Review: Last Breath by Rachel Caine

Review originally posted at FictionVixen.com

Last Breath
~Rachel Caine

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: NAL Hardcover
Publish Date: November 1, 2011
ISBN-10: 0451234871
ISBN-13: 978-0451234872
ASIN: B0052RDK12

From Goodreads:
With her boss preoccupied researching the Founder Houses in Morganville, student Claire Danvers is left to her own devices when she learns that three vampires have vanished without a trace. She soon discovers that the last person seen with one of the missing vampires is someone new to town—a mysterious individual named Magnus. After an uneasy encounter with Morganville's latest resident, Claire is certain Magnus isn't merely human. But is he a vampire—or something else entirely?

Claire Danvers is an extra-ordinary girl living in the extra-ordinary town of Morganville, Texas.  What makes Claire so special?  She's super-smart, having started college early, and, among other things, works after school in a lab with Myrnin, who's a little crazy...and a vampire.  In Morganville though, that's no so unusual - there are lots of vampires in Morganville.

While there is usually an uneasy truce between the humans and the vampires, things are currently a little strained.  Someone's planning a wedding, and as the countdown ticks down, it's plain that the wedding is one thing that everyone in town seems to agree on:  no one thinks it should happen; not the vamps, and definitely not the humans.

But while the town is focused on the approaching nuptuals, Claire and the gang learn that vampires are going missing.  Just a few at first, but as the days go by and there's no sign of the missing vampires, things start to get weird weirder than usual.  Claire sees something she shouldn't but can't remember what it was, Amelie gets a cryptic message that leads her to the decision to close down Morganville, and Myrnin has a decision to make.  Will Claire and her friends solve the mystery and save Morganville?  Do they even want to save Morganville?  Or is this their chance to be free of the vampires forever?

My thoughts:
Last Breath is a can-not-miss installation to The Morganville Vampires series!  As I've come to expect from this series, the story is fresh and the players are like old friends.  As an added bonus, in Last Breath, we are treated to viewpoints from not only Claire, but also Amelie, Eve, Michael, and Shane.

Fans of Myrnin will love Last Breath: he continues to be one of my favorite anti-heroes.  Even faced with the possible demise of Amelie, Morganville, and possibly himself, he steps up and does what needs to be done.  And Shane...oh Shane...*sniffs*  Shane faces possibly the most heartbreaking section of the book.

Without giving anything away, we do learn why this book is titled Last Breath; and believe me, you're going to be holding yours.  After 10 books in this series of characters we have grown to love, Ms. Caine continues to captivate the reader with jaw-dropping scenes like this:

     I lifted my head, and I knew my eyes were flaring with white power, driven by my rage, my revulsion, my desperation.  "Silence them Myrnin.  You know you must."
     He stared back at me for a moment in mute horror, and shook his head.  "I can't," he said.  "God witness me, I cannot do it.  Not to her.  The boy, yes, but not her.  Amelie, there must be another way."
     "Jesu, you think if there was, I wouldn't take it?"  I shouted it at him, fists clenched against the need to strike.  "You will do it.  You must."  And I put my will on him, pushing in a way that I so rarely did these days.  That I so rarely had to do.
~page 74, Last Breath

Last Breath was impossible to put down; every time I thought I knew where Ms. Caine was going to take us, I was wrong.  This new villain in Morganville is dangerous and scary; so terrifying that even the vampires are panicking.  And it's stealthy, sneaking up on us while we're busy looking somewhere else.

I have one complaint...usually Ms. Caine ends her stories nicely and things are as wrapped up as they can be, without ending the series of course, but that's not the case in Last Breath.  Last Breath ends with a definite cliffhanger, and I felt like the story was left unfinished.

Last Breath is probably the most emotionally-charged installment in the series to date; fans of the books will not be disappointed.  Between the surprise twists and the seemingly impossible challenges Claire must overcome, Last Breath left me gasping for breath.

My Rating:

Book received from the publisher.

Review: Bite Club by Rachel Caine

Bite Club (Morganville Vampires Book 10)
~ Rachel Caine

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: NAL Hardcover
Available: May 3, 2011
Genre: Young Adult
ISBN-10: 0451233182
ISBN-13: 978-0451233189

After learning that vampires populate Morganville - and surviving a number of adventures with her new night-dwelling friends - college student Claire Danvers has come to realize that for the most part, the undead just want to live their lives.

But someone else wants them to get ready to rumble.

There's a new extreme sport being broadcast over the Internet: bare- knuckle fights pitting captured vampires against one another - or, worse, against humans. Tracking the out-of-town signal leads Claire - accompanied by a loyal group of friends and frenemies - to discover that what began as an online brawl will soon threaten everyone in Morganville.

And if they want to survive, they'll have to do a lot more than fight...

(My review was originally posted at Fiction Vixen's blog)

When Bite Club opens, the guys are excited about the new gym opening in Morganville, Shane especially, since they're offering martial arts. It's vampire owned, with vamp and human members. Shane loves it and starts spending more and more time there. He's also getting angry - fast and mean. He's picking fights with Michael, Eve, and even Claire. The angrier he gets, the more time he spends at the gym, where Gloriana's been hanging out. It doesn't seem to matter that she's a vampire, Shane can't seem to get mad at her.

