Thursday 22 November 2012

Bitter Blood: The Morganville Vampires - Rachel Caine

Pages: 538
Publisher: Alison and Busby
Release Date: 6th November 2012
Edition: UK paperback, purchased copy


Now that the threat t the vampires of Morganville has been defeated, the gravest danger to the human residents is the enemy within...

For years, the human and vampire residents of Morganville have managed to coexist in peace. But thanks to the eradication of the parasitic creatures known as the draug, the vampires of Morganville have now been freed of their usual constraints. With the vampires indulging their every whim, the town’s human population is determined to hold on to their lives by taking up arms. College student Claire Danvers, with ties to both humans and vampires, isn’t about to take sides.

To make matters worse, a television show comes to Morganville searching for ghosts, just as vampire and human politics collide. Now, Claire and her friends have to figure out how to keep the peace without ending up on the nightly news...or worse.

After thirteen books I should be sick of this series, or at least indifferent. Nope. I finished Bitter Blood with my heart racing and tears in my eyes, mentally calculating how long I have to wait for the next book.

After the dramatic showdown at the end of Black Dawn, we pick back up in a slightly altered Morganville. Amelie and Oliver are running the show a little differently. With no more threats to their kind, the vampires are free to do whatever they want. I do miss the old Amelie though... But the most horrifying change in Bitter Blood was how it affected the Glass House.

I’m not even slightly exaggerating when I tell you that I was lying in bed reading and hyperventilating. I even started quietly chanting ‘no, no, no, NO’ at one point. I probably looked like a crazy woman and then I had to go upstairs and explain to my housemate the horror of that moment and run back downstairs in to the warm to finish the book. It would be safe to say that I didn’t get up until rather late that morning (ahem, afternoon). This is the type of drama that has kept this series going for so long and I do love it. I think it also demonstrated just how much Claire has grown up in her reaction to everything.

For probably the second or third time in the duration of this series, I’ve finished the book and wondered where on earth Rachel Caine is going to take the story of Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael in the next one. It was especially strong for Bitter Blood. I have to admit that I closed the book with the hint of a tear and the ever-present sadness that occurs when I realise I have to wait another six months for the next novel. It’s traumatic, but I know that Rachel Caine always more than pulls it out of the bag.

As you may have noticed, I loved Bitter Blood and I can’t wait until Fall of Night is released, even if that title terrifies me a little bit...

I purchased my copy from Amazon UK.

Sophie

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