| Title | : | The Revenge of the Clowns (Flesh-Eating Circus, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 276 |
| Publication | : | Published October 24, 2023 |
When there's no more room in Hell, the clowns shall walk the Earth...
Two months have passed since Crooks and his band of monstrous clowns terrorized the residents of Brentway. As Joe, Marvin and Eve try to put their lives back together, they are astonished to learn that a new circus is coming to town, one that includes: a strongman, acrobats, a giant and, of course, more clowns.
After initially planning to avoid the event at all costs, Marvin’s psychologist instead convinces him and his wife to attend the show, in order to help them overcome their lingering uneasiness regarding circus performers. Joe agrees to accompany his friends, after reassurances from the mayor and the senior sergeant of police that they are taking absolutely no chances with the townspeople’s safety this time.
However, Crooks has made it back to his kin in the mountains, and within him is a burning desire to inflict revenge upon the humans who mangled his body and despicably slaughtered his brothers.
Have the bloodthirsty clowns already dug their claws into this mysterious new circus? And if this horrifying scenario is a reality, will Joe, Marvin and Eve’s hopes of remedying their psychological wounds unknowingly lead them into a lethal trap?
The Revenge of the Clowns (Flesh-Eating Circus, #2) Reviews
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4.5 stars rounded up to 5
Caesar Ruell outdid himself with the sequel to his first short novel The Circus of Hungry Clowns, where Crooks, the only survivor to the first circus returns with mostly one thing in mind (in addition to continuing feeding himself and his kin on human flesh), which is taking revenge on those who defeated him in the past.
Joe, Marvin, and Eve have just heard that despite the fact that's only been two months since the evil circus clowns inflicted so much damage on Brentway's citizens, a new circus is coming to town. They barely made it out alive from the previous one, so how on earth is the mayor allowing a new one to even visit so soon?
After being reassured that every precaution has been taken and that nothing should go wrong this time, they all decide to venture themselves to the opening night. After all, they may just be acting a bit paranoid all things considered.
So, what will it be? Will Crooks and his family of hungry clowns be able to avenge his brothers? Will Joe, Marvin, and Eve realize there really isn't anything to worry about? Will there be any more bloodshed at this new circus?
There would only be a way to find out, but beware, you might become part of the clowns act at Le Grand Cirque des Lumiéres. -
It's really been a while since I gave something a glowing 5-star review. But this was so deserving of that honor. I think Caesar Ruell is a great writer. I'm not saying that to be a kiss ass, either. He pulls you into these unique experiences and keeps you totally engaged from start to finish. And this particular entry in the Flesh-Eating Circus series elicited so many things from me. It brought me back, in a lot of ways, to how I structured Preternatural Evolution. It shows the aftermath of all the atrocities and violence from the first book. The main characters returned and are all traumatized, scared, and just waiting for the next horrible event to occur. And, as I've made no secret of, I am also a gigantic mark for anything dealing with killer clowns. So all of that put together, with an immense amount of gore and action, all balanced delicately with a well thought out plot and fleshed out characters...and you have the makings of a memorable read. On the violence, the author had a lot of fun with the ways those clowns were slaughtering people. Really innovative and uncomfortable scenes there. But I loved it all. If I had to make one little nitpick, it was that I would have liked to see a little more callbacks to the first book, just to refresh my memory. This literally started right off after the original ended, and it was just a slightly abrupt beginning, which could have had some additional references to the previous entry, just to get the reader back in the right mindset. But, again, that is an extremely minor, and possibly unnecessary to some readers, bit of feedback, to an otherwise very enjoyable book. There is also more to do with this story, and I hope to see Crooks, Joe, and everyone else return for at least one more adventure. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
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I can't believe I didn't already have a shelf for extreme horror. I think I need to go back through my books to add some more to it now. But with that said, on to the review!
