{"product_id":"the-lunatic-cafe-isbn-9780425221112","title":"The Lunatic Cafe","description":"\u003cb\u003eFirst time in trade paperback: the fourth novel in the #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling series.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Vampire hunter and zombie animator Anita Blake is an expert at sniffing out the bad from the good. But in \u003ci\u003eThe Lunatic Cafe\u003c\/i\u003e-now in trade paperback for the first time-she's about to learn that nothing is ever as it seems, especially in matters of the not-so-human heart. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Dating a werewolf with self-esteem issues is stressing Anita out. Especially when something-or someone-starts taking out the city's shapeshifters.\u003cb\u003eLaurell K. Hamilton\u003c\/b\u003e is a full-time writer and the #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series and the Merry Gentry series. She lives in a suburb of St. Louis with her family.1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was two weeks before Christmas. A slow time of year for\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eraising the dead. My last client of the night sat across from\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eme. There had been no notation by his name. No note saying\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ezombie raising or vampire slaying. Nothing. Which probably\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emeant whatever he wanted me to do was something I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewouldn’t, or couldn’t, do. Pre-Christmas was a dead time of\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eyear, no pun intended. My boss, Bert, took any job that\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewould have us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGeorge Smitz was a tall man, well over six feet. He was\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebroad shouldered, and muscular. Not the muscles you get\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efrom lifting weights and running around indoor tracks. The\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emuscles you get from hard physical labor. I would have bet\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emoney that Mr. Smitz was a construction worker, farmer, or\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003esomething similar. He was shaped large and square with\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003egrime embedded under his fingernails that soap would not\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003etouch.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe sat in front of me, crushing his toboggan hat, kneading\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eit in his big hands. The coffee that he’d accepted sat cooling\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eon the edge of my desk. He hadn’t taken so much as a sip.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI was drinking my coffee out of the Christmas mug that\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBert, my boss, had insisted everyone bring in. A personalized\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eholiday mug to add a personal touch to the office. My mug\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehad a reindeer in a bathrobe and slippers with Christmas\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elights laced in its antlers, toasting the merry season with\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003echampagne and saying, ‘‘Bingle Jells.’’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBert didn’t really like my mug, but he let it go, probably\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eafraid of what else I might bring in. He’d been very pleased\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewith my outfit for the evening. A high-collared blouse so\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eperfectly red I’d had to wear makeup to keep from looking\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003epale. The skirt and matching jacket were a deep forest green.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI hadn’t dressed for Bert. I had dressed for my date.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe silver outline of an angel gleamed in my lapel. I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elooked very Christmasy. The Browning Hi-Power 9mm\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003edidn’t look Christmasy at all, but since it was hidden under\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe jacket, that didn’t seem to matter. It might have bothered\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMr. Smitz, but he looked worried enough to not care. As\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elong as I didn’t shoot him personally.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘‘Now, Mr. Smitz, how may I help you today?’’ I asked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe was staring at his hands and only his eyes rose to look\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eat me. It was a little-boy gesture, an uncertain gesture. It sat\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eoddly on the big man’s face. ‘‘I need help, and I don’t know\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewho else to go to.’’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘‘Exactly what kind of help do you need, Mr. Smitz?’’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘‘It’s my wife.’’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI waited for him to continue, but he stared at his hands.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis hat was wadded into a tight ball.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘‘You want your wife raised from the dead?’’ I asked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe looked up at that, eyes wide with alarm. ‘‘She’s not\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003edead. I know that.’’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘‘Then what can I possibly do for you, Mr. Smitz? I raise\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe dead, and am a legal vampire executioner. What in that\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ejob description could help your wife?’’\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘‘Mr. Vaughn said you knew all about lycanthropy.’’ He\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003esaid that as if it explained everything. It didn’t.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘‘My boss makes a lot of claims, Mr. Smitz. But what\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003edoes lycanthropy have to do with your wife?’’ This was the\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003esecond time I’d asked about his wife. I seemed to be speaking\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEnglish, but perhaps my questions were really Swahili\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand I just didn’t realize it. Or maybe whatever had happened\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewas too awful for words. That happened a lot in my business.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe leaned forward, eyes intense on my face. I leaned forward,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003etoo, I couldn’t help myself. ‘‘Peggy, that’s my wife,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eshe’s a lycanthrope.’’","brand":"Berkley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302589321445,"sku":"NP9780425221112","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780425221112.jpg?v=1767740351","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-lunatic-cafe-isbn-9780425221112","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}