After years, Claire is finally able to leave Morganville, where her life is threatened on a nearly daily basis by the population of vampires. She is going to MIT, where she can safely work on her anti-vampire device she's been secretly developing. But her new roommate isn't the same girl she remembers from when they were kids, and the big city isn't quite as safe as she'd expected... It turns out that vampires aren't only confined to Morganville, and Claire's device threatens them. Angry vampires aren't something Claire wants to have watching her, especially when she's just made it out of a town full of them. Bonds are tested when Claire's device is used in a way she never intended, putting everyone at risk. It turns out that it may have been safer in Morganville than at MIT - but will Claire ever get the chance to return? Or will her life end before she's even finished one university semester?
I don't know what it is about this series - whether plot, setting, or characters - but when I start reading, I can't seem to find the will to stop. It is written in third-person, which is usually a turn-off for me; however, I got an earlier book in the series on sale, and couldn't resist reading it. Now I'm tempted to start at the beginning of the series and read every single book - and this is the fourteenth. I love vampires - always have and probably always will - and this series brings them to life perfectly. It's dark and stays with the original vampire myths in terms of abilities and weaknesses. However, it also adds some life and light to the vampires - they're not just simple, mindless killing machines. It sounds odd, but I almost want to live in Morganville, despite the fact that I'd probably die on my first day. I was a bit disappointed that this story wasn't set in Morganville; however, I did still enjoy it, even though the setting was more modern.
I was quite impressed by the characters in this story. They were very well developed (as I suppose they should be, this far into the series), and their thoughts and intentions were realistic and complex. I don't know if they weren't in the last book I read in this series, or if I simply can't remember it, but I very much enjoyed the level of detail put into the characters' interactions. I don't come across a lot of novels nowadays where the motives behind a character's actions have depth; usually the reasons are so cut-and-dry that I become bored or frustrated, because nothing is that simple in real life. I appreciate it when a book demonstrates that life has situations where decisions aren't black-and-white, and a person's actions may not always make sense to others.
I can't entirely understand how a series can continue on as long as this one has and still produce books of such a fine quality. Wouldn't the adventures run out for the characters? There has to be an end to everything, or the series would be ruined with stories of a much lower level of thought. I commend Rachel Caine for being able to keep coming up with creative ideas for each new book, and keeping the intellect level - as I mentioned before that I was impressed by - up. The only thing I didn't like about this novel was the ending: it ended on a cliffhanger, as did the last one I read. I really hate large cliffhangers, because they make the ending to a story so unsatisfying, thus making it harder to move onto a new book of another series or author. Some small details left unwrapped I don't mind. Situations such as that this book left off at, however, irritate me.
I very much enjoyed this story, and am definitely looking forward to reading more in the series. I don't always love long series, because often the quality does decrease; however, that doesn't seem to be a problem here, so I hope that Caine keeps writing! Overall, I would give this story a rating of four stars. I didn't even read the summary before I started reading this book, because I loved the last one so much. It wasn't what I'd expected after reading the one earlier in the series, but it was definitely enjoyable. I would recommend this novel (and series) to any reader who enjoys vampires, romance, and a story that combines intelligence with punches.
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