Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris

   2009; 261 pages.  Book 9 (out of 13) in the “Sookie Stackhouse” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Paranormal Mystery; Gothic Romance; Vampires; Werewolves.  Overall Rating : 7*/10.

 

    It was a major coming-out event.  Almost as big as when human beings found out there were lots of Vampires living in their midst.  This time both humans and vamps discovered they had Wereanimals (werewolves, werefoxes, and others) living in their neighborhoods and keeping a low profile.

 

    Reactions were mixed.  Some humans accepted their new furry neighbors without any qualms.  Others were less thrilled.  Some homo sapiens were downright hostile.

 

    So when a local werepanther was killed in a very gruesome fashion in Bon Temps, Louisiana, local resident Sookie Stackhouse wants to know if this was a hate crime.  Because she too has some paranormal genes in her that she’s been very careful to keep secret.

 

    She’s half-human and half-fairy.

 

What’s To Like...

    Dead and Gone, is the ninth book in Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series.  In the previous tome, From Dead to Worse, Sookie meets her great-grandfather Niall, a fairy from another dimension (the fae live a long time), now that relationship gets developed more fully.

 

    The storyline structure utilizes the usual formula.  Charlaine Harris opens things by getting us caught up on the status of a slew of characters via the coming-out being broadcast at Merlotte’s Bar.  After the savage murder grabs our attention, the plotline splits into several other threads.  Her boss, Sam Merlotte, has to deal with a family tragedy; Sookie’s great-grandfather is involved in fairy kingdom unrest, and several personal relationships are impacted by the wereanimals’ coming-out.

 

    That sounds like a recipe for literary confusion, but Charlaine Harris makes sure that things unfold smoothly.  The story is once again told in the first-person point-of-view, Sookie’s, which means the reader gets to hear her thoughts about things such as unintentionally killing someone, being duped into a betrothal, and how to cope with reading other peoples’ minds since she’s a telepath.  Introspection abounds.

 

    The ending is tense, exciting, and bittersweet.  Both the good guys and bad guys suffer some casualties.  Still others live to fright another day, but not all the survivors live happily ever after.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.6/5 based on 4,882 ratings and 1,144 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.02/5 based on 193,898 ratings and 4,955 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “Lock the doors and don’t let anyone in.”

    “Doors are locked; no one’s knocking,” she said.

    “Don’t let me in,” I said, “unless I give you the password.”

    “Sure, Sookie,” she said, and I could tell she thought I’d gone over the edge.  “What’s the password?”

    “Fairypants,” I said, and how I came up with that I have no idea.  It simply seemed super unlikely that anyone else in the world would say it.

    “I got it,” Amelia said.  “Fairypants.”  (pg. 223)

 

    Dr. Ludwig takes care of the cases who can’t go to the regular human hospital because the staff would flee screaming at the sight of them or the lab wouldn’t be able to analyze their blood.  I could see Dr. Ludwig’s coarse brown hair as she walked around the bed to the door.  Dr. Ludwig had a deep voice.  I suspected she was a hobbit—not really, but she sure did look like one.  Though she wore shoes, right?  I spent some moments trying to remember if I’d ever caught a glimpse of Dr. Ludwig’s feet.  (pg. 234)

 

Kindle Details…

    Dead and Gone currently costs $6.99 at Amazon.  The rest of the e-books in the series are all in the $3.99-$9.99 price range.  Charlaine Harris has several other series for your Kindle; the prices of those books are generally in the $5.99-$14.99 range.

 

 

In a rare moment of wisdom, I listened to my own advice.  (pg. 145)

    I noted eleven instances of profanity in the first 25% of Dead and Gone, which is about average for this series.  Later on, one f-bomb crops up, plus a couple of rolls-in-the-hay.

    All that introspection mentioned earlier tends to slow down the pacing.  At one point, for example, the reader is treated to a couple of pages detailing Sookie’s thoughts while weeding the garden.

 

    For me the big issue was the investigation of first killing.  To put it tersely, there is none, even with two FBI agents arriving on the scene to help out.  Despite the killing's brutality, life continues on as usual for most of the residents of the small town of Bon Temps.  Eventually, the case gets solved, but even that is due to sudden epiphanies, not shrewd detective work.

 

    If you’re reading this series for the human (and not-so-human) interrelationships involved, you probably won’t mind the way the killings are handled.  But if you’re reading them for the paranormal crime mysteries, like I am, then you may find Dead and Gone to be quite a disappointment.

 

    Overall, this was still a worthwhile read, but it doesn’t measure up to the first couple of books in the series.  It’s almost as if the author has run out of paranormal crime concepts, but still has lots of ideas about where to take the characters’ lives.  We’ll see if things get better in the next installment, Dead in the Family.  I’m not quitting this series yet.

