Southern Vampire Book Series

All ratings are out of 5 coffins.

Dead Until Dark

SYNOPSIS
Dead Until Dark is the first book in Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series and introduces us to the protagonist, Sookie Stackhouse. Sookie is a twenty-something waitress with the unique ability to read minds.

The story opens with Sookie meeting one of the town's newest (and oldest) residents, Bill Compton. Bill has a taste for blood because, well... he's a vampire. The Japanese have recently invented a synthetic blood, making it possible for vampires to “come out of the coffin”, since they no longer need to prey on humans to survive. The presence of a vampire in Bon Temps is enough to cause a bit of a stir, to say the least.

A former classmate of Sookie's is found dead, and then one of her coworkers. Both of the young women have bite marks on their bodies, which suggest they are “fangbangers”, or human women with a penchant for dating vampires. Sookie knows that the authorities in Bon Temps will no doubt have Bill Compton high on their list of suspects, despite the fact that the two women were strangled to death and not drained of their blood.

Sookie's taken a liking to Bill, partly because he doesn't think of her as “crazy Sookie” like the rest of Bon Temps, but also because she can't read his thoughts. She begins doing a little of her own investigative work in hopes of proving that Bill isn't the killer. However, her initial curiosity towards the Bon Temps murders gets much more personal when it becomes clear that she's the next target.

REVIEW
Dead Until Dark is a great blend of mystery, romance, and humor. I don't generally read romances, but Harris makes the book accessible to almost any reader. The romance isn't too pervy, and the mysteries are straightforward enough that the story doesn't get bogged down with unbelievable plot twists. There's a good chance you'll sit down with it and wind up reading cover to cover.

Sookie is the kind of protagonist you can't help liking, and even though she's written like your average southern belle, she isn't just a damsel in distress waiting to be rescued by the heroic vampires. She handles her fair share of fights all on her own. In addition, she's much smarter and wiser than most people in her world give her credit for. She hears the most private thoughts of everyone around her day in and day out, which makes her more than a little cynical regarding her fellow humans.

RATING

 

Living Dead in Dallas

SYNOPSIS
Sookie's back in Living Dead in Dallas, still working in Merlotte's and dating Vampire Bill. Things have calmed down in Bon Temps after the killings in the first book, but things take a wild turn again when Sookie finds Merlotte's cook dead in the parking lot of the bar. To complicate things further, her agreement with Eric to use her telepathic powers at his request is called up when he loans her out to a group of vampires in Dallas.

REVIEW
Having read all of the books, I will say this was one of my least favorite of the series. Perhaps it was the unfamiliar surroundings of Dallas that turned me off, but the multiple plot lines give a disjointed and jumbled-together feel. We start with one mystery, but become completely sidetracked by another, which dominates most of the book and is far less personal than the other mysteries in the series. When we finally get back to solving the first, it seems rushed and the end result is an unsatisfying conclusion.

RATING

 

Club Dead - review coming soon!

 

Dead to the World - review coming soon!

 

Dead as a Doornail - review coming soon!

 

Definitely Dead - review coming soon!

 

All Together Dead - review coming soon!

 

From Dead to Worse - review coming soon!

 

Dancers in the Dark novella- review coming soon!