Rating: 
Summary: The one that got me hooked
Review: Looking back many years ago to when I was reading this book for the first time, I think this is the one that got me hooked. This is partly because of the love triangle that is introduced and partly because this is where the series hits it's stride. This installment, more than any other, has the perfect blend of romance and plot. This is one of my favorites in the series and after four or five rereads it's still highly enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Another action-packed tour de force from Ms. Hamilton!
Review: I've become addicted to this series! Laurell K. Hamilton knows how to keep you turning the pages all the way to its staggering conclusion. Circus of the Damned is the third part of the Anita Blake series and the best one thus far. A pack of vampires has murdered several people. Anita has to figure out who is in charge of the crimes. What ensues is a battle between various vampire masters who want to replace Jean-Claude as the Master of the City, and Anita is right in the middle of said battle. Jean-Claude and Alejandro want her as a human servant. She has to choose between the two -- something she isn't prepared to do...Circus of the Damned, like the first two novels, is action-packed from beginning to end. Hamilton does not allow any breathing room between the horror scenes. Her novels are riveting and suspenseful from beginning to end. What I like most about this novel is the progress, however small, between Anita and Jean-Claude. Anita has reluctantly caved to Jean-Claude's charms a bit. I love Jean-Claude! He is a great character -- mysterious, complex, sensual. The reader also gets a glimpse of erotica in this offering. The building of tension is second to none. The action, horror and suspense aspects are better than ever. I recommend this series and I cannot wait to start on the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Book 3
Review: This is the third book in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. In my opinion this book is the best one yet! The book starts out with the familiar scenario of Anita being called in to help investigate a preternaturally-linked murder. From there we're drawn into the growing power struggle within the St. Louis vampire community. We meet lots of new and interesting creatures, umm, characters along the way as Anita gets dumped from one situation to the next. This book is virtually non-stop action! A lot is done to further develop the relationship between Anita and Jean-Claude, but a new love-interest is introduced as well. Laurell Hamilton does an excellent job of handling her characters and allowing them to develop as the plot advances. She introduces some really sinister bad guys in this book, but I can't say more without spoiling the plot.
I highly recommend this book! If you liked the first two Anita Blake books, don't miss this one! I can't wait to get the next volume in this series (The Lunatic Cafe)!
Rating: 
Summary: Welcome To The Circus!!
Review: Anita Blake, heroine of Laurell K. Hamilton's Vampire Hunter novels, discovers in "Circus of the Damned" that she is a full fledged necromancer, as well as an animator and vampire slayer. She is truly a woman of many talents. Anita's boss contracted her out as paranormal advisor to the police's Regional Preternatural Investigation Team. Her friend and colleague, Detective Sergeant Rudolf "Dolph" Storr, contacts her, as the novel opens, to inform her that a dead body has been found - the first of many. After she examines the gruesome corpse, her worst fears are realized. The man had been brutally murdered, by multiple vampires. Apparently a rogue Master Vampire and pack members are on the loose in St. Louis, because rogues are the only kind of vampires who kill in numbers.
It should not be possible for a rogue and pack to be operating in the city. Vampire extraordinaire, Jean-Claude, the charismatic Master of the City of St. Louis, should be aware and in charge of whatever undead creature enters his domain. Unfortunately, Jean-Claude, powerful as he is, is new to the job and is having difficulties asserting himself in his new position. Others are disputing his claims and vying for his title as city leader. Jean-Claude is a capitalist entrepreneur vampire, and owns the vampire strip club, Guilty Pleasures, the vamp comedy club, The Laughing Corpse, and also a circus called, Circus of the Damned, which features, amongst other acts: The Skinless Man, a voodoo ceremony with zombies rising from open graves, clowns from the other world, and snake charmer, Shahar, who works with the world's largest cobra - and boy (!) this baby is huge!! Perhaps if Jean-Claude didn't have his fingers in so many pies, he could better protect his primary job title.
Anyway, Alejandro, the rogue vampire, happens to be the world's oldest creature and the most powerful one Anita has ever faced. He wants Anita to be his human servant so he can use her powers to help him gain control of..., well...everything. Jean-Claude, who has the hots for Anita, has given her a bite or two - just enough to make her 'almost' his own. However, he prefers to seduce Anita, not to force her. Anita thinks Jean-Claude is pretty cool too - but wants nothing to do with him because she doesn't want anyone, or anything, to have control over her. In other words, she prefers her men to be alive. So while these two undead studs are duking it out over the lovely lady and the St. Louis turf, she gets kidnapped by a lamia and cohorts, and taken to an underground cave where she fights for her life; struggles with a radical group of right wing activists who want to murder all vampires and undead creatures - even the innocent ones; continues to raise five zombies per night for her demanding boss, while training a new employee; begins dating the oh-so-handsome, and very nice, Richard Zeeman, a science teacher with a terrible secret, etc.. The novel culminates with a fabulous gang war scene in the middle of the circus - giving new meaning to the words "Live Entertainment!!"
