Customer Reviews

Carpe Corpus (Morganville Vampires)

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Carpe Corpus" opens on Claire Danvers's 17th birthday. Her parents give her a necklace and a dress, but all she really wants is to see Shane Collins and she's willing to risk her life asking Bishop, the ancient vampire who's captured Morganville, to do so.

The four inhabitants of the Glass House are all scattered. Claire's living with her parents and serving Bishop against her will. Shane's caged with his vampire hating father, Frank. Michael looks like he's in Bishop's thrall. Eve is the lone inhabitant of the Glass House and she's trying to keep the place for her four friends.

But Amelie's, the former vampire ruler of Morganville, is back and things are not quite as they seem. Neither Ancient Myrnin or Michael is in thrall to Bishop after all. It's up to Claire to help get enough serum to heal the vampires of Morganville of the Alzheimer-like illness that Bishop probably gave them so they can get back their town.

"Carpe Corpus" is a tightly paced story that will keep you glued to the pages. Unfortunately, it ends all too soon like every Caine novel. If you're a fan of Morganville, you're going to love this. If you've just come to Caine via "Twlight," the same. You may want to start with Book One--Glass House, but you don't have to.

Rebecca Kyle, June 2009

Carpe Corpus begins soon after Lord of Misrule ends. Claire's stuck in the middle and forced to work on the wrong side, Bishop's side. Amelie has vanished, thanks to Myrnin, who just happens to be sitting pretty right next to.... you guessed it, Bishop. Michael was forced to stand at, yep... right again Bishop's side. Eve's pretty upset with everyone, including Claire and Shane's stuck in jail with his dear old dad. Did I paint you a pretty picture yet?

If you thought living in and with a town run by vampires couldn't get any worse, well you're wrong there. Things are about to bubble over for everyone. Caine continue to work her magic in this new installment. She's good at leaving me guessing as to what's lurking around the next page.

One highlight was the introduction of Ada. At first I thought, oh right, yeah come on already! However, since I really do enjoy this series I kept reading and found that her character was kind of a creepy perfection that fit right in with, well everyone and everything. I mean why not have... wait, I won't tell you just who or what she is. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who's yet to read.

It was nice to see all the characters growing and changing. The new trials Claire and her friends - human and vampire will face. Oh, let's not forget we get to see the true Myrnin, who gets cured in this book. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him in the future.

The book ends on a happy note. No cliffhangers like in previous books. I for one don't think things will stay too cheery for to long, I mean we are talking about Morganville.

I have the next book - Fade Out ready to read, and then Kiss of Death on order. If you're new to this series, be sure to start at the beginning - Glass Houses. Enjoy! (...)

This represents Book Six in "The Morganville Vampires" series. Should you read the other volumes before this one? I didn't feel that it took too much to know what was going on. The author, Rachel Caine, provided context for this book so that the naïve reader of Book Six could navigate the characters pretty handily.

Morganville represents a community that had come under the rule of vampires. One rather poignant fact--the vampires are suffering from some sort of illness, and the population of vampires has begun to decline as a result. For awhile, their power over the citizenry was certainly authoritarian, but vaguely tolerable (at least as I read this volume). However, something like a coup d'état has taken place and the nasty vampire, Bishop, has taken over. He has imprisoned people, including the main character's (a 17 year old named Claire) boyfriend, Shane.

Claire tries to figure out how to save her young man (it looks pretty bleak for Shane's future). She wonders why the other vampires seem to have so supinely bowed to Bishop. As the novel unfolds, though, we see that there is resistance among the vampires, with a countercoup likely to take place. The slow development of events adds a nice element to this story, as the plot moved in not always predictable ways. Tension does build.

Some of the features that readers of the series might find interesting (or not!)--the consummation of Claire's relationship with Shane, addressing the disease afflicting the vampires, the changing relationship of vampires to humans in Morganville. . . .

For me, this book does not resonate. But I doubt that the book is pitched at someone like me. Youthful readers interested in paranormal fiction, I think, would find this a very nice read. For them, this book would "hit the spot." So, I give this 4 stars for the likeliest audience (for me, I would rate it lower, but that's unfair to the author!).

