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52nd out of 985 books
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Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #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...more
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...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
January 2nd 2007
by Berkley Publishing Group
(first published May 1st 1995)
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I love Laurell Hamilton’s work. The Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series is outstanding!
The first two books in this series, Guilty Pleasures and The Laughing Corpse are amazing pieces of work.
This book declares no less awesomeness. This is the book that wraps you around the series and pulls everything together. This book is really the beginning of the journey that whips and turns you into a reality that is completely twisted, morbid and simply put, cool!
An...more
The first two books in this series, Guilty Pleasures and The Laughing Corpse are amazing pieces of work.
This book declares no less awesomeness. This is the book that wraps you around the series and pulls everything together. This book is really the beginning of the journey that whips and turns you into a reality that is completely twisted, morbid and simply put, cool!
An...more
I also thought the premise of Anita Blake was pretty cool. She's an Animator, see? She raises zombies for a living. And vampires are legal citizens. Eventually, she's supposed to get involved with both a vampire and a werewolf. I say eventually cause even though I thought this was a central theme of the books, I've read 2 and a half of them and there have been nary a creature-of-the-night and vampire hunter smoochie. I take that back. There was one, but it was one of those contrived "fake k...more
review by Ciara
*Warning: possible spoilers ahead.*
Circus of the Damned, the third of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton, opens with Anita meeting with members of Humans First, an organization campaigning to have vampires criminalized again.
They ask for the daytime resting place of the Master of the City. Anita refuses, but there is a bit of deliberation. Not so long ago, she would have believed that staking a vampire wasn’t murder. T...more
*Warning: possible spoilers ahead.*
Circus of the Damned, the third of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton, opens with Anita meeting with members of Humans First, an organization campaigning to have vampires criminalized again.
They ask for the daytime resting place of the Master of the City. Anita refuses, but there is a bit of deliberation. Not so long ago, she would have believed that staking a vampire wasn’t murder. T...more
For all the Anita Blake books - I started this series with my then friend, Meredith - she actually got me hooked that fateful summer of 2000 when I was living on her wooden floor in Brooklyn. We were both unemployed and bored and got hooked into this series. I loved Anita Blake because it was before I discovered the new genre - what I like to call "badass chicks who kick ass!" written in first person - and so she was all empowering and of course there were hot vampires and werewolves i
...more
Without a doubt, better than the first two. I really like Jean-Claud. He is the reason I am reading these books. I have never wanted a bad guy to get the girl before, it's fun. Anita was a bit disappointing. I'm beginning to wonder if Jean-Claud deserves better.
The swearing is excessive and redundant. And I realize that in a series you have to make each book a stand alone and therefore have to explain the same thing several times. But does it have to be word for word? There a...more
The swearing is excessive and redundant. And I realize that in a series you have to make each book a stand alone and therefore have to explain the same thing several times. But does it have to be word for word? There a...more
So far this book is the best in the series. I am only on book 4. They keep getting better. The ending was dramatic and had me immediately reaching for book 4 (Lunatic Cafe).
Personalmente questa serie mi sta prendendo sempre più. Quuesto in particolare evidenza in modo perfetto l'estrema incapacità di Anita di confrontarsi con i sentimenti. Può combattere vampiri, licantropi e zombi ma quando si tratta di capire qualcosa di sentimenti fugge. E' ben visibile la tua attrazione per il Master della Città che, molto romanticamente, ricambia. Anzi, lui sembra offrirle addirittura una storia monogama. Questo ha l'effetto di far alzare tutte le difese di Anita che rifugge a...more
The third in the Anita Blake series, and another one of my favorites. This time around we're introduced to a character that soon became my most hated in the series; Richard. He screams of everything in a man I dislike from the very beginning, so of course I hoped she would end up with Jean Claude.
I liked the mystery in this one, because it wasn't the sole focus. we get to see more of Anita in her daily life, and more of her interactions with Jean Claude. Her animating is brought more...more
I liked the mystery in this one, because it wasn't the sole focus. we get to see more of Anita in her daily life, and more of her interactions with Jean Claude. Her animating is brought more...more
Ahhh, classic Anita Blake before the series started to go downhill and become "Anita Blake, Vampire Womanwhore." In the early books, she still kicks ass. She doesn't sleep around -- in fact, she is leery of Jean-Claude and sticks by her guns when he tries to force her into doing things she doesn't want to do. I liked the fact that she was so self-sufficient and powerful and yet still had morals.
Circus of the Damned starts out with a vampire-run circus that relies partly on il...more
Circus of the Damned starts out with a vampire-run circus that relies partly on il...more
Circus of the Damned, number three in the Anita Blake series is a huge step up in quality after the first two books.
This one has it all. Crazy violent action, plenty of blood and guts, a genuinely tense story, some absolutely dynamite pulp scenes (especially in the middle - Anita and police tracking vamp in morge etc) and was exciting and meaty in every chapter.
where Guilty Pleasures was absurd, this one is believable, where it was silly this one is cool.
