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?

As Michael and Eve make preparations for their wedding, certain undead members of the Morganville community begin making all kinds of noise objecting to the idea. Everyone seems to have an opinion on why Michael and Eve shouldn’t get married – except the couple themselves. Even Shane and Claire express concern. Michael is a vampire; Eve is human. A lifelong predatory union such as that is bound to end in tragedy, right? At least, that’s what the history books show. Eve wonders … could her relationship with Michael go down in history as the first human/vampire relationship to really make it?

In Bite Club we saw Shane and Claire face all kinds of adversity. Shane let Claire down – repeatedly – and both of them still have wounds to heal from that experience, but Last Breath opens showing Shane and Claire more in love, stronger than they’ve ever been before. It’s obvious they’re meant to be together, through thick and thin, the good and the bad, the ugly and the beautiful – but what about in death? Last Breath sees Shane and Claire face the ultimate challenge – the biggest one they’re likely to encounter ever.

Meanwhile, outside the Glass House, Morganville is in a state of disarray. Vampires are going missing and something has spooked Amelie out of her mind. She’s packing up the vampires and planning a mass exodus out of Morganville. It looks like the humans will finally have their town back.

Or will they?

If I know Amelia – and I think by now I do – leaving the humans to their own devices is not something she’s particularly known for. She says they’re leaving and allowing the humans to reclaim the town, but is that really what’s going on? Would she really leave a bunch of humans behind untouched, uncontrolled? Not very likely.

And Claire and Shane know it. Complacency, happiness, contentment – these are things that Shane and Claire will never get to experience. Not while they’re living in Morganville, anyway. In an epic battle – more epic than anything Morganville has ever seen – the Glass House gang will join the vampires, again, in the fight for their very lives.

Last Breath threw many curve balls that I never saw coming. Predictable is not a word I would choose to describe this series. Just when you think Caine can’t possibly develop this world any further, she does. Just when you think these characters have grown as much as they possibly can, Caine manages to mould them into even more dynamic, even greater characters. I never get tired of reading these books. With Last Breath Caine delivers one of the most thrilling cliffhangers to date, and as always, I’m now anxiously awaiting the arrival of the next chapter in this awesome series.

Pages: 335

Publication date: November 2011

Publisher: New American Library

Challenge: N/A

Rating: :

Teaser Quote:

Oliver stalked forward toward … Toward Myrnin, in his thick black coat, who was holding Shane against the alley’s other wall with his right hand, and drawing back with his left, claws catching the light in sharp angles. He hesitated as he spotted Oliver, and froze as he saw Claire’s shuddering form.

“No,” he whispered, the signaled a stare at Oliver. “Damn you! She shouldn’t have to see this!”

The hourglass door has closed behind Dante, sending him back in time to hunt down Zo, Tony, and V. Although giving him up was the hardest test she ever faced, Abby knows that Dante is the only one who can stop the others from destroying time itself. But almost immediately, things start to change, and Abby’s worst fears are realized when Zo begins targeting her past specifically.

With each change that ripples into her present, Abby’s life continues to spiral out of control. Her relationships with Jason, Natalie, and even her family are threatened to the breaking point. Zo’s power is greater than Abby ever imagined. Will her love for Dante be enough to turn the tide?

The Golden Spiral picks up right where The Hourglass Door left off. Many of the characters return in this intricately planned sequel – but some return only to be erased from Abby’s life by Zo. With Dante gone for the time-being, Abby finds herself facing off against Zo alone as he’s determined to completely unravel her life and, possibly, the world.

Lisa Magnum is a master at story-crafting. Her lyrical descriptions at times border on poetry and her plot is so unique, full of twists and turns. While Abby solves mysteries from The Hourglass Door, she finds herself unraveling new, more complicated ones. Without Dante by her side, her strength is tested over and over. Abby grows a lot in this book and reasserts her independence, proving that she doesn’t need Dante to protect her, but that the two make each other stronger. Abby also learns to take more risks and trust in herself. Despite the fact that Zo attempts to rip her life apart, she refuses to back down to him, which is admirable given his all-around creepiness and nearly god-like power.

