Midnight Alley (Morganville Vampires, Book 3)

4.5/5 stars.(RabidReads.com) Rachel Caine has written one of the most unique vampire series that I have ever read, and I have immersed myself in these books as I read the first four back to back. I don’t know how many I can read before I have to stop for awhile, but right now I am enjoying every one that I have read, or am now reading. The main character of these books is Claire, a young freshman in college, one that has managed to get herself completely tied up with the vampires that run the town of Morganville. She’s only sixteen, but is probably smarter than any of her professors. Now that she belongs to Amelie, she has to do anything Amelie wants her to-in exchange for protection for her boyfriend Shane, and her other roommates, Michael and Eve. Amelie is the most powerful vampire in the world, and is the founder of Morganville. Mega bully Monica is back in this installment, and she’s acting weird even for her. One of my favorite things about this series is that each book continues the story from the previous books-sometimes just a few minutes later, or a few days. Because I am reading them one after the other, at times little plot holes do stick out for me, but nothing big-I just tend to notice things like that. And that is the only slightly bad thing I have had to say about any of these books so far. Well that, and the cliffhanger from the first book. Can’t forget to mention that, for all those that hate them. The main premise of this installment involves an extremely old vampire named Myrnin, that is new to the story this time around. Myrnin is on the edge of madness at any given moment, and at times he tips right over into crazy town. Claire is assigned to help him with his research, before he slips over and doesn’t come back. The vampires are all sick, and going insane. Myrnin has been researching a cure for decades without success. Whenever Myrnin tips over into his insanity, his first thing to do is to try and attack Claire. It was pretty fascinating seeing how she handles him. He lives at the end of an alley that everyone has warned her to never go down, and now she has to go there on a regular basis. As with all of these books, I love the snark that most of these close friends have in spades. It makes what is actually a very scary premise, have a lighter feel at times. Although Claire is new to the group, it didn’t take her long to become close to all of the friends, Shane in particular. As Shane is her boyfriend now, I have enjoyed the budding romance between them. Michael and Eve’s romance has evolved even more than Shane and Claire’s. As they are adults-compared to Claire-their romance is not G-rated. Nothing is explicit, but is mentioned, so you do know what is going on. There’s also lots of lustful feelings, and almost actions between Shane and Claire as well. That’s why I can’t get over this having a suggested twelve years of age as a starting range for this read. I would think 15+ would be better. Jumping off my soapbox now! There’s a lot more that happens in this book, but I will just sum it up as more life and death moments, and an adult party that gets more than out of control. If you haven’t tried these books yet and paranormal reads are your thing, I highly recommend this series. It’s fun, it’s creepy, and it’s a total page turner.

As the third book in the Morganville Vampire's series, this is my favorite book so far. I liked the way I was reminded of little hints from the first two books when something was revealed. Like "the trap-door spider". You can really see how the author thought about this series as a whole when she was writing. Part of what I really liked about this book is the way all the characters develop. Shane is extra moody in this book as he deals with the fact that his best friend, Michael, is now a vampire. As the story continues he grows up in a lot of ways. Claire continues to grow up as well. We see her retaliate against Monica's evilness by ruining her party and she really starts to figure out who she is. Also I really liked that I got to hear a little more about Monica's background. I had a hard time understanding why she was so evil in the first two books and we learn a little more about why she is that way in this one. She never exactly had the best options or opportunities in her life, even though it seems like she has everything on the surface. I love Myrnin. He was like the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, completely crazy and yet sweet at times, completely unpredictable and frighteningly dangerous. He wanted to learn so badly that he became a vampire so he could learn forever. There's just something kind of tragic about his character that makes him fascinating, and even though he can be really scary sometimes you still want to root for him. Jason however was a bit of a mystery to me. On the outside it seems that he's a straight out cold blooded killer, vampire wannabe, who's lost more than a few marbles. He appears dirty and dangerous, but there's something mysterious about him as well. I feel like he's hiding something. Like the first two books, Midnight Alley was packed with action and adventure. Claire ends up in danger, Shane gets stabbed, and I was so scared for Sam. We see more layers to Amelie, and it seems that despite her cool calm nature she's panicking and becoming desperate. Getting to know more about the doorways was interesting and this series developed new depth with discovering that the vampires are dying of some kind of disease. This book was wonderful from beginning to end, with the exception of the traditional Morganville Vampire cliffhanger ending. I enjoy the fast paced nature of these books, but those cliffhangers make it almost feel like they're TV episodes instead of books, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Nonetheless I can't stop reading.

Publisher: NAL Jam Purchased: Purchased from Amazon What I Loved: This has been my favorite book of the series so far. There is so much that I loved and it was mostly from a nerd girl POV! List o Love: Claire's smarts are important to the Vamp World. Shane is a tarnished Knight in Shining armor but he is protective in the best ways. Micheal's self control and makes me wonder about his overall role to come. Eve is just wonderful all around with her quick quips and loyalty. Overall--I loved that the foursome grew as a team but still showed that things can happen to make you question even those closest to you! What I Liked: I really like how RC manages to wrap up some storylines while throwing some new ones in the mix. She manages even to make the "mean" girls show some humanity and yet you still don't like them. Her endings always make you want the next book immediately. Complaints: None! Why I gave it a 4: This was a fantastic story of friendship and growth. It was fun, quick, and easy to read. Who I would recommend it too: This is great for YA PNR readers and I would say PNR readers that liked the Vampire Academy. However, I would say not to start in the middle of the series. Author's website:[...]Books in this Series: 1: Glass Houses 2: The Dead Girl's Dance 3: Midnight Alley (this one) 4: Feast of Fools 5: Lord of Misrule 6: Carpe Corpus 7: Fade Out 8: Kiss of Death 9: Ghost Town

Yet another well written book that is so hard to be put down and yet still leaves you hanging on for more. Claire is not just your typical everyday college student but she has officially become part of Morganville. Now officially with Amelie as her employer, she is being thrown in every way that has trouble written all over it but no matter what she becomes stronger and more mature for her age. Claire is just outstanding in how she conducts herself in doing to protect the ones she loves and holds close to her heart. This book proves how much she is willing to go to make sure they are completely safe but yet again the ending of this book leaves you hanging on for more with an incrediable cliffhanger. I am a huge fan of these books so far and looking forward to reading what happens next to the gang in The Glass House.

