The Lunatic Cafe

Marcus the leader of the local wolf pack has recruited Anita to help find 8 missing lycanthropes. Edward, assasin extraordinair is recruiting Anita to help identify the perpetrators of a human werewolf porno snuff film that ended badly for the human actress. Anita gets engaged to her sweet heart Richard but regrets it within 24 hours.

Richard loses control of his lycanthrope spirit/aura after Anita asks him to watch the snuff film to see if he can help identify the actors. She is spooked and repulsed that the beast in him is making him love the snuff film. The mix of sex, fear, violence and gore is like heroin to the average lycanthrope. It may disgust the human side of a lycanthrope but the disease, the beast, the animal is now half of who they are and a person can't help but take on some of it's traits as themselves. Anita slams on the breaks and changes the 'yes' to a 'maybe but only because I don't have the nerve to nope the hell out'.

A blonde bitch vampire creation of Jean-Claudes called Gretchen, believes that Jean-Claude is gods gift to women, and absolutely HATES Anita. More accurately she envies the fact that Jean Claude is hung up on Anita. Gretchen in an jealous rage proceeds to beat the living shit out of Anita before Anita tells her she's engaged to Richard. Gretchen blackmails Anita into telling Jean-Claude, gleefully looking forward to seeing Jean-Claudes heart break except it back fires majorly when Jean-Claude senses that though Anita is telling the truth but not the whole truth. Jean-Claude revels in the fact that even werewolf boy scout Richard is not human enough for Anita.

Gretchen gets turned into a slab of vampire jerky and Jean-Claude gives Anita a deal. Anita is to date both Richard and Jean-Claude, to give Jean-Claude a chance to woo her. What Richard has a right to ask of Anita, Jean Claude is also demanding the right because Anita cannot deny that she desires Jean-Claude. If she acquiesces to his wishes for a few months and he still can't win her, he will withdraw and leave Anita alone forever, especially since Anita lost the vampire marks at the end of the previous book. If she does not agree to these terms then Jean-Claude will kill Richard and then Anita will be forced to try and kill Jean-Claude and it will end like Macbeth with everyone dead.

Now back to the missing Lycanthropes, it's a bit like spot the bad guy. Some are obvious, others are a bit left of field. Anita gets to rescue a Naga who was skinned alive. She gets to meet the original Swan Prince from the stories. There are were-panthers, were-hyenas, witches, shapeshifters who aren't lycanthropes, wholesome friends, masochists that beg Anita to drive the knife deeper and even a guy who studies owl poop.

Thoughts

This is an interesting book. It ticks a lot of boxes. Character developement, crime, mystery, action, world building, relationship drama, making people look at prejudices of the real world by addressing them in a fantasy world. This is a juicy book and outside of the snuff film almost completely devoid of anything erotic.

We also get a small snippet of how Anitas powers may evolve in future when Jean-Claude, Richard and Anita find out that when all three of them are in close proximity that Anita acts as a blender and amplifier for their powers. Albeit she tried to stand between the two to stop them fighting, put a hand on each of their chests and promptly collapses from the power surge but still.

I give this book 8/10. It's a fun read with lots of good elements and even though I only read this book about a year or two ago, some of the plot twists still got me because it progresses in such a way that I couldn't remember the specifics and was still blind till basically the penny drop moment.

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With this series I apologise for the lack of cat photos, I only own e-book versions of this so screen shots and stuff on pixabay will have to suffice. Due to this series being quite long I apologise but there WILL be spoilers.

To better understand the world of Anita Blake, read my world synopsis here