 

    7 Stars.  One last thing.  One of my favorite recurring characters in this series, Bubba, makes an appearance in Dead and Gone.  It’s brief, but here’s hoping he gets to play a more important part in one of the remaining tales.

From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris

   2008; 308 pages.  Book 8 (out of 13) in the “Sookie Stackhouse” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Paranormal Mystery; Gothic Romance; Vampires; Werewolves.  Overall Rating : 7½*/10.

 

    To say that these are turbulent times in Sookie Stackhouse’s life would be an understatement.  The Were clans (as in "Werewolf") in Bon Temps, Louisiana are engaged in a bitter struggle for supremacy and somehow Sookie is in the middle of it.  Sookie’s beau, Quinn, is a "weretiger" and is currently missing-in-action.

 

    The Vampire factions are also warring against each other, for dominance and Sookie is known to have a blood bond with one of the leaders.  One of her neighbors is a vamp, and he’s also one of her ex-lovers.  A vampire named Jonathan has been asking around about Sookie, which means he’s probably a spy for one of the factions.

 

    Sookie’s brother Jason is having marital difficulties with his werepanther wife.  Sookie’s roommate is a witch who’s in bad graces with her coven for accidentally turning a human into a pet cat.  The whole Pelt family thinks Sookie might be responsible for the killing of Debbie Pelt.  And in truth, they’re right.

 

    What’s a telepathic human to do?  Well, maybe keep showing up for work on time (a waitress at a local bar) and hope that Quinn shows up again, unharmed.

 

What’s To Like...

    From Dead to Worse is the eighth book in Charlaine Harris’s completed “Sookie Stackhouse” series.  I’ve been reading these books in order, so am a bit more than halfway through.  The book is written in the first-person POV, Sookie’s, and is a continuation of the events in the previous book, All Together Dead, which is recapped in the opening Prologue.  I much appreciated that, since it’s been a year since I read that one.

 

    There isn’t really a “main plotline” here.  Instead, the reader joins Sookie in about ten mini plot threads, including a.) who’s the withered man, b.) where’s Quinn, c.) who sent the phony cop to try and kill Eric, d.) who killed Maria-Star Cooper.  Plus about a half-dozen more.

 

    Sookie gets to meet two members of her extended family, which I thought was neat.  Early on, she meets her great-grandfather, Niall, whose fairy bloodline means he’s been living for a very long time.  At the book’s close, she meets a younger relative, whose identity we’ll refrain from giving since it would be a spoiler.

 

    The usual creatures—dead, undead, ultra-religious, and magical—are all once again present.  I liked the “ectoplasmic reconstruction” ritual, which would be quite useful.  The Thai courteous greeting known as “wai” is worked into the story and brought back fon memories.  I learned and used it on a business trip in Bangkok long ago.  I also enjoyed Charlaine Harris’s music nods: Evanescence, Dixie Chicks, Travis Tritt, and Carrie Underwood.  Those selections show good tastes.

 

    There’s no build-up to a rock-'em, sock-'em ending.  Instead, you get a bunch of “mini-endings” for each of the short plotlines.  Happily, all of those get resolved, including Bob the Cat’s dilemma.  From Dead to Worse is both a standalone novel and a part of a series.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.6/5 based on 3,511 ratings and 722 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.01/5 based on 188,428 ratings and 4,051 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    She bowed her head.  “The prince is my grandfather,” she said.

    “Oh,” I said.  “So, we’re like cousins?”

    She looked down at me, her eyes clear and dark and calm.  She didn’t look like a woman who’d just killed two wolves as quick as you could snap your fingers.  “Yes,” she said.  “I guess we are.”

    “So what do you call him?  Granddaddy?  Popsy?”

    “I call him ‘my lord.’ "

    “Oh.”  (loc. 2107)

 

    “Ah, that seems likely to result in some pretty bad things happening to Tanya,” I said.

    “Isn’t that what you want?”  Octavia looked innocent in a real sly way.

    “Well, yeah, but I don’t want her to die.  I mean, I don’t want anything she can’t get over to happen to her.  I just want her away and not coming back.”

    Amelia said, “ ‘Away and not coming back’ sounds pretty final to me.”

    It sounded that way to me, too.  “I’ll rephrase.”  (loc. 3541)

 

Kindle Details…

    Right now, From Dead to Worse sells for $7.99 at Amazon.  The rest of the books in the series are all in the $3.99-$9.99 price range.  Charlaine Harris has several other series for you in Kindle format, none of which I’ve read.  The prices of those books are in the $2.99-$14.99 range.

 

 I was practically reeking with normality by the time I got home.  (loc. 3601)

    I noted nine instances of profanity in the first 25% of From Dead to Worse, including one f-bomb.  That seemed about normal for this series.  I only caught a couple of typos: sooth/soothe and adherants/adherents.  I don’t recall any “adult situations”.

