Book 3), Midnight Alley (Morganville Vampires

Midnight Alley is the third book in the Morganville Series by Rachel Caine. If you haven't read this series and I have said it before pick them up! I find Caine's books hard to put down and usually finish them in a day or two. At the end of book two Claire made an agreement with the founder and in this book we start to see what that involves. Claire gets some perks like she is taking much more advance classes, has a new phone, and of course the protection of the founder. Shane is still having a hard time accepting Michael and the choice he made in the previous book. In Midnight Alley we find out there is a town secret which could be dangerous for the vampires. Claire has to keep the secret and solve it to save those she loves. Shane getting seriously hurt and someone stakes Sam! Seems like Shane's dad isn't the only vampire hater in Morganville, and to top it all Oliver saves Claire's life. In the end more than one person's parents come to town leaving you hanging about what will happen in the next book Feast of Fools. Over all it was a great read and I can't wait to jump into the next book.

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As always, this book delivered what I was looking for and more.
I just simply love the Morganville Vampires. I have picked up the very first one.
Each book has its own story going on, but they all hook together to make a whole store.
I love how the members of the Glass house always find a way to get into trouble some how, even when there not trying.
I could spend a lot of time talking about the charters and the story line. However, to me the best way to find them out is to pick it up and read it. I know that The Morganville Vampires are not going to be for everyone. But they are a great twist on Vampires and the way they live with humans, if say Humans lived in a town that was made for Vampires. Wait there is more and I for one cannot wait to read some! Many new charters where added in this book and new contracts signed and now it's time to uphold there end.

Gold Star Award Winner!

Claire decides that Morganville is simply too dangerous as she offers herself to Amelie - the head vamp. Her first task is to begin studying under Myrnin, an ancient and very knowledgeable vampire.

He's also deranged half the time and sweet the rest of the time. He lives in a cage due to a virus sweeping through the vampire population. He (and now Claire) has been studying the disease in hopes of finding a cure.

There's also someone killing young girls in town and framing Shane for the murders. Claire's deathly worried about him, her studies, and the fate of the vampire world.

Can she save anyone - and, most importantly, can she save herself?

MIDNIGHT ALLEY is the third excellent installment in the amazing THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES series. Don't miss out on this one!

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

Book Three of the Morganville Vampires series picks up just after Claire Danvers, the almost seventeen year old early admittance college student, signs a contract with the Founder, aka the Head Vampire, Amelie. Basically, what's she done is sign away her life, but she's done it for a good cause: she believes that her actions will save her three housemates from the vampires. Only now one of the housemates, Michael, IS a vampire, and Shane and Eve are violently against making any deals with the undead. So what has Claire done?

Welcome to Morganville, a town run by vampires and a place where you might find yourself as lunch if you aren't careful. Claire, unfortunately, hasn't been very careful, but her new contract with Amelie aims to fix that. And in fact, things start off well, in that Claire is bumped into more accelerated classes, which she finds pleasing; the downside is that she is given as an apprentice to Myrnin, a slightly odd, vaguely dangerous vampire. It's imperative that Claire learn as much as she can from Myrnin, but as the sessions go on, it becomes clearer that there is something more wrong than usual with the vamp. Will Claire survive her lessons with him? What is he trying to teach her? All her questions lead to a big conclusion that ultimately puts Claire and the entire vampire community in danger.

As per usual, I raced through Midnight Alley. I love that the story moves along so quickly and I love the interactions between the four roomies. If I get frustrated at times, it is with the continuing presence of the annoying Monica and the illogical turns Claire sometimes takes. There's some minor drug use going on in this one, and the user will undoubtedly surprise some people. But overall this series just continues to improve and capture me from the first pages. This book actually earns a very solid 4.5 stars. On to the next!

While most book series reflect back to events of previous books this is the first true serial book series I've read in the young adult or adult section. Each book I've read so far of Morganville has some kind of cliffhanger ending that makes one go on to next book and this is no different. This story Claire find out why will become of her for signing the loyalty pack with Amelie the most powerful vampire in town. A traitor seem to be leaving dead bodies in and around her house and tension have divided our loyal foursome since Mike has become a vampire and Claire is caught in both her lies for Amelie and keeping the piece with her vamp hating boyfriend and vampire land lord and his human girl friend. Also Claire find herself involved with Amelie secret plans for the town of Morganville which may result in her never being same again.

Midnight Alley was irrevocably suspenseful, as each book is. Which is a mighty fine thing! Claire and her friends run into more trouble and character personalities start to reach more depth as situations start to unravel. New characters are introduced that make Claire Danver's life more complicated and worrisome. It seems that she has to whole world on her shoulders and the way she copes is very realistic in a mystical sense (of course). I find that I would be making the same decisions as she, but there are times when her niavety has me screaming to make the latter decision; suspense, again plays its part.
I absolutely loved this book, however, I felt that there were many stories that were unfinished and I hope that they get explained in the next book, which I have already started. :)
Can not wait for some more action and comradeship that I have come to know and love.

