Midnight Alley (The Morganville Vampires #3) By: Rachel Caine (Book Review)

 ***This review will contain spoilers***

Summary:

When Claire Danvers learnt that her college town was run by vampires, she did what any intelligent, self-preserving student would do: she applied for a transfer and stocked up on garlic. The transfer is no longer an option, but that garlic may come in handy. Now Claire has pledged herself to Amelie, the most powerful vampire in town. The protection her contract secures does little to reassure her friends. All of a sudden, people are turning up dead, a stalker resurfaces from Claire's past, and an ancient bloodsucker extends a chilling invitation for private lessons in his secluded home.

Another great book! Just when I think the story will start to die down, Caine just suckers me right back in. I love that the books start right where the previous one left off, so you can finish one and pick up the next one to continue on with the journey. The fact that Caine is able to fit so much in just a couple hundred pages shows the talent she has. I have read 700+ pages of books, and maybe 10% of it is the plot, and the rest is absolute shit/a waste of time. No wonder I have been enjoying this series so much; it's easy to get lost in the story when it is so well written.

Poor Claire has a lot riding on her tiny shoulders. We've got a human serial killer on the loose, a vampire race on the decline, and to top it all, a boyfriend on the brink of death. I love Claire's tenacity in any situation she is in, whether it be facing a psychotic vampire or a human; she doesn't lose her resolve. I love protagonists that are strong, independent, badass ladies who are their own hero. I'm not a fan of the meek girl where she needs a man to save the day. Nor do I like the Mary-Sue archetype where she doesn't have any flaws and is perfect. Claire isn't perfect. She's sixteen and has a lot to learn and mature. She may be impulsive and forgives too quickly, but that's what makes her Claire. 

Eve's brother Jason is released from prison and is back with a vengeance. He has killed many girls and is on a rampage to get even with Eve. Not only has he dumped a body in their trash, he is in cahoots with Oliver...to what capacity? We don't know, but just when you think Oliver is ready to settle down with his over-the-top schemes, he tops himself. Now that Michael is a vampire, the house will only stop humans from coming in willy-nilly; however, it's free reign for the vampires to stroll right in, and that includes Oliver, who dumped another one of Jason's victims in the crawl space. There seems to be no end in sight with Oliver continuously going after Amelie. 

Claire is incredibly intelligent, and with that, she now has to shoulder the responsibility of finding a cure for the vampires. All the vampires seem to be sick and losing their sanity the older they get. No wonder Amelie doesn't allow the vampires to believe they can turn humans into vampires because then there would be more sick vampires who would lose control and kill everyone around them. Amelie introduces Claire to Myrnin, the inventor of many Morganville functions, one of which are the portals to travel to different areas in Morganville. He is such an intriguing character, and I hope we get more insight on his and Amelie's backstory. They seem extremely close, and I do hope that we get to see more moments of clarity from Myrnin. 

I enjoyed having Michael put Shane in his place. I understand how horrific it was for Shane to lose his sister and then his mother; however, it doesn't give him the right to treat the people around him like shit. If I were in Claire's shoes, I wouldn't have been as kind as she was. I don't take kindly to those being rude and/or mean to me, especially a boyfriend. 

I couldn't finish the last half of the book quick enough. Claire finds out that Officer Fenton was behind the staking of Sam. I wish Claire had some kind of foresight when she realizes the person she's around is a homicidal maniac and would at least try not to alert said maniac she's aware of who they really are. Surprisingly enough Oliver came to the rescue and killed the humans involved who wanted to kill Michael. The way Oliver was described in his leather coat and just going right in to kill reminded me a lot of Mr. X from the Resident Evil video games.

Claire has finally gotten into drugs...red crystals that she produced with Myrnin to help him have moments of pure clarity and Claire being Claire loves just how much she can learn and focus while on them as well. Monica being the most insufferable asshole ever corners Claire in the bathroom and takes said crystals but ends up convulsing and suffering a overdose. Due to Claire's moral compass and compassion she helped the local Doctors create a formula to counteract the effects. As if that wasn't a big enough way to end a book we fast forward to Claire's parents showing up and declaring their new residence in Morganville. However, they brought along with them a hitchhiker who is ...Amelie's father!!!Shit is about to go down and I cannot wait to keep reading. 

Rating:

To no surprise I'm giving Midnight Alley 5 stars on 5!!! It's so easy to get lost in the flow of the story. The constant change and evolution of the story is done so well I can't help but want to read it. As if there isn't enough shit hitting the fan we've got Amelie's father showing up and threatening the household if she doesn't show up. I personally thought Amelie was the oldest vampire but now this changes everything.