Circus of the Damned is the 3rd book in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Anita Blake is an animator who raises zombies for a living, but she can also kill vampires as long as they are legally considered criminals.
I first read this series when it came out about 20 years ago, but lost interest somewhere around book #8. I’m reading it again to see if I’d like it more the second time around. So far, so good!
In Circus of the Damned, Anita Blake is tracking down a vicious master vampire who is slaughtering innocent humans. During her investigation, she tangles with Jean-Claude, the current Master of the City of St. Louis. Anita is partly bound to Jean-Claude after needing to drink his blood in previous books for healing purposes. With Jean-Claude’s help, Anita is able to identify and bring down the centuries-old vampire who’s killing everyone.
Also in this novel, Anita dates a sexy middle school teacher named Richard Zeeman, and trains a new young animator named Larry. She also butts heads with Edward—a deadly rogue vampire executioner who’s constantly after Anita to learn the true identity of the Master of the City.
Anita’s character reminds me a lot of Stephanie Plum in the Janet Evanovich mystery series. Anita is quirky, sassy, and kicks ass, but sometimes the situations she manages to find herself in are extreme and far-fetched. Which I guess is silly to say when I’m writing about a vampire novel.
The author provides explicit descriptions of the characters’ outfits in her books, which is always very funny given these books are very old. Wearing an oversized sweater with images of pumpkins on it may have been cute circa-1995, and it’s actually still cute today, but I can’t help but laugh thinking about how unsexy Anita probably looks.
Even Richard’s outfits are dorky. He wears sweatpants that bunch at the ankles, and a black leather jacket without a shirt underneath. Seriously.
I’ve also read and reviewed Guilty Pleasures and The Laughing Corpse.
There are 30 books in this series now, do you believe it?! Do you like, love, or hate this series?
Last Updated on November 25, 2025 by Sarah Ann
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