Posts Tagged "Morganville Vampires"

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!”

While developing a new system to maintain Morganville’s defenses, student Claire Danvers discovers a way to amplify vampire mental powers. Through this, she’s able to re-establish the field around this vampire-infested Texas college town that protects it from outsiders.

But the new upgrades have an unexpected consequence: people inside the town begin to slowly forget who they are-even the vampires. Soon, the town’s little memory problem has turned into a full-on epidemic. Now Claire needs to figure out a way to pull the plug on her experiment- before she forgets how to save Morganville…

As Ghost Town opens, life looks like its actually going well for the inhabitants of the Glass House for once. Michael and Eve are good, Claire is attending classes danger free these days, and things with Shane are … well, pretty darned great. But of course, this is Morganville, and the Glass House was kidding itself if they thought life would go along all peachy keen for long.

Enter dangerous situation number one. Eve attends a rave with a new friend of hers only to have it crashed by vampires on the hunt, and they want fresh blood. Claire and Shane rush to Eve’s rescue, of course, but Claire manages to land herself in a little hot water when she stakes a vampire. According to Amelie’s new rules, that’s strictly forbidden in Morganville these days, and Claire’s up for murder – of a vampire. She lands herself with an unusual sentence though, and finds herself hauled up in Myrnin’s lab slaving away at a project Amelie and Myrnin insist must be completed. Claire can’t leave, eat, sleep, or do anything until she gets it done. She does, of course, and life settles back down – for a few hours, at least.

Enter dangerous situation number two. Everyone starts forgetting things, and it’s like the last three years didn’t even happen. That means no one even knows who Claire is, because she hasn’t been in Morganville that long, and everything is crazy weird. Fortunately, no one in the Glass House seems to be affected, until of course they do become affected, and it’s up to Claire to fix this one all on her own. Without the help of her friends, Claire’s chances of fixing this seem bleak. That is, until she gets the help of a very unlikely person…

Ghost Town is rocking in every which way. Caine is totally on point with this one, giving readers the right amount of action, drama, romance and suspense to keep us turning the pages obsessively. In a true act of genius, we get to re-live the first moments of the Shane/Claire, Michael/Eve romance all over again, without losing the intensity and connection between the characters that the series has worked so hard on developing.

Caine’s prose is tight, witty, and absolutely perfect in every way. Her narrator is more lively and real than ever before. After reading Ghost Town I can see why the Morganville Vampires is now a major force to be reckoned with. Vampire enthusiasts, eat your heart out.

Pages: 335

Publication date: 2010 (available now)

Rating::

Teaser quote: “Go way, Lyss,” he moaned, and opened his eyes, and blinked, and finally focused on her. And then he completely and totally freaked out.

Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again…

Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve’s castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realize that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger-and way more dangerous-than anyone suspected.

With Bishop out of the picture, I bet you thought life in Morganville would take a bit of a dull turn, especially now that the humans in town seem to have a more equal footing than ever before. Well, you thought wrong. This is Morganville, after all, which is short for trouble, with a capital M.

A few things have changed, though. Shane has a job, for one. He’s bringing in the dosh and making his contribution to the crappy Morganville society, chopping and cooking meat at the local BBQ joint. The good folk of the Glass House are eating less chili and more BBQ these days, not that anyone is complaining.

Michael is settling into life as a vampire, embracing the big bad fangs (in a good, non-evil way) and learning to love the newly acquired powers that come with being an Undead American.

Eve landed a gig acting in the town play. With a combined cast of vampires and humans alike, it sounds like something Eve would run a mile from. Wait till you hear what they’re performing… the whacked out folk of Morganville are in for a real treat – a rendition of A Streetcar Named Desire with a twist. A goth-girl twist. Sounds perfect for Eve. Totally perfect.

And Claire… well Claire is plodding along, loving being super smart Claire with the super hot boyfriend. Until Kim comes along, that is. She’s the new player in town (or the old player, depending on your perspective), and she seems well acquainted with the Glass House members. Too acquainted, according to Claire. She’s got a bit of a history with a certain guy that Claire might be dating, and she’s not liking that one bit.

Morganville’s awesome foursome is back with the full-scaled witty banter that we all know and love them for. In this chapter, friendships will be tested, loyalties questioned, rules broken and new ones forged. One of our very fave Morganville couples will hit one hell of a bump in the road. The question is, will they be able to navigate their way to the other side? Hold your breath because only time will tell, my friends, only time will tell.

Fade Out is laced with all the usual humor we’ve come to expect from Rachel Caine’s dynamic characters. While it may seem that not a lot is happening, if you read between the lines, keep your eye out for all the tiny clues, you’ll see that, in fact, a whole lot is going on. With the conflict presented in the last six books pretty much resolved now, Fade Out sees Caine outstandingly carve up the beginnings of the next big drama, the next life-threatening challenge that Claire and her friends must face. Because let’s face it kids, this is Morganville, where the vampires bite and not a soul can be trusted.

Rachel Caine rocked my reading socks off with this one.

Rating::

P.S – I reckon this one rates a special shout out to the cover artist. This is, in my opinion, the best cover to grace the Morganville series released so far.

Morganville Vampire fans, check this out. We’ve got an official title and cover for the eight book in the series, due out April 2010.

Ladies and gentlemen, we bring you Kiss of Death:

Here at yaReads, we’re loving this. What about you guys?

Rachel Caine is the author of the popular Morganville Vampire series. The sixth book, Carpe Corpus, was released this week. Being the huge supporters of the Morganville books that we are, yaReads couldn’t pass up an opportunity to sit down and pick Rachel’s brains… enjoy!