 

    After the Prologue, there’s a wedding chapter that gives updates on a bunch of characters that have little impact on the rest of the tale.  I think it’s the author’s way of introducing and giving updates for a slew of characters from the earlier books in the series, but if they don’t play a further part in the book, isn't it just wasted effort?

 

    The biggest issue has already been mentioned: the lack of an overarching storyline.  I felt like I was reading a Sookie Stackhouse anthology, and I’m not a big fan of anthologies.  Still, Charlaine Harris’s writing skills are sufficient to make it work.  But I think less-proficient writers should avoid the temptation of trying this.

 

     From Dead to Worse is a solid contribution to this series, but I wouldn't call it a top-tier entry.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed it, and look forward to the next book, Dead and Gone.  Hopefully, it will have an “everything builds to an exciting climax” storyline.

 

    7½ Stars.  Subtract 1 star if you’re not reading this series in order, particularly if you haven’t read the previous book, All Together Dead.  The backstory in the Prologue only helps if you’ve read the "back story".

All Together Dead - Charlaine Harris

   2007; 324 pages.  Book 7 (out of 13) in the “Sookie Stackhouse” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Paranormal Romance; Mystery; Vampires.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    Sookie’s got a new job!  But don't worry, she still has her old waitressing one at Merlotte’s in Bon Temps, Louisiana.  The new one’s a moonlighting gig, literally.

 

    She’s going to a giant gathering of vampires, where a number of trials will take place, including the murder charge being brought against Sophie-Anne Leclerq, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana.  The vamps want Sookie to use her telepathic powers to “tap into” the other humans in the crowd, most of whom will be unaware of Sookie’s talent, and might be thinking important clues about the cases being tried.

 

    The work should be easy enough, but it is potentially dangerous as well.  This is a large, well-publicized meeting of the undead, and there are humans out there—most prominently, The Fellowship of the Sun—who are vehemently anti-vampire and feel called by God to kill as many of the fanged fiends as they can.

 

    Even worse, the gathering may also attract some individuals—both living and undead—who have scores to settle with Sookie personally.

 

What’s To Like...

    All Together Dead is the seventh book in Charlaine Harris’s ultra-popular paranormal series, which Amazon labels as the “Sookie Stackhouse” series, while Wikipedia prefers to call it the “Southern Vampire Mysteries” series.  I’ve been reading it in chronological order, so I’m now about halfway through.

 

    The book’s main setting is new turf for Sookie, a fictional city called Rhodes located up along Lake Michigan.  I think this is the furthest Sookie’s been away from her home state of Louisiana.  As usual, the storyline is a pleasant blend of Romance (Sookie is still mad at Bill and currently involved with Quinn), Mystery (well you expect there’ll be some murder-&-mayhem at the convention, right?), and Paranormal Fantasy (human and vampire interacting).

 

    Vampires are by far the main paranormal creatures in All Together Dead, although weretigers, werepanthers, werewolves, fairies, witches, half-demons, and Britlingen all make at least cameo appearances.  I think the Britlingen are new to the series, and I definitely hope to see more of them in the remaining tales.

 

    There were at least eight separate plotlines to follow in the book.  All but one or two of those are tied up nicely.  Charlaine Harris uses italics for the telepathic conversations between Sookie and others, which made such dialogue easy to keep track of.  Speaking of things to keep track of, there are a poopload of characters woven into the storyline.  Most of these are recurring ones, and I think the author does this deliberately to provide mini-backstories for them as an aid for readers who aren’t worrying about book-order to better understand “the bigger picture” of the series.

 

    There are plenty of thrills-&-spills which build to an action-packed climax that's somehow both uplifting and somber.  To give details would entail spoilers and we eschew them in these reviews, but suffice it to say, the pacing is rapid and there are no slow spots.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.6*/5, based on 3,375 ratings and 561 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.07*/5, based on 197,536 ratings and 3,855 reviews.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Fangbanger (n.) : a lover and blood donor of a vampire (slang, made-up).

Others: Catahoula (n.).

 

Excerpts...

    “I’m going to a wedding shower tomorrow.  Not for Jason and Crystal.  Another couple.”

    Pam had paused, her hand on the doorknob of Eric’s office.  She considered my statement, her brows drawn together.  “I am not remembering what a wedding shower is, though I’ve heard of it,” she said.  She brightened.  “They’ll get married in a bathroom?”  (loc. 107)

 

    Andre made a beeline for me.

    “I know,” he said, “that is, Sophie-Anne tells me that I have done wrong to you.  I’m not sorry, because I will do anything for her.  Others don’t mean anything to me.  But I do regret that I have not been able to refrain from causing something that distresses you.”