Loved book 3 just as much as 1 and 2! I'm so attracted to these characters, real life problems turned into fantasy. I feel I relate to this group of friends.

Okay so this book pretty much takes up where the last book ended. So far this book was my favorite in the series and you finally find out what Amalie's agenda is with Claire. I must say though one of my favorite characters in the book is Myrnin. A half crazed vampire that sometimes looses it and eats people. I know it sounds crazy but I liked him. I liked his quirkiness. Claire does really stupid things in this book but hey she's 16 even if she is a genius she's still a kid. I will say that I didn't care for the ending at all. I wouldn't consider it a cliff hanger like the others, it's like it's mid sentence or mid-scene. Off to read book 4! I have find out what happens next.

Three books into this series, and I'm still not sure what to think of it. So why do I continue to read? Well, I like the world even if the characters themselves living in it are fairly weak. This book picks up right where Book 2 left off (which picked up right where Book 1 left off), so I'm beginning to find the pacing very slow. I could excuse Book 1 paving right into Book 2 because things happened at the end that I understand characters had to react to. I can't help but think, however, if the books continue at this pace the characters are going to stay the same age forever. (And considering one of the characters is 16, I think that's going to be very tedious.) We do learn a little more about Morganville's history in this book, something I wish we learned more about. How did the vampires end up there? How did they create the "barrier" around Morganville that's in place? These are things I want to know about more than the day-to-day adventures of the core characters because really their lives aren't all that interesting. The plots of these books aren't earth shattering. They're fairly predictable and the characterizations aren't breaking any ground either.

Another fantastic journey with Claire and the Glass house kids. Claire is in deeper with the vampires and it only gets more intense as she delves into the vampire town.

Simply one of the best books I have read. If you enjoyed Vampire Academy get into Morganville these will knock your socks off!

Great series. I've read 3 books in a week. Can't put it down. Very addictive. There's 15 in the series. Wish I could get more than 3 in kindle. Going to have to buy the others as I need to finish the series

Enjoyed this

Finally Claire found some spunk and pep. Still not as loveable as everybody else but hopefully getting there. The next book will tell. Aside from my anti Claire thoughts I have to say that I'm very impressed with the Author. Every book brings something new and thrilling to the story and she keeps her characters complex and interesting ( well working on Claire ). Not wanting to miss out on the next twist and turn the books are hard to put down and each ending leaves you in anticipation and at a peak of suspense that makes you buy the next book as soon as you close the cover of the previous. I'm so glad I started reading this series so late, it would drive me crazy to have to wait a year for the next book.

Claire hat einen Pakt mit dem Teufel geschlossen. Sie ist nun völlig an Amelie gebunden, die das natürlich sofort ausnutzt. Sie muss mit dem verrückten Vampir Myrnin zusammenarbeiten, denn von ihrem Erfolg hängt das Leben der gesamten Vampir Rasse ab. Als hätte Claire nicht schon genug Sorgen tut nun Oberzicke Monica so als wären sie beste Freundinnen, sie hatte ja nur vor einer Weile versucht sie zu töten. Auch bei Michael und Shane sind die Welt nicht grad rosig aus, als wenn das was neues wäre in Morganville, aber die Probleme gehen weit tiefer. Shane kommt nicht damit klar das Michael nun ein Vampir ist und ihre Freundschaft leidet sehr darunter und Michael hat es schwer sich daran zu gewöhnen das er nun wirklich tot ist!! Ich finde das Band 3 ein wenig geschwächelt hat. Nach drei Bänder ist man es irgendwie leid das Claire immer in die Fallen der Bösen läuft, hallo die sind so offensichtlich und wie Geisha X es schon geschrieben hat "she mimed fangs on the neck" steht einmal zu oft dar. Besonders das sie dann auch noch anfängt "Drogen" zu nehmen ist dann doch ein Tick zu viel. Man nuss es nicht gleich übertreiben. Claire hat für mich in diesem Band einen Schritt rückwärts gemacht. Sie belügt ihre Freunde und verheimlicht ihnen eine Menge und nicht mal Shane den sie ja liebt erzählt sie etwas, hätte Michael ihr Geheimnis nicht herausgefunden hätte sie es den Anderen nie erzählt. So mag ich sie nicht. Eve wird für mich immer mehr und mehr zur Randfigur und hat keine wirklich wichtigen Szenen. Bei Oliver bin ich mir immer noch nicht sicher was er eigentlich will und auf welcher Seite er steht. Amelie hat gezeigt wie kaltherzig sie wirklich ist, ich meine sie hätte Claire einfach so an Myrnin verfüttert, weswegen meine Sympathie mehr zu Oliver schwenkt. Amelie interessiert sich nur für ihre Leute und selbst da macht sie Ausnahmen. Fazit: Meiner Meinung nach ist Band 3 nicht so spannend wie Band 1 und 2. Es geht halt die meiste Zeit um Myrnin und Claire und ob sie erfolgt haben. Es gibt zwar auch wieder die Claire/Shane und Michael/Eve Momente, aber es ist halt all das was man schon kennt. Der Cliffhanger am Ende hat mich schon ganz gespannt auf Band 4 gemacht!!