Circus of the Damned by LK Hamilton

Come one, come all, to the Circus Of The Damned. In Laurell K. Hamilton’s third novel, Anita Blake’s struggle with the Master of the City, Jean-Claude, comes to a frightening conclusion. Anita helped Jean-Claude become the Master of the City when she destroyed Nikolaos in Guilty Pleasures, now Jean-Claude must assert his power if he is to keep his position.

Anita has been giving him problems, making him appear weak, as he has unable to completely make her his human servant. When two master vampires arrive to town, the heat is turned up even more when they set their sights on Anita. Through her, they believe they can get to Jean-Claude and prove he is weak and turn Anita into the one thing she does not want to be – a vampire’s servant.

At the Circus, Anita is introduced to the werewolves and how they are associated with the vampires, as well as Richard Zeeman. Instant attraction flares between Richard and Anita, which does not sit too well with Jean-Claude. However, Anita’s meeting with Richard makes something painfully clear to her. She doesn’t exactly know what her feelings are towards Jean-Claude. Does she hate him? Does she love him? She begins to question her feelings towards Jean-Claude, but does this mean that these same feelings are changing for all vampires? She knows that they are sadist bastards, but the same can be said for humans. Even humans have monsters among them – sociopaths and psychopaths are still human, aren’t they? Circus of the Damned is the turning point for Anita. We begin to see the doubts and confusion that enters into Anita’s moral struggle and the beginning of a personal life that may or may not interfere with her work.

Honestly, I could probably go on for awhile yet if I really thought about it, but I have to say that I liked this book. While the last one introduced us to Anita and her craft, this book introduces us to Jean-Claude and his manipulations. While his manipulations may have been set back a little with the entrance of Richard Zeeman, the fact that Anita has a boyfriend that is not dead and is also a servant to Jean-Claude implies that there is going to be trouble coming.

Click here to read an excerpt from Circus Of The Damned.

Also reviewed by:
Serial Experiment
Bitten by Books

Read Order:
Guilty Pleasures – review
The Laughing Corpse – review
Circus Of The Damned – review
The Lunatic Cafe – review
Bloody Bones – review
The Killing Dance – review
Burnt Offerings – review
Blue Moon – review
Obsidian Butterfly – review
Narcissus In Chains – review
Cerulean Sins – review
Incubus Dreams – review
Micah – review
Danse Macabre – review
The Harlequin – review
Blood Noir – review
Skin Trade – review
Flirt – review
Bullet (June 2010)

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.