcing the role on Anita - the vampiric equivalent of rape. The story moves fluidly from scene to scene, building steadily to the inevitable and spectacular final showdown which has enough surprises to satiate even the most finicky reader.Hamilton has proven herself willing and able to handle complex plots and still keep her characters from becoming two dimensional. "Circus of the Damned" is no exception. All of the characters, from the illustrious Jean-Claude to the lowliest human servant come brilliantly to life. The effect is hypnotic, and I find Anita Blake stories too easy to read in one or two sessions, leaving me looking forward to her next book. With this, the third in the Anita Blake series, Laurell Hamilton fully demonstrates the strong writing skills that have made the vampie hunter a best-selling series.

Another out of the park homerun

A friend introduced me to the first Anita Blake book, Gulity Pleasures, and I've been hooked ever since. Circus of the Damned, is a wonderful, violent, exciting and a real page turner and a hell of a book What I really like in this series, is that Anita Blake get's stronger and stronger as a female character. Anita is everything you want in a hero, tough, sexy, and smart. Anita lives in a work of Werewolves, shapeshifters, vampires and zombies. In this book, Jean-Claude still wants Anita to be his human servent...the problem is that there is another vampire (who is very old and very powerful) who wants Anita for his human servant as well. Anita does the only thing she can...and I won't tell you what what is. If you want to find out what happens, you'll have to read it for yourself. :) I can promise you, you won't be sorry. One would think that 2 master (and powerful) vampires are enough for this book....but Anita has to battle aganist a giant snake!! I can't stress enough how good this book really is. Laurell K. Hamilton is a wonderful story teller who keeps the reader glued to the book with a wonderful style of action, suspence, humor and horror. Hamilton offers the reader a solid plot with many, many twists. Once you start reading Circus of the Damned, you'll have a hard time putting it down. If you start this book you won't be sorry.

These books are strangely addicting

I had heard of the Anita Blake books, but never thought that I would read them. I like books about the supernatural, but I was going to be stubborn and stick to those that I had already read. But then my friend suggested them to me. Finally, I decided to buy the first one (Guilty Pleasures). I read it, liked it enough to buy the second book (the Laughing Corpse), but stopped halfway through it. Finally, a few days ago, I decided to finish it... and I cannot understand why I didn't finish it when I first started it. I was instantly caught in the story, and finished it instantly, and began with this one: Circus of the Damned. There is something strange about Laurell K. Hamilton that lures me to her. Anita Blake is not the flawless Buffy, and the books are not your standard vampire novel. They take place in the future-ish, where vampirism is legal. Anita is a short, sarcastic woman who fights vampires and raises zombies and sleeps with stuffed penguins. The way Laurell K. Hamilton writes is addicting, and hilarious. I find myself laughing at some parts.So try it. :)