Kiss of Death (Morganville Vampires, #8)

by Rachel Caine

[Jo]

Claire Danvers has a few things on her mind. First of all there is the laundry, which is now an unfortunate shade of pink. Then there is her boyfriend, Shane, who is never too far from her thoughts. Finally there is her best friend Eve's relationship problems. As if life as a student wasn't complicated enough, Claire just happens to be studying in Morganville. A town run by vampires. Trouble seems to follow Claire and her friends like a shadow and tonight is no exception to the rule. They must find the most difficult documents for a vampire to acquire; people passes that will allow 'bad ass' Morley and his friends to leave Morganville. But it's proving incredibly difficult, and with the odds seemingly stacked against them, the biggest question of all is...Will they survive? From Amazon UK.

Words are yet to be invented for me to be able to describe how much I love the Morganville Vampires series. Really. This series is just too amazing for words, and gets better with each book. Kiss of Death adds to the awesomeness that is this series.

Firstly, the blurb above and on the back of the book is misleading. The story doesn't take place in one day as it leads you to believe, and getting Morley several People Passes isn't the main obstacle, nor even a small one, exactly, for our main characters. Yet I can understand the reason for the misleading blurb; so much happens in this book, it's kind of hard to summarise without spoilers. So yes, Morley is involved to some degree, but not how you would assume. The main plot thread is Michael is invited by a producer to go to Dallas to record his music, and Amelie grants all four of them - Michael, Claire, Eve and Shane - People Passes to go. Obviously, they are all excited to get out of Morganville, but their road trip isn't as much of a break from the freakiness as they had hoped.

And as I said, so much happens! I think Kiss of Death may be the most action packed of the whole series. Seriously, just when you think things couldn't get any worse for the guys, it does - in bucket loads. The saying "out of the frying pan and into the fire" is a bit of an understatement in this instance. But it's awesome! I know, I know there are going to be at least 12 books in the series, but at some points, I was really worrying for the lives of the characters and sure there were going to some fatalities. Claine is just a mastermind of urban fantasy, and never fails to shock and surprise.

Claire contines to come into her own in this book, showing more courage and spink than you would expect in the circumstances they find themselves in. But we still have the same sarcasm, wit, and humour from all the main characters that make us love them so much. I adore Michael, Eve and Shane, and love how real their voices sound.

Seriously, another brilliant book by Caine. I really can't wait to read what she brings us next in Ghost Town, which will be released in January 2011.

From Once Upon a Bookcase - YA book blog.