"Midnight Alley" is the third novel in the Morganville Vampires series. While the series is written for young adults, it's a great read for older fantasy fans, too. While you can read "Midnight Alley" without reading the two prior novels, it's fascinating to see how each novel builds on each other developing complex characters and storylines.

If you've not read a "Morganville Vampires" novel yet, I'll bring you up to speed. Claire Danvers is a brilliant young woman who graduated from high school early. Instead of sending her away to faraway MIT as Claire herself had wanted, her parents sent her to Morganville, Texas and TPU--Texas Plains University.

Claire quickly learned that only the strong survive in the womens' dorm. While she's brilliant, she's not so smart in learning who not to mess with and she manages to anger Monica Morrell, who pushes her down the stairs.

Realizing she's not going to live if she stays on campus, she seeks a place to hide and finds it in the Glass House. (Also the title of the first book in the series) Three other people live there: Michael Glass, a mysterious young man, Shane Collins, a rebel, and Eve, a goth girl. They initially do not want to take Claire in since she's underage, but do so to keep her safe--and she stays.

Claire learns from them that Morganville is run by vampires. TPU is essentially a blood bank for their use and a certain number of students are 'disposable'. Claire has to walk a very thin line not to become part of that group--particularly since Monica Morrell's father is the mayor and they're one of the most influential non-vamp families in town.

In order to stay safe, humans in the know sign contracts with powerful vampires who act as their protectors in exchange for monthly donations to the town's blood bank and the vamp's control of what the person does.

So--why doesn't the town get busted? That's the question Claire asked and probably what you are wondering as well. Very few of the kids on campus actually know about the vampires. Only residents do and they generally do not leave Morganville. There's a spell on the town where people who leave forget about the vampires. If they happen to remember, the vamps send an assassination squad and eliminate the problem.

In the second book of the series, "Dead Girls Dance," Claire and her three friends end up getting in a lot of trouble when Shane Collins' father returns. Mr. Collins is one of the rare folk who can keep his memory outside of Morganville and he's bent on killing every bloodsucker in the town as well as the humans who help them. In order to keep herself and her friends safe, Claire signs a contract with Amelie, the oldest vampire and ruler of Morganville. Michael is forced to become a vampire or die. He's the first new vampire in over 50 years and quite a celebrity among them since new vamps cannot be made.

That brings us to date. Claire's not told her friends what she'd done to keep them safe. Amelie sends her the bracelet that she's required to wear as part of the deal.

What Claire didn't realize is that Amelie didn't just want a pint of blood once in a while. She wants Claire to become an apprentice to Myrnin, one of the oldest vampires around and a brilliant alchemist and scientist. At first, that seems like more of a favor to the super-studious Claire, but she quickly learns that her mentor is mentally unstable and dangerous. The research she's doing could potentially help the vampires--does she want to do that?

Does she have a choice?

Meanwhile, Captain Obvious, who runs an underground newspaper in Morganville for the humans has outed Michael as the newest vampire and slates him for execution.

Oh yes, and Eve's crazy brother Justin is out of jail and coming to exact revenge on her for turning him in. The corpse of a young girl is dumped in the trash of the Glass House, casting suspicion on Shane as the culprit.

And if that was not enough, Monica Morrell wants to at least be allies with Claire. This is a dangerous alliance indeed.

To date, "Midnight Alley" is the best of the Morganville Vampires series. It's not belabored with the setup of the two prior novels and the characters are well-established. The action is non-stop and the book is as hard to walk away from as a bowl of dark chocolate M&Ms.

One caveat: if you are a person who likes novels to have stand alone novels within a series, you may have trouble with Morganville. You'll get some answers from book to book, but the storylines continue with each of the series. Fortunately for the readers, this isn't too much of a problem since "Morganville" is coming out every few months instead of making us wait a year or more for the next addition.

And "Midnight Alley" leaves me with such a slam-dunk ending, I am going to be waiting anxiously for the next episode.

Another enjoyable and easy entry into Morganville and it's citizens. The plot was very interesting and well done, Claire continues to be a good main character who doesn't act stupid (which happens a lot even if they're supposed to be smart), and I do look forward to reading what happens next. However, I can do without the cliff hangers, the last book didn't really have one, but it's ridiculous. Can't I read a book without it ending like it's unfinished? Not sure about this new recent development in Claire's life...I foresee annoyingness ahead. LoL :P Otherwise, it's a fun, breezy world to spend some time in, and be happy I don't live there!

I do find it hard to believe that Claire and her parents could not find a better school closer to where they live than what seems to be your average run-of-the-mill college. There's no mention of it being a good school, just closer than whatever college she wants to go to (blanking on which school it is right now :P). Of course we need this contrivance, otherwise there would be no book series, but at least make it a private upscale, high intelligence school!