The war between Bishop and Amelie rages on in Morganville. Bishop still has the upper hand, but Amelie is building up an underground resistance with help from her ally Claire Danvers and her friends. Living in Morganville is more dangerous than even, especially now that Claire has been forcibly bound to the hated Bishop. It's hard to tell who is on which side, and who's a double agent, especially with the half crazy Myrnin running around. But this battle must end once and for all, and it will. But where does Morganville go from there?

Carpe Corpus finishes up the all out war between Bishop and Amelie that began in Lord of Misrule. I have to say that Caine handled it very well. There is, of course, non-stop action and some character development on behalf of Claire and Shane, as was to be expected, but Carpe Corpus does not feel like a repeat of the previous novels in the Morganville Vampires series, which is a pretty large feat considering that this novel is the sixth of the series. I think this is because of the wonderful and somewhat wacky cast of characters that populate Morganville, particularly including the vampire Myrnin and his vampiric computer creation Ada. I am a little sad that the big battle finishes by the close of this book, because I don't know how much more exciting Morganville can get, but I still look forward to reading the next in the series.

The Morganville Vampires series appeals to readers who also liked the Dark Elite series by Chloe Neill.

Carpe Corpus begins with all the members of the glass house, Claire, Shane, Michael, and Eve all separated. Claire is living with her parents, and working under the control of Bishop. Shane is currently locked in a vampire prison with his father. Michael is under Bishops control, and Eve is out in Morganville alone. Amelie is back (the song, The Bitch is Back comes to mind), and things aren't what they seem in Morganville. While Bishop thinks that he has Myrnin and Michael under his thrall, he's unaware that they are only pretending. Claire is relieved to find out that Amelie has a plan, and that involves finally taking Bishop down and regaining her rightful place as town founder/ruler.

I really love these books. They are so quick and easy to read, but that doesn't mean they are dumbed down for the reader. Poor Claire is in this never-ending cycle of drama. I don't care to see the series end, but I fear for her health and life! Like normal 17 year olds, Claire just wants to do normal teenager things and be with her boyfriend Shane on her birthday. That's impossible with him under lock in key by Bishop, and her running around dropping off death warrants for her new master. Speaking of Bishop, man he is evil! I thought Shane's father was awful, but Bishop sure gives him a run for his money.

It's nice to know that in book 7 Amelie will be back in control and working to right what Bishop has done wrong in Morganville. I'm not really liking Claire's parents living in Morganville, but I understand that it's necessary to have them present in her life. The thing I love about this series is there are the young adults and then there are adults in the town. They all have their story, and they all play their part. It's nice to have adult (no matter how evil or crazy) presence in a young adult story.

If you enjoy vampires and young adult this is definitely the series for you. The town of Morganville is so unique, and it's not just a love story. There's a lot more action and mystery in these books.

I can't wait to review the next book, FADE OUT, since it begins a new arc in the series. It's difficult to review a book that finishes out an arc in order to bring new readers to the fold without giving away too much. (Anything given away on the back cover is fair game, so take warning.) I also look forward to it because the title of this one bothers me. (Seize the body?) Luckily, the contents bother me far less.

(Also, while I've been going all over Texas this past week, I am so happy I didn't end up anywhere similar to Morganville. If there are vampires in Texas, as Jaye Wells doubts, I hope they continue to stay away from my parts. The Morganville series shows how bad the good vampires could make it for humans, and CARPE CORPUS shows us the beginning of the bad guys running the asylum.)

Claire, Michael, Shane, and Eve are caught in the war between Amelie and Bishop. They'd prefer Amelie, since she cares about a sustainable community rather than destruction, but both Claire and Michael are compelled to work for Bishop. And while Eve's doing as well as she can under the circumstances, Shane needs help none of them are in a position to give. Happy seventeenth birthday, Claire.

I must say, I love that Myrnin's role keeps increasing. There's something about his insanity, and I believe there's an odd sexual tension between him and Claire, which doesn't bother me though it should. CARPE CORPUS reveals the kind of computer only Myrnin could build, and I like to believe Rachel Caine chose the computer's name as a tribute to Ada Lovelace. (If they didn't make you learn about her in junior high, now's your chance!)

