Series Review: The Morganville Vampires

The Morganville Vampires (1-8) by Rachel Caine

Welcome to Morganville, you'll never want to leave. 
So, you're new to Morganville.  Welcome, new resident!  There are only a few important rules you need to know to feel comfortable in our quiet little town:
Obey the speed limits.
Don't litter.
Whatever you do, don't get on the bad side of the vampires.

Yeah, we said vampires.  Deal with it.

As a human newcomer, you'll need to find yourself a vampire Protector--someone willing to sign a contract to keep you and yours safe from harm (especially from the other vampires).  In return, you'll pay taxes...just like in any other town.  Of course, in most other towns those taxes don't get collected by the Bloodmobile.
Oh, and if you decide not to get a Protector, you can do that too...but you'd better learn how to run fast, stay out of the shadows, and build a network of friends who can help you.  
--excerpt from "Introduction", The Morganville Vampires

Review

Highly addictive urban fantasy adventure series for readers of all ages.  I usually review each book in a series separately, but this series made pausing to write a review after each book impossible.  Every book in this series ends with a major cliff hangar and I found myself needing the next book like a fish needs water...or a vampire needs blood (these books are like chips, you can't stop at just one). This series begins with Claire, young brainiac extraordinaire, who, at the age of sixteen, is attending college at Texas Prairie University in Morganville.  TPewwww isn't her first choice school, or second, or third, but her parents think a small school is a good place for a young girl to start her higher education.  Unfortunately their misguided attempt to protect her leave her dumped in a town full of vamps.  Thanks mom and dad.  If you're not a fan of paranormal books with school settings, don't worry.  This book is not a rehashing of Harry Potter...not by a long shot.  The Morganville Vampires is a series that illustrates the importance of friendship, the beauty of first love, the resilience of youth, and the kinetic potential of the brainy girl next door...all within the framework of a chilling urban fantasy world.  Morganville is a vamp filled town where vampires and humans coexist...for now, but their tenuous peace is more like a house of cards and Claire just may be the stiff wind some folks have been waiting for. 

This review is for Glass Houses, The Dead Girls' Dance, Midnight Alley, Feast of Fools, Lord of Misrule, Carpe Corpus, Fade Out, and Kiss of Death.

I highly recommend The Morganville Vampires to fans of urban fantasy, paranormal romance, young adult, supernatural suspense, and especially to fans of fast-paced vampire fiction.

Look for my review of Ghost Town (The Morganville Vampires, book 9) by Rachel Caine in the near future.  Rachel Caine is also author of the popular Weather Warden series.  Click here for my review of Ill Wind (Weather Warden, book 1).

Source:  These books were purchased by me for review.

**Looking to pick up the series?  The first eight books are available in mass market paperback and qualify for Amazon's 4-for-3 bargain pricing.**

Guest Author Interview: Martin Treanor

Please welcome today's guest author Martin Treanor!  Martin is the author of The Silver Mist, Who's Charlie featured in the Spinetingler Anthology of Short Stories, and contributed to They Bite.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Martin:  Do you know, I can’t really give an answer to that? I suppose I’ve always tinkered in some way or another. I then began setting something permanent down in 1998, with the groundwork for a short story called, ‘Who’s Charlie?’

It was a supernatural piece, based on the idea of invisible friends in childhood. It took many years, and much editing, before it found its readership. I had sold quite a number of other stories before I thought to resurrect the story, and was lucky enough to secure publication in ‘Spinetingler’, along with a place in that years’ anthology - and also a flattering review by multi Bram Stoker Award winner, Jonathan Mayberry.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Martin:  That would be my compulsive desire to discover new things. I am one of those who are curious, to the point of obsession, about anything and everything - the more obscure the better - and what could be more obscure than the mysterious world of our dark and hidden selves.

For me, the realm of the psyche is a universe in itself, a place of creation and death. What lies inside, we project into the outside world, and perhaps our perceptions are such that they manifest as matter and reality. These are the paradigms that I explore in my books and stories, and which feature strongly in my forthcoming novel, ‘The Silver Mist’.

Most people prefer to sever the connection with the otherworld of their souls, viewing it as a place too dark and veiled to consider. For me, it’s a compulsion - the need to ask, ‘What if?’ I’m compelled to take that journey inward, to examine what comes into existence - and, if it arrives with sinister undertones, then all the better.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Martin:  Ah! Good one. I think that, if I could have any single supernatural talent, it would be telekinesis. This is something that has always fascinated me since I was a kid, my childhood brain twisted and swelled with movie images of people who could move and do external things with their mind - especially ‘Carrie’, and following that, ‘Firestarter’ and ‘Scanners’.

It is something that crops up to a small degree in some of my work and, if I had such ability, would use it hang the blasted washing on the clothesline, something that peeves me no end.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Martin:  Normally, I theme my stories on the traditional patterns of the supernatural - albeit through a speculative approach. With ‘The Silver Mist’ though, I wanted to go further than the classic archetype, and consider the deeper essence of the psyche, the foundations of mind and matter, and open for an alternative explanation to the established definitions of existence.

I chose to address this through the eyes of someone who would be seen as being at the fringes of society. In many ways a hidden person who, in turn, views the world from an alternative perspective, allowing for the story to develop through her understanding of the reality in which she exists, bringing forth all the dark implications that such understanding might invoke.

The reader is taken on a journey - well a series of journeys - down to the secret recesses of the soul and, just as the main character comes face to face with the unseen aspects of her own inner fears, so the reader is exposed to the murky world within us all - or perhaps outside … or maybe both?

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Martin:  With regards ’The Silver Mist’, for the leading role, I would cast Irish actress, Elaine Cassidy - it would probably involve an good degree of facial effects, however she has a style and finesse that would fit the part perfectly - as ‘Runt’ in ‘Disco Pigs’, with Cillian Murphy, she was excellent. If I remember right, she won an award for that role.
As the supporting character, I would cast another Irish actress, Laura Pyper, whose eyes are so alive, and she performed a fabulous Jane Fairfax in the BBC’s 2009 adaptation of ‘Emma’.

As to another of my novels - as yet unpublished - working title: ‘Drawn to the Dark’ - I would cast Ellen Page in the lead role - she was brilliant in ‘Inception’ - and, for the three main supporting roles, I’d cast English actor John Simm (so nefarious as ‘The Master’ in ‘Doctor Who’), English actress Naomi Harris (Tia Dalma in ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’), and iconic Irish actress, Brenda Fricker - who I would also cast in ‘The Silver Mist’.

I just wouldn’t like to be picking up the pay-bill.

*****

The Bite Before Christmas special treat!  Martin has graciously offered us a chance to read his holiday short story 'Not A Scratch' here.

Thank you Martin for joining us here at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Martin Treanor and his books, please visit his website.

Human Blend Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to Daniela and Lucy winners of our Human Blend International Giveaway!  Each winner receive an autographed copy of Human Blend by Lori Pescatore.

Thank you to all who entered!

**All winners selected using Random.org**