Book Review: Bitter Blood by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires #13)

For years, the human and vampire residents of Morganville, Texas, have managed to co-exist in peace. But now that the threat to the vampires has been defeated, the human residents are learning that the gravest danger they face is the enemy within…

Thanks to the eradication of the parasitic creatures known as the draug, the vampires of Morganville have been freed of their usual constraints. With the vampires indulging their every whim, the town’s human population is determined to hold on to their lives by taking up arms. But college student Claire Danvers isn’t about to take sides, considering she has ties to both the humans and the vampires.

To make matters worse, a television show comes to Morganville looking for ghosts, just as vampire and human politics collide. Now, Claire and her friends have to figure out how to keep the peace without ending up on the nightly news… or worse.

My Review: 
With the draug defeated, the vampires no longer have anything or anyone to fear and Amelie starts clamping down on the human population, issuing alarming ID cards which include the human's blood group. She is also giving vampires dangerous new rights including one legal kill per year. With more vampires on the council, new mayor Hannah has no say in the new set up. Human opposition to Amelie is rising and Captain Obvious is back in the shape of a different leader who could unite the angry people. With new mayor elections to find someone more sympathetic to the vampires coming, Myrnin is suggesting that Claire finds a candidate to back. Just as things are as bad as it could get, a paranormal TV show decides to set up in Morganville.

Eve and Michael are getting death threats over their relationship and Eve soon becomes the target of Captain Obvious and their allies, leaving her hurt in more ways than one. Claire and Shane are facing hate just for being friends with the couple and Shane's bubbling jealousy may will destroy his relationship with Claire and their friendship with Eve. Monica is pleased at the prospect of running for mayor with Claire and Shane running the campaign and she is also looking for self defence lessons to avoid being a victim. Oliver's new romance with Amelie is what he has always wanted but she is unaware that he and other vampires are being controlled by Naomi in her power grab. Myrnin senses trouble and goes into hiding as Naomi orders his death and Claire feels guilty over his goodbye kiss. Miranda decides to try and leave the house after realising she is the reason Eve and Michael are considering moving out.

You do get uber pissed at Amelie here. It was Shane who first came up with a way to stop the draug and Claire's group were fighting with the vampires to save everyone. What thanks do they get? They are now living in a state run by Nazis with pointy teeth and treated like meat on feet. Amelie then sets a mad vampire on Eve. What is wrong with the ungrateful bitch??? Myrnin is supposed to be mad but he is the only one who senses that trouble is about to hit Morganville in a vampire civil war between themselves and with the humans. Naomi should just be staked and left out to tan in the sun. I hate that bitch and wish Shane had left her to the draug in the swimming pool.

Shane himself drives me bloody mad in this book. He doesn't trust Claire around Myrnin and Michael at the best of times but his behaviour in this book is stupid and pigheaded. Claire is just a total doormat every time he does this to her and it's certainly time she grew a backbone and stops letting him get away with it. Eve is also facing the possible end of her relationship with Michael and is left alone to recover from her attack. There is a lot of relationship angst and in-fighting between former allies in this book which not everyone will enjoy.

A decent book but the ghostbusters plot seemed to be kind of pointless really and I'd rather it wasn't there. It didn't add anything to the book at all. I still liked it but I now have deep reservations about the plot of the next book moving outside Morganville again as Claire gets ready to go to MIT.
 
Read June 2017.
3 stars.