Review: Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine

Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine

Morganville Vampires #6

In the small college town of Morganville, vampires and humans lived in (relative) peace-until all the rules got rewritten when the evil vampire Bishop arrived, looking for the lost book of vampire secrets. He's kept a death grip on the town ever since. Now an underground resistance is brewing, and in order to contain it, Bishop must go to even greater lengths. He vows to obliterate the town and all its inhabitants-the living and the undead. Claire Danvers and her friends are the only ones who stand in his way. But even if they defeat Bishop, will the vampires ever be content to go back to the old rules, after having such a taste of power?

The day that Claire has been impatiently waiting for is finally here, the day she turns seventeen. However, nothing is as she imagined it. Claire is living with her parents, and is also completely owned (literally) by the Bishop. Eve isn't talking to her and Micheal is "evil," but the worst thing of all is Shane's predicament. Both he and his father are locked up in jail awaiting execution. Even with the Bishop controlling her through the tattoo on her arm, she still is able to defy him when it comes to Shane. Nothing short of a miracle can save him or the rest of the town now. It's a hard game to the bitter end and they must keep their friends close, but their enemies even closer, but who is the enemy and who is a friend?

Things are an absolute mess in Morganville. The Bishop has started an open hunting season on the humans now, no more blood banks. With no sign of Amelie and Myrnin seeming to be on the enemy's side, its up to Claire to figure out how to protect everyone she cares about. However with the Bishop controlling her, she isn't really trustworthy so she's kept mostly out of the loop of things. Her bravery and determination to never back down when it comes to protecting others continues to amaze me. How one girl can continue to face such extreme obstacles and not crumble under the pressure is beyond me.

The only "bad" guy that seemed to stay constant in this book was the Bishop. All of the rest of the characters' loyalties were not obvious. Many of the them who were thought to be on the Bishop's side really were "undercover." Then of course there were the ones who were thought to be on Amelie's side but really weren't. The entire book will keep you in suspense while you try to figure out who is really on who's team, and just who will make it out of this catastrophe alive.

The rules have completely changed in Morganville, and even with the somewhat subdued ending that didn't have a cliffhanger, things just will never be the same. This book ended the first major story arc, but the next book should continue with everyone picking up the pieces. It was nice to get that feeling of satisfaction and happiness at the end of this book. Since it's Morganville, it won't last, so the gang should really savor it while it lasts. I'm really eager to read the next book to see how things will fare now that the game is changed.

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Carpe Corpus (Morganville Vampires, Book 6)