Customer Reviews

The Lunatic Cafe (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 4)

5 star:		(102)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Normally, I can't stand this genre; instead of something new, the cliches are just tossed together in a hash. But Laurell K. Hamilton keeps me coming back.

Part of it is the ongoing plot threads that go from book to book. Although these novels can stand alone, there are larger threads. Anita Blake's "romance" with Jean-Claude, the master vampire, for example, or the hints that Anita is something much stronger (and dangerous) than she or anyone else knows.

Another part is Anita. She isn't just a hard rock, lacking any humanity; she's really truly affected by the blood and death she's constantly surrounded by. She doesn't casually walk up to corpses, she has to compose herself before she looks. She's not callous, she's just able to hide her horror, fear and sadness better than most people. We only know because we're in her head.

"The Lunatic Cafe" is where the series, in my opinion, REALLY starts to pick up (read the other books "Guilty Pleasures", "The Laughing Corpse", and "Circus Of The Damned" first, it WILL help.) The soap opera kicks into high gear with a rather twisted little love triangle, not to mention some unfinished business between Anita and a vamp named Gretchen. Plus we get more of an introduction to the lycanthropes (werebeasts) of the city, their social structure, and the whole host of problems that go with THAT.

The novel itself is also pretty good, with the mystery at its center rather clever. Although she doesn't really play fair (we're not given much in the way of clues to possibly solve this mystery on our own), Hamilton does have a satisfactory solution. Like the other books so far, it's got a lightning-fast pace; poor Anita NEVER gets any sleep, something always happens to her.

This is, in the end, fun junk, great for airports, beaches, and the living room. They aren't classics, although they'd make great action movies, but the Anita Blake series is worth an occassional $7 now and again.

In this fourth Anita Blake novel our heroine no longer bears the marks of Jean-Claude or any other master vampire and is exploring a relationship with Richard, the middle school teacher. Of course there are problems: Richard is a werewolf whose pack leader is threatening to kill him, Jean-Claude will not take "no" for an answer and has a female vampire who wants to kill Anita, and Dolph wants help identifying the something that is killing lycanthropes (shapeshifters). "The Lunatic Cafe" is the name of the hangout where the werefolk meet and Anita is finding out more about their kind than she really wants to know. Good thing they want her help in finding out who is butchering their kind, although her involvement is certainly a mixed blessing.

As always with Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake novels, she managed to bring everything together by the end of the story. With each book in the series I become more convinced that the "Vampire Hunter" label is to attract fans of Buffy, but Anita is really an Animator (she was a Vampire Hunter in the time BEFORE the first novel) and these books are considerably more gruesome. One of the subplots in "The Lunatic Cafe" concerns a pornographic/snuff film with werewolves and a human girl, with Edward showing up to avenge her death. These are very intense horror novels and Buffy wannabees picking these up without having a clue as to what awaits them inside are not going to sleep for a week. Hamilton has created an alternative reality where monsters have legal rights, and she explores this world with creativity and intelligence. Her heroine endures a lot of physical damage in these books and the mysteries she investigates are always complex. This is a first rate hooror series that deserves its reputation and its growing following.

I havnet read the series, my friends recommended "The Lunatic Cafe" to me so i started reading and i LOVED it! It's face paced, intriguing and a great read! This may be the best book I've read in a long time! I cant wait to read more by Laurell K. Hamilton in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter Novels and her other works! :)

Welcome to exotic world of Anita Blake, vampire executor. In this fourth book, we find Anita with a little time on her hands since business tends to fall off during the Christmas season. Funny, people aren't as interested in raising the dead while they're celebrating. Anita is in the beginning stages of her relationship with Richard, that cute junior high science teacher who just happens to be a lycanthrope and still avoiding the seductive master vampire (my favorite) Jean-Claude.

Things should be slow-right? Wrong! First off she has to deal with a jealous, female rival for Jean-Claude's affections. Gretchen, is a female vampire who is determine to be the only lady in Jean-Claude's life. Gretchen's view on competition? Easy, just kill them. Only Jean-Claude has forbidden it. Gretchen decides to do as she pleases, and she pleases to kill Anita. Next we have someone who is killing shape shifters. The local police think it's a bear, but Anita knows enough about the supernatural to say otherwise. Then we have Richard trying to hide a growing internal conflict with the lycanthropes. It seems Richard is next in line to lead the pack, but to do so he must challenge the current leader and kill him. Richard doesn't want to do this, but faces being killed himself. Last we have Raina, the seductive lycanthrope and Gabriel, the sadist lycanthrope, who are making porn films featuring members of their pack. Who cares that some of their films just happen to turn into snuff films?

