Book Review: Fall Of Night by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires #14)

Claire thought she'd never get to leave Morganville, but she can't pass up the chance to finally attend her dream school, MIT. After all, getting to invent anti-vamp devices with Professor Anderson - a Morganville exile herself - sounds like a dream come true... until Claire realizes there are sinister forces at play, and she's not the only one with a vampire-related agenda.

Without her friends Shane, Eve, and Michael, Claire finds that surviving a killer schedule may be hard... but with them, it might turn out to be impossible

My Review:
Claire has been given permission to go to MIT, her longtime goal but saying goodbye to her friends and Myrnin turns out to be harder than she thought. Her special class with Irene, former resident of Morganville turns out to be different from what she expected and she didn't think there would be vampires like Jesse around. Who are the mysterious people who keep breaking into her house and turning up at Irene's lab? Is Elizabeth's stalker dangerous? And why is there a guy who looks like Shane near her house?

Shane's definition of 'give me space' is to follow Claire to MIT and skulk around the town and her house to keep an eye on her. While I realise that nobody has a talent for trouble quite like Claire, it is stalkerism at its worst, not letting her have the true freedom he promised her. He also gets bitten by a hellhound before he leaves but doesn't think it important to get the bite checked out. You just know that is going to create all kinds of problems. What annoyed me about this part of the plot is that Shane's POV was moping about Claire, stalking Claire and watching Elizabeth's stalker. Oh and getting drunk and beaten up. At the end of the book we find out that something big is happening in Morganville and I'd have preferred POVs from Eve, Oliver or Myrnin about the trouble starting there instead of a Shane mopefest.

Claire bugs me in this book, she really does. First she wants to sneak away for a whole college term without saying goodbye to Eve, Shane and Michael, which is cowardly and mean! She doesn't like her housemate Elizabeth anymore and dislikes her controlling nature and demands. So what does she do about it? Moans to Eve back in Morganville and says nothing. Claire should have been saying no to the spoiled brat that is Elizabeth and moving onto campus to get away from the silly cow. I mean seriously, being summoned to dinner with the old lech professor that her friend plans to sleep with? Such a jellyfish! And of course there is this device of hers to control vampire behaviour that she just hands over to her Professor with no questions. Not really her finest moments.

Don't even get me started on Elizabeth. Her petty house rules, the desire to control everything right down to how Claire makes the pasta. Failing to mention the stalker boyfriend until he scares Claire on the doorstep. Ordering Claire about. Forcing her to dinner with you and Professor Pervy Pants. Telling Claire you intend to sleep with him for a good grade then wailing the next day aboyut being used and expecting Claire to miss classes to give you sympathy. What a useless piece of bimbo idiot this character is. I rolled my eyes every time we met her and I hated her.

The one good bit was when everyone suddenly arrives in town and the plot is uncovered. This final part of the book was quite interesting but sadly what led up to it bored me. I hope we never see Elizabeth again. One more book to read in the series and I hope to get to that in September or later this month.

Read August 2017.
2 stars.