I read Caesar Ruell's The Circus of Hungry Clowns last year, so I was happy to see this continuation of the story. I was looking forward to getting a glimpse into the clowns' origin story. Let me tell you, the first book was disturbing, but it has nothing on how disturbing the sequel was! There aren't enough trigger warnings to put on this book. So if you're the least bit squeamish, you might want to look somewhere else. But then again, this is extreme horror. I feel obliged to warn folks reading my reviews because I read such a wide variety of books.
The story opens on Crooks making his way back to his clan. The glimpse into their little society (if you can call it that) is interesting! But just when I'm thinking I can't read any more about this evil group, we jump to our old friend, Joe. He fought so valiantly against the clowns in the first book. He doesn't deserve the cruelty of facing them again ...
But that's exactly what happens. The clowns are ruthless. Many of the townspeople are even worse. Ruell did an excellent job of turning my stomach with each turn of the page! If you want extreme horror, you'll get it with this book!
Ruell's character development and world building were on point. I was totally immersed in the story and the fate of the characters as I read. I give The Revenge of the Clowns four disturbing stars out of five. -
First of all, I want to extend a tremendous thank you to Caesar Ruell for gifting me his book, THE REVENGE OF THE CLOWNS! After reading THE CIRCUS OF HUNGRY CLOWNS, I couldn’t wait to dive into this one! I am so grateful you trusted me with an honest review!
Wow, that was quite intense! I’m still trying to recover from reading this book, the second in a series about demonic clowns. The first, a novella that introduced us to Crooks and his evil brethren, was a solid 5 stars for me. I really loved it, and that’s saying a lot since I absolutely hate clowns! I’ll have to blame Stephen King for my clown phobia, because Pennywise has haunted my nightmares for decades. (But IT remains one of my favorite horror novels of all time!)
I will say that I really enjoy Caesar Ruell’s writing and his storytelling. He has an imagination off the charts and it comes across amazingly well in his books and novellas. This book kept me on the edge of my seat and at times, I thought my heart might explode. And just as in the novella, the descriptions of the clowns are fantastic, allowing you to see them vividly in your mind.
But there is one thing I missed in this book. I really loved the father-son relationship between Joe and Bobby in the novella, and would have loved to see more regarding the development of that relationship here. And admittedly, some of the scenes with the children at the circus were difficult to read and more graphic than in the novella. So be warned, this book is not for the faint of heart.
Our protagonist, Joe, is a an incredibly likable character and one you root for with every fiber of your being! For goodness sake, how could you not root for a person who not once, but twice, puts his life on the line against evil, torturous clowns?!! Poor heroic Joe!
This sequel kept me reading and captivated, throwing in a couple of twists that I didn’t see coming. So for all readers out there who love reading about demonic circus performers, aka evil clowns, this book is for you! But read THE CIRCUS OF HUNGRY CLOWNS first, for sure!! -
This is the sequel to “The Circus of Hungry Clowns”, a novella I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend to fans of Clown Horror looking for something fresh and exciting. Unfortunately, this follow up novel didn’t quite work for me for a number of reasons.
The POVs shift between Crooks the surviving clown from the first book to Joe who two months later accompanies his friends Marvin and Eve to the new circus show in town. Despite being assured by the mayor and town officials that ‘Le Grand Cirque des Lumières’ is harmless, Joe and and friends find out that history has just repeated itself and the residents of Brentway are once again in danger of a new wave of flesh-eating clowns.
I loved the way the book opens up with Crooks and explains the true origins of the clowns, it’s something I craved from the novella and this aspect didn’t disappoint. When the POV shifts back over to Joe, the storyline became repeatable as the novella, except this time around the scenes of violent circus acts extended longer than it needed to. I liked the creativity behind the various ways the clowns were inflicting torture but because the victims were basically cardboard cutouts paired with scenes that dragged, there was a bit of a disconnection where I didn’t really care about what was happening. As for Joe, I loved the relationship between him and his son in the first book but this time around I wasn’t a fan of Joe because of the idiotic decisions he was making. How is it that he got stuck in the exact same situation of being forced to watch yet another circus show featuring more of the same cannabilistic clowns? I know it’s a far fetched storyline to begin with but I still needed a strong character to balance it out. Lastly, there was also repetitive moments of the situation being explained during different conversations. This book would have benefited more from being edited down.
