A review by shelfaddiction
The Lunatic Cafe by Laurell K. Hamilton

4.0

So far, this is my favorite book of the series. This book did deviate away from the zombie raising and vamp killing, as there was none. I was happy to read more about the werewolves and shapeshifters this time. The action is was intense and fast paced. I just love how Anita and Richard are together. Outside from her constant going back and forth on if she can be with Richard or not, I really enjoyed how witty Anita is. She's a smart mouth, smart, sassy and tough heroine, which makes for fun reading.

If you've read the previous books, than you already know that a love triangle is in full effect. If you're over the whole love triangle story line, you may not want to continue on. I can see this will be the trend for several more books. I don't know if there are any fan issued "teams" in this series, but if there is, I'm team Richard, 100%, adore his character. We really learn a lot more about him and see more of his personality in this book. In my opinion, he bests Jean Claude on every level. I don't understand why there's a choice for Anita to make. As I stated in my previous reviews, I'm not a fan of Jean Claude...for many reasons.There wasn't that much of Jean Claude in this installment, and I'm not mad about it.

Our usual cast of secondary characters are present throughout the book. The police squad, her detective best friend and of course as expected, Edward with his usual creepy self. They keep the story moving and it never gets boring.

I heard somewhere that Anita turns into quite a slut in the later books, I'm really curious to see how that transformation happens because up to now and especially in this book she talks about marriage before sex , etc. If she does indeed turn into a slut, I'm pretty sure it's probably because of something Jean Claude did, yes, that's big assumption, but I expect that from his character.

I do think that Anita needs a to work on herself a bit. I found it interesting how she was constantly on Richard for not being up front and sharing everything in his life with her yet, the minute he gives his opinion on her situation, it's non-negotiable. End of discussion. She's really self absorbed in some ways and she needs to mature a bit. I hope her maturity grows some in the next book. With all the scary things she deals with on a daily basis, it's hard for me to remember her character is only 24. So when I read such childish behavior I have to remind myself, she's young still.

I picked this up on audio because I started the series on audio. I'm impressed by this narrator, she's very good. She can do these inflections of her voice for different characters which adds more to the listening experience. Also, she's easy and entertaining to listen to. I also like the added sound effects and music that is timed perfectly with the action that's going on. I will keep on listening to this series on audio as long as she is the narrator for every installment.