Review: Carpe Corpus

No books read yesterday because I've been traveling like crazy and have no clue what I managed to read last week. I'll compile it next one. And boy, did I buy a ton of books today. (Okay, only twelve. Not bad for $38.)



By Rachel Caine
Read my review of Book Five, LORD OF MISRULE

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.