Caine writes a great ensemble, believable human and inhuman emotion, and scary action scenes. She can overcome the "main characters survive" mentality to make you fear for the once and future residents of the Glass House. And it is affecting since I like all four of them. (Other characters, of various likeability, were put on a bus. We can only hope those less likeable ones don't return.)

I did feel the end, while clearing up a plot hole, didn't entirely fit with the rest of the book. It might have been better saved for FADE OUT, so that it could be better integrated into the overall storyline. But I was very satisfied with the end of the first storyline, even if it broke my heart a little, and I look forward to what happens next in Morganville, Texas, where the vampires are threatening and the humans need a spine to survive.

What a wonderful creation Caine has come up with! Each short book has just enough of action, adventure, and drama to get you hungry for more. Claire is finally 17! As a matter of fact, she's been "almost 17" for five books now. The last book left us with a HUGE cliffhanger (I think only Steven King does them better--Caine is a real pro at this). Michael was turned to Bishop's side, Shane was arrested, and Claire was magically inclined to do Bishop's bidding. It seemed only Eve was free.

I won't go on to say what this story is all about (these books are so short, I would only be spoiling it). I will say that Caine brings a closure to a lot of loose strings. The killer that was going around murdering girls and dumping the bodies to frame Shane (book 4, I think), Shane and Claire, Myirren's disease, Bishop's rule, etc. So many things happen in this book, it will leave your head spinning and you'll need some time to stop and think it over after your done.

I would NOT recommend this book to someone who has not read all those that came before. These books are in sequential order, with cliffhangers on almost all of them. They're short, but you need to read each to understand what comes next.

This book starts off normal enough; at least for Morganville, but then wow by the end of chapter 5 I was thinking this has to be the end - like the author was grasping for shocking plot lines. This book went off the deep end and I thought can this book be redeemed. But true to her form, Rachel Caine pulled off enough other good stuff to offset her moment of crazy. This was the first book in this series to not end with a cliff hanger. I would be worried if there was not already a next book scheduled to be released. This book wraps up every outstanding storyline - I could think of. Luckily, I only have to wait until November 3rd for the next installment, Fade Out (Morganville Vampires, Book 7).

You know that sinking awful feeling you got at the end of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, when it looked like Evil had triumphed and had beat back Good by making Luke go crazy and disappear? That's how I felt at the end of Lord of Misrule. There just seems to be something inherently WRONG with letting evil win at the end of a story--no matter that there's more to the series or not.

No surprise to anyone should be that Myrnin remains my favorite character. There's something deliciously wonderful about his manic moods and eccentricities. He isn't so very bad, I mean compared to what he could be like. Mr. Bishop however proves to be an even eviler dude then I thought. He's carelessly cruel most of the time and at worst he's deliberately malicious, turning everyone's worst nightmares into reality without even flinching.

Claire's parents still continue to annoy the living daylights out me. Claire is really becoming a little pistol--desperate, cornered and with her future looking bleaker every breath she takes, she seems to have found her inner B**ch and channeled it. Ysandere gets a good lot of that. Myrnin gets a handful of times. Monica gets it a couple times. Oh Monica. She really is a snake who can keep on living. No one should ever worry about Monica.

I don't really want to spoil how things finally settle down (book 7, from what I can understand from the synopsis at the end of the book, seems like its starting a new 'arc' of sorts.), but I guess if you are a Star Wars fan, or fan of the Great Evil Empires in Fiction, you should be able to guess.

One reason I like this book series so much is that it is not typical depite that fact that is Vampire YA. Don't worry this isn't twilight, there is a romance factor but this series is mcuh more gritty. One of my favorite characters Myrnin plays a crutial part in this book and I love all the intrigue in this book. Claire is finally breaking away from being a small, scared girl and is becoming a crucial player in Morganville.

Don't be intimidated by how long this series is. I would suggest you start from the beginning if you havent already or order 6 and 7 at the same time because you will want it right away!