This is the second book I've read by Bryan Smith. And I must say, out of the 2, I liked this one so much better. Generally, I've noticed that he likes to take 3 or 4 main characters, and have each chapter focus on one of them, until they either die off or converge. This can be a bit confusing if you have trouble keeping characters straight, as I do. I had to sit for a minute trying to think who he was talking about now.

As for this book, I love the characters, and the freaks are pretty cool. This book has a horror, sci-fi feel to it. Very gory, very fun. I already had a fear of clowns and circus, but this book may ensure that I will try to steer clear if I ever see one again.

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Wow. There was no lead up on this book as Smith jumps us straight into the action. Character introduction happens along with death and mayhem. Personally I liked it; a little more effort to figure out the story threads in my head but also nice because there's a higher likelihood that anyone could die. In other words, the main protagonist that most likely survives the book is not yet set.

The story focuses on The Flaherty Brothers Traveling Circus and Freakshow which goes around to small towns across the country. A strange, mysterious beckoning would bring almost the whole town to the festival. However, this circus and freakshow has a deadlier purpose than entertainment as people are consumed and stolen by the real freaks of the show.

In a normal fashion for Smith's books, there is a lot happening. There are multiple story threads following different groups of people as they survive the chaos they've fallen into. One of the fun things is while the events in one thread will appear and affect other threads, the characters won't necessarily meet. Kind of like real life where someone's actions might affect you despite you never meeting that person. The only other thing I wanted to point out was that I liked how some of the characters were hard to figure out. Were they "good" people? Did they want to help the different people or out for themselves? It kept things slightly off-kilter. Not too much more to say. A good book that I would recommend if you like people trying to survive crazy freaks doing a bunch of weird stuff. ( )

Pros - plot was unique, creative, and quickly paced. Characters were convincing. Bryan Smith writes with a style that's a joy to read. Cons - just isn't really my kind of book, too in your face shock factor and a bit too much torture/dread. Too much dulls it for me a bit, not because I become too disturbed, but it just makes it all blend together with less impact. I love circus and freak themes and he certainly didn't fail to disappoint with the villains in this one! ( )

Rating: 3 of 5

What I expected: lots of splatter, moderate suspense, so-so characterization, and entertaining premise.

Most of the "scares" revolved around the humans' fear of torture and enslavement by more powerful beings.

I'd recommend to "gorehounds." (Definitely falls under splatterpunk aka extreme horror.) ( )

Good book. Very fast paced. Craziness ensues from page 1 and doesn't stop until the last chapter. ( )