I was also really impressed by Abby’s friends in this book. Natalie really steps up to the plate when Abby decides to confide in her, proving that yes, she is human and therefore needs support and friendship. Natalie’s hesitance is believable, as well as her eventual of acceptance. It’s important for Abby to maintain her relationships with her old friends and I’m glad she acknowledges this, rather than abandon her friends for her gorgeous boyfriend and his complicated life. Speaking of complicated, poor Valerie. Her descent into delirium is equal parts fascinating and depressing. At first I thought she had gone completely crazy, but I was happily surprised to find out she was still hanging on, if just barely. I’m still worried about her, but glad to see that perhaps all hope isn’t lost.

If you thought The Hourglass Door was unique, The Golden Spiral pushes that kind of creativity even further. Abby’s and Leo’s use of photography is downright fascinating. Also, V’s unexpected character development is adorably awesome, though it comes with a price, and Zo’s cryptic messages are creepily alluring. Mangum blurs the line between friend and fo so that you’re left guessing up until the very end, when she drops a few major bombs. The characters are repeatedly tested and while the tests usually leave them stronger, they suffer a few devastating losses by the end of the book. And again, Mangum leaves us with a cliffhanger that leaves me, at least, craving the conclusion to the trilogy.

Pages: 362
Publication Date: May 2010
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Challenge: N/A
Rating :

Teaser Quote: “He is nowhere. He is everywhere. He is in between. He doesn’t like it. The darkness presses on him and it hurts.”

“In 1629 a young Frenchwoman is convicted if murdering her husband. The elderly lord is found dead on the stairs, apparently savaged by a pack of dogs. But there were no dogs – no live dogs – at Kerfol that day.

In the first of these five stories, we return to the haunted manor and hear the ghost story “Kerfol”, first told by Edith Wharton, through the sympathetic eyes of a servant girl. Four more tales slip forward in time, peering in on a young artist, a hard-drinking party girl and young American couple and a deaf gardener who now tends the Kerfol estate. All of these souls are haunted by the ghosts of Kerfol – the dead dogs, the sensual yet uneasy relationships and the bitter taste of revenge.”

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Let’s get one thing clear – I’m the biggest chicken ever. At least when it comes to ghost stories. I can’t read them without getting a bit jumpy, I watched Paranormal Activity behind a gap in my fingers, I think the guys on Ghost Hunters are nuts. So I was a bit hesitant about reading a story about vengeful ghosts from the 17^th century.

The Ghosts of Kerfol is five short stories, starting with a retelling for Edith Wharton’s original short story Kerfol , with each subsequent story moving forward in time till we get from 1629 to 2006. In the first story (the retelling) we learn about the mysterious death of Yves de Cornault, who was found dead on the stairs of his home, apparently attacked by dogs. Since he maliciously killed every dog his wife ever had after discovering her disloyalty, there hadn’t been a dog on the grounds since. So how did he die?

The stories that follow are about the house that still stands and the ghosts that now haunt the grounds.

Despite my previous issues with ghost stories I thought the story sounded interesting and was ready to give it a go. Unfortunately it didn’t live up to my hopes.

My issue was that after the first story, each of the others felt too brief and disconnected from one another. At only 171 pages each story only got about 30 pages and in that time there’s so much focus on the main character that the ghosts become a small and almost pointless feature. Once we started to become interested in the human characters, we moved right along to the next story.

And the ghosts themselves, in the end what did they do? Not that much, besides one incident all they did was a lot of creepy staring. It would have been better if each story linked to one another or built up to some big ending but the tension just kind of fizzled out to nothing.

If you do happen to read it I don’t recommend doing what I did – reading it right before bed. Though none of it was hardly scary, the creepy staring is still not the best thing to have in mind while trying to sleep.

If you were interesting in the story, you’re probably better off just reading Edith Wharton’s original short story. There was nothing wrong with this book generally but in the end all I could think was ‘meh’.

Pages: 171
Publication Date: August 2008
Publisher: Candlewick Press/Walker Books
Challenge: Historical Fiction
Rating: :

Teaser Quote: “When at last she called for me to dress down her bed, we took the stairs slowly, carefully, like elderly women afraid of slipping or breaking a bone. We did not hurry, but we arrived all the same.
We found it.
The little dog lay dead on her pillow.”