Book 2 of Morganville Vampires is Better Than the First!

The leaves are changing colors, and the temperature is starting to drop. The RIP season finally feels like it has arrived!! And since I have spent the entire Challenge reading Vampire books, I didn't see any reason to stop! Since I was left hanging by a thread at the end of Glass Houses, I immediately picked up The Dead Girls' Dance: Morganville Vampires Book Two by Rachel Caine (256 pgs, NAL JAM, 2007).

WARNING: THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS TO THE BOOK GLASS HOUSES!!

It didn't happen, Claire told herself. It's a bad dream, just another bad dream. You'll wake up and it will be gone like the fog......She had her eyes squeezed tight shut. Her mouth felt dry, shriveled up and she was pressed up against Shane's hot, solid side, curled up on the couch in the Glass House. Terrified. It's just a bad dream. But when she opened her eyes, her friend Michael was still dead on the floor in front of her.

Did I happen to mention how much of a cliffhanger ended Glass Houses? I did. See what I mean??

For the roommates of the Glass House, things had gotten pretty bad. When the vampires of Morganville had attacked the house, Shane had called in the troops. But the "troops" might have proved scarier than the vampires, if that was at all possible. Shane had been raised in Morganville, so he knew you had to follow the rules of the vampires. But when he angered Monica Morrell, the mayor's daughter and one evil bully (who just happened to be under the protection of a powerful vampire), his house had been burnt down. And his younger sister had died in the process. He and his parents were allowed to leave town. Normally when this happens, a person will not remember anything about vampires. It's just one of the weird side-affects from being in the town. But Shane's mother couldn't forget what happened. And Shane had come back to town with his mind set on revenge. The troops were a biker gang, led by Shane's father, and they stormed in to save the day.

But before they arrived, Claire had already stopped the vampires from killing everyone. She had found the book they had so desperately wanted, and secured a tenuous Founder's Protection from Amelie for the house. But when Shane's dad arrived, there was no going back. And Michael, not being 100% alive anyway, was killed in the process. OK. He was actually ALREADY dead before the bikers killed him. He was a ghostly presence that could only appear at night, and was somehow linked to the Glass House. It's not easy to kill a ghost, and when night fell again, Michael reappeared, as if nothing had ever happened. But now, a plan had been set in motion. A plan that would definitely be bad for the kids at The Glass House, who would most certainly lose the Protection that had been bestowed on them.

When a vampire ends up dead, it all links back to Shane and his father. And even though Shane didn't have anything to do with the murder, he was going to have to pay the price: with his own life. Shane has been sentenced to death by fire, and it was up to Claire, Eve and the ghostly Michael to stop it. Not only do the kids have to worry about the vampires, now they have to worry about stopping Shane's dad and friends before it is too late. Just another day in Morganville!!

In the book Glass Houses, I found the plot line a little on the absurd side. But I got past all that and in the end I liked the book. I didn't have that problem with Dead Girls' Dance. And since it started out literally minutes after Book one had finished, I was completely grabbed by the book right away. So far, this series is much darker than I had originally thought it would be. But dark is good in my eyes, and trust me when I say Dead Girls Dance is no exception. What I really like about this book is Claire. For a sixteen-year-old genius, she has great head on her shoulders. And although she comes off as mousy and young, Claire is way tougher than anyone expected she would be. Not only is she incredibly smart, but she is extremely loyal to her new-found friends. And she is also incredibly brave. Not every sixteen-year-old would take on a town of vampires AND a motorcycle gang of nut-jobs. Even to save the life of her friend, and maybe boyfriend.

If I thought this book would end up better than the last (ie, without a cliffhanger), then I was only fooling myself. Once again, we are left completely hanging....and this time I don't have the next book to start!! *Sigh* I guess I'm just going to have to go out and spend a few Benjamin's to finish up the series (or at least the next two books). If you've read Glass Houses, this is a must read. And if you haven't, maybe you should pick it up. So far this series, is definitely worth reading, even in an ever-growing genre like YA paranormal. Rachel Caine certainly knows how to write a suspenseful novel!! 4/5