For those that might not understand, can you please explain the title ‘Carpe Corpus‘

Seize the Body?  ☺  Well, it refers to a couple of things … first, Bishop’s struggle to take over Morganville, and the fighting that goes on around it.  Second, the relationship between Claire and Shane.  And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

For Latin purists:  Yes, technically it should be Carpe Corpum.  But that just didn’t look nearly as cool.

The cover is spectacular – did you have any input into the design?

No, I didn’t, my wonderful publisher deserves all the credit!  I honestly wouldn’t have had any idea what kind of image to go with for this one.

Which Morganville cover is your fave?

In terms of the US covers, I’d have to say Feast of Fools, just because Michael looks so *gorgeous* on it.  In terms of British covers, the new, awesome design for Lord of Misrule is just spectacular and luscious.

This is book six in the Morganville series – do you feel like you know your characters a lot more these days? Do you have trouble (still) writing any of them?

Oddly enough, the Morganville books have never presented that much trouble for me.  The characters, town and situations seem very clear, and it’s a great experience writing them.  Certainly I’m delving deeper and deeper, both into the characters and into the town itself.  So it continues to be fun and fascinating work!

Do you have a fave Morganville character?

I always feel so guilty when I say this, but … Shane.  Yes.  It’s Shane.  Although I truly enjoy writing ALL of them, from Oliver to Eve to Amelie to Myrnin.  And Michael is just adorably fun, like the big brother I never had.

Have you always known exactly how the Morganville books are going to end, or are you writing it as it comes to you?

A mixture of both.  I knew my ending, but I didn’t know all the twists and turns it would take to get there.  The thing is, after book 6, I’m on my own.  No more roadmaps.  Although I think FADE OUT (the next book) really is a true stand-alone story.

What life lessons do you want your readers to take from Morganville (if any at all)?

I don’t know if I’m a “lesson” writer, but if I am, it’s all about friendship and sacrifice.  About keeping a good heart in the face of bad things.  I’m an optimist, and I think the stories reflect that, as dark as they get.

Why do you think teen vampire novels are so popular right now?

Vampires are, and always have been both cool and outside the mainstream … which is extraordinarily attractive when you’re a teen.  Party all night.  Sleep all day.  Never grow old.  It’s the Lost Boys mantra, and it completely describes what’s so great about the idea of being a vampire.  (The liquid diet part, not so much.)

Having said that, though … there’s a lot of variation in the way writers are approaching the theme, which is great!  There are relationship-driven vampire books.  There are dark suspense books.  There are adventure books (which is probably where mine fall).  Funny vampire books.  So there’s room for everything.

What was the last book you read?

I’m currently reading Lee Child’s ENEMY, which is a Jack Reacher novel.  I’m about to start CEMETERY DANCE by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child.  Prior to that, I read John Maddox Roberts’ SPQR book THE PRINCESS AND THE PIRATE.

*********SPOILERS AHEAD************

You’ve been teasing fans with Shane and Claire for four entire books now – how does it feel to finally give us what we want?

Honestly?  Terrifying.  I really felt the weight of responsibility in trying to make that moment seem real and right, but also have lasting impact and consequences to their lives.

You wrote the “Shane and Claire” scene perfectly. Did it come easily or did you write and rewrite it a lot before you were happy with it?

I am so relieved you think it came out well!  I worried a lot about it.  I think it came out as I wanted it on the first draft, and then I worried about whether or not what I wanted out of it was the right thing.  So … yes and no.  I fiddled with it a lot, but it was mainly just nerves rather than real rewriting.

Although one of my fabulous beta readers did point out that Shane’s been in prison for a long time.  He WILL want to take a shower.  And we WILL want o him to.

Are you worried about parental pushback about the sex issue in this instalment?

Yes, of course.  It was an issue that I really had to think about and talk over with my publisher, and we are prepared for some negative comments about it.  But I did take the step of asking for blind readers who self-identified as conservatives, with children, and sent them the book for pre-read to see whether or not they would find it appropriate.  9 out of 10 thought it was a positive approach, so I feel fairly confident that I was in the right place with it.

Are we going to be seeing more of Dean? Something tells me that we might…

You might.  ☺  And not in a good way.

The Morganville books are famous for their nail biting cliffhanger endings. Carpe Corpus does not have a cliffhanger. What made you decide to do this?

I really had planned to finish the series in Book 6 – that was my original contract length with the publisher.  So I had planned the story arc to finish there, which is why there isn’t a cliffhanger.

Also, I was tired of being pelted with tomatoes.  ☺  No, seriously, I never intended it to become such a thing … it just did.  And I was kind of relieved to stop doing it.

I was truly overjoyed that my publisher wanted to continue to explore Morganville for another 3 books!

Can you give us any hints about what is coming in Fade Out?

Sure!  You’ll find out that the town of Morganville puts on an annual play, and Eve gets a prominent role, which is a life-long dream for her.  She also becomes instafriends with a fellow Goth girl named Kim, who is kind of Morganville’s resident Rebel Without A Cause.  But Kim delivers loads of complications between our heroes … Claire can’t stand her, Shane might have had a history with her, Eve loves her, Michael just wishes it all would go away, which leads to all kinds of distress.  Oh, and there’s trouble from an unexpected quarter.  Of course!

Thank you so much for letting me talk to you today!  It’s been a treat!

Actually, Rachel, the treat was all ours!

Click here if you want to read our review of Carpe Corpus