    If that was an apology, it was the most half-assed one I’d ever received in my life.  It left almost everything to be desired.  All I could do was say, “I hear you.”  (loc. 3600)

 

Kindle Details…

    All Together Dead is presently priced at $8.99 at Amazon.  The rest of the 13-book series range in cost from $2.99 (Book 1 only) to $8.99.  Charlaine Harris has several other series for you, none of which I’ve yet started to read.  The e-books in those range from $4.99 to $12.99.

 

“Save your drama for your mama.”  (loc. 1694)

    As always, there isn’t a lot to nitpick about in All Together Dead.  The cussing is sparse—just 7 instances in the first 20%, including one f-bomb; plus a couple of rolls-in-the-hay along the way.  If you don’t like stories told in the first-person POV, be aware that this book, and the entire series, are all told this way.

    There’s no progress on the Romance angle.  Bill, Eric, and Quinn are all candidates to be Sookie’s true love, and I don’t expect that to be resolved anytime soon.  As already mentioned, there are gazillions of characters to meet and greet, which can get tiresome occasionally, but it's all for a good cause.

 

    The biggest issue, as noted by other reviewers, is the Murder-Mystery aspect.  Sookie finds an ally who is also telepathic, and the two of them set about sleuthing all the mayhem that’s afoot.  Alas, while there’s plenty of intrigue and excitement, the “great reveals” are relegated to just being dialogue in the final chapter.  It felt rather anticlimactic.

 

    But let’s be honest, we read this series for Sookie’s witty narration, for the interspecies interactions, and to witness Sookie falling into an abundance of troubles, yet somehow squirming her way out of it.

 

    All Together Dead succeeds nicely on all those counts.

 

    8 Stars. About halfway through the book Sookie attends a gay wedding, a royal one to boot, and nobody blinks an eye.  On a larger scale, the hypothesis being presented is that, no matter what our superficial differences are (does it really matter what humanoid species we belong to?), we need to learn to accept others as they are.

    Something to contemplate as we hobnob along with Sookie and a slew of vampires.

Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris

   2006; 324 pages.  Book 6 (out of 13) in the (completed) “Sookie Stackhouse” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Paranormal Mystery; Gothic Romance; Vampires.  Overall Rating : 6½*/10.

 

    It’s a sad time.  Sookie’s cousin, Hadley, is dead, a stake driven through her heart, and it now falls to Sookie to make a trip to New Orleans to clean out Hadley’s apartment.

 

    Before Hadley's demise she had a pretty high-ranking position: she was the consort to the queen of the Louisiana vampires, Sophie-Anne Leclerq, who recently married the Vampire King of Arkansas, Peter Threadgill.  Like many royal marriages, it’s an arrangement of convenience, not of love.

 

    Sophie-Anne and Hadley were close.  Extremely close.  Perhaps even embarrassingly close in the eyes of Sophie's new husband.  Particularly if a certain item, given by the King to his bride and presently rumored to be missing turns up somewhere else.

 

    So be on the lookout when you’re going through things at Hadley’s apartment, Sookie.  And be careful if you find anything that looks a bit …um… regal.  Someone may be willing to kill for it.

 

What’s To Like...

    Definitely Dead is the sixth book in Charlaine Harris’s "Sookie Stackhouse" series, which I’ve thus far been reading in order.  Vampires take center stage here, with Sookie once again reluctantly getting involved in their affairs.

 

    The shape-shifting weres (as in “werewolves”, “werepanthers”, “werefoxes”, etc.) are also around, and it was nice to also see demons, including “half-demons” and “semi-demons”, and fairies getting some ink.  I was especially delighted when a witch or four showed up, and it’s always a pleasure to have Bubba show up, even if he's just making a cameo appearance.

 

    There are plenty of plotlines to keep Sookie busy and the reader turning the pages.  Children get lost, pregnancies lead to complications, The family of the late Debbie Pelt still wants answers about her disappearance, messengers get waylaid, and all sorts of people – dead and undead – are way too interested in what’s in Hadley’s apartment.  Also the recurring theme of who Sookie should give her heart to (metaphorically, not literally) – Eric or Bill – now gets a bit more complicated with the emergence of a third suitor.

 

    I enjoyed the music nods to No Doubt, NIN, Eminem, and Usher, as well as the mention of two favorite "undead" songs: “After Midnight” (see below) and “Bad Moon Rising”.  Sookie gets a genealogical jolt late in the book that helps explain why undead males seem to always be attracted to her.  And it’s always fun to see Tarot cards being used.

