LAST BREATH

Absorbing suspense dominates this chick-lit vampire story.

This 11th installment of the Morganville Vampires series doesn’t require familiarity with the previous books for readers to figure out what’s going on, and to find excellent suspense. Claire, the story’s main protagonist, lives in the Glass House with her heartthrob Shane, her best friend, goth girl Eve, and vampire Michael (whom human Eve wants to marry). Humans and vampires share Morganville, with humans providing pints of blood for their more powerful neighbors. The town reacts against the proposed marriage, but all becomes moot when a far more powerful entity invades: the draug, sea-based enemies of the vampires. They decimate the vampire population, also attacking humans who get in their way. Claire finds herself caught in a limbo-like state as she tries to fight them, adding another layer of suspense to the already gripping tale. Caine puts her strong imagination to good use in devising semi-impossible scenarios for her characters to conquer, and she writes the major fight scene well. A few quirky characters and some humor flavor the story, such as Claire’s highly eccentric scientist employer, vampire Myrnin, who apparently secretly loves her, as does the emotionally aware house the group lives in. Chick-lit staples come in the form of clothes, a bit of gossip and girl rivalry.

A gripping, original take on vampires.