Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine

Title: Feast of Fools

Author: Rachel Caine
Publisher: Allison & Busby
ISBN: 978-0-7490-7979-6
Pages: 367
Series: The Morganville Vampires #4
Type: Young Adult Paranormal
Source: Purchased
Goodreads


In the small town of Morganville, humans and vampires have discovered a mostly peaceful balance. So the clueless college students are fair game for the vampires and no self-respecting human would be caught on the streets after dark but the fragile peace is working. That is, until the ancient Mr Bishop arrives and turns Morganville on its head and Claire Danvers finds herself and her friends in danger once more.

This is the fourth book in the awesome Morganville Vampires series (after Glass Houses, The Dead Girls' Dance and Midnight Alley) and leaps straight into the action after the previous book's cliffhanger ending. From the taut opening the tension continues to build throughout to a heart-stopping action packed finale. The arrival of a truly ancient vampire who is also the father of Amelie, previously the most powerful vampire in town, sparks a lot of changes and allows a new perspective on vampire politics.

Bishop's presence really shakes up Morganville. The previous book ended with some big changes and this one continues to create ripples in their world. Claire's parents have arrived in Morganville and her age is once more brought to the forefront of the story. Unsurprisingly Claire's parents want their sixteen year old to move back home, but Claire is resistant to losing her independence and doesn't know if she'll be able to continue to uphold her ties to the vampire world, thus endangering her friends. I loved how Claire is continuing to work on a cure for the sickness affecting the vampires and while Myrnin returns, Claire also finds a new ally in Dr Mills.

Bishop's arrival also leads to some restructuring of Morganville's vampire population, forcing old rivals Amelie and Oliver to unite against a common enemy. Rather than highlighting the evils that can be done by humans, this is the first book in the series to really focus on how evil vampires can be. Having a group of truly vindictive vampires arrive after spending several books blurring the lines of morality creates even more tension.

Eve is also having some major problems in this installment. Her brother Jason is being his usual creepy self, although no more dead girls appear, but it is the rest of her family that cause her some real pain. It doesn't help her that her boyfriend Michael is having issues with his new vampiric status and so their romance hits a rough patch.

One thing I did notice was missing from the story was retaliation from Monica who blames Claire for her near death in the previous book, although threats are made. Even with the changes to Morganville I doubt Monica will let it slide so I'm hoping the plot line is quickly picked up in a future book.

All in all this was a great read and I'm really looking forward to Lord of Misrule.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Cover: 8/10

Overall: 47/50