Overall, I love the concept of the clowns and their origins. The author has good ideas but I wasn’t invested in the characters and when that happens it’s hard to really care about what happens to them. But I would still recommend reading the first book “The Circus of Hungry Clowns”, I feel that a novella format suits this author best.
Many thanks to the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. -
I received a free copy of this book for an honest opinion.
I give this one a 4.5 stars but rounded up! I love that we got to find out a bit more about the clowns and their hellscape of an origin place, I found the characters super interesting and easy to like where applicable and I really enjoyed the continuation of the mind altering situation these people found themselves in. I also enjoyed how vividly and well written their entire book is but particularly the death scenes. Really enjoyed this book and would thoroughly recommend it to anybody that doesn't have violence triggers as this book and the 1st are super brutal and gory. -
The sequel to "Circus of Hungry Clowns" and I can't express enough how much I loved this book!
It's rare for me to like a sequel more, but this story was longer, darker, more characters to love, more backstory of the clowns, supernatural elements, and all of the violence you could hope for!
I can't recommend these books enough, as they are absolutely amazing!
Over 200 books rated and reviewed, and this is only my fourth 5/5! -
Caution warnings first up on this one, and the first in series:
EXTREME Horror
Children [Fatalities, Torture]
Adults [Fatalities, Torture]
Cannibalism
Illusion [Concealment of Evil Intent]
Hell
Demons
Fire
Cryptids
As I stated in my review of the first in this Series, the evil entities here possess a superb capacity for Illusion. As is said of the Sidhe, they wrap themselves in Glamor, hypnotizing their victims and audience. Like a Medieval Morality play, we come away with two Lessons:
Evil can make itself appear to be the brightest of blessings; and it has no limit.
Any individual can always-always strive to rise above both evil and indifference, and to both live uprightly and to battle evil when it appears--no matter the personal cost. -
Crooks is back .. his pissed and looking for revenge!
Really enjoyed part 2 of the flesh eating circus.... It's a fast-paced read with plenty of gore and blood and could the ending mean a possible part 3???? -
I enjoyed the first book in this series, but this one is probably my favorite. It gives some background on the clowns, which I was happy to see, since we didn’t know much about them in the first book. Some of the clowns are back and so are some traumatized characters from the previous book. The clowns are ready for more violence and Ruell holds nothing back. Revenge of the Clowns is packed full of action, gore, and many twisted ways to take out people at the circus. There is also an impressive body count in this one. Fans of killer clowns and extreme horror, this book is for you!
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I enjoyed the sequel but, like the first book, it left me wanting more. I feel like this was supposed to "ramp up" from the incident in the first book and it felt like a rehash of it with a bit more gore. The concept was really great, I just wanted more from the execution of it all.
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I enjoyed learning the origin story of the demonic clowns. Fair warning children do die in these books so if that is triggering you may want to pass. The ending leaves it open for another book.
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Crooks is back and he is pissed!! I loved these books, they are a new angle on killer clowns. A little twist I didn’t see coming made this an extra fun read! If you want a gory horror head down to the circus! But be warned the audience participation is killer!
