When a powerful centuries-old vampire hits Anita Blake's town, a battle of the undead ensues.

For the first time in trade paperback: the fifth novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Laurell K. Hamilton. When Branson, Missouri, is hit with a death wave 'four unsolved murders' it doesn't take an expert to realize that all is not well. But luckily for the locals, Anita Blake is an expert in the kinds of preternatural goings-on that have everyone spooked. And she's got an 'in' with the creature that can make sense of the slayings-the sexy master vampire known as Jean-Claude.

Meet Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, in the first novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series that “blends the genres of romance, horror and adventure with stunning panache”(Diana Gabaldon). Laurell K. Hamilton’s bestselling series has captured readers’ wildest imaginations and addicted them to a seductive world where supernatural hungers collide with the desires of the human heart, starring a heroine like no other... Anita Blake is small, dark, and dangerous. Her turf is the city of St. Louis. Her job: re-animating the dead and killing the undead who take things too far. But when the city’s most powerful vampire asks her to solve a series of vicious slayings, Anita must confront her greatest fear—her undeniable attraction to master vampire Jean-Claude, one of the creatures she is sworn to destroy... “What The Da Vinci Code did for the religious thriller, the Anita Blake series has done for the vampire novel.”—USA Today

Anita must fight for her reputation when a mob boss offers her a million dollars to resurrect a corpse and a powerful zombie begins to leave a trail of mayhem and murder across the city.

A collection of the first five novels in Laurell K. Hamilton's New York Times bestselling Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. • Guilty Pleasures • The Laughing Corpse • Circus of the Damned • The Lunatic Cafe • Bloody Bones

BEST-SELLING AUTHOR LAURELL K. HAMILTON'S FAN-FAVORITE VAMPIRE HUNTER RETURNS! Anita Blake walked away from her last case with more than a few bruises - but those wounds are nothing compared to the scrapes that lie ahead in this blood-soaked adaptation of Hamilton's third erotic thriller. To find a killer targeting the undead, Anita must descend into the dangerous, supernatural demimonde operated by the master vampire Jean-Claude. It will take all of Anita's wits to survive THE CIRCUS OF THE DAMNED!

Vampire slayer Anita Blake helps the police find a vampire serial killer responsible for a series of child murders, but quickly realizes she needs the help of her mentor Manny and supernatural hitman Edward to solve the case.