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Online Store - Circus Of The Damned
![Circus Of The Damned]()
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List Price: $26.95
Our Price: $26.95
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Manufacturer: The Large Print Book Company
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781596880658
Format: Large Print
ISBN: 1596880651
Label: The Large Print Book Company
Manufacturer: The Large Print Book Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 366
Publication Date: 2005-08-30
Publisher: The Large Print Book Company
Studio: The Large Print Book Company
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Editorial Reviews:
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In Circus of the Damned 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 . . .
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: More Human, Still Enjoyable
Comment: I didn't like this one quite as much as the last one, The Laughing Corpse, but I liked it more than the first book. The most important thing for me is that this book showed another layer to the series: in the first book, the focus was on the powerful and terrifying vampires; the second centered around the undead and humans who raise them -- the evil of humans rather than the evil of vampires, in other words. This book is about the humans who have to deal with these evil things. The bad guy in this one was good, though it centered a lot more on Anita and Jean-Claude and Anita's attempts to live a normal life, all of which are effectively ruined by her association with Jean-Claude, because she knows who the Master of the City is and where his daytime resting place is, so everybody who wants to kill him -- and it's more than a few -- wants to bribe, threaten, and torture the information out of her. It was an interesting depiction of what it's like to be a human drawn into the vampire's world. It also made Anita seem much less high-powered -- though she did have her bada$$ moment at the end, oh yes she did.
I liked Oliver enormously; I thought it was a fantastic idea and a wonderfully drawn character. I liked his motivation and the ways he intends to accomplish his goals, as well as his obvious personal power as seen through his control of such incredibly powerful minions. I didn't like the lamia, but I'm not supposed to, so that worked out well; it's an interesting way to handle the villain, to have a personable mastermind with loathsome henchbeings. On one level I wanted Oliver to win, mostly because I'm tired of Jean-Claude's assurance that he'll win and that Anita will surrender to him. Why? Because he's pretty, that's why. He's way too much of a prettyboy, utterly confident that his looks will enable him to get any woman, utterly convinced that once a woman gives in to her attraction to him, she will never resist him again. It's annoying. The conversation just keeps happening the same way:
"I'll never give in to you, Jean-Claude."
"But you want me."
"But I can't love you."
"But you liked kissing me."
"But I can't love you, and so there will never be anything more than a kiss."
"I'll wait, ma petite."
And on and on it goes. Now, this doesn't detract from the books, and it did make this one better for me because of the events that happen between Anita and Jean-Claude, how she turns on him and why, and the end result of her unexpected (to Jean-Claude; seems like it was always just a matter of time) betrayal of him, and I do agree with Anita's final choice of Jean-Claude as the least of the several evils facing her -- but I want her to slap him. A lot. Maybe muss up that pretty face a little bit. Although more scars would just give him character, like that damn cross scar gives to his chest. And I have to admit that I prefer Jean-Claude to the alternative, Alejandro. Basically this character and his dealings with Anita make her a more sympathetic character without having him become truly loathsome -- this is the problem Anne Rice had with Lestat, for instance. His villainy was just too villainous, and it couldn't be maintained over a series -- and there was a series without a sympathetic character. So I much prefer this to that. He still needs a slappin', though.
I'm seeing great potential in these books to go the distance: the main character is both powerful and, as this book establishes, very human and thus a bit outclassed by her immortal enemies -- though she uses all of the tools at her disposal to maximum effect, which works out quite well -- and the other main characters are complex and multi-dimensional. Because despite my irritation with Jean-Claude's prettyboy seduction techniques, he is actually much more than that as a, um, person, which is why I don't really hate him. But it isn't just him: Willie McCoy, and Anita's boss, Bert, and the other animators, including the new guy, all have their strengths and weaknesses. They are all very realistic, and thus very interesting. At the same time, of course, there is some serious booty-kicking going on in these books, and who doesn't like that?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Must read!
Comment: LK Hamilton is a great author. If you love vampires, her Anita Blake series is the one for you.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Bloody Brilliant
Comment: 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!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Circus of the Damned
Comment: I love the books about Anita Blake. Always keep you going and guessing about what will happen next.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Decent end to the first trilogy, great exit point for the series
Comment: 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.
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