Bitter Blood by Rachel Caine

The Draug have been defeated and now there is nothing that the vampires fear. A whole new set of rules are now in effect for Morganville. Everyone must carry an ID and vampires can request to hunt humans. Needless to say this does not go over well with the humans of Morganville. Amelie no longer seeks peace between the vampires and humans. Since Michael and Eve have married the people in the Glass house are no longer protected. In fact there seems to be a target out for all of them from both humans and vampires.

Things are always strange in Morganville, but now more than ever. Amelie and Oliver now seem to be on the same side, in fact much more intimate than enemies. Hannah Moses has been removed from being the mayor. Monica is campaigning to become mayor and Shane and Claire are helping her. Myrnin seems to have disappeared. And as always is the case in Morganville things go from bad to worse very quickly.

Have you ever read a book where it becomes so stressful you have to put it down for a bit? Well that is the way I felt with Bitter Blood! I would get so stressed out over something happening that I would have to put the book down, but then I had to know what was going to happen so I would have to pick it right back up again! You would think this being the 13th book in the series that things would get a little boring or repetitive, but I have found that to not be the case. While yes, Morganville and Claire, Shane, Michael and Eve always seem to be battling one crises after another there is always enough difference and freshness to keep the reader entertained and coming back for more.

Flesh & Bone by Jonathan Maberry

Benny, Nix, Lilah and Chong are still searching for the jet that they saw fly over them. They are beginning to think they were seeing things since they have not found it.

As always things are not easy in the Rot & Ruin. Some of the zoms seem to be evolving into a more faster breed, and some seem to be developing the ability to dodge obstacles. As if being chased around by zoms isn't bad enough, there is a religious cult now after the group. They call themselves Reapers and see their job as releasing all sinners into the darkness of death.

Relationships are strained also in this installment of the series. Benny seems to think that he needs to be just like his brother Tom. The weight of that responsibility has him hearing Tom's voice inside his head. Benny begins to wonder if he is going crazy. Benny isn't the only one that Tom has left an impression on. Throughout their ordeal in the Ruin each one at sometime or other remembers different lessons that Tom taught them about being "Warrior Smart". Those lessons help them each through their difficult journey as they become separated and encounter the new type of zoms and the crazy cult members on their search for a jet that they don't know exists anymore.

From the first page until the last page was turned Flesh & Bone was filled with one action scene after another! But not only do Benny, Nix, Lilah and Chong encounter zoms and cult followers, they also have to deal with their feelings for each other and their grief of losing Tom. So Flesh & Bone is not just filled with action, it is also filled with emotional roller coasters. I felt like I was there with each character as they fought an enemy or as they cried tears of grief or struggled within themselves for who they are becoming. Flesh & Bone managed to be just as good as Rot & Ruin and Dust & Decay without becoming stale or repetitive. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series! I have to find out how it all ends!

I borrowed this ARC from a friend. The published book comes out in September of 2012.

Black Dawn by Rachel Caine

The draug have come to Morganville!

For the desert town of Morganville the recent torrential rains have brought the Vampires worst enemy to town. For the Vampires the draug have set up pools to feed on them. The draug prefer to feed on vampires, but they can make do with humans also.

As always Michael, Eve, Shane and Claire are all right in the middle of the action. Claire is helping Myrnin find something that will kill off the draug. They must find something because the main draug is after Claire. She is the only one that can see his form clearly. She is a threat to Magnus and he is determined to kill her once again.

While Amalie lays dying, the fight to take over her rule of Morganville is being played out. Oliver has set himself up to take care of Amalie, but make no mistake, he knows that when Amalie dies he will take her place as the ruler of the town. But Amalie's sister Naomi has a different thought. She too wants control, and neither one of them plan on extending the humans as many rights as Amalie has. Morganville is about to change.

