Book Review
Title: The Lunatic Café (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Book 4) by Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Rating: 4.5 Stars
After Circus of the Damned I was super hyped to see where Anita’s relationship with both Richard and Jean Claude were going to go after the insanely action packed ending. The novel opens with Richard and Anita going on a date around Christmas time just after Anita turns over a missing persons case to Ronnie. They pair are going to watch Guys and Dolls and this was just a romantic little moment between the pair but it doesn’t last as Jean Claude is there and he isn’t happy about Anita and Richard dating. To spite Richard he lets slip that the current Alpha wants him dead and is planning to challenge and maybe kill Richard which Anita wants to know the reasoning behind but she gets called by the police and has to go to work. Outside she is confronted by a vampire named Gretchen who is in love with Jean Claude and warns Anita to stay out of her way which Anita is happy to do since right now she wants nothing to do with the Master Vampire which Gretchen can’t believe. Jean Claude ends the discussion by telling Gretchen that he never loved her and that he only wants Anita which really upsets Gretchen and it was a very cruel delivery on Jean Claude’s part. I can’t wait to see how this love triangle plays out since I adore both Richard and Jean Claude. I came to really like Richard after Circus of the Damned and seeing how far he was willing to go for Anita without compromise and expectations like Jean Claude.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Anita gets to the crime scene and has to deal with a lot of police politics which gets on her nerves. By the time she gets to see the body she knows instantly that it is a shapeshifter they are dealing with but not necessarily a werewolf since we know there are different types of were animals in this universe but they haven’t had a rogue shifters in years which is a cause of concern. After getting home Irving turns up for several reasons, the first is to explain what is happening between Richard and Marcus. As second in command Richard could challenge Marcus for the role of pack leader but it is a fight to death and despite Marcus trying to challenge Richard and Richard having the upper hand he refused to follow through on killing Marcus. Richard doesn’t want Anita involved in all this because she is human and pack politics don’t really concern her despite their relationship but Marcus wants to meet her and he has sent Irving. However, Irving also wants Anita’s protection from Richard because of the role he has had to play in this and she agrees. Irving takes Anita to the Lunatic Café and she realises she doesn’t know as much about shifters as she does about vampires and zombies but she keeps her cool until she is face to face with Marcus and his bodyguard, Alfred. While Alfred pats Anita down he misses her smaller gun and when the other were leaders including Rafael, the wererat King turn up Anita challenges Marcus’ authority over her since she is human. This leads to Alfred attacking her and her killing him despite warning Marcus that she wasn’t bluffing and this sets the tone for the rest of the meeting.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, after killing Alfred, the blood sends the predator weres into a frenzy and Anita suddenly realises that she needs to get out of there as she is the only human present but it isn’t as simple as that. There are more weres outside the room that are struggling to control themselves and Kasper and Rafael step in to help Anita but Kasper is a swan were so he’s seen as a food by most of the other weres. On her way out Anita notices Edward is there and learn he is on a hunt for shapeshifters and he has some information to share with her which isn’t normally Edward’s style so it throws Anita off but she agrees to meet with him. Upon leaving Marcus gave Anita a file with information on eight missing shapeshifters and Anita thinks that most if not all of them are already dead and Ronnie agrees with her when they discuss it but she is also unsure about Richard now because he has been keeping so much from her. Over the past few months Anita has been plagued by nightmares and this night isn’t any different but the next day at work she gets into a confrontation with Bert about giving her clients that she can’t help like missing persons and interviews with supernatural creatures. During this time Bert is in a meeting with Kasper who wants to hire Anita to raise his ancestor who was cursed with the were ability in order to break the curse and release him which she is a little upset about but she is bound to use it to her advantage.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Kasper explains that he is there at Marcus’ request not to hire Anita and explains that Marcus is sorry about the other night but Anita doesn’t buy it. After work she heads to meet Edward and he presents her with a film which is a snuff film (if you don’t know what that means you aren’t old enough to be reading this). In the film there is a human woman and two shifters, one of which is Alfred who proceed to have sex with the woman then kill and eat her. Anita immediately calls Richard and get him to come over as well, when they previously met he explains that Alfred was his friend and despite the tension between them Anita wants Richard but she is a waiting for marriage woman so he proposes and she accepts. When Richard turns up and see the film he almost loses control and shifts but he manages to calm himself down but Anita begins to question whether or not she can accept that part of Richard with her history. It is also interesting to note that Anita has inadvertently gained the status of dominant in the pack because of what happened at the meeting and spends several minutes calming down Polly the loser ranked were that she scared badly. Richard and Anita along with Edward have questions about the wereleopard’s identity since Edward has been hired to kill him and Anita believes they have something to do with the disappearances but nothing is certain yet.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, I was seriously wondering what sort of messed up shit Anita and Richard are tangled up in. Anita is adjusting to her new role in the pack but she still finds it strange but this really comes into play when she finds herself attacked by Gretchen. Gretchen has the opportunity to kill Anita but doesn’t take it when Louie shows up to help. Anita barters for Louie’s life and Gretchen accepts the bargain because Anita is going to tell Jean Claude that Richard has proposed and she has accepted. When she heads to guilty pleasures for this meeting she has to convince Richard to stay at her place to prevent Jean Claude from killing him and reluctantly agrees. Anita confronts Jean Claude with this information but also tells him that she isn’t sure about it after seeing him almost change during the video Edward played and Jean Claude asks for the chance to woo Anita in exchange for not killing Richard and Anita agrees. When she breaks the news to Richard he reluctantly agrees to it and she also explains that the way she loves them is different. She lusts after Jean Claude and loves him in a dark, twisted way but her love for Richard is more wholesome and purer but not without lust as we have already seen. These new feeling emerging in Anita give her pause and she needs to some space to think about everything and process it before they can all move forward but I don’t think Jean Claude will be easily deterred even though he agreed to give up on Anita if he hasn’t managed to woo her in three months.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Anita’s investigation isn’t really going anywhere but she seems sure that the shifter movies, the death of the man at the beginning and the skinned naga she has come across are all connected and it seems that Marcus, Raina or Jean Claude might hold the answers she wants but they aren’t willing to give them up. This part of the book seems to focus on Anita’s relationships with Richard and Jean Claude since she is dating both of them but she seems far more interesting in Richard as she can’t picture herself having a life without Jean Claude outside of the bedroom but when she thinks about it she isn’t sure about marriage and doesn’t seem to want children so she needs to figure out what kind of life she wants. Hamilton is also teasing us with Richard since there are a few situations which could have lead to something more between the pair but they are cut off which is frustrating me as a smut reader but I can’t wait for it to actually happen with both men hopefully. However, it is interesting to note when Anita put her hands on both Richard and Jean Claude at the same time something happens to her. It seems that the power of an alpha werewolf and a master vampire seems to spark Anita’s own dormant magic and creates something that all three can feel but seems to affect Anita more than the other two most likely because she is human and I am excited to see how the novel ends.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, Anita and company finally figure out what is going on with the shifters and put an end to the mystery once and for all but it serves as a great moment for Anita and Richard’s relationship and how they begin to accept the things they don’t like about each other because they love each other. I also liked the little snippet from Christmas and how she, Richard and Jean Claude exchange presents and it seems to really strengthen by throuple idea. Overall, the Lunatic Café is one of my favourites in the series so far as it is dark and gritty but also features a lot of wholesome and steamy moments that I really enjoyed and I can’t wait to dive into book 5 as soon as I can.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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