Black Dawn (The Morganville Vampires, #12)

Black Dawn
Rachel Caine
367 pages
Publisher: New American Library
Source: review copy sent by publisher
★★★★★

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

When I finished Black Dawn, I shut the book and said out loud to no one in particular, "Oh my God, that was crazy, y'all!"  I received Black Dawn, the twelfth in The Morganville Vampire series, for review and despite having not read a single Morganville Vampire book before this, I was excited to read it.  After doing a little research on the series (during which I discovered I'm the only person in the world who hadn't started it yet) I felt confident enough to jump on in.

Morganville's residents, human and vampire alike, are facing a problem: the draug.  Enemies of the vampires, they are foul, odorous, moist creatures who feed off both humans and vampires, killing their victims in a cruel way.  Most of Morganville's residents have fled the draug epidemic, though pockets remain.  Now it's up to Claire, Shane, Michael, Eve, and a cast of other vampire leaders to fight off the draug, kill and/or drive them from town, and restore Morganville.

Despite having no knowledge of the plot threads or world Caine has built over the previous eleven novels, I didn't find it difficult to follow the plot.  I found the whole plot to be fast paced and enjoyable and even though I'd never met the characters before, I felt invested in their ability to fight off the draug.  Oh the draug, I've never read about anything like them before.  They really are foul, disgusting creatures and Caine does a great job with their descriptions; it made my skin crawl just thinking about how they lure you in with their song despite their vileness.  The post-apocalyptic-esque nature of the novel drew me in and the variety of points of view kept me reading.

Although, having never met them before, I occasionally had a hard time keeping some of the secondary characters straight, it did not hinder my reading of the book.  Every character in this novel is in high-gear; they have enemies to fight and they have to do it before the town is taken over permanently.  Despite the frantic pace of their mission, though, there are quiet moments and respites.  I found one scene in particular between Claire and Shane very touching; they make a sweet couple.  I adored the character of Claire, overall.  She's a well-balanced heroine who can kick-butt, but she also has a bit of a softer side.  I'm looking forward to getting to know her better as a I pursue the series.

On a side note, I thought the way Claire and her gang came up with the fight the draug was pure genius.  It was just so clever!

Five stars!  Black Dawn was an intense, fast paced glimpse into the Morganville Vampire world.  I will definitely be continuing on with the series and I'm looking forward to going back and reading the series from book one.  This world has me hooked.