Shapeshifters are being killed, Anita Blake is trapped between Richard, a werewolf, and Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire, and Edward has shown up. Times should be rocking but the book is pretty boring. Most of the time Blake seems to be more worried about her love life. There are lots of scenes where sex almost happens but does not. Page after page of hot, sexy, non-nothing action. Is the author in heat?
Frankly, I find the main male characters more interesting than Anita Blake. I want to know more about Richard, Jean-Claude and Edward than the main female character. Why? Because she is boring me. There is NO action, no sex, few fight scenes and she STILL seems to be getting her butt kicked a lot. Also I felt there were a few loose ends designed JUST to force you to pick up the next book. Shame on YOU.
Buy this is you want romance. If you want vampires, horror, plot go to Anne Rice, Tanya Huff or P.N. Elrod. Oh, this review is going to get so edited.

"The Lunatic Café" is the fourth book in the fantastic Anita Blake series. With each book that I read, I figure Laurell will start treading water at some point as it seems almost impossible to keep the action, humour and excitement that permeates this series running so constantly for such an extended period of time. I have to admit that I'm starting to see some cracks, but nothing that can take away from the sheer enjoyment these books provide.

In "The Lunatic Café", Anita's "services" have been called upon by the werewolf leader Marcus to help decipher the cause of the disappearance of eight missing werewolves. What makes this more than the average hunt is the fact that Anita's boyfriend Richard just happens to be the main contender to Marcus for leadership of the werewolf clan. To throw another spanner in the works, Jean-Claude, the master vampire of the city, has become somewhat jealous of Anita's relationship with Richard and begins to up the ante. Just like the first three books in the series, drama, horror, action and comedy relentlessly ensue.

Once again, the action comes thick and fast. Every single day in Anita's life involves monsters (vampires, werewolves, zombies and more), police investigations and her "day" job of raising the dead. Add in the fact that she's romantically linked to two men, tries to stay in shape and has social activities to attend to and you can understand why she simply cannot find the time to get any sleep. To be honest, it all makes for a fairly unbelievable reality, but you won't have time to think about it as you are subjected to one enthralling scenario after another in quick succession. Yet Laurell isn't resting on her ...um...laurels (sorry!) when it comes to this vividly created world. She introduces another creature with the Naga and hints at so much more (there's mention of faeries and dragons as living entities!). At times I feel like the author is simply making this all up as she goes along, but then she very cleverly has never set the rules of this alternate reality in stone, so she can pretty much take the series wherever she wants.

The cracks I mentioned earlier are mostly to do with the slightly repetitive nature of the dialogue. I'm certain this is simply due to Laurell trying to make each book accessible to readers that have not experienced Anita's previous encounters, yet it's getting a little annoying reading the same explanations and thought processes in each and every book. But I guess it can't be helped due to the nature of the series. I also find the love triangle between Anita, Richard and Jean-Claude to be somewhat tacky. Anita's reactions to the approaches of Jean-Claude are just ridiculous, despite the fact that they do create an interesting scenario going forward.

But "The Lunatic Café" is another great addition to a unique and absorbing series and despite obvious flaws and its pulpy nature, I can't help but recommend the adventures of Anita Blake to anyone that's interested in a combination of action, horror, fantasy with a twist of sexually charged romance.

The Lunatic Café continues the Anita Blake series by exploring Anita's "gifts" and developing characters that are very well utilized in later novels. While I give this novel four stars, I consider the series in total to be of five star quality and they get much better as the storylines become more complex. This novel in particular heavily explores the lycanthrope community. Also, it is worthwhile to note that from the cover art, one may assume that this novel would fall in the paranormal romance genre, but I do not believe that to be the case; instead I would be more inclined to classify this book as an action adventure with a touch of noir. Later books in the series however, do shift a bit to include elements from the romance genre (in my mind, book six "The Killing Dance" marks the change in tone for the series). Even after the genre shift however, the books retain a strong emphasis on action and the macabre. As for The Lunatic Café, it is light, fast-paced and all-in-all a fun read.

Anita Blake, gung-ho vampire executioner, necromancer, zombie raiser and lycanthrope dater is back again with another thrilling mystery. This time Anita must find out who is killing shape-shifters. Anita manages to challenge and irritate practically everyone in this tale--the were-wolf pack her boyfriend belongs to, the police investigating the shape-shifter murders, her boyfriend, and of course Jean Claude, the powerful vampire that Anita loves to hate.

As usual, Anita thrives on getting beat up and rousted out of bed before she gets any shuteye. At least she drinks a lot of coffee and works out. Her sardonic sense of humor keeps her going but doesn't make her any friends.

Laurel Hamilton has created a hard-boiled detective hero from a petite Mexican-American with a magical talent of power over the dead and a penchant for firing a gun to keep her enemies in line. These series of novels at first glance are a quick entertaining read, but in the long run will be returned to again and again for a funny and sexy good time.

It's Christmas time, the time when the zombie-raising industry slows down. For Anita Blake, it means more strange cases coming her way. This time, she is requested by the werewolf king, Marcus, to help investigate the disappearance of eight lycanthropes. And what do you know? There appears Edward, the ruthless bounty-hunter, who brings her the news of his latest job: to hunt down and kill the lycanthropes involved in a snuff film, the same lycanthropes she has just recently had the displeasure of meeting. To tell or not to tell; that is the $64,000.00 question, indeed.

Meanwhile, she has new problems to deal with in the romance area. First, she finds out that her boyfriend Richard has been hiding the fact that he's embroiled in a fight with Marcus over the leadership of the werewolf pack. Then there's the sexy Master of the City, Jean-Claude, who still wouldn't take no for answer despite her announcement of her recent engagement to Richard. Now he wants to be given a chance to woo her fair and square. Oh dear, such tough choices! Should she go for the flesh eater or the bloodsucker?

THE LUNATIC CAFÉ is the fourth book in Hamilton's Anita Blake series. Just like the first three books, this is an action-packed, fast-paced novel that is sure to keep you glued. Unlike the first three, we also get to learn more about the lycanthropes--werewolves, in particular--and the power struggle within the pack. And this is where the love triangle between Anita, Richard and Jean-Claude really kicks off. Hamilton is slowly building up the sexual tension between these three and hints at deeper emotional struggles that Anita will be dealing with.

This is a great blend of supernatural thriller, gore, romance and wit. Laurell K. Hamilton blends all these together effortlessly ensuring that the readers are left wanting for more.