Circus of the Damned (Paperback, 1st Jove ed.)

Reviews

Reviewed by Butterfly - 3 May 2006

In "Circus of the Damned" Laurell K. Hamilton builds on her previous novels to give a fuller and more frightening picture of an alternate earth where vampires, werewolves and other monsters are commonplace members of modern society. Whilst 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 masses and challenging Jean-Claude as Master of the City. Anita, the animator / vampire slayer / necromancer, returns in a fast-paced, riveting thriller that does not let the reader go, not even for a second. The earlier books of the Anita Blake series are fun, somewhat your distinctive detective stories with a bloodsucking twist. They also have the advantage of a strong female lead, some bizarre sidekicks and a mild freshening up of your average dark fantasy/horror staples like vampires and weres. Compared to her previous books, I found that this one has many more humorous moments with Anita having many of the best one-liners in the book, the level of action and gore is maintained throughout whilst the sexual tension between Anita and her two men increases. This book contains many new plotlines and characters which will be continued throughout other books, so it's fairly important to read this book if you're going to appreciate the other books of the series.