Last Breath: By Rachel Caine

LAST BREATH

SUMMARY

With her boss preoccupied researching the Founder Houses in Morganville, student Claire Danvers is left to her own devices when she learns that three vampires have vanished without a trace. She soon discovers that the last person seen with one of the missing vampires is someone new to town-a mysterious individual named Magnus. After an uneasy encounter with Morganville's latest resident, Claire is certain Magnus isn't merely human. But is he a vampire-or something else entirely?

REVIEW

I've been a fan of the Morganville series since it first came out. I've enjoyed the range of excitement in the series from mildly high (the low setting) to blow your mind and glue you to your seat level of excitement (there are not a lot of down moments for these kids). And all the while Caine has done a fantastic job weaving the story and its characters masterfully through each installment, creating and destroying characters, bringing them back, and doing it all over again in a life or death race for time. Really it feels less like a book series and more like an installment of your favorite tv show (possibly something like heroes or lost, something with a cliff hanger ending each episode.)

Yet while I’ve enjoyed the other books in the series this is by far one of the best. Caine has pulled out all the stops. She (as she did in the previous book in the series) allows readers to not only see Morganville and the story through Claire’s eyes but now readers are able to experience other main characters including, Michael, Eve, Shane, and even Amelie! Reading Amelie had to one of my favorite new additions to the series. The writing is so different, and gives such a different perspective that it’s like gulp of fresh air, shocking the story awake and into the next level of enjoyment.

That said, while the characters are interesting, there is so much excitement and so many new threats that have to be dealt with that it’s amazing Caine was able to fit it all into 352 pages. I really can’t talk about these issues/threats without giving away key aspects of the story, but let me tell you that they are gripping, shocking, and will change the flow of the story pretty dramatically.

If you’ve been a fan of the series then you wont want to miss this book. It’s exciting, filled with great characters, and has so many surprises and twists that even I was shocked. I would have liked more perspective from Amelie, but I can’t complain with what I got (wishful thinking really). And I can’t wait for the next book in the series, because as Caine mentions at the beginning, THERE WILL BE ANOTHER BOOK. (If this message doesn’t kick you in the pants to go get the book, then I don’t know what will.) But it’s definitely worth it, as you wont be able to put it down once you pick it up.

RATING

9 out of 10

INFO

Publisher: NAL Hardcover

Published: November 1, 2011

Price: $17.99