Stakeout at the Vampire Circus

Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. #1.5

by Kevin J. Anderson

"LADIES AND ZOMBIES, IN THE CENTER RING..."

Zombie P.I. Dan Shamble and his ghost girlfriend are called to the Vampire Circus when a fortune teller's cards go missing. Not exactly the glamorous life, but the stakes escalate when a vampire trapeze act goes dead wrong, and Shamble discovers even more skeletons in the closet than the ones that live there. As he shuffles for clues through an unnatural cast of carnies, he faces a slate of suspects that could freak out even the most daring detective-a werewolf lion tamer, a fat lady with an enormous secret, an undead ringmaster...and what could be scarier than a circus clown? The only thing certain is that the show must go on-dead or alive.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Humor, Fiction, Horror, Zombies

54 pages, ebook

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.

I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.

I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.

My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.

Reviews

[Qt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read any of the other books in this series, but if this one is any indication I will really enjoy them! Humorous, an interesting mystery, and lots of "monsters"--definitely the sort of thing I like :-)

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick novella following Dan as his enjoys an afternoon at the circus. I like this character and the bad zombie puns revolving around this world of monsters and mayhem. They are fun read. All dead puns intended.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an enjoyable story. Although the mystery was quick-to-solve, interactions among the characters and Dan's descriptions were hugely entertaining.
Recommended.

[Starfly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The vampire circus was cute.

[Kellee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely different. This about a zombie detective solving crime at a time when people can choose to stay dead or come back to life as ghosts, zombies, and vampires. It was a short story and I would probably read more if I ran across them , but wont go looking for more.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tries to be cute and comes across as too cute. It's not bad, the writing is fine. But there is some spark missing. It's like the humor is too obivious.

[Linda (The Arizona Bookstagrammer) · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Stakeout at the Vampire Circus” (Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. #1.5) by Kevin J. Anderson. Genre: Humorous Paranormal Novella. Location: The Unnatural Section of a big city in America.-
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Life changed for everyone when unnatural creatures made themselves known to the world. Private Detective Dan took a job helping a ghost and got himself killed. But these are unnatural times and now he’s a zombie P. I. This novella describes one of his cases.-
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Dan is asked to investigate the theft of fortune telling cards at The Vampire Circus. Then the vampire trapeze artist dies. It’s such a short story that telling anymore would give it all away! I’ll just say that the case mostly solves itself as usual when Dan is on the job.-
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I enjoy Kevin J. Anderson’s books, especially this series. He’s funny and clever. However, my enjoyment comes with this caveat- the author is somewhat clueless when it comes to appropriate descriptions of LGBTQ and when it comes to women’s storylines vs. men’s. He’s not hostile or dismissive as much as just behind the times I think. Keeping that in mind, I’ll give this 3 1/2 stars for a short, funny story with clever world building.🌵📚👩🏼‍🦳”

[Gail Sawrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is listed as 1.5 in the Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I., series. I enjoyed it; however, because it was so short, I finished in just a couple of hours. Unlike most of the novels that involve many cases taking place throughout the Unnatural Quarter, this has several events all taking place in a circus owned by a vampire. While many of the characters from the series are only seen briefly in this story, Dan is on the cases, determined to solve them quickly.

[Mo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read it in about an hour. Not as intriguing as a full-length story, despite the circus setting, but I will continue to read this series. (I've read Death Warmed Over, which is book one, and next up I will read book two, Unnatural Acts.)

[Kent Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun read but I had one complaint. Anderson refers to a character as a transvestite when they actually are not. Transvestites are people who dress up as the other gender because they enjoy it. The character does it because it helps them in their profession. That isn't a transvestite.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is about sixty pages long. The story is only 39 pages long, and the rest is the first few chapters of his next book. I would not recommend purchasing this, but if you were able to read it for free, you can, but it wasn't much of a story.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehh. . .

[Joan Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

short and just plain fun

[Nils Krebber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice short story, nothing much to say here. That said, the unrelenting assault of puns is really well suited to short stories, soe maybe this is even better than the novels.

[Carol Farrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short but still surprising and entertaining.

[John Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute

I do enjoy the Dan Shambles books as I am a fan of old/dumb jokes (like Prairie Home Companion.) The plots aren’t terribly complex but the dialogue is fun.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story in the Dan Shamble, Zombie PI series was light and entertaining. I've always been a sucker for anything to do with the circus, especially a dark, freakish circus like this.

In this tale, Zombie PI Dan Chambeaux and his ghost girlfriend Sheyenne visit the circus to investigate the disappearance of a deck of magic cards, presumed stolen. Upon their arrival, they learn that several other things have gone missing in the last several weeks as well, generally small, insignificant items, though not necessarily unimportant to the owner.

The circus staff consists of a most unusual set of characters such as a transvestite fortune teller, a zombie clown, and a vampire trapeze artist. But whom amongst them is the thief? Though he and Sheyenne take in the show, Dan refuses to be deterred from his sleuthing, and finding the rustler among all these carnies makes for a very humorous tale.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This takes place in between Dan Shamble 1 Death Warmed Over and his new book coming out in Jan. It is a story funny read to tide me over. The title tells you what to expect in story; vampires, puns, and death. The death does not happen until almost at the end of the story but it is funny. Dan Chambeaux is just a normal working stiff trying to pay the rent and make clients happy. Well more than a little of that goes on in this story. The humor is spot on, the writing is good, and Mr. Anderson worked one of my favorite stories by Edgar Allan Poe into the plot. I, personally, can not wait for Hair Rising to come out. Keep them coming, sir!

[Yolanda Sfetsos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short novella fits between Book 1 & 2.

Zombie PI Dan Shamble and his ghost girlfriend go to the circus after a fortune teller calls them because his magical deck of cards has been stolen. Dan's a good detective and he doesn't let his zombie status slow him down, so he's on the case. The investigation introduces him to a variety of circus freaks. No, seriously. ;)

This story is short and a lot of fun!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it it was a nice little tale between books couple of recycled lines from the first book but that is to be expected, but bottom line it's all right and lacks that special something that make the first book wonderful

[K.N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really had an enjoyable time with this book, new concept and great characters. Loved the humor!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short read, it seemed like a good intro to the Zombie P.I., but not much more. I will keep my eye out for other (hopefully full length) offerings.

[Barb (Boxermommyreads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok story for a ebook special. I was afraid I would miss something by not reading it before I continued with the series. I really do like the characters a lot.

[MsBDiamondDiva1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun story and so much more relaxing than one would think!!! I recommend this for a super fun read!!!

[☀Rachael☀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good little novella to pass some time!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love stories about circuses, so I couldn't resist this. Short read and a bit on the Goosebumps side, but fun. After reading the author's bio, I want to read more by him!

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read, focused writing to tell the story in 5 chapters.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good quick story

[Pete731 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny little story, fits well into the series. Didn't have quite the same level of comedy as the first, and I didn't feel the transvestite character was well done. Might have been too stereotypical.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute for a short story especially if you're a fan of the Dan Shamble series like I am.