Fall of Night: The Morganville Vampires

Wow! 4.5 to 5 stars! I just finished this 14th installment of this beloved (especially to me) Morganville Vampires series this morning. I have come to absolutely fall in love with these characters. And while this installment took us outside of Morganville for the entire book (with the exception of the very beginning and very end - and that was basically on the outskirts of town), it was an excellent move for Ms. Caine to do. I think taking Claire out of Morganville was a perfect way to refresh this series (although, after 14 books, I think the series was holding its own, honestly). Be forewarned that this review will include some mild spoilers.In [bc:Bitter Blood|13414055|Bitter Blood (The Morganville Vampires, #13)|Rachel Caine| [...], the 13th MV book, Claire made a shocking decision, based on the events that transpired in the book - including Michael (who was not in control of his mind) telling Eve and Shane that Michael and Claire had "hooked up", sort of, and then Shane (like an idiot) believing it actually happened, instead of believing Claire when she said nothing happened (oh it was all a misunderstanding); as well as Claire just plain being fed up about feeling used in Morganville by everyone - she decides to leave Morganville!From the Publication book description:'Claire never thought she'd leave Morganville, but when she gets accepted into the graduate program at MIT, she can't pass up the opportunity. Saying good-bye to her friends is bittersweet, especially since things are still raw and unsettled between Claire and her boyfriend, Shane.Her new life at MIT is scary and exciting, but Morganville is never really far from Claire's mind. Enrolled in a special advanced study program with Professor Irene Anderson, a former Morganville native, Claire is able to work on her machine, which is designed to cancel the mental abilities of vampires.But when she begins testing her machine on live subjects, things quickly spiral out of control, and Claire starts to wonder whether leaving Morganville was the last mistake she'll ever make...'This book tells the story in alternating chapters, between the 3rd person perspective focusing on Claire and Shane's first person POV. We have seen Shane's POV in the past, but this was a different Shane in this book. A more mature Shane, who has realized that he made a stupid, quick decision to believe something that really is so unbelievable, and realizes just what he may be losing. Shane loves Claire so completely, that he supports her decision to leave all of them, and to go to Boston on her own. But that doesn't mean he's keeping too much distance. The "goodbye" scene, (that Claire tried to avoid) was so heartbreaking. But, it gave this hopeless romantic some hope about Claire and Shane's relationship."Look, I hate goodbyes, too. But sometimes, we need them just to survive." He meant that, and it left her wordless and stunned, and all she could think to do was kiss home one more time, gently.So, Claire goes to Boston, all by her lonesome, decides to room with an old friend from high school, Liz, who has changed, but probably not more than Claire has over the 2+ years she's been in Morganville. As much as Claire tries to let go of Morganville and become the college kid she should be at 18 years old,, she realizes it's just not her. And, she further realizes that her home is where her friends are, where Shane is,,, in Morganville.We met some new characters in this book (Jesse is kick ass!), some of which we may see in the next and final installment of MV, and we had very little contact with the Morganville gang - Eve, Michael, Myrnin, Oliver (and none of Amelie). But, this book was more about Claire, and her growth, as well as her relationship with Shane and the decisions she is forced to make. Shane is always arms-length away from Claire, sending her videos and texts and talking on the phone. And, some of those exchanges became, for me, the most open, honest exchanges between the two (but mostly from Shane bearing his soul to try to win Claire back - while also giving her the space she thinks she needs). The video he sends to her.."So anyway," he said, "Claire, if you're seeing this, and you're not so pissed at me you just delete the whole thing without watching...I miss you. I miss you so bad it hurts. I keep walking around the house and wishing you were here, and that I could-that I could figure out how to fix the screwed up stuff I did. Until I can do that, though, I guess what I'm saying is that I miss you. That's all. So, if you're lonely there, not out partying and meeting fancy Boston guys, maybe we can be lonely together."And, when they finally reunite in person (because you know they will), it is bittersweet. And I'd love to tell you why, but, no way... get out and buy this book and read it! I think this is one of the best in the series. The ending leaves us on a cliff hanger, and I'm very curious to see where Ms. Caine takes this last book. I have to say, I'm also super nervous about it too! I'll leave you with a thought from Shane that share my concerns:Betrayal had a bitter, horrible taste all its own..I wondered if Claire was tasting it, too. If I was feeling this, what could she be suffering? Because she was the one who felt things too deeply, cared too much. I hoped she wasn't just as wrecked as Myrnin when all this was said and done.

Fall of Night is the 14th book in The Morganville Vampires series, and though I love this series, I didn’t think it could surprise me anymore… But I was blown away completely, and could have never seen the impact coming! The ending was so awesome I wish I could now be a fly on the wall in Rachel Caine’s office (or wherever it is she’s writing) so that I could know sooner what will happen next!Fall of Night starts with the almost-rising sun over the horizon, just outside the city-limits of Morganville, where Claire is waiting for her dad to come and pick her up. She has snuck out of the Glass house to avoid a teary goodbye with her friends, but they are arriving with squeaking tires just before her dad does. So, a teary goodbye it is – even if Claire is very happy to be going to the university of her dreams MIT is only a few hours away by plane before she can start living in a place where things don’t go bump in the night – or do they?Claire finds out soon enough that life away from Morganville isn’t as simple as she had thought it would be – she misses Shane and her other friends – and when someone follows her home late one night, she wishes she was still carrying some kind of weapon. Claire’s roommate has a stalker, and so Claire quickly realizes that humans can be just as mean and dangerous as vampires are. A little disheartened by this, she sometimes wishes Shane had come with here – so much so that she thinks she sees him in a bar where she is delivering a message to her scientific supervisor’s friend.Fall of Night is a quick and twisting tale, where there are quite a few new characters being introduced to the readers. The Daylight Foundation is present around MIT, and it surprises Claire when she understands that people far away from Morganville are convinced that vampires are indeed real. As the story moves along, Eve calls Claire to let her know she and Michael are coming to town, as they are chasing after Myrnin who has run away from Morganville. Another complication Claire really doesn’t want to deal with, but she soon understands that she has no choice in the matter.This fast-moving story has a new surprise for the readers at every turn- Claire has no idea who to trust, even among her friends, and neither does the reader for a while. When things get bad, they get really bad, and several vampires as well as humans are captured by the Daylight Foundation – who really don’t care who they have to hurt to prove the existence of vampires – as they try to find a way to make vampires submit to their will. Claire is an unwilling participant in this whole scheme, both because she is being blackmailed, and because it’s her invention that is being used to mesmerize vampires.I have to warn you – there isn’t a single dull moment in Fall of Night – it is impossible to put the book down, and you need to make sure you can be somewhere you can read undisturbed so that you can enjoy all of it. I would have never guessed who the culprit was, and that was not even the biggest surprise during this wild ride. Coming home to Morganville at the end of Fall of Night, both the vampires and the human friends arriving think that finally things will be back to normal – but will they?The writing is excellent – I know I say this with all of Rachel Caine’s books, but it’s true! Claire continues to grow as a character, and maybe some of her naiveté is going to disappear now. Shane also makes progress in Fall of Night, he understands that he needs to give Claire the space she feels that she has to get in order to sort through her feelings, and be independent. At the same time, Claire gets some pretty harsh wake-up calls when she meets with lots of students her own age – who are just as smart as she is. And that helps her thinking of problems in yet different ways. The point of view shifts between Claire’s and Shane’s and there’s a kind of nice familiarity in that.I can’t really write a Morganville Vampires review without mentioning the humor I love so much! And so I have included a few quotes underneath, since they tell the story so much better than I could. ”Be careful,” he said. “Not all dangers have a vampire’s fangs. Or a vampire’s predictability.”“You watch your back Shane. I mean it.” Her voice was muffled against my shoulder, and it sounded unsteady. “You come back to us or I swear, I’ll find you, dig up your stinky corpse , and kick its ass until it freaking disintegrates.”“She needs you for more than just protection. It’s how it works. You want the strong girl, you understand that she’s with you because she wants to be. Not because she has to be. you know that, right?”

This is a series of books that I love...I do believe my favorite vampire series. I am now reading Bitter Blood...and will have to order the next in the series. ..hopefully there is one. Once you start to read...you cannot stop.

As soon as I have finished one book I immediately want to read the next saga in Morganvilles story. Loved this book and don't want the series to end.

HAPPY CUSTOMER

Really enjoying this series didn't expect the ending definitely surprised me. Looking forward to reading the next one now. Thanks

Loved it! Great buy!