What's a girl to do? If you're Anita Blake, you set out to deal with jealous vampire girlfriends, try to make the man in your life see he shouldn't keep secrets from you, and help the police find who is murdering innocent people. If you haven't read Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, find book one, get started, and be sure to read them order. As someone who doesn't normally read this genre of writing, I was fascinated enough to buy and read all nine books in a two week span (thanks to fellow reviewers JP and Joss). One word of warning, this series seduces you. I don't think many will be able to read the first book without wanting all of them!

One of the better books in the series. This read through reminded me how much I use to like Richard. It made me feel all nostalgic. Sadly, Richard and the wolves get on my nerves in a big way now but I'll always have the memories. I really liked the mystery(s) in this one and it was great to read about Anita interacting with her cop buddies again. Jean-Claude is kind of scarce in this book which may annoy some of his hard core fans. It's not really a big problem for me.

Life is tough when you are the best animator and registered vampire killer in the St. Louis area. For one thing, the police keep calling you in the middle of the night. When Anita Blake settles in for a big date with werewolf Richard Zeeman, the interruptions are non-stop. The first is from Jean-Claude, the jealous vampire Master of the City. In the middle of dealing with the enraged undead, Anita is saved by the pager when she gets her second interruption. She's wanted at the site of a suspected preternatural attack to help the police investigation. What Anita finds at the crime site is no better than what she left at the theater. The evidence she finds points to a rogue lycanthrope - mean, nasty and very hungry.

Heading home she is interrupted again. This time it's Marcus and Raina, leaders of Richard Zeeman's wolf pack. They and the leaders of every other family of lycanthropes in the St. Louis area as well. She is hardly sympathetic when they explain that someone is stalking the weres of the city. Eight shapeshifters have disappeared. Concerned about Richard's own safety, Anita undertakes the investigation.

Done yet? Nope. Back at her apartment Anita finds that her buddy Edward the bounty hunter is back in town. His assignment this time is to track down the makers of a snuff film. A particularly gruesome snuff film that starts a werewolf, a were leopard and a very short-lived human. With badness going on in every direction Anita must find the solution to all these crimes before she, Richard, and many innocents become victims as well.

Aficionados will recognized the usual intricate Hamilton plot. What they will not be prepared for are the complexities introduced by her love for Richard Zeeman. Forced to deal with Richard's own nature she must realizes she must find he own definition of what is monster and what is not. This new twist adds considerable depth to a complex tale.

How Laurell Hamilton manages to pick up all these threads, tie them together, and rush headlong to a pulse-stopping conclusion is something that must be read to be enjoyed. Once again Hamilton pushes at the boundary of the typical girl meets monster story to create something that is the best of horror and romance. Readers will be delighted, as usual.

I've read several books in this series (including the short story in Bite), I've given Hamilton more than a fair shot, but this is it. The plots are interesting. Jean-Claude is saucy, but it's not enough. The heroine is a self-righteous, self-absorbed hypocrite whose mouth should've gotten her killed by book two. My biggest issue is the writing itself. The grammar and sentence structure are atrocious and they don't get any better the further into the series you go. In fact, they get worse, and shame on Jove publishers for continuously overlooking these problems. I refuse to waste anymore of my money on Laurell K. Hamilton until she finds an editor. Vote against this review if you like, but if you've ever had an English class you know it's true. If you can't see it, take another English class. This is unacceptable.

Laurell K. Hamilton, The Lunatic Cafe (Jove, 1996)

I've been hearing for many years about how Hamilton's Anita Blake series starts off with a bang and then slides kicking and screaming down a very steep slope. I'm now up to book four, and I'm starting to see the evidence. While there's a mystery to be found here, a tale of eight missing lycanthropes Anita has to find, the real story is Anita, the untouchable Jean-Claude (and a vampire who wants to rival Anita for his affections, refusing to believe Anita doesn't want him), and Richard, who's obviously supposed to be the good guy but all too often comes off less as a principled hero than a whining prat. I'm all for romance novels, and even mystery novels with a heavy dose of romance (how else would I have managed to make it through the last twenty years of Dean Koontz?), but the mystery's starting to take a back seat. This is not an inherently bad feature; Jean-Claude and Anita, at least, are interesting and well-done characters, and some of the minor recurring folks are lots of fun (I want a book that focuses on Zerbrowski!), but the werewolves, on the whole, seem a rather boring, two-dimensional lot. I found myself caring not a whit about the power struggle between Richard and current pack leader Marcus, who might as well have been a clone of Alejandro from Circus of the Damned with a different supernatural bent.

