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Title: Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake | Vampire Hunter: Book 3) |
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Review of Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 3)
- First time in trade paperback: the third novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
In Circus of the Damned-now in trade paperback for the first time-a rogue master vampire hits town, and Anita gets caught in the middle of an undead turf war. Jean-Claude, the Master Vamp of the city, wants her for his own-but his enemies have other plans. And to make matters worse, Anita takes a hit to the heart when she meets a stunningly handsome junior high science teacher named Richard Zeeman. They're two humans caught in the crossfire-or so Anita thinks.
Product Description
- The third novel of Hamilton's Anita Blake series has the petite necromancer fighting a giant cobra and a rogue vampire, Alejandro, who wants her for his human servant. Anita is still resisting the advances of Jean-Claude, St. Louis's master vampire, but she does need him on her side, if not in her bed. Anita's reluctant involvement in the odd goings-on at the supernatural Circus of the Damned introduces her to Richard, the werewolf of her dreams, and Larry, her powerful but nervous partner in zombie-raising.
Mystery fans will love the tightly plotted, Paretsky-esque action, and horror fans will love just about everything in this unusual series.
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Comments for Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake | Vampire Hunter: Book 3)
- Posted on 2008-05-20
Must read!
LK Hamilton is a great author. If you love vampires, her Anita Blake series is the one for you.
Score: 5
- Posted on 2008-03-19
Bloody Brilliant
This author was suggested to me by a friend. I am pleased to report that it was all and more than they had boasted.
Laurel K. Hamilton is an amazingly brilliant author. Her writing is elegant and captivating, yet simple and effective. Truly a series of novels that keep you wanting more from beginning to end.
I highly recommend this book to everyone - Especially if you like vampires!
Score: 5 - Posted on 2008-01-07
Circus of the Damned
I love the books about Anita Blake. Always keep you going and guessing about what will happen next.
Score: 5 - Posted on 2008-01-05
Decent end to the first trilogy, great exit point for the series
Anita Blake returns in this third installment of her well-known series. The police call Anita to consult on a murder and she quickly detects that the victim had been attacked by five vampires, mostly like a master and his pack. Since the few masters resident in St. Louis don't seem likely to have committed the crime, Anita starts looking for newcomers, but they just might find her first. As if this isn't enough, she receives a visit from her old friend Edward, the master assassin, who threatens to kill her if she doesn't reveal the name and resting place of the city's Master Vampire. All of this is just the start for Anita as she struggles to save the city, and herself, from a threat more ancient than anything she's ever faced before.
Circus of the Damned returns the focus to vampires and their politics after the voodoo detour of The Laughing Corpse. Jean-Claude, the city's Master Vampire, has given Anita two marks out of four toward becoming his human servant and very much wants her to accept the last two. Her refusal to do so is hurting is position among other vampires in the city. Other masters have come to the city ready to challenge Jean-Claude and try to woo Anita into joining their cause. Anita has to choose where her loyalties lie.
The major strength of this book shows in the action scenes. They take up a significant portion of the book and are uniformly suspenseful, even gripping at times. Anita lives in a very dangerous world and the author does an excellent job of portraying this. The weakest portion of the novel shows up whenever there is a conversation or Anita's narration includes her own thoughts. If Anita is talking to the police, they basically have the same conversation every time they meet at a crime scene. If she speaks to Jean-Claude, she has the same conversation every time. Even her own thoughts take on the exact same form over and over again.
After enjoying Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter), I was disappointed by The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 2). I was hoping that Circus of the Damned would be a tie breaker of sorts to see if I would keep reading more or not. This is certainly a more entertaining book than The Laughing Corpse and provided a welcome return back to vampires as the chief villains. Unfortunately, Laurell Hamilton's writing style has grown so stale and cliché for me that I don't have the desire to go any further with Anita Blake. These books all read like a poor imitation of Dashiell Hammett and the style never grows or varies in the slightest. I'm glad I bought this book because it ties up all the loose ends from the prior two books, but there's nothing here compelling enough to make me want to keep coming back for more.
Score: 3
- Posted on 2007-09-28
good quick read
This is the last book of the Anita Blake series i have read as of this review (need to order the rest :o ) but i can safely say that this series is a winner. Each book so far has carried the series' plot forward, while at the same time you could pick one up and read it in any order, as they can almost be called separate books in a greater story line, much like the New Jedi Order books where for that series.
Not too long in length, this is a good book, and a quick read. i would recommend reading this in a place where you can focus on it, and wont be distracted. The first book i picked up (was the second book of the series, whoops!) i read on an airplane. i would imagine a long bus ride or other form of long travel it would be good for as well.
The only down side i personally find with this book, and the others of the Anita Blake series, is that i want to go and read them all after finishing one. Well, i guess thats not a bad thing, per say.
Last comment, as i have read now three of the series' books you could well call me a fan. If you are looking for a completely objective review, i suggest you take this one with a grain of salt...
Score: 4