Rachel Caine – Midnight Alley

The third book in the Morganville Vampires series, published October 2, 2007.
Genre: YA urban fantasy
Cover: cool and a bit spooky



Morganville is such a nice place to live…
When Claire Danvers learned that her college town was run by vampires, she did what any intelligent, self preserving freshman would do: she applied for a transfer and stocked up on garlic. The transfer is no longer an option, but that garlic may come in handy.
.. and die. If you don’t mind that sort of thing.
Now Claire has pledged herself to Amelie, the most powerful vampire in town. The protection her contract secures does little to reassure those closest to Claire. All of a sudden, people are turning up dead, a stalker resurfaces from her past, and an ancient bloodsucker extends a chilling invitation for private lessons in his secluded home. To what end, Claire will soon discover – and it will give a terrifying new meaning to night school.


Claire has accepted Amelie as her Patron, to keep herself and her friends safe in this town run by vampires. Her friends are not happy when they find out though, they should be protecting her, she is the youngest of them all. Shane is also still very unhappy that Michael is now a vampire, he has joined the enemy. And his father is still planning to come back and kill them all. So he is torn between the desire to kill all vampires, and to keep his best friend safe.
Eve enjoys her new job as barista at the university, which is convenient for Claire as well. But Eve’s evil brother Jason is threatening her, just to get back at his sister for abandoning him to the merciless care of the vampire Brandon.
And what is with Monica, who suddenly tries to hang out with Claire? Claire will never be her friend after she almost killed Claire twice now. And she also won’t recommend her to Amelie!

And now Amelie is taking an interest in her studies, she wants her to fulfil her potential by taking advanced classes, and by studying with a scary old and partly insane vampire. Claire loves the challenge of her new classes, she is extremely bright, but not sure she can learn what Myrnin wants to teach her. The vampires are slowly dying as a race, and he is searching for the cause, and a cure. To safe her friends Michael and Sam, Claire wants to help them. But Myrnin is not safe to be around, even with another vampire playing guard. And what about the traitor?
There are also humans plotting to kill vampires, and apparently, Michael is one of their targets …


A very fast paced little book, I read it quickly. A gripping tale, with Claire making decision upon decision on her own, getting sucked deeper and deeper into the vampire world. As long as nobody dies, it has been a good day …
I like this intriguing world Rachel Caine has crafted, and I am very curious about what will happen next. Especially after the surprises Claire got in the last few pages … I do wonder.
And I wonder about Myrnin, a Welsh name very close to … Merlin. He certainly is old enough for that.

Looking forward to the next book!

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian