Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton

4 out of 5 Robots!

My Review:

The third installment of the Anita Blake series by Laurell K Hamilton, Circus of the Damned, was the book that got me straight hooked on this series. I liked the first two books enough to keep reading obviously, but this is the book that grabbed at me and made me want to hurl myself into the Anita Blake universe. The first time I read this book was sometime ago- rereading the series for the Anita Blake Challenge hosted by BCC.

Anita is still hard at work as an animator and preternatural assistant to the police force. Jean-Claude, Master of the City, is hounding Anita about becoming his human servant- and surprise surprise she ends up near the gorgeous vampire she is trying to avoid. That is right, a grotesque, blood-drained body looks like it could be the work of a pack of rogue vampires and it leads her right to the Circus of the Damned. This is what I love about Anita Blake and her world- there is no down time. Anita has a full plate and that gives me action, action, action. I love a good Urban Fantasy with nonstop commotion. I mean, she has a lot of silly, feisty characters to beat down in this book! Don't worry- Hamilton is brilliant so you won't get lost in the hustle and bustle.

Oh, I can't forget, although I'd like to, we are introduced to Richard. Ya know, back when he was likable. In the later novels he becomes a bane to my existence. Whiny. Temperamental. He hates who he has to be and who Anita has become. Boo hoo. He is great in this book though, haha. I like that I can dislike Richard in later novels- I find that I don't quite love a book if there isn't at least one character I can have a strong disdain for. Wow, rambling. This definitely isn't one of my most well thought out reviews...

My only complaint about Circus of the Damned was the immensely tiring description of clothing and weaponry. This isn't a huge complaint, sometimes it works when an outfit is painted with the author's vision. However, sometimes I like dressing the character too. ;) Erm... other times I'm just being impatient, dying to know what happens next and when there is piddle paddle in my way I get frustrated. Haha.

I loved this book. Fantastic, fast paced, satisfying. If you're into vampires and urban fantasy I recommend you hop on this series.

For my reviews on LKH's other work, click here.To check out the Anita Blake Challenge hosted by Book Chick City click here. 

Book Details:

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (January 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425201392
• ISBN-13: 978-0425201398

Other books in this series in the order that they should be read: 

The title links below take you to Amazon.com.

1. Guilty Pleasures  

2. The Laughing Corpse 

3. Circus of the Damned

4. The Lunatic Cafe

5. Bloody Bones 

6. The Killing Dance

7. Burnt Offerings

8. Blue Moon

9. Obsidian Butterfly

10. Narcissus in Chains 

11. Cerulean Sins

12. Incubus Dreams

13. Micah

14. Danse Macabre

15. The Harlequin

16. Blood Noir

17. Skin Trade

18. Flirt

19. Bullet