Ever since the draug—mysterious creatures that prey on vampires—took over Morganville, the lives of student Claire Danvers and her friends have been thrown into turmoil. Most of the town’s residents have evacuated, but Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael have chosen to stay and fight.

Using the city’s water system to spread, the draug have rapidly multiplied. Things in Morganville look grim, especially since vampire Amelie—the town founder—has been infected by the master draug’s bite.

Now, if Claire and her friends don’t figure out how to cure Amelie and defeat the draug, it looks like Morganville will become little more than a ghost town…

When Black Dawn opens, Morganville is, yet again, in a whole bunch of trouble. The most dangerous vampires known in existence – the draug – has finally made their way into the city limits, crippling the town and spreading fear to all. They got to Amelie – something Claire thought would never happen. Without Amelie, the humans and vampires of Morganville have no hope of ever making it out. The town is despairing, trying to figure out what in the heck they’re going to do. Like always, our trusty friends Claire, Shane, Eve, and Michael are right in the middle of everything.

But there’s so much else going on. As if the draug isn’t enough, Michael and Eve are in a really bad place. At the end of the last installment, Michael took a big old chunk out of Eve, and now she’s not sure she can trust him. The beast that lives inside of Michael finally bared its fangs and put a huge wedge between our favorite vampire/human couple. Will they be able to get through this, or was everyone else right? Is it just too dangerous and unrealistic to think Eve and Michael could ever have a lasting relationship?

Claire and Shane are … well, Claire and Shane. As messed up as Shane is, it becomes abundantly clear to everyone that he can’t function without his girl. Claire makes him a better man, makes him want to be a better man. For that, he realizes they have to make it through this stuff with the draug. He decides they have to be defeated, no matter what. Shane wants his happily ever after.

Everyone knows I’ve been a big advocate of this series right from the very beginning but Black Dawn solidified a concern I’ve been having for a while now. Rachel Caine, I ask, whhhhhyyyyyyyyyyy did you, after all this time, decide to start including perspectives of characters OTHER than Claire? Moreover, why are those other perspectives written in first person, while Claire’s is in third? If the series had started out that way, I’d have less of an issue with it. But the series is nearly over, and including the new perspectives interrupts the flow of the narrative. To me it feels like the story has shifted from an action driven plot line, to a more character driven plot line. It doesn’t feel like the same Morganville anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, I still completely enjoyed reading Black Dawn, but now it feels like a different story – not the Morganville we all fell in love with.

Publication date: May 2012

Pages: 367

Publisher: New American Library, a division of Penguin Publishing Group

Rating: : ★★★½☆

Teaser Quote: Claire and I were married in the church by Father Joe, and Eve and Michael were our maid of honor and best man.