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After producing a solid novella, the author returns to the universe of flesh-eating clowns with a full-length novel that I devoured in record time. As a child of the 80’s, I’ve been scarred for life by Pennywise and other evil clowns, and Crooks gives them a run for their money. The story takes up where we left Joe, Marvin and Eve, trying to put their lives back together after the gruesome events of the prequel. A circus is coming back to town, but it’s OK, this is a normal circus and Marvin should go face his fears to get over his trauma. Eve and Joe go with him and, well, it’s no spoiler to say that the clowns are back. This time, we get to see the real show along with Joe and it is terrifying and not for the faint of heart. The setting is just as atmospheric as the novella, and the last part is very suspenseful (and funny, in a very dark, why do I find this amusing kind of way). There are some plot points that require a considerable suspension of disbelief, but the author does a good job to explain why (oh why?) the whole town would turn a blind eye to the previous events. This is a perfect read for Halloween, or for people who celebrate Halloween all year round.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, Caesar Ruell! -
“The streets will run red with the blood of the children, and the clowns will BATHE IN IT!”
The first book was among my absolute favorite horror reads of 2023. Outlandish, but cool. Scary and gory, without devolving into total splatterpunk nonsense. And an excellent ending.
This novel? Not. So. Much.
We’re back in Brentway. It’s May, 1936. Only a few months after the events of book one.
Crooks survived, after all. He locates his infernal brothers, strikes a deal with a demon, and set out on his way back to Brentway for revenge.
The buffoons rebrand themselves as “Le Grand Cirque des Lumières.”
Joe—the devoted single father, quarry worker, and our hero—attempts to warn the authorities in town; Martin seeks comfort in therapy.
Quite a bit of struggling with pace and flow in this work. This has not been an issue in Caesar’s shorter pieces—in fact, the shorter novel format suits this author (or at least this story) much, much better.
Black currant liquor is this book’s version of gas. This time, there’s even less of a cover for the clowns’ actions.
The circus “show” goes on for way too long. We. Get. It. They are torturing and brutally murdering children.
Twists and turns…Eve. Marvin. And…Lillian, the mayor. Senior Sergeant Leonard Evans.
The torment of Joe is so incredibly gratuitous.
Decapitations, acid attacks, burning, it was all part of the show. There didn’t seem to be any limit to their depravity. -
This is the evil clown novel you didn't know you wanted until you read it! It's a sequel but can be read as a stand-alone book.
This one picks up a few months after the events of the first book. There's more clowns, there's more blood, there's more bodies, and there's definitely more to love.
I love a good book where I can just relax, be entertained, and suspend my disbelief for a few hours. Sure, clowns from hell (literally) killing and then eating children in a circus as the audience is drugged and hypnotized to not remember is a weird, out there concept. But it works so damn well that I never even questioned it while I was reading.
This novel is brutal in its killing. The author has unleashed some incredibly gory ways in which victims are dispatched before being roasted and eaten. And with a body count this high, you can be assured there's never a dull moment.
But there's also some outta nowhere twists that take it to the next level as well. Clowns aren't the only things our protagonist, Joe, needs to worry about as we discover!
This is just a good ol' fashioned fun, brutal, bloody, pulpy type novel that lets you gleefully follow the carnage from a safe distance. I highly recommend it! -
Extreme and brutal
This was a great 2nd book in this series. Following on from the first book, Joe is a single father of one, whom survived the massacre from the clowns in the first book. But there is a new mayor an a new circus coming to town. The mayor thinks it will be good for Joe and the few other survivors to go to ring back their confidence and see the clowns as they should be. Will this work for Joe and his friends? And why doesn't everyone believe I what happened before? Can Joe come to get over is fear or is there more to it. There are some brutal and horrific scenes in this read, and it isn't for the easily offended or squeamish. But those who enjoy a good extreme violent read this is great. A good and easy read with interesting characters that you can relate too. A real eye opener and captivating read with some good twists. Recommended fully. -
This is the second book of the flesh-eating clowns. They are back in Brentway after the gruesome shutdown of the first circus. Crooks is ready to take down Joe this time. With some inside help, they mesmerize their audience and alter their minds to completely forget what they truly witnessed at the circus. There is a lot of gore, blood, and dismembering, so be warned of that before reading.
Ruell describes these horrible clowns and their devious circus performances with such detail, that you really can picture them in your mind. This is fast-paced and full of horrifying situations.
