Customer Reviews

Fade Out: The Morganville Vampires

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Fade Out is the 7th round in the Morganville Vampires series and it never cease to amaze. I'll be honest with you, I was kind of scared the story would get old with Bishop gone and most enemies under control but I was wrong! Caine surprised us with a brand new twist in the Morganville saga, and I never saw it coming. I find myself craving for the next book, impatient to know what Caine's got up her sleeve.

I find it hard to resume the plot of that book without giving spoilers so I will refrain from doing it, but you have to know there is one new character introduced in the series. Kim, another goth girl in town, plays in the city's last production with Eve, and she's hiding more then anyone suspects.
Kim is very popular, loved by everyone but Claire can't stand the sight (or thought) of her. Does it have to do with the fact that she dated Shane in the past?

Our favorite vampires are indeed at the rendez-vous with more suspense and originality, and Mirnin really stole my heart in that instalment. I love his craziness, corkiness and uniqueness. The guy wears 17th century clothing with fanged-bunny slippers. Do I need to say more?
Ada will also play a bigger part this time, for better or for worst!
If you haven't picked that series yet, it is a great vampire series that detach from the vampire romance stream. Vampires aren't "vegetarian", nice or sexy (ok Michael is...), they are dangerous, vicious and can't be trusted. They will scare you, imprison you and tax you (in blood indeed).
Welcome to Morganville!

Crazy computers, Goth rivals, and vampires in bunny slippers. Rachel Caine certainly knows how to write a weird urban fantasy story -- and while her seventh Morganville Vampires novel starts with a tangle of seemingly unrelated plot threads, she expertly lashes them all together into a pulse-pounding story that brings about some shocking new developments. And there's more than a little tinge of horror in there too.

Claire is having a rough time -- she gets a UV bomb in the face, then nearly freezes her to death when Amelie has a suicidal depression fit. Some rough, brutal new vampires are prowling around town, and the computer hologram Ada is acting bizarrely jealous of Claire merely being around Myrnin. And because of Amelie's unhappiness, other vampires are starting to question her fitness to rule Morganville... and Claire finds herself in the middle of it.

Perhaps most distressingly, Eve has a new best buddy -- the manipulative, gorgeous "cool-girl" Goth Kim, who is also an ex-hookup of Shane's, and still holds a torch. When you have a bad sunburn, that is NOT what you want.

Unfortunately, Morganville is starting to splinter apart without Amelie's guidance -- the streets are full of brutal vampires and even more brutal vampire-killing mobs. When Kim goes missing, Claire and her friends discover a secret scheme that threatens the very existence of Morganville... and not only must Claire stop it, but she must avoid being killed by an increasingly crazed Ada, who wants Myrnin all to herself. And she's becoming too powerful to stop.

"Fade Out" starts off relatively fluffy, with Claire effectively having the worst day in the world, while her friends prepare for a rock concert and a goth production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." And for the first two thirds, Caine spins out a series of subplots that just go flying in every direction, seemingly unconnected to each other... until she lashes them together, and the plot blossoms into a brilliant, action-packed triple finale.

And Caine's writing is up to the task, since she's equally good at blending stories of romantic rivalry and rock concerts with horrific tales of vampiric invasion. She conjures some truly horrendous moments that might make your skin crawl (the giant spider, "tunnel rats," and Ada's frequent homicidal shrieks and mad laughter), but also peppers her story with generous amounts of humor, a lot of which comes from Myrnin's crazy outfits (pirate hippie!) and hilarious dialogue (""Goodness. I don't think I should be watching this. I don't think I'm old enough").

And there are some big changes in Morganville by the end. Not epic ones (the status quo is pretty much the same), but things will be different for the main cast and the vampires.

And despite being at the center of vampire power struggles, Claire remains a pleasantly ordinary character -- she's nerdy, she feels jealous, she attends classes, and she walks around for half the book with peeling skin. But she has a lot of backbone, facing down potentially homicidal vampires with nothing more than guts and a pointy object. And the kooky Myrnin adopts a spider ("I shall call him Bob"), gets electrocuted, and is fleshed out even further with a bittersweet loss.

"Fade Out" is a delicious urban fantasy read that seems fluffy at first, but quickly accelerates into a dark, funny, deeply creepy little novel. Here's hoping for many more...

The battle for Morganville is over and life is relatively normal.

Claire is back in classes and working in Myrnin's lab. She notices something evil and unnatural about Ada, as if the computer brain that protects Morganville is jealous of Claire.

Quickly, life changes back to crazy when Eve discovers a new friend also involved in the town play. Suddenly, she's too busy to hang out with Claire. Plus, this new girl used to date Shane and it's clear that her feelings for him haven't disappeared. Claire's consumed with jealously even after they learn about Kimberly's disappearance and her shocking hobby.

Amelie's struggling with her mental health and her stability while a new rogue vampire, Morley, gains a certain amount of power.

Everything combined could threaten Claire's world and that of her friends in a deadly dangerous way. Will they be forced to make a perilous choice?

Life is never dull in Morganville, where drama and vampires rarely sleep. Rachel Caine keeps the action fast-paced and throws in twists and turns you'll never see coming.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

Rachelle is growing up! Her character is developing.
This was quite an enjoyable one, better than the last one.
We are back to a more detective style.