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Black Dawn

Rachel Caine

Published 2011      447 pages

Reviewed by Georgia

Summary (from the book jacket)

When a tide of ferocious draug, the vampire’s deadliest enemy, floods Morganville, its eclectic mix of residents must fight to save their town from devastation.

Chaos has taken over the quiet college town of Morganville as the threat of the draug rapidly spreads with the help of the city’s water system. Whilst most of the locals have already fled, student Claire Danvers and her friends Shane, Eve and Michael choose to stay and fight.

Things take a turn for the worse when vampire Amelie, the town’s founder, is infected by the master draug’s bite. Unless Claire and her friends can find an antidote to save Amelie and overcome the draug, Morganville’s future looks bleak…

The Review

This is the twelfth installment in the series and I must admit it’s the most adventurous. It continues the story from where Last Breath stopped, i.e. Morganville in turmoil and everybody fighting hard to save their lives and their town.

This book starts with a note from the author and a small summary of what has happened so far. It helps the reader get into the mood, because prospects are bleak, very bleak for our heroes. Black Dawn has also a multi-perspective narrative with Claire, Shane, Michael and Eve taking in turns to tell their tale.

Amid all this trouble our heroes are given the opportunity to show us what they are made of. There is plenty of courage, tenacity and loyalty. On the other hand there is fear, uncertainty and sometimes despair. These feelings are so well intermingled that the reader can’t help, but empathize with them.

I have enjoyed this story very much. There isn’t one dull moment, one meaningless conversation, one situation that seems so farfetched that one simply shakes their head and move on. The author excels in getting the right vibe and feel of the situation. The story has often reminded me of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, where everything’s at bay and you never really know how the tide is going to turn.

Black Dawn is also rich on the emotional level with pretty much every main character having to deal with the mishaps of the past and the unforeseeable future. This leaves our heroes vulnerable to various threats and temptations. Yet the way they cope is remarkable. Sometimes the reader is flabbergasted other times one is confused or in some cases on the verge of tears. The suspense always seems to be killing us!

I cannot simply describe how well developed and structured this book is. With numerous twists and turns and the thickening of the plot at the turn of the page the reader never gets lost, never fails to keep up and never tires of reading further and further on until one is left staring at the end and wanting badly the next book to know how the author has in mind for her heroes.

Like with the previous books with this one the main plot concerning “the draug” comes full circle and our heroes are ready for the next chapter in their lives, something that fans of the series will be eagerly anticipating.

I cannot stress how well-written Black Dawn is! It is certainly one of the best books in the series and I cannot believe that fans will be disappointed with this one. They may be shocked with some events, sad with others, but not let down by the overall outcome.

P.S.: if you want to be submerged in the story, read it while listening to the songs provided in the Track-list at the end.

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