And it has any and all supernatural fo...more
This one has it all. Crazy violent action, plenty of blood and guts, a genuinely tense story, some absolutely dynamite pulp scenes (especially in the middle - Anita and police tracking vamp in morge etc) and was exciting and meaty in every chapter.
where Guilty Pleasures was absurd, this one is believable, where it was silly this one is cool.
And it has any and all supernatural fo...more
Finally! We have werewolves! No seriously this is the first time we've seen werewolves sin this series. In the first book we had wererats, which is a pretty interesting concept. The second had no weres that I can remember save for Ivan the reporter guy who we’re told was a werewolf but never shifted. So I’m happy to say that the third book in the series finally shows me what all the fuss was about for this series.
The plot starts up right away with a vampire victim case being broug...more
The plot starts up right away with a vampire victim case being broug...more
Circus of the Damned is the third instalment in Laurell K. Hamilton's acclaimed Anita Blake series. Before picking up this instalment, I recommend reading the prior two books in the series to allow the plot to run in a coherent manner. This will save from confusion in relation to the background of the plot and characters.
In this instalment protagonist Anita Blake, whose profession is as a animator and vampire executioner, is caught in the middle and left to deal with the consequences w...more
In this instalment protagonist Anita Blake, whose profession is as a animator and vampire executioner, is caught in the middle and left to deal with the consequences w...more
Third in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter urban fantasy series set in a contemporary St. Louis, Missouri.
The Story
The story starts with a confrontation between Anita and Jeremy Ruebens, the leader of Humans First, and a cohort of his, Karl Inger, at the Animators, Inc. office. They're interested in finding out the daytime resting place of the Master of the City and they think Anita knows it/him.
Then there's the serial killing—five vamps descending upon one human. Per nigh...more
The Story
The story starts with a confrontation between Anita and Jeremy Ruebens, the leader of Humans First, and a cohort of his, Karl Inger, at the Animators, Inc. office. They're interested in finding out the daytime resting place of the Master of the City and they think Anita knows it/him.
Then there's the serial killing—five vamps descending upon one human. Per nigh...more
The book starts out with the line “There was dried chicken blood imbedded under my fingernails. When you raise the dead for a living, you have to spill a little blood.” When a book starts out that way you know you're in for a good ride.
This installment of the Anita Blake series did not disappoint, although it was a little bit slower than the first two while several pieces of storyline came together, and built a foundation for upcoming things in the series. It is kind of ruined on me...more
This installment of the Anita Blake series did not disappoint, although it was a little bit slower than the first two while several pieces of storyline came together, and built a foundation for upcoming things in the series. It is kind of ruined on me...more
Really action packed and very climactic. I am definitely starting to get a little exhausted of the constant power play at this point, but it wasn't un-enjoyable yet. Why didn't anyone ever explain where the heck the giant snake came from in the beginning? The only thing that sticks in my head and nags at me is the sheer deus ex machina of the fact that her little transformation in the last action scene that protects her from something she should not have been able to avoid. I feel, as much as I ...more
I had a hard time getting into this book. The mystery took a back seat to vampire politics and people wanting to kill Anita. These books are completely character based, which I don't mind, but the character in this installment didn't shine for me. First, we have numerous vampires trying to make Anita their human servants without her permission. Jean Cleaude saves Anita again for a price she isn't happy with, and she complains about it numerous times. I felt for her, and understood her objections...more
I read a lot of academic writing for grad school. The only time I can find for "pleasure reading" these days is multitasking time, when I'm listening to an audiobook while performing mundane tasks like cleaning or driving or walking to class. I've found that I don't get along well with audiobooks when I want to really absorb what I'm reading. I listen to them within a few days and then promptly forget most of what happened, or I can't keep the characters straight, or I'll wish that ...more
Cronologicamente questo sarebbe il secondo libro su Anita Blake, ma in pratica prima di questo andrebbe letto dopo Resti Mortali (anche se la cosa non mi sembra infici alcunchè, non accadono enormi avvenimenti che modificano lo status di Anita a quanto ho letto in questo libro).
In questo libro Anita si ritrova al centro di una ragnatela di persone intenzionate a scoprire chi sia il Master della città, ovvero il suo quasi-padrone Jean Claude. Lo cerca Edward, cui non è bastato partecip...more
In questo libro Anita si ritrova al centro di una ragnatela di persone intenzionate a scoprire chi sia il Master della città, ovvero il suo quasi-padrone Jean Claude. Lo cerca Edward, cui non è bastato partecip...more
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 zo...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Circus of the Damned
By Laurell K Hamilton
(Headline)
THE Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novels are my new favourite series about the undead.
Circus of the Damned is book three of 19.
You know you are in for a thrilling read when a story opens with: “There was dried chicken blood imbedded under my fingernails. When you raise the dead for a living, you have to spill a little blood.”
The story is filled with all sorts of supernatural creatures incl...more
By Laurell K Hamilton
(Headline)
THE Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novels are my new favourite series about the undead.
Circus of the Damned is book three of 19.
You know you are in for a thrilling read when a story opens with: “There was dried chicken blood imbedded under my fingernails. When you raise the dead for a living, you have to spill a little blood.”
