Ghost Town by Rachel Caine

Ghost Town (Morganville Vampires, Book 9)
by Rachel Caine

YA Paranormal
352 pages, hardcover
Target Reader: 14+

NAL
978-0451231611
Release Date: October 26, 2010



From the publisher:

While developing a new system to maintain Morganville's defenses, student Claire Danvers discovers a way to amplify vampire mental powers. Through this, she's able to re-establish the field around this vampire-infested Texas college town that protects it from outsiders.

But the new upgrades have an unexpected consequence: people inside the town begin to slowly forget who they are-even the vampires. Soon, the town's little memory problem has turned into a full-on epidemic. Now Claire needs to figure out a way to pull the plug on her experiment- before she forgets how to save Morganville...

Read Chapter 1

Series books: Glass Houses (book 1), The Dead Girls' Dance (book 2), Midnight Alley (book 3), Feast of Fools (book 4), Lord of Misrule (book 5), Carpe Corpus (book 6), Fade Out (book 7), Kiss of Death (book 8)

I've been counting down the days until this book was released! I loved it!!

Great plot. Some of the past books have been so twisty with intrigue that the plot and motivations have been hard to follow. This one was twisty enough to be captivating, but not so obscure in places that I got lost trying to follow it.

The characters are so wonderful. Claire is still a brainiac, but she's getting stronger, more confident and more willing to take risks. Shane is settling down somewhat. The interplay between him and his father is great. Michael and Eve have smaller parts in this book, but when they bring it, they bring it! I love Amelie and Oliver. Oliver is so hard to figure out—sometimes he's good, sometimes he's bad. Just when you decide one way or the other, he surprises you—and that's what makes him such a compelling character. Even with the surprises, his behavior is totally believable. And then there's Myrnin. Sometimes he steals the show with his heartbreaking schizophrenia—one moment kind and vulnerable, the next a raging killer vampire. In this book, he's looking for a human brain to hook up to a machine—and Claire's looks pretty good to him.

Loved it.

The only thing I don't love about these books is the "R" rating. There is swearing and a physical relationship between Claire and Shane, and between Michael and Eve. While low level on the description most of the time, it's still very clear that these teenagers are in a physical relationship. For that reason, I can't recommend this series to teenagers. Since it's aimed at them, I have to drop the overall rating stars.


Plot:

Characters:

Ending:


Cover: They're getting better. I like this one much better than some of the previous covers.



Content Ratings

Language: Some swearing. Drops the "f" bomb once.

Violence: Not as much grisly vampire stuff as in some of the previous books, but still—vampires can be violent.

Drugs/Alcohol: Teens drink beer.

Immorality: The teenagers have an intimate relationship. We don't get a full description but there's some pretty steamy make out scenes. Not recommended for teen readers.

Values/Themes: Well, it's vampires.

Age Appropriate: Due to language and intimate content, I'd recommend 18 and older.

Writing Mechanics: Engrossing! Wonderful!


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