Wow! I don't know how Rachel Caine does it, but each new installment of The Morganville Vampire series leaves me wanting the next one! The tension of fighting The draug, the humor between Claire and her friends, and the romance between Michael and Eve, and Claire and Shane keep the reader busy turning the pages. I would think, "I'll stop reading at the end of this chapter" and at the end of the chapter I would have to continue reading to find out what happened next. Speaking of romance! Oh my goodness! Michael and Eve are having some issues, but they always seem to have issues. And who wouldn't have issues if your fiance just tried to kill you in a wild feeding frenzy? Claire and Shane need each other! I'm not talking sexually, although there is a little bit of that(nothing graphic thank goodness), they need each other emotionally. It's like they survive for each other. The next book in the series, Bitter Blood, comes out in November and I can't wait. Black Dawn ended with so many loose ends needing to be tied up. What is to become of Morganville and it's inhabitants now?

Race Against Time by Kimberley and Kayla R. Woodhouse

While out exercising her sprint dog team Zoya witnesses a murder. Not only does she see the man being shot, but then the murderer turns and shoots at her as well. From that moment on Zoya's life is changed. She is plunged into an abyss of shaken faith that she doesn't know if she can ever climb out of.

Anesia is Zoya's mother. She owns a thriving business of raising prize sprint dog teams. Anesia and Zoya have always been close. They have always been able to share everything with each other. After all it is just the two of them. Zoya's father died before she was ever born. Anesia has had to be strong to face the stigma of never having been married to Zoya's father. Anesia would do anything to protect her daughter, but is at a loss as to how to help her out of the abyss that Zoya has plunged into.

Sean has trekked across the country trying to escape from his father's tyrannical rule over his life. When he arrives in North Pole, Alaska he senses it is time to stop traveling and settle down. He applies for a job in Anesia's kennels. Anesia hires him to care for the kennels, but also to protect her and Zoya from the men that are still out to kill her. 

Zoya has allowed her anger at God to fester in her soul. A question that she asks Sean at one point is, "Why does God allow the bad junk to happen?" She no longer feels that God is there with her. She resents that He allowed her to see the murder. She resents that He has allowed the killers to still be out there threatening her. She pulls away from her family and her best friend Andie. She doesn't want them to know how much she is struggling with her anger towards God. She feels that they would never understand. The only voice she seems to hear is the one telling her never to trust Him again.

Race Against Time is the sequel to the book No Safe Haven by the mother/daughter authors Kimberley and Kayla Woodhouse. Race Against Time starts out heart pounding and ends just as strong! I was on the edge of my seat several times. I have to admit too that I had to put the book down a couple of times because the action was so intense I had to get up and walk around before I continued! The action wasn't the only thing that held my interest though. Zoya's struggle with her anger towards God was heart-breaking. The relationship growing between Sean and Anesia was special. I loved that the characters from No Safe Haven (Jenna, Andie and Cole) were also part of Race Against Time. And I'm hoping that Kimberley and Kayla are working on a 3rd book to the series because I think there is still lots more of the story to be told!

Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry

For 7 months Tom has been training Benny, Lilah, Nix, and Chong how to survive in the Rot & Ruin. Preparing them for their trek east in search of the jet they all saw fly over them months before. Nix cannot wait to leave all of her memories behind. Lilah cannot wait to feel freedom outside of the fences. Chong is only going for an overnight camping trip to further his training and of course to be with Lilah for a little while longer.

Once in the Rot & Ruin though things do not go the way they planned. Things seem to be happening in the Ruin that indicate that Gameland is once again up and running. While checking out a dead body they encounter Preacher Jack. A man whose title doesn't match his evil countenance.

When they all become separated things go from bad to worse. Not only struggling against the living dead, they are also having to contend with an evilness in humans that they never thought possible.

Once again Jonathan Mayberry has kept me on the edge of my seat! There were times in the story that I would get so stressed out that I had to set the book down for a while! This is an ARC copy that I received at TXLA in April. Jonathan Mayberry was kind enough to autograph it for me. It comes out in stores in August of 2011. I cannot wait for the next book in the series!