 

    The ending is suitably exciting, if a bit straightforward.  Sookie saves the day and most, but not all, of the plot threads are resolved.  The book’s title is referenced a couple of times, but mostly it’s just a general caveat about declaring someone dead in a world where all sorts of undead possibilities exist.  There is some cussing, but not a lot: I counted 37 instances in the whole book, the majority of which occurred in the later chapters.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.7/5 based on 1,640 ratings and 560 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.01/5 based on 198,265 ratings and 4,148 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “The boss wants to see you,” she said.  “I’m calling from his office.”

    Eric’s office, in the back of his club, Fangtasia, was well soundproofed.  I could barely hear KDED, the all-vampire radio station, playing in the background: Clapton’s version of “After Midnight”.

    “Well, lah-de-dah.  He’s too lofty to make his own phone calls?”

    “Yes,” Pam said.  That Pam—literal-minded was the phrase for her.  (pg. 32)

 

    Somewhere close, there was a lot of hostility and evil intent.  We left the sidewalk to cross the street to the parking lot.  I gripped Quinn’s arm and then let it go so we could clear for action.

    “Something’s wrong,” I said.

    Without replying, Quinn began scanning the area.  He unbuttoned his suit coat with his left hand so he could move without hindrance.  His fingers curled into fists.  Since he was a man with a powerful protective urge, he stepped ahead of me, in front of me.

    So of course, we were attacked from behind.  (pg. 96)

 

“You look better than a Happy Meal to a three-year-old.”  (pg. 276)

    I had a couple of quibbles with Definitely Dead, mostly with the storytelling.

 

    The book starts out slow, as we get reintroduced to all sorts of secondary characters who frankly will not play any part in the story, including The Fellowship of the Sun, a group of baddies from earlier books in the series.  Backstories are given, acquaintances are made, but unless this is your first book in this series, it's all old news and doesn't lead anywhere.

 

    The same holds true for several of the plot threads.  A little boy goes missing, Sookie’s telepathic talent saves the day.  Jason’s werepanther girlfriend has had a miscarriage and is in desperate need of medical help, Sookie comes through with the discreet, paranormal medical connections.  I kept waiting to see how both of these would later impact the main storyline, but they never did.  Frankly, after a hundred pages, I still had no idea what the main storyline was.

 

    Then there’s Hadley.  How come I can’t remember anything about her?  Well it turns out she'd never appeared in any of the previous books in the series.  She and her fatal backstory were introduced in a one-off short story titled One Word Answer, published elsewhere in a gothic anthology magazine.  Unless you happened to have also read that magazine, Hadley will blindside you.

 

    It almost felt like Charlaine Harris came up with this great idea for a plotline, then realized it was only good for 150 pages, so she padded it with all sorts of tangents and backstories to turn it into a full-length novel.

 

    6½ Stars.  Definitely Dead may be filled with filler, but it still does fine as a beach read or airport novel.  High-brow it isn’t; highly-entertaining it is.

Dead As A Doornail - Charlaine Harris

   2005; 295 pages.  Book 5 (out of 13) in the “Sookie Stackhouse” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Paranormal Mystery; Gothic Romance; Vampires.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

    There’s a sniper shooting the Weres in Bon Temps, Louisiana!  Last week it was Heather Kinman, the first one shot, and the first fatality.  Then it was Calvin Norris’s turn.  Now Sookie’s boss, Sam Merlotte, has just become the third and latest victim.  Fortunately, both Calvin and Sam survived, but not without losing a lot of blood.

    All three were “weres”, aka “shifters”, aka “shape shifters”.  Humans tend to refer to them as "werewolves", but that’s not totally accurate, since a lot of them turn into other animals when there’s a full moon.  For instance, there’s a whole pack of werepanthers in Bon Temps.

    Needless to say, the local Shifter community wants the sniper found and disposed of as quickly as possible.  But who is it?

    Well, any vampire is under suspicion, since shifters and vamps have never gotten along well.  Humans are less suspect because most of them don’t even know that shifters exist, let alone live in Bon Temps.  Sookie’s brother Jason has just been “turned” into a shifter though, so perhaps he’s holding a grudge against the were community.  There are some weres who think he should be eliminated, guilty or not, simply as a precaution.  Some even think Sookie could’ve done it, since she’s one of the few local humans who knows all about shifters and might hold a grudge about Jason being turned into one.

    So everybody watch their step and stay alert!  There’s a mystery to solve, and were-lives depend on it!

What’s To Like...

    Dead as a Doornail is the fifth book in Charlaine Harris’s incredibly popular “Sookie Stackhouse” series.  I’ve been reading these in order, and it’s fun to watch Sookie gradually develop from a young and innocent bar waitress into a valuable go-between betwixt our world and the paranormal.

    The series' storytelling seems also to be evolving.  This time there’s more emphasis on solving the sniper mystery, and less emphasis on Sookie’s romantic escapades.  Male and female readers might have different views on whether that's a plus or a minus.  The vampires here play second fiddle to the shifters, which is a nice change of pace, plus I think Sookie is growing a tad bit less sassy.

