''Circus of the Damned'' is a

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

novel by American writer

Laurell K. Hamilton Laurell Kaye Hamilton (born February 19, 1963) is an American fantasy and romance writer. She is best known as the author of two series of stories. Her The New York Times Best Seller list, ''New York Times''-bestselling ''Anita Blake: Vampire H ...

, the third book in her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. Within the novel, the "Circus of the Damned" is the name of a supernatural circus that operated by Jean-Claude and serves as one of the main locations within the book. Hamilton employed the practice of titling the novels after a location within each novel for most of the books in the series.

Plot introduction

''Circus of the Damned'' continues the adventures of

Anita Blake Anita Blake is the title and viewpoint character of the '' Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter'' series by Laurell K. Hamilton. The series takes place in a parallel world in which supernatural characters like vampires and werewolves exist alongside reg ...

. Anita simultaneously attempts to solve a series of murders by an unknown vampire pack, fend off the advances of her would be vampire master,

Jean-Claude Jean-Claude is a French masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Claude Ades, an Italian electronic music producer * Jean-Claude Alibert (died 2020), a French racing driver * Jean-Claude Amiot (born 1939), a French compos ...

and deal with various people and creatures who wish her to reveal Jean-Claude's identity and location. As with its predecessors, ''Circus of the Damned'' blends elements of

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

, and

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

fiction.

Characters

Major characters

''Circus of the Damned'' features the following major characters. *

: Anita continues her progression, as she initially is willing to kill Jean-Claude rather than be marked as his human servant, but ultimately continues to accept her role as a bridge between the worlds of humans and monsters in order to save the city. At the end of ''Circus of the Damned'', Anita sees Jean-Claude as something more of a person and is willing to continue dating Richard, even though he is one of "the monsters." *

: Hamilton reveals a little more of Jean-Claude's character in this novel. Jean-Claude's control over the city is apparently precarious, and, true to form, he attempts to use this very weakness to force Anita to surrender to him, showing his previously established manipulative, seductive, and somewhat ruthless nature. In addition, Jean-Claude proves himself quite brave in his vastly overmatched battle against Mr. Oliver, and quite deeply attached to Anita when he does not attempt to kill her in revenge for her almost killing him, nor does he surrender his romantic pursuit. *

Richard Zeeman Richard Alaric Zeeman is a fictional character in the '' Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter'' series of novels by Laurell K. Hamilton. Character introduction Within the novels, Richard's primary role is as one of the primary love interests of the series ...

: A "nice guy" alternative to Jean-Claude's manipulative seduction, Richard's good looks and brown hair remind Anita of Phillip, the doomed stripper from ''Guilty Pleasures''. Richard's good looks, charm, and emotional vulnerability contributed to the love/hate relationship Anita developed with him over the next several novels. * Mr Oliver: Mr Oliver is the most threatening opponent Anita had faced to date, and possibly the most threatening ever. By personifying her previous attitude that vampires were irredeemable monsters, Mr Oliver helped move Anita to some middle ground. *

Alejandro Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander (Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros (Greek), Alsander (Irish), Alessandro (Italian), Aleksandr (Rus ...

: An ancient vampire who is the first vampire to share all four marks with her, and thus the first to make her his full human servant, though she is by no means servant-like towards him. Because of his actions in this novel she is freed of Jean Claudes marks that she had gained in Guilty Pleasures.

Other characters

* ''Circus of the Damned'' featured reappearances from Anita's coworkers,

Bert Bert or BERT may refer to: Persons, characters, or animals known as Bert *Bert (name), commonly an abbreviated forename and sometimes a surname *Bert, a character in the poem "Bert the Wombat" by The Wiggles; from their 1992 album Here Comes a Son ...

, and

Ronnie Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album ''Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

, police officers

Dolph Dolph may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Dolph Briscoe (1923–2010), Governor of Texas from 1973 to 1979 * Dolph Camilli (1907–1997), American Major League Baseball player * Dolph Eckstein (1902–1963), American football player ...

and Zerbrowski, and recurring character John Burke * The novel introduced recurring characters

Larry Kirkland Larry Kirkland (born 1950) is an abstract sculptor whose installations are found in civic and corporate plazas in many states throughout the United States. Selected works * ''Capitalism'' (1991), Lloyd Center, Portland, Oregon * '' Garden Wrea ...

and

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

. * Non-recurring characters include: Jeremy Rubens, the leader of Humans Against Vampires, Karl Inger, the human servant of Mr Oliver, The first vampire to make her their full human servant

Rashida Rashida (رشيدة) is a feminine Arabic given name. Notable people with the name include: *Rashida (Chinese politician), one of the first group of women elected to parliament in China * Rashida al-Qaili, Yemeni journalist * Rashida Beal (born 1 ...

Melanie Melanie is a feminine given name derived from the Greek μελανία (melania), "blackness" and that from μέλας (melas), meaning "dark".Yasmeen's human servant and lover. After Yasmeen was killed, Marguerite clawed her eyes out in grief. * The death toll in ''Circus of the Damned'' includes: Calvin Rupert and Reba Baker, Humans Against Vampires members killed by Alejandro's pack; hospital guard Jimmy Dugan, an unnamed guard, an unnamed nurse and an unnamed vampire counsellor, killed by Rupert in an animalistic vampire state; Calvin Rupert, killed again as a vampire by Anita and John Burke; Raju, Ronald, and two unnamed men, all men ensorcelled by Melanie and killed by Anita; two unnamed snake creatures killed by Anita and Edward during the final battle; an unnamed child vampire and two unnamed women vampires, all members of Alejandro's pack and killed (probably by Edward) during the final battle; Yasmeen, killed by Alejandro, and Oliver and

both killed by Anita. {{Anita Blake Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels 1995 American novels Low fantasy novels Urban fantasy novels Novels set in St. Louis Ace Books books