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Tom and Benny Imura survived First Night when the world as they knew it turned upside down. Where the dead became reanimated. They lost their parents that night.

Mountainside is their home now. A town surrounded by fences to keep the zombies away. Benny is now 14 and has to choose a job in order to keep receiving his full rations. Tom earns a living as a bounty hunter. He goes out into the Rot & Ruin to find people's family members and put them to death permanently.

Benny loves to hang out with Charlie Pink-Eye and his hoodlum friend The Motorcity Hammer. He loves to hear their stories of how they kill zoms out in the Rot & Ruin. In Benny's mind compared to Charlie and Hammer his brother Tom is a coward.

As time has finally run out for Benny to find a job he agrees to go with Tom out into the Ruin to see what the "family business" is really like. What he learns is that Tom doesn't just randomly kill zombies. He teaches Benny that each zombie used to be a REAL person, a member of a family and deserves that respect. Tom "quiets" the zombies he is sent out to find. He reads them a letter from their family member and he then quiets them so they are no longer roaming around as zombies. It gives closure to the family member. This confuses Benny as he has a strong hate for the zombies and after all of Charlie's and Hammer's stories he has never thought of them as being real people.

Benny finds that not all bounty hunters are as compassionate as his brother Tom. In fact he hears about a place that some of the bounty hunters take innocent children to and make them fight zombies. When Benny happens to get a collector card of the "Lost Girl" one day he finds that this is a "mythical" girl that is supposedly out in the Ruin who may know some of the dealings of the bounty hunters.

As a storm rages over the city and the fence fails Benny finds out to what lengths these bounty hunters will go to protect their interest in the gaming park. Benny and Tom go out into the Ruin to rescue Benny's friend Nix and to find the Lost Girl who may be able to show them where the games take place. What happens while out in the Ruin is horrible and will change their lives forever.

Oh my goodness! Why have I waited so long to read this book? It was soooo good! Really though I'm glad I waited because I have my copy of Rot & Ruin and the sequel Dust & Decay autographed by Jonathan Maberry. Dust & Decay comes out in August but I snagged an ARC copy at the TLA conference I went to. Yay me! Anyway, this was such a good book. I had to close it several times because I couldn't take the suspense, but then I would have to open it and read on to find out what happens! Even though this is a zombie book I was more interested in the human relationships that were going on. Excellent read!

The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness(Kindle)

Imagine that you can hear what every person and creature around you is thinking. This is what Todd and the men of his village have to deal with every day. They call it Noise. It is constantly buzzing in Todd's mind. The random thoughts of men, their evil thoughts, their desires, all out there for everyone to hear.

One day while in the swamp with his dog Manchee Todd senses another person there. He can't hear their noise though. It freaks him out. When he tells his caretakers Ben and Cillian they panic and pack him up to send him away. The town hear though and come to get Todd and the person that they can't hear the noise from. While escaping Todd runs into that person~a girl. She won't speak to him. Todd has to rescue her from Aaron the "preacher" from the town. Aaron tries to stop Todd and the girl from escaping. While struggling he falls into the swamp and is attacked by crocodile's. Thinking this is the end of Aaron, Todd and the girl take off for the next settlement.

After days of travel the girl finally is able to talk. Viola and her family crash landed in their space ship. Her parents died. They were a scouting trip to this new world. Viola is trying to get to a place where she can notify the rest of her people coming to settle on the new world. Once they reach the first settlement they find that an army is chasing them. This starts a race of survival hoping to reach the biggest settlement of all before the army catches up with them.

The Knife of Never Letting Go kept me on the edge of my seat! I kept hoping for Todd and Viola to win. I fell in love with Todd's dog Manchee. I wanted everything to end well...It didn't. I now have to get The Ask and the Answer that hopefully picks up where The Knife of Never Letting Go ended. A couple of things that I didn't like were the language and the constant one-thing-after-another that kept happening. It got old after a while. I will have to take a break before I start the next one because I need something a little lighter.