    There are a slew of characters to keep track of, some recurring, others new.  The number of “regulars” keeps growing, and Charlaine Harris  does a nice and thorough job of getting new readers acquainted with them within the first couple of chapters.  I didn’t note any new paranormal critters to deal with; just vampires, fairies, and shifters.

    As with any good mystery, there are multiple plot threads to solve.  Who’s killing the shifters?  Why’s Tara with Mickey instead of Franklin?  Who’s going to be the “Leader of the Pack”?  Why is someone trying to kill Sookie (after all, she’s not a shifter)?  Will Sookie ever be free of the inquiries about Debbie Pelt’s disappearance?  That last one is a carryover from the previous book, in which Sookie learned what it feels like to kill someone.

    There’s a pair of literary nods: one to Tami Hoag (whom I’ve read and liked), one to Carolyn Haines (whom I’d never heard of, but is real).  The ritual for choosing the Leader of the Pack was neat to witness, and my favorite vamp, Bubba, makes a cameo appearance near the end of the book.  The story is written in the first-person POV (Sookie’s), and I counted about 20 instances of cussing, which averages out to about one every fifteen pages or so.  Sookie doesn’t get to visit any new places; everything takes place either in Shreveport or in the greater Bon Temps area.

    The ending is stutter-step, exciting, and surprising, thanks to a couple of twists that I didn’t see coming.  If you guess the identity of the sniper before Sookie figures it out, you did better than me.  There’s a vague teaser for the next book in the series, as well as a 12-page preview of it, although personally I never read those previews.

Excerpts...

    “Eric’s provided you with a bodyguard?  You need a bodyguard?”

    “Listen, bozo,” I said through clenched jaws, “my life goes on while you’re gone.  So does the town.  People are getting shot around here, among them Sam.  We needed a substitute bartender, and Charles was volunteered to help us out.”  That may not have been entirely accurate, but I was not in the accuracy business at the moment.  I was in the Make My Point business.  (pg. 107)

    “Sookie, you have to understand that for hundreds, thousands, of years we have considered ourselves better than humans, separate from humans.”  He thought for a second.  “Very much in the same relationship to humans as humans have to, say, cows.  Edible like cows, but cute, too.”

    I was knocked speechless.  I had sensed this, of course, but to have it spelled out was just … nauseating.  Food that walked and talked, that was us.  McPeople.  (pg. 214)

You can take the man out of the Viking era, but you can’t take the Viking out of the man.  (pg. 212 )

    I can’t think of anything to quibble about in Dead as a Doornail.  The pacing was moderate over the first half of the book, but picked up nicely in the second half.  Keeping all the characters straight might prove a challenge to readers new to the series, but it wasn’t one for me.

    Dead as a Doornail is both a standalone novel and a part of a completed 13-book series.  It will be interesting to see if this shift towards murder-mystery solving is a one-off thing or the start of a new trend.

    8 Stars.  I think Charlaine Harris’s main aspiration in writing this series is to keep the reader entertained.  That may not sound very ambitious, but Dead as a Doornail achieved that goal nicely for me, and sometimes that’s exactly what you want from a book.

Dead To The World - Charlaine Harris

   2004; 291 pages.  Book 4 (out of 13) of the “Sookie Stackhouse” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Vampires; Paranormal Mystery; Gothic Romance.  Laurels : None noted, but  per Wikipedia it was “adapted as the fourth season of the HBO series, “True Blood”.  Overall Rating : 7½*/10.

    The vampire Eric has lost his mind.  Somebody apparently swiped it when he wasn’t looking.

    Okay, they didn’t take his physical brain, but they did erase his memory.  He has no recollection of anything from his past.  Heck, he doesn’t even remember his name.  Who would do such a thing?  And why?  Vampires are not to be trifled with.

    It’s lucky for Eric that Sookie Stackhouse recognizes him as he’s wandering along in a daze on a roadside, out on a cold December night in Bon Temps, Louisiana, wearing only a pair of jeans.  She takes him home, but quickly realizes that this is not the normal, hunky, demanding, arrogant Eric.  He’s confused, meek, and polite almost to a fault.  He’s kind of pathetic, actually.  But physically, he’s still quite the hunk.

    Which means he’s still kind of sexy.

What’s To Like...

    Dead to the World is the fourth book in Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series, which thus far I’ve been reading in order.  We readers are introduced to a new "magical" group here: witches.  They come in two flavors, white witches (aka: “Wiccans”), who practice “good” magic; and black witches, who naturally practice bad, “black” magic.  The human versions have power aplenty, but when you cross a witch with vampires, shape-shifters, and/or were-creatures, the enhanced result is something you don’t want to run afoul of.  One other new critter species is introduced, but listing that one would be a spoiler.