The story is filled with all sorts of supernatural creatures incl...more
Poor, poor Anita. She can never seem to get a break. She's called on again by Dolph and the police to help look at some more "unusual" murders in St. Louis. Anita suspects a rogue master vampire after seeing the victim and bite marks on him from a number of different vamps. The only way to find out if a master vampire is on the loose is to go ask Jean-Claude, which she really doesn't want to do.
At her meeting she meets an ally master vamp of Jean-Claude's named Yasmee...more
At her meeting she meets an ally master vamp of Jean-Claude's named Yasmee...more
My main gripe with this book is that it could have been pretty good, but it wasn't.
First of all, Mr. Oliver fails as the ultimate scary vampire. He is mildly manipulative, but doesn't come across as all that powerful. The most powerful act he does is stand next to sunlight. Not particularly frightening. He doesn't even have control on his underlings. He is the most powerful vampire on earth and he's forced to live as a nomad? He's too vulnerable at the end and is easily staked ...more
First of all, Mr. Oliver fails as the ultimate scary vampire. He is mildly manipulative, but doesn't come across as all that powerful. The most powerful act he does is stand next to sunlight. Not particularly frightening. He doesn't even have control on his underlings. He is the most powerful vampire on earth and he's forced to live as a nomad? He's too vulnerable at the end and is easily staked ...more
This book was by far the best of the three that I've read (1-3, shocker), but I gave it the same rating as the others. Actually, I'd give it a 4.5 if I could. Read below for why!
The author stopped Anita from saying "Naw."!!! It never bothered me that much, but I liked the book a ton better without it. And she kept the rhetorical questions, which I liked.
This book also had a good portion of action, new characters, and character development. New romantic interest!...more
The author stopped Anita from saying "Naw."!!! It never bothered me that much, but I liked the book a ton better without it. And she kept the rhetorical questions, which I liked.
This book also had a good portion of action, new characters, and character development. New romantic interest!...more
A LOT of people like the Anita Blake series (you know, I always think "Anita Baker" whenever I think of her name, which is an unfortunate image you wanna have while reading this series -- like she's gonna bust out with "Sweet Love" while talking to Jean-Claude). That's another one...Jean-Claude. Can't name a guy that and not think about JCVD. I HAVE to constantly push out these pre-existing names and images out of my brain whenever I enter this world or else I screw myself ov...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
3.5 stars.
I liked it, but I felt there was something missing and I can't point a finger to what, so my review is probably useless. It's getting more interesting, because the Anita's world is getting more complex as well as the characters. I had though the hominous feeling that even people who were related to Anita only because of her work are developing feelings for her and I don't like when everyone loves the heroine, even when it's because of this supernatural aura of her. Plus the...more
I liked it, but I felt there was something missing and I can't point a finger to what, so my review is probably useless. It's getting more interesting, because the Anita's world is getting more complex as well as the characters. I had though the hominous feeling that even people who were related to Anita only because of her work are developing feelings for her and I don't like when everyone loves the heroine, even when it's because of this supernatural aura of her. Plus the...more
I recently started following Laurell K. Hamilton on facebook and reading the snippets she posts about her life make me like her as a person so I decided to reread her books. I feel like reading Anita is like seeing bits of the author's life played out in print. Not the supernatural bits, but the life and attitude parts. Where with most things that would make me like the character less, however Ms. Hamilton does it makes me like Anita more. I feel it gives the character a depth that she needs an...more
No 3 in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, series and another good story too.
Anita Blake is an Animator, her talent is raising zombies for all sorts of legal reasons but she is also a Vampire Hunter – which was easier before Vampirism was legalized. Now you need to have a warrant to kill a vampire, except in some cases!
Jean-Claude is the Vampire Master of the City, but he has some competition in town who want to take over and they want Anita to help them. At first she is reluct...more
Anita Blake is an Animator, her talent is raising zombies for all sorts of legal reasons but she is also a Vampire Hunter – which was easier before Vampirism was legalized. Now you need to have a warrant to kill a vampire, except in some cases!
Jean-Claude is the Vampire Master of the City, but he has some competition in town who want to take over and they want Anita to help them. At first she is reluct...more
These books are hard to rate. It's not that they're not good - they are - it's just that they're not blockbusters. But I've rated many a lesser book a 3 and many a greater book a 4...
Anyway, new foes in this one which Anita must defeat. Rogue vampires are killing humans. Jean Claude is taking on the role of Master of the City but since he has largly hidden his powers thus far, he is having difficulty convincing others that he is powerful enough for the roll. Thus other Master's have ...more
Anyway, new foes in this one which Anita must defeat. Rogue vampires are killing humans. Jean Claude is taking on the role of Master of the City but since he has largly hidden his powers thus far, he is having difficulty convincing others that he is powerful enough for the roll. Thus other Master's have ...more
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Laurell K. Hamilton is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of two series that mix mystery, fantasy, magic, horror and romance. Her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels from Berkley Books began with GUILTY PLEASURES and continues to thrive with over sixteen volumes to the series and an comic adaptation. There are now more than 6 million copies of Anita in print worldwide, in 16 languages. Hamilt...more
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“Can the sarcasm,' he said. 'Please, I always use fresh sarcasm, never canned.”
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