Laurell Hamilton just keeps getting better. Her characters are what makes this series so special. Anita is the author's secret weapon. This gal has attitude with a capital "A." Her wit is wry and she is a major cynic with a tender heart. She is a feisty, attractive and independent 21st century lady who is as good at raising the dead as she is at slaying the undead. Ms. Blake's sense of morality is unique. No matter what the perks are, she refuses to become a monster - or even the human servant of a very sexy vampire who has fairly liberal ideas where women are concerned. She will never give up a human to a vampire, no matter what the crime. She'll never leave a man, or woman, behind. And she won't date corpses. Hamilton's minor characters are fantastic also - in every sense of the word. The humor, dark as it is, never falls flat. The narrative is well written and fast paced. I highly recommend this book, but it will be more enjoyable if you begin by reading the first two episodes, "Guilty Pleasures" and "The Laughing Corpse."
JANA
Rating:
Summary: Just Like That
Review: I really think I am beyond obsessed when it comes to the Anita Blake series. At first, I felt the book was going at a fast paced. Towards the end I was kind of glad that it was, because i wanted to know what happenes right away. I am upset that Laurell K. Hamilton gave Anita a new beau but I could almost see why she did it. In every romantic plot, you need to give a huge surprise to keep readers interested. At least that is what i think. Everyone expected Anita to give in to Jean-Claude, but she didn't. It makes me want to see what happens in the next book.
Rating:
Summary: sucked in.
Review: I found this book to be one of the best in the Anita Blake series. For me, it started off a bit slow but quickly sucked me in. I don't want to give up any details, but the wonderful detail of the 'fight' scenes, the tension between Anita and Jean-Claude, and everything in between makes this out to be a very good read.
Rating:
Summary: You Can't Read Just One
Review: As I compulsively read one more Anita Blake story, I tried to analyze what makes them so fascinating? Is it having a heroine who's not afraid to talk back (even when it's to a master vampire)? Is it her ability to think and act quickly to survive the most frightening circumstances? Imagine yourself floundering though a totally dark cave with an ancient lamia (snake/woman combo) and three vampires after you.
The gore in the second book repelled me, but this time the descriptions of mayhem seemed more focused on the action and didn't wallow quite as much in blood (or maybe I'm just getting used to it).
Whatever... Laurell Hamilton sure has fashioned a world that grabs the reader. Each book adds another layer of monsters and their powers to keep the reader (and heroine) jumping.
Rating: 
Summary: Starting to hit her stride
Review: To recap (for those who don't read every one of my reviews, because I've heard that there are a few of you out there) I really didn't like the first book, "Guilty Pleasures." I thought that book two, "The Laughing Corpse" got a little better. This installment of the series seems to have finally hit some sort of stride. It is far from perfect, but I enjoyed this one more than the previous two.
I felt that there were fewer things that came up out of nowhere (such as the Deus Ex Machina villain in book one) and I felt mostly satisfied with the characterization. I thought that the inclusion of a new Animator and an extremely ancient vampire were interesting. Overall, this novel seemed to flow better than the previous two.
I did have a few problems with the book, however. The characters were drawn well, but their actions did not always seem consistent with previous books (didn't the bounty hunter still have a contract on the Master of the City?). Some things still seemed thrown in with no regard for plot (okay, so why was one of the new characters naked when we first meet him?). And I would still like a better analysis of the world this story is set in (what, exactly, are the first two marks? where did vamps come from? are they evil? if not, why do crosses burn them?).
In short, this series does not seem to be terrible. It can kill some time and satisfy a vampire craving. However, don't expect the intelligence or depth of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the intriguing ambiguity of Anne Rice. I don't know where the series will go from here, but so far it's kind of fun. Maybe not fun enough to get me to read the rest of them, but we'll see. :)
Rating:
Summary: Best of the first three in the series
Review: I just recently (July 2004) 'discovered' the Anita Blake series, and I love these books !! I have ZOOMED through reading the first three of the eleven books, and this one, Circus of the Damned, is the best of the first three in my opinion. Lots of action, plot twists and surprises, Anita very nearly dying more than once, a new 'boyfriend' for Anita. I HIGHLY recommend this book, even as a stand-alone read, without having read the first two. Five Stars !!!
Rating:
Summary: Will the real Master of the City please stand up?
Review: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Zombie Queen, Necromancer, really didn't love Jean-Claude. At least, that's what she kept telling herself. But soon Jean-Claude is not the only vampire trying to make her his servant. There seems to be a bunch of Master Vampires and they ALL want to become Master of the City. To do that they have to find and kill Jean-Claude. Which means they need Anita to tell them where he is, whether she wants to or not!
The undead battle is about to begin, with vampires, werewolves and even an immortal tossed in for the fun of it. Add Edward (and his lovely flamethrower) and you have the fight of the century. Winner take all. The only problem Anita has with all this is she seems to be First Prize.
Lets get ready to rumble!
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