The Lunatic Cafe

If book three, Circus of the Damned, is where the shifter community started getting a foothold into the Anitaverse, this book is where their prominence is solidified. Between Richard and the drama from some of the other shifters in the local community, Anita wouldnt be able to escape dealing with them forever, which just helps add a layer of diversity to an already great series.

And while you deal with POS humans in the first few novels, I think this is the first one where plain Jane ol humans are officially shown as legit bad guys that you truly hope get taken down. Its a great the monsters arent always the bad guys type of thing.

There are a lot of things that, while not cliff hangers, definitely are left open enough to ensure plenty of future trouble for Anita and her friends in future books. Laurell is great about doing this in her work; it makes you need to know where things will go in the next books, while not shoving annoying and pointless cliffhangers down your throat. Two different approaches to reach the same result. I prefer her method, thats for sure.

Overall, great book, and I do recommend this novel, as well as the previous three, for anybody who enjoys paranormal and thriller type books. Always a great read.

I like anita , the main character but i felt like in a world surrounded by monsters, she was the monster of them all. Richard was a monster w a pitiful conscience, hhe n claude us a suave but no apologies kuund of monster. Anita i felt was on the verge of losing her humanity under some benign protect the innocent attitude. The author explains her mindset at the time she wrote the book, but in an effort to not be a soft pink bunny, she came rea close to making anita an unlikeable women and hypocrit as she holds her up tight born again virginity close to her. At the end, here was a powerful necrtomancer who had a magic manage au trois with a vampire and a werewolf but didnt raise any zombies to come help her like she dud before which was a great scene in a prior book. Hoping thgat with more sleep, the author can find anitas humanity and be less a monster

I loved this installment, and I didn’t think the last book could be bested. Surprise! This book had an interesting storyline with so many twists, even very very subtle ones, that I almost suffered from whiplash. The action packed plot left my teeth clenching so hard I was waiting for them to start snapping. I do NOT want to do spoilers so I feel kind of limited here. I’m finding Richard’s hypocrisy a little difficult to handle. I like the character. He is good to the character of Anita. But… he is shocked when she does some things that seem extreme, and yet his pack, as well as his own freaky reaction to something truly appalling done by some in his pack, is okay. (Hard time explaining without spoiling). No consequences needed for their atrocities because I guess the character thinks it’s in their nature, no need for punishment. But Anita does something I would have done myself if I wasn’t such a pacifist and he is shocked. The author brilliantly weaves the storyline to slide in that fine line between right and wrong because I’m positive I am not the only reader with the “maybe Richard and Anita don’t make such a good couple” thoughts happening. You will love this wild roller coaster ride of suspense, terror, and emotions. I’m exhausted. I love it when an author makes you pause and ponder not only the story but the way it relates so closely with the world around us. In a strange way this series makes you realize how being greedy, selfish, and a bigot who only does what benefits themselves is wrong on so many levels. My mom used to rail against me for standing up for others. She said when you stand up for others you always end up standing alone. My answer to her? Well, at least I stand up.

This is one of the early Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter books and it is an excellent book. I have been a reader of this series for years and just started “collecting” them again in ebook format. Reading them again reminds me of why I fell in love with the series the first time. Anita raises zombies, hunts vampires and hangs out with shapeshifters. Her best friend is a guy who specializes in hunting the biggest and baddest he can find. Not really your girl next door.

I was disappointed with this book having quite enjoyed the others. A thin plot (albeit with a good denoument) was padded out with a very bad version of a Mills and Boon romance as Anita wrestled with the competing worries of not wanting premarital sex (initially described as casual sex which is not the same thing) and then worrying about whether she actually wants to marry Richard though she clearly, in a good mood wants sex with him. And of course The Head Vampire gets jealous and interferes as well. This could have worked well but I found Anita’s rapid changes of mood just too much of a stretch of the imagination. If this is what she is really like I fail to see why Richard and Jean Claude are so infatuated and advise them both to run for the hills.

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