Great series with interesting characters and a fun to read premise. Just think about it. An entire town controlled by vampires. The people little more than sheep having to maneuver around the whims and temperaments of their volatile leaders. Unable to walk or go anywhere at night without risking being attacked. Even the daylight is no true relief since they can stay awake then also as long as they stick to the shadows. I just can't get enough of this series. I especially like the main character. She makes mistakes and can be a bit naive, but she is only 16 and Caine does a great job of making her sound and act like a typical, abit intelligent, 16 year old. I'm sooo looking forward to the next one.

So Claire signed the paper. How did Shane deal? Well you'll have to read the book. We also meet a new vampire called Myrnin a scholar vampire who will now become Claire's new tutor. (She id not failing) It was Amile who ordered Claire to learn all she can and is introduced to things she never thought possible. Captin Obvious's gang has arrived and Eve's brother also shows up. Things are about to take a turn you won't believe. I give this book 5 stars.

I am really enjoying this series. All the aspects of living in a world with vampires is so different in this series than most of the others of its genre. We learn in this book that perhaps the vampires aren't so all powerful after all. Claire makes some mistakes again and her decision from the previous book comes into play quite a bit. I struggled a lot with Shane's attitude toward Michael...it's not that I don't get why he might act like that, I think it's more than I've come to expect better from him. We still have to deal with Monica and we still have to deal with Oliver, although those dealings are different now, again because of the choice Claire made in the last book. And once again, in what's become the style of this series, we end with a cliffhanger that will either leave your mouth gaping, or having you screaming at an inanimate object! Be warned!

Alot of other reviews i have read said this novel was slow and didnt really keep the pace of the others. I think that this book was needed and i is setting the pace of the rest of the novel and series. I loved the suspense Caine kept over the Alley and to be honest i am glad that this came to be and i cant wait to see where this turn of events leads us. I love the idea of the portals that Amelie uses. The Day's kind of seam a little bit random in the novel. I kind of think that Claires' age is used as an excuse to much, this character annoys me to no end but you would think by now all the times she as proved her self to be good allies and not a liability they would cut her a little bit of slack. Vampire Michael annoys me, he needs to get over himself a little bit, Shane annoys me too but i guess he is pretty bad ass for a human.

I love Amelie i think Caine should bring out a series of her life before morganville, it would be pretty bad ass.
here is my review of book three in the morganville vampires series.

Another great addition to the series! Claire shows just how good of a person she is with her relationship with her new teacher, assisting in research to cure vampiric disease. I was a bit annoyed by her boyfriend, but I suppose that's what boyfriends are for.

The ending is unexpected and perfectly pages the way to book four. I can't wait to read it!

Midnight Alley, the third Morganville Vampires book, is the best in the series yet. Even though Claire has made a deal that gives her protection from the vampires in Morganville, she still finds herself in more danger, not less. The various plot points converge into a single, intricate story, filled with the same gritty wit and twists that made the previous two books so addicting. A sleep-stealing page-turner, Midnight Alley draws you deeper into the world as Claire learns more about the town, the series' trademark cliffhanger making it impossible to not want to pick up the forth book as soon as it comes out.

Amelie introduces a new character and suddenly school becomes more challenging. Meanwhile, the dynamics in the Glass house seem to begin to smooth. Until the very end when Claire's parents aren't the only ones to come to town.

This series seems entirely too predictable to me. I read these books when I'm looking for something to pass the time, nothing more because it is so predictable and because it seems to me that with the decisions Claire has made, she shouldn't have been alive past the first book.

This book is so awesome. The backstory is coming to the front, and the plot ever thickens. The introduction of the wizard vampire is so interesting. The book is very interesting and a must read. It's the best of the first three, but it still gets much better.

I really enjoyed this book. Rachel Caine does a great job of continuing to build complexity within each individual character as well as in the relationships between characters. This is definitely a series worth reading!

This paticular book in the Morganville series is by far the best! My favorite character joins the cast of missfits in the town of Morganville. The crazy scientist Claire comes to work for is the best character! His tendencies to be so out wack brings the entire series together. Great read for young readers.

-Katie Hemphill the Author of the Dark Blood Chronicles

While this series is written for young adults genre, I still found myself engulfed in the world of Morgansville Vamps in the first two books. Sadly, the third in the series didn't meet my expectations.

While I think the storyline created my Rachel Caine is excellent and inventive; this particular book went absolutely no where. Nothing really happened-- it was like a whole lot of side story being squished together in desperate measures to make a book. The characters didn't grow at all, and their relationships didn't change.

Shane had his tantrums as usual. Claire was the peacemaker with no backbone. Michael's a vampire, oh my. Nothing really happened w goth girl.

Best put, it would be like the first two books were big screen productions that made millions, and the third book was a made-for-tv episode-- which sure you'd watch it and not hate it; but it would be all filler and no substance.

Oh my goodnessssssss i LLLLLLOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEE this series and i can't WAIT for the next book....this author is amazing!!! and if you havn't read this series you should go out right now and buy it!!!! b/c if you don't you will be missing out on the GREATEST book series in a LLOOONNNG time!!!