    Eric’s amnesia is just one of 4 or 5 storylines for the reader to follow.  Some characters go missing, others go rolling in the hay (so to speak), one goes to Peru for a while, and Sookie makes a New Year's resolution to not get beat up for a change.  We  pay a visit to Fangtasia again, the vampire bar in Shreveport, and that’s always a treat.  And we pass through Hotshot, a small whistle stop close to Bon Temps, where the townspeople are all decidedly strange.

    Dead to the World was published in 2005, and I chuckled at a couple “signs of the times”.  Sookie occasionally uses a pay phone while out on the road, and when figuring out how to go somewhere new, she gets out a map.  There’s even a mention of a Toys-R-Us store.  Things were certainly  different back then, and that's not too long ago.

    I liked the way the Wiccans were portrayed.  No warts or pointy black hats here; just average humans who happen to cast spells and make potions.  The story is again told from a first-person POV (Sookie’s), and there are 15 chapters (plus a prologue) covering 291 pages, which averages out to about 18 pages per chapter.  There’s some cussing and a fair amount of sex, but that’s been true since Book One.

    Everything builds to a suitably climactic and drawn-out battle which ties up several of the story threads.  Most of the others get resolved shortly thereafter, and some of those seemed rushed.  The Romance angle is left hanging, but that’s deliberate, and I suspect will continue through the next several books in the series.  I’m okay with that.

Kewlest New Word…

Inimical (adj.) : tending to obstruct or harm; unfriendly; hostile.

Excerpts...

    Alcide still didn’t look satisfied.  Of course, this was the man who had believed Debbie Pelt when she said that I was definitely back with Bill.

    I wondered if I could get some witch to cast a truth spell on Debbie Pelt, whom I despised because she had been cruel to Alcide, insulted me grievously, burned a hole in my favorite wrap and – oh – tried to kill me by proxy.  Also, she had stupid hair.

    Alcide wouldn’t know an honest Debbie if she came up and hit him on the ass, though backbiting was a specialty of the real Debbie.  (pg. 107)

   “Should have sent someone to the hospital with her,” Claudine said, shaking her waterfall of black hair.

    “I offered to go with her,” Eric said indignantly.  “She said it would be too suspicious if she went to the hospital with a vampire.”

    “Well, hel-lo, tall, blond, and dead,” Claudine said.  She looked Eric up and down, admiring what she saw.  “You in the habit of doing what human women ask of you?”  (pg. 175)

 If there were an international butt competition, Eric would win, hands down – or cheeks up.  (pg. 119)

    For maximum entertainment when reading Dead to the World, it’s best read to switch off your “thinking brain”.  Otherwise, the following questions might keep you awake at night.

    How does the excursion to Peru have any impact the main storyline?

    How does the main MIA thread have any impact on the main storyline, and why, for that matter, should it happen at the same time as everything else?

    Why teleport Shreveport-based Eric all the way to Bon Temps after zapping him with amnesia?  Why not just kill him instead?

    If you’re going to muscle in on some enterprise somewhere, shouldn’t your aspiration be a little higher than Shreveport?  Somehow, being the underworld kingpin of Shreveport doesn’t sound very impressive.

    I came to the conclusion that the main reason for writing Dead to the World was to introduce a new Romance angle into Sookie’s life.  Everything else – the turf war, the amnesia, the kidnappings, and the slew of killings of both the dead and undead – is just trimming, and didn't even have any plot twists to keep you on the edge of your seat.

    But hey, it makes for a great beach or airplane read.

    7½ Stars.  Add 1 star if you are reading this series for the Romantic Intrigue.  You will not be disappointed.  I read it for the paranormal mystery and suspense, and still found it sufficiently entertaining, mostly due to Charlaine Harris's writing skills.

Club Dead - Charlaine Harris

   2003; 275 pages.  Book 3 (out of 13) of the “Sookie Stackhouse” series.  New Author? : No.  Genre : Vampires; Paranormal Thriller; Gothic Romance.  Overall Rating : 7*/10.

    The vampire Bill Compton has gone missing in action!  He’s Sookie Stackhouse’s sometimes boyfriend, sometimes lover and full-time source of anxiety and frustration, and it goes without saying that Sookie’s upset.

    Of course, the reason why she’s upset is a little complicated.  The last time he was with her, Bill told Sookie he had to do a top-secret project for the (Vampire) Queen of Louisiana.  Hush-hush, very dangerous, and if anything happens to me, please hide my computer and its hard drive.