If you like reading about Pennywise, you will love this book. Ruell is a genius when it comes to terror. I hope we have not seen the last of Crooks and Joe.
Well done Caesar Ruell! -
Anyone who's into evil, demonic, flesh-eating clowns, shoudl take notice of Caesar Ruell's 'The Revenge of the Clowns'! The novel is a direct sequel to Ruell's novella, 'The Circus of Hungry Clowns,' the first part of the "Flesh-Eating Circus" series. And what a sequel it is: from the tortures in the circle of Hell where evil entertainers end up, to the carnage of a travelling circus, Ruell has something for everybody. The book feels like Die Hard meets Jurassik Park, with clowns instead of dinosaurs: the clowns are hunting down people (of all ages, but especially pre-teens) and chewing them up as if there were no tomorrow, and only one man keeps getting in their way! But these freaks are not the only monsters this time around! Great entertainment.
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3.5 starts out of 5.
This is the sequel to The Circus of Hungry Clowns and you really need to read it first to get the best experience out of it.
I liked this book, I loved the concept of the clowns and how they came about, It reminded me of the B-grade movie Killjoy, it felt like there was a plot hole in the story near the start, with numerous new characters popping up out of nowhere, but that gets explained later on, but I would have loved more detail on the mayor's story explored more.
Overall, this book was good, but I had trouble connecting with the characters, which made it hard to care what happened to them.
This book also has some gory parts that involves kids, so if that sort of thing bother you, maybe give this one a miss. -
The Revenge of the Clowns by Caesar Ruell is a tale of twisted carnival horror filled with carnage and the most intense murders you’ll ever witness on the page. Get ready, because wherever these clowns go, terror follows as close as a shadow.
I wasn’t afraid of clowns before. But now? Let’s just say I’m very glad that I don’t have plans to attend a circus any time soon.
Carnival and gore-filled horror fans, you gotta check this out!
CW: Child death, murder, blood, vomit, gun violence, and suicide.
Check out my full review here:
https://www.ericarobynreads.com/the-r... -
Wow! Caesar Ruell's sequel is so sick and twisted... I loved it! Caesar Ruell has written a really great follow up to Circus of the Hungry Clowns it follows Joe one of the few survivors of the circus massacre, as he tried to get over what happened. The new mayor in town thinks it will be therapeutic for Joe and the other survivors to return to the circus and see clowns for who they really are. But who are they and why won't anyone believe them. Soon Joe is back in a battle between good and evil.
This book has some horrific and brutal scenes in it but it works with the horror of the story. Don't read it if your squeamish but if your looking for a great horror read this is it! -
Let me start off by saying this -while I always wish for a sequel to a great book, 9 times out of 10 it disappoints me. However, the Revenge of the Clowns is hands down better than its predecessor. I was pulled in immediately as the characters dealt with the aftermath of the first book while trying to look forward. Evil has no limits....and apparently neither does the Mayor, who insists a second circus will go just fine! Crooks is a terrifying being that should never be crossed.
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Can you say bloodbath? Loved it. Crooks is back after making a deal with hell for his limbs back, murders the new hard clown, and takes the lead of the pack. This was a gory book on revenge. Creepy AF. I could feel the blood dripping off the pages. Thanks to the author for an arc of this book. Could there be a third?
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If you enjoyed The Circus of Hungry Clowns you will love this. It expands in the lore and background of the clowns, the protagonist and the town setting. Still plenty of gore and brutality to go around!
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This outdoes the first one by far in terms of brutality and horror, and boy does it invoke a feeling of horror in the reader. The idea of sinister creepy clowns is a totally original and unique take. Horror lovers will enjoy this.
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Disturbing book with great characters. If you like gore you’ll like this one!
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Another fantastic read in this ongoing clown saga. Book #1 was fantastic and gory. Book #2 was phenomenal and savage!! I loved this one even more than book #1.
