Anita Blake Vampire Hunter: Enter the Spectacular World of the Circus of the Damned

Kali: Gifted it to my mom and now she's addicted to the series😁

United States on Sep 29, 2023

Day: This book is fantastic, engaging, and so thoughtful I am surprised that the human brain can think up new ways of coping. It reminds me of why we teach our children algebra so they can think. Thinking is a superpower that is so very human. I keep re-reading this entire series because it is complicated enough to hold my interest and year after year my thinking also grows, every stage of life and change gives value to being alive. Thank you, Laurel K. Hamilton, it has taken me time to learn how lucky I am to have your work.

United States on Aug 28, 2023

JWN: I enjoyed reading this book. It kept me hooked and I didn’t want to put the book down. The plot was interesting with a lot of moving parts which then all comes together towards the end. The ending is another epic battle with surprises. New vampires & creatures are introduced. Lots of actions and suspense. No angst or drama. Lots of blood & guts but not so gross that one can’t handle it. It fits well with the characters & the scenes. Makes them more realistic.
The relationship between Anita & Jean Claude develops and we get more interactions between them. I’m not a fan of a love triangle and this book fits a good job not making it an issue. Just 2 passive pursuers for her. I’m excited to see what happens in the next book.

United States on May 26, 2023

Leonie Mulcahy: Fantastic novel again, lots of twists that set up the next books without the guarantee of there being any - which is great as well.

Australia on Mar 15, 2023

Griffen: Characters were very believable, story moved at a good pace.

Canada on Oct 20, 2022

Cynthia H. Grossman: Anita gets assaulted by a challenger to the Master of the Vampires in St. Louis, Missouri.
She is also approached by a group of anti-vampires seeking the daytime resting place of the Master.
Before Anita can leave her office she gets a page from the police. Anita is on a retainer as a vampire specalist. The current body is dead from vampire bites.
Anita views the body and tells the police that the blood was drained by several vampires.
Who are they?
Anita arrives late to a zombie raising; a newbie is the raiser who cannot take conrtol of the zombie. Anita steps in. The zombie is a man who died without a will. The courts will accept a zombie will if it is witnessed by a lawyer and members of the family.
After the members of the family leave, Anita has to put the zombie back in the grave.
Some strangers appear in the graveyard. Anita and the newbie run to Anita's car. They are attacked by vampires, but saved by a group of anti-vampires.
Then, dear readers, the plot thickens and gets very interesting.

United States on Mar 23, 2022

FranJessca @ A Book Lovin Mama's Blog: I first read Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton back in 2009. Now it’s 2020, and I’m glad I got a chance to reread it because I couldn’t remember this book. It was like reading the book for the first time. It was great to read this book, feeling like it’s brand new. Anita is dealing with Jean-Claude still on giving her the last two marks to be his human servant. Anita is again saying no. Unfortunately, she’s got to deal with other Master Vampires in her city now that want her as their human servant. They don’t believe that Jean-Claude is strong enough to be the Master Vampire of the City. Anita is going to deal with some vampire politics in this book. She’s also going to be introduced to some furry shifters that she has no idea that is close to Jean-Claude. In comes Stephen, a werewolf and Richard Zeeman, a Junior High School teacher who teaches Science. He has a secret, though, that he is keeping from Anita in the book. She’s bound to find out about this secret, though.

I enjoyed this book just like I did the first time. It was strange reading it again and feeling lost at first. It had been such a long time reading this book. There was a lot of...

United States on Jun 17, 2020

J.Swood: The third book in the series. Not as good as the previous title, while the story progresses at a good pace, there are a few too many characters to keep track of.

In this book, we see Anita solving her first, vampire killers. Two victims turn up, having been killed by what seems to be a group of rogue vampires. In the early books, Anita actually does detective work and it shines in this book. With some help from her friends, she is able to piece the puzzle together in time to face down against the bad guys.

By and large its entertaining but some of the series later shortcomings start to show here.

Anita's sometimes endearing stubbornness, can quickly become infuriating and self defeating obstinance, born of little more than a desire to be contrarian. The beginnings of the much maligned love triangle has its origins in this book aswell. But these flaws are less pronounced than in later titles and they dont detract too much from an otherwise solid story with a decent cast of characters, if a tad too numerous I'm number.

If you enjoyed the first two books, you'll likely enjoy this one aswell.

United Kingdom on May 04, 2020

Jim Bowen: I finished "Circus of the Damned" by Laurel K. Hamilton today, and it wasn't a bad book. It's not Dickens or Dostoevsky, but it certainly rattles along and I don't think Hamilton ever laid claim to being either of those authors anyway.
It is a sort of an R-rated "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" mixed with a murder mystery, however. In this book, Anita Blake (who for some reason I keep wanting to call Anita Baker, after the singer, for some dumb reason) is on the trail of a pack of vampires who are killing people in her native St. Louis.
At the same time she is being approached by a variety of people to reveal the identity of the St. Louis "master vampire" (who, for reasons that will become apparent in the book, she knows rather well), so she has to decide which to uncover a "sensible vampire," a vampire who can keep his subordinate in check, too.
The book is the third in the series but is sufficiently "stand-aloneish" to be read without having read the previous books in the series (though she has "in-jokes/references" for those that have read the prior books that some might get a kick out of).

When I first started reading the series, I was wisely informed that the series...

United Kingdom on Feb 07, 2020

Bootsy (Shell): I have made it my rule to only review items that I purchased at Amazon. Even though I own the first 16 books in this series (purchased from another source-except book 3) I will only review "Circus Of The Damned" here, until I get to book 17 which I will buy on Amazon.

That said...the first two books were incredible and were read in two days each. Book 3 was even better! Hence my 5 star rating. I won't give anything away, but the climax "battle" at the end was out of this world! It was thoroughly captivating, and read in one sitting. This book was so good, in my opinion, it is hard to imagine how book 4 will compare.

I know the book takes place in a different universe than ours (obviously) but it is strange to see Anita with a "beeper" and looking for a phone booth! I found out this book was written mid 90's....but didn't we have cell phones etc. at that point. Maybe this universe just didn't.

Extremely well written and fast paced. I can't wait to dig into the rest of the series.

Canada on Dec 06, 2013