Texas vampires get wild on the prairie in Rachel Caine novel
Rating: 4 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
I don’t usually read vampire stories myself, but with it being the hottest genre in publishing and films right now, I wanted to share a great vampire series that not everyone knows already.
“I was offered the opportunity by the publisher NAL to do a Young Adult series, and they mentioned they were particularly interested in a vampire series,” says Fade Out author Rachel Caine. “And I said no. On the drive home that day, I called up a good friend of mine, who knew a lot about YA literature, and told her what I’d done. She said, ‘Oh, you can write young adult, that’s not an issue.’ I told her I didn’t have any ideas. She laughed. ‘I’ll bet that you can tell me your idea by the time I get off the phone.’ And sure enough, as we talked one idea led to another and Morganville came into being.”
Fade out is the seventh book in the Morganville series. Sixteen year-old Claire Danvers was banished by her parents to the sleepy Texas town of Morganville to attend Texas Prairie University. Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. Claire thinks she can concentrate on her studies. Her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. When one of Eve’s castmates goes missing while working on a documentary, Claire and Eve realize there’s more danger to be had.
“Morganville is being translated and printed into Spanish, Italian, French, Turkish, Thai, German, Czech, Russian,” says Caine. “It’s amazing, and strange to think that something that started out as it did has reached so many people. While I was writing Fade Out I made the USA Today bestseller list for the first time.”
“I do a lot of historical research for the Morganville series;” says Caine. “I love working in historical characters as vampires, and I spend a lot of time looking for just the right kind of person. I had particular fun with Morley, who continues on into the next book, Kiss Of Death.”
“I also tend to read a lot about alchemy and physics, since those are things that Claire needs to know on some level,” says Caine. “Alchemy to deal with Myrnin. Physics just because she likes it. And, I researched zombie video games for Shane, because I kept getting asked what game he was playing. It’s Dead Rising.”
Morganville is a Young Adult book that’s a great read for adults, too. If you like vampire stories you’ll enjoy this fast-paced well-written book. Even those not normally a fan of vampires will get drawn into the story right to the end. There’s good character development, as one expects when reading a series. At the end of Fade Out there are new unanswered questions that to be answered in future Morganville vampire novels. Next is Kiss of Death in spring 2010.
Fade Out (Morganville Vampires, Book 7) (Mass Market Paperback)
Reading level: Young Adult, Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages, Publisher: Signet (November 3, 2009), Language: English, ISBN: 9780451228666
