Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine

Claire Danvers thought things would get better once she formally pledged herself to Amelie, Morganville’s founder. She thought that this meant real protection for herself and her friends. But nothing is ever easy or safe in Morganville, even if you know all the right people. With dead girls turning up around every corner, a human killer stalking the streets at night, and private tutoring with a brilliant but sinister vampire, Claire knows that the human-vampire tensions at home really are nothing. Claire is much too entwined with the vampire side of Morganville for her own good, and the terrifying knowledge that she gains about the Morganville vampires will be enough to seal her fate in this terrible town.

Once again, Caine delivers nonstop thrilling action in this third installment to the Morganville Vampires series. It is nearly astounding how Caine manages to continue Claire’s adventures in Morganville without having them seem repetitive, especially with a relatively static cast of characters. This is probably because Caine is a master of plot. There are twists in the story with nearly every turn of the page, and the reader is continually kept guessing as to what will come next. In addition to the very exciting plot, though, Caine also makes sure to keep her characters realistic, or as realistic as a character can be in Morganville. Protagonist Clair in particular is enjoyable to read about as she struggles between her human and vampires loyalties. As per usual, Caine ends the story with an enormous cliffhanger, so I absolutely cannot wait to dig into the next installment, Feast of Fools.

The Morganville Vampires series is sure to be enjoyed by all vampire fans, especially those who also liked the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare and the Dark Elite series by Chloe Neill.

Rating: 4.5

Review copy from publisher Penguin