Claire has her own problems - Bishop is back, MIT is calling, and she's still keeping the secret about Shane's father from Shane. Then, she gets a phone call from a strange female telling her Shane is hot and out of Claire's league. She comments she's "watching it again" and Claire gets suspicious. After a bit of investigating, it turns out the gym is running an online human vs. vamp "fight club" where paying viewers can place bets on the outcome of the fights, and Shane is a participant.

My Thoughts: Bite Club is definitely Shane's book. We get a lot of what's going on in his head, and it's angry and confused. We see his deepest hopes and doubts and watch as they morph into something unrecognizable. The vampires in Bite Club are badder than ever, more so because they don't seem all that bad... until it's too late. Aside from Shane's issues, Claire still has a lot going on. Some old "friends" from previous books come back and surprise me, and just when I think it's all over Ms. Caine throws another twist into the plot. I get enough Myrnin-time to keep me satisfied, and, just to tease us, there is some unfinished business between Eve, Michael, and Amelie. Bite Club is an action-packed, no-punches-pulled installment in the Morganville series!

Favorite Quotes:

(between Claire and Eve)
"I have no idea what that is, but yawn, anyway, just on principle. Eat up. Pancakes is brain food."
"Apparently not grammar food."
"Wow. You college girls are mean."
~Bite Club, page 116

(by Myrnin)
"Follow me," Myrnin said. "And do stay together. And by the way, this is the last time I go anywhere with you people. You are all insane."
~Bite Club, page 318

I really enjoyed Bite Club; Claire is still as smart and loyal as ever and I loved the glimpses into Shane's head throughout the book.

My Rating:

Fiction Vixen is giving away two copies of Bite Club!
To enter, click here!

This book was sent by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I Get Around....

I'm over at JoJo's Book Corner today talking about Karen Marie Moning's Highlander series as part of her 30 Days of Highlanders!
Stop by and say hi!

_______________________




I'm also at Fiction Vixen's place reviewing Bite Club by Rachel Caine. Head on over and see what I thought about the latest book in her Morganville Vampire series!

Slacker Review: The Morganville Vampire Series by Rachel Caine

This series fell into my Vampire Reading Challenge.

I'd seen a bit here and there about this series, but hadn't really decided if I wanted to give it a read until I saw Danielle's review. Then I knew I had to read this series. I'm so glad I did!

There are 7 books out already, with the eighth, Kiss of Death, to be released April 27. I'm just going to give an overview of the books already available. Sort of. My original thought was to just link to Danielle's review and say "What she said.", as Danielle's enthusiasm for this series is very evident in her excellent review.

The story centers around Claire Danvers. She's some sort of child prodigy, a 16-year-old in her first year of college. She'd wanted to go away to an Ivy Leage school but her parents convinced her to attend a community college closer to home. The problem is, she's being bullied to the point that she almost died, so she decides to seek off-campus housing. She ends up renting a room at the Glass House with 3 other people: Michael Glass, the home's 18-year-old owner, Shane Collins, Michael's best friend, and Eve Rosser, a goth-girl works at a local coffee shop.

Here's the thing. Unbeknownst to Claire, the town is controlled by vampires. They are in charge of everything and (almost) everyone. Residents make regular "donations" to the local bloodbank and have vampire "patrons" so they can go about unmolested by other vamps. The residents of the Glass House fight the vampire control and do not have patrons. When Claire finds out what's really going on she's incredulous but soon has reason to believe.

I really enjoyed these books. Claire is a scrappy heoine who uses her smarts to work her way out of sticky situations. She's got a major crush on Shane (as do I!) and their relationship is sweet. Michael and Eve are good friends to have. Her roomates are fiercely loyal to Claire; the vamps on the other hand, well, the vampires in this series are in turn fascinating and creepy.

One of the things I like about this series is that you never know for sure who's on which side of good or evil or what any particuar vamp is plotting. There are a couple of characters that I think have Claire's best intersts at heart, but I'm not exactly positive. She does a wonderful job of navigating between the good and bad characters to keep her friends and the town safe and makes some very difficult (and dangerous) choices in the process.

I'm thinking this review probably doesn't make much sense, but there's so much going on at this point in the series that it's hard to put it all together. I can't believe I came into the series this late in the game but I'm glad I got to read the first seven books back-to-back. I'm anxiously waiting for Kiss of Death.

Be warned, however, Ms. Caine may well be the Queen of the Cliffhanger Ending. I'm just sayin'.

Here's my ratings so far:

1. Glass Houses: 4/5 stars
2. The Dead Girls' Dance: 4/5 stars
3. Midnight Alley: 4/5 stars
4. Feast of Fools: 4/5 stars
5. Lord of Misrule: 3/5 stars
6. Carpe Corpus: 4/5 stars
7. Fade Out: 5/5 stars

Thanks Danielle for recommending this wonderful series!!!