I'll keep on with the series. At least this one-- hopefully-- prepared me for what's coming. ***

"The Lunatic Cafe" is Laurell K. Hamilton's fourth Anita Blake - Vampire Hunter novel and it is an enormously entertaining and fun-filled read. Non-stop action, stylish horror, and sensual delights mix seamlessly to create a page-turning novel readers won't soon forget. A word of warning though - all it takes is one visit to Anita's violent and seductive world and you'll be hooked. This addictive series will leave you craving more, until you've bought all 10 Anita Blake books regardless of whether you can afford them or not (it happened to me!).
This instalment in the series finds Anita, hard-boiled necromancer, animator, and vampire executioner, enjoying her budding romance with Richard Zeeman, junior high science teacher and alpha werewolf. But when she finds out that Richard is involved in a life and death struggle for leadership of the pack, she is furious with him for not telling her about it. However, Anita doesn't have long to dwell on it because, as always, more trouble comes her way.
The police beep Anita, requesting her expertise on a preternatural murder, but on her way to her car, Anita has a nasty run-in with Gretchen, one of Jean-Claude's vampires. Gretchen is hopelessly in love with the incredibly sexy Master of the City, Jean-Claude, and she sees Anita the one thing standing between her and her true love. Anita manages to get away, but not before Gretchen has promised to kill her!
Anita finally makes it to the murder scene, where the deceased appears to be the victim of a lycanthrope attack. Unfortunately, however, Anita has walked right into the middle of a police turf war between the local sheriff's dept. and her squad. Guns are drawn and harsh words exchanged before they come to a tense agreement and allow Anita to see the body.
Arriving home ready to end her night, Anita is forced into a meeting at the Lunatic Cafe with the current werewolf pack leader, Marcus. Surrounded by dozens of other were-creatures, Anita doesn't feel too secure, but Marcus has a strange request for her. Eight shapeshifters (lycanthropes) have disappeared recently, and Marcus wants Anita to find out what happened to them. She reluctantly agrees to look into it, and quickly becomes entwined in the strange and violent world of lycanthrope politics.
The story really takes off from here, sending the reader on a fabulous adventure alongside Anita as she deals with the two men in her life, fights off Gretchen the jealous vampire, helps the police solve their murder, and tries to find eight missing lycanthropes.
With so many different things happening at once, one might think that the book would become confused and hard to follow, but Hamilton skilfully ties all the different threads together into one fantastic story. Anita's adventures are always thrilling and suspenseful, sometimes quite sensual, and will keep readers glued to the pages.
Every visit with Anita and the gang is like a holiday to a magical new world, where you can forget all your troubles and get completely caught up in the alternate reality Hamilton creates so brilliantly. With its compelling characters and red-hot storylines, this is a series you do not want to miss. "The Lunatic Cafe" is a fabulous chapter in this exceptional series, so buy it today!

Laurell K. Hamilton's "The Lunatic Café" is a substandard work of fiction with no redeeming literary or entertainment values.

Hamilton's main failings lie in her very basic ability to write interesting characters, description, and dialogue. Her characters are broad and stereotypical: the hard, cold, and strong heroine; the sexy foppish vampire; the sensitive but strong lover with a dark side. She fills her dialogue with needless explanations of otherwise subtle observations and recognizable jokes. If, by the end of the book, it is not made clear to you in the most obvious ways possible that Anita Blake is a hard, take-no-guff woman, then there's something wrong.

Ultimately, Hamilton simply fails to create erotic/horrific atmosphere. Her love scenes fall limp and her shocks and terrors that could be deeply disturbing and taboo-erotic pass with a terrible banality that plagues the whole book.

Because of Hamilton's penchant for conclusions that never conclude the plots introduced in the story, you won't even have the satisfaction of saying you finished reading her book. Like bad fan-fiction that managed to get published, "Lunatic Café" should be seriously avoided.