    But it turns out that Bill isn’t in Louisiana, he disappeared while in Mississippi.  And the word on the street (okay, in the vampire bars) is that he’s being held captive by the local bloodsuckers.  Oh yeah, and those local vamps include his ex-lover, Lorena, with whom he had a long and passionate relationship.  Could it be that Bill was in the process of dumping Sookie to rekindle a relationship with Lorena?

    Now you know why Sookie’s as mad as ...well... a jilted lover.

What’s To Like...

    Club Dead is the third installment  in Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series, and broadens the setting a bit more.  The first two books were set in Louisiana and Texas, respectively; here Sookie is off to adventure and mayhem in Mississippi.  We get to visit a new vampire nightclub, ‘Jospehine’s’, also known as the titular ‘Club Dead’, and learn that vampire royalty: kings and queens, rule the undead territories we mortals know as our 50 states.

    The storyline has the usual structure:  Sookie goes on a quest on behalf of the vampires; she gets beat up a lot and has relationship issues with Bill; the action speeds up and the good guys, girls, and ghouls eventually kick undead ass.

    A character from Book One is back, “Bubba”, and he’s one of my favorites.  There are a bunch of Mississippi undead to meet as well.  Vampires are still the most prevalent beasties we run across, but we learn a lot more about the various shapeshifters, generically called “Weres”, of which the Werewolves are the dominant type.  We also cross paths with a goblin, and I think that's a new beast for the series.  It’s also hinted that witches will make an appearance soon.

    The vampire Eric plays a larger-than-usual role here, but most of the other Louisiana characters – the patrons and workers at Merlotte’s Bar, Sookie’s brother, and the Bon Temps locals – are limited to cameo appearances.  I enjoyed the brief nod to Samhain, and I’d still like to take at least one flight on Anubis Airlines.

    Sookie gets her first mani-pedi, as well as her first killing.  There’s some sex and lots of cussing, but that’s the norm for this series.  The ending is adequate, but not spectacular.  Instead of a tension-built climax, it felt to me like it was rushed, and then coasted along another 50 pages or so afterward.  A major thread remained unresolved (Bill’s mission for the vampire queen of Louisiana) although this could also be him BS-ing Sookie.  Either way, the main plotline, Bill’s abduction, is tied up completely, and Club Dead is both a standalone tale, as well as part of a series.

Kewlest New Word…

Virago (n.) : a domineering, violent, or bad-tempered woman.

Excerpts...

    “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,” I told myself.  That had been Gran’s favorite Bible quotation.  When I was about nine, I’d asked her to explain that to me, and she’d said, “Don’t go looking for trouble; it’s already looking for you.”  (loc. 2655)

   “Did this Alcide kill him?”  Bill looked down at me, reconsidered.  “Or Sookie?”

    “He says no.  They found the corpse in the closet of Alcide’s apartment, and they hatched a plan to hide his remains.”  Eric sounded like that had been kind of cute of us.

    “My Sookie hid a corpse?”

    “I don’t think you can be too sure about that possessive pronoun.”
     “Where did you learn that term, Northman?”

    “I took ‘English as a Second Language’ at a community college in the seventies.”   (loc. 3332)

Kindle Details...

    Club Dead sells for $7.99 at Amazon.  The rest of the books in the 13-volume series also go for $7.99, except for Book 1, Dead Until Dark, which is only $2.99.  Charlaine Harris has several other series started, and their books range in price from $2.99 to $13.99.

 “This Blood’s For You.”  (loc. 440)

    I had some quibbles.  For me, the book started out slow, although in fairness, that may have been a necessary evil as Charlaine Harris introduces a slew of the recurring characters to any reader that might be making Club Dead their first book in the series.  However, since most of these meet-&-greets play no part in the story, this was just lag time for me.  Even the Book Two baddies, the Brotherhood of the Sun, appear briefly later on, presumably for the same reason.   Still, once the introductions are over, around a quarter of the way through the book, the pace picks up nicely, and its lots of thrills and kills thereafter.

   A more significant problem was the storyline as a whole, which felt disjointed to me.  It was never really made clear (at least to me) why Bill was kidnapped.  Nor, as already mentioned, was it clear whether he was actually on a secret mission for the queen.  Busting Bill out of captivity seemed way too easy, and the subsequent “chase” seemed contrived and way too speedily put into action by the baddies.  All in all, the whole storyline felt formulaic.

    True, Bill has a computer program that would be useful to all sorts of factions.  But is it worth engaging in kidnapping and torturing, and risking a war with various other undead for?  It didn’t seem so to me.

    Maybe the author had a deadline to meet, or maybe my brain was just too tired or dense to see the answers to my quibbles.  I've read the first three books in this series, all in the past six months.  Maybe I'm a tad bit burnt out on it.

    7 Stars.  Add 1 star if this is your first Sookie Stackhouse book.  You'll find it a fascinating series.