Okay, I am just...shocked and disappointed. Definitely not words I normally use to describe the Rachel Caine reading experience. Where do I begin when describing all the ways this book--this series--just went wrong?
And just to clarify: I realize this book was supposed to have a slightly different feel to it, since the main character was leaving the main setting. That in itself I don't have a problem with. (A similar situation occurred in book eight, Kiss of Death, and that's one of my favorites in the series.) What I take issue with is all the stuff that happened once Claire got to MIT. Starting with:
-Okay, first of all, I understand that they're not used to living outside of Morganville, where there's actual laws and stuff, but was it really necessary for them to become entangled in all this side crap, like Elizabeth's stalker situation, Shane getting beat up by some random group of guys, etc. I mean, how much bad luck can a person have? And now Claire's possibly wanted for murder, and Shane for illegal weapons possession. You'd think they'd be a little more careful.
-Jesse/Lady Gray and Myrnin. White I make no attempt to hide that I'm a "Clyrnin" shipper, I realize that's NEVER going to happen with Shane in the picture. Still, Myrnin's new little fling struck me as being too...convenient. Clearly, Rachel Caine created the character of Jesse solely for the purpose of tying up the whole love triangle issue before the rapidly approaching end of the series. And it doesn't even make sense. Myrnin is one of the oldest vampires around. He knows everyone. Why did he act so surprised to see "Lady Gray" again? More importantly, why was he only attracted to her now? That seems rather out of character for him, considering how he'd been obsessively pining over Ada for so long, even when she was dead. Myrnin barely allows himself to get distracted enough to hint at his admiration and possible love for CLAIRE, so why does he suddenly have all this time and desire to flirt with Jesse?
-The Daylight Foundation. Ugh. Yeah, that's it, Rachel. Go the way of every other vampire series and have some mysterious, cutthroat organization out to commit vampire genocide for the good of mankind. In fact, I take that back--they're not even cutthroat. Cunning, yes. Ambitious, yes. Cutthroat? Not so much. Maybe it's the fact that despite being so well equipped and funded, we never heard of them until book fourteen. Just my opinion, but it kinda prevents me from taking them seriously. That and the whole CIA wannabe thing (black vans, shades, suits). I think I take Captain Obvious and Co. more seriously. At least those guys are creative.
-Not appreciating that final crushing blow of betrayal from Hannah at the end there. I can see how shocking betrayals make good plot twists, of course, but seriously, Rachel Caine? We've already had so MANY characters who pretended to go with the flow, and were later discovered to be ruthless rebels. Aside from the Glass House Four, for lack of a better group name, there have been so FEW (human) supporting characters who you could always root for and trust to do the right thing. After Richard's death, Hannah was pretty much the last one. And maybe Richard's death had something to do with her snapping, but it still doesn't seem at all like her. Heck, she was always the one going AFTER the rabble rousers.
To sum it up, it just didn't FEEL like the Morganville I know and love. The trademark humor was gone; lackluster at best, the situations and scenarios were overdone, the characters weren't true to themselves. All I can say is that I hope the last book clears all this up in a satisfying way, because I am NOT liking the direction this is going. Unfortunately, I don't have high hopes.
*Also...the whole farm in the country setup? Did that not remind anyone else of the season four premiere of Vampire Diaries, when the Founders' Council rounded up a bunch of vampires and imprisoned them in cages at Pastor Young's farm? I'm not trying to imply that Rachel Caine is stealing ideas--on the contrary, she's one of the most creative authors out there--but perhaps she could have found a more original alternative. (I mean, they're THE DAYLIGHT FOUNDATION. Shouldn't they have a bunker, or something?)
And some smaller, parting thoughts:
-How many times do we have to fake-kill Oliver, Michael, and Myrnin to get the point across that Claire cares about them?
-How many back and forth phone calls will it take before Claire and Shane quit immediately assuming the worst of each other? In this book, Claire was doing exactly what she was accusing Shane of in the last book, and I'm surprised she didn't realize it, smart as she is. It made me lose a teeny amount of respect for her. Not to mention it dragged on for half the book. "Oh, she didn't call back. She must be mad at me, so I won't call her. Oh, he's not calling me, so he must be cheating on me, so I won't call him." Maybe I'm biased against the Claire-Shane pairing here, but they were just so OBNOXIOUS in this book.
-I find it kinda hard to believe that Amelie, as the badass vampire queen of Morganville, with all of her contacts, didn't realize Professor Anderson had turned against them while in Massachusetts, much less smuggled samples out of Myrnin's lab.
Okay, maybe those last few points weren't as short as I meant them to be, but you get my point.