A superb series of novels – Sookie Stackhouse books 1-7

Author: Charlaine Harris

If you are interested in the True Blood series on HBO – get these books and get this set. I was STRONGLY recommended to read these books after talking about the show by a friend who read them when they first came out.

Sookie Stackhouse works as a Cocktail Waitress when she’s not get into trouble. She is different from most as she is telepathic and can read other people’s minds. This ability has bought her into contact with Vampires, Shapers, Fairies and Were’s. Who like her are often treated with distain and distrust by the average person in her home town of Bon Temps.

Includes:
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse

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Sookie Stackhouse books – "Dead Until Dark"  review:
After clos­ing the last page of this book, I came away excited in dis­cov­er­ing yet another series to indulge in and came away sur­prised at how much I enjoyed this story. I bought Dead Until Dark when it first came out 7 years ago. I remem­ber many read­ers enjoy­ing it but I remem­ber I couldn’t get past the first chap­ter. The prob­lem I had was with Sookie’s “south­ern” voice, which kept throw­ing me out of the story. I was pre­pared for it this time and man­aged to get past it.
The super­nat­ural crea­tures and events that the com­mu­nity is now faced with is still a work in progress. Two years after vam­pires have been legally rec­og­nized and accepted into soci­ety there is still prej­u­dice and mis­un­der­stand­ing. There will always be the few bad apples to spoil it for oth­ers who choose to main­ stream it. But those things will only add more ten­sion and excite­ment, which is good. The super­nat­ural com­mu­nity has thus far intro­duced a shape shifter and a com­mu­nity of vam­pires but I’m sure this shall expand fur­ther. As for faults – I don’t care for Sookie attract­ing so many dif­fer­ent suit­ors. Any­way, I read this book in one sit­ting and have already fin­ished the sec­ond book in the series.

Sookie Stackhouse books – "Living Dead in Dallas" review:
In this book the storyline was very good, perhaps not as simple and straight forward as the first but still very enjoyable. In this there were basically two major storylines, which were both fascinating and worked effectively side by side to each other. But as well as these two there was several other developing plots, which either get resolved or will presumably be developed in the next book.However as it is a Sookie Stackhouse novel nothing is simple, obvious or even straight forward. Which makes for a novel that is full of surprises to not mention humour, as the author uses sarcasm and wit for some great serious situations.
The author is an excellent story teller first and foremost. I really enjoy the way she sets an excellent scene. She gives you a taste of life in the heroine’s world and continually makes dramatic things happen that leaves you on the edge of your seat.I really like the way she uses both excitement and suspense throughout the book. She writes in such a way as the build up these features and in a way you are never have a clue as to what will happen next.Any criticism I have in terms of the story is the addition of several other non human types to the book. The first concentrated on Vampires but in this one there were four types. This can get a little confusing and something I find difficult to get my head round. I am concerned if this continues in future books it could become not only confusing but silly.
I believe Sookie Stackhouse is a fantastic character. I like the fact she is nervous and sensitive at times and lacks believe and confidence in herself. Her character and personality are so well described and there is a consistency that I like in the author’s writing when dealing with her. I get the impression the author likes her too.
The only criticism I have about her, having read two books on her is she seems to have so many near death experiences. In this book there were several, which can after a while turn you off as you could stop believing in her. I haven’t got to this stage yet but if it continues I will and it could become boring.
The support characters are also very interesting and again well written for. Some just feature in this novel but some and these are the ones I prefer are the ones who feature is several of the books. These you can build up and understanding with and see how they deal with new situations. They are skilfully described and quite different in character and personality for each other.

I thought the book was consistently well written and about the right length. It seemed a logical place for the novel to finish in a well rounded polished way. I enjoyed the author’s style of writing, not over elaborating on things just giving you a clear concise picture.

Sookie Stackhouse books – "Club Dead" review:
When the book opens, vampire boyfriend Bill has become inattentive to Sookie, pending all of his time at his computer. Sookie discovers that Bill has been working on a top secret project for the vampire Queen of Louisiana (an incredibly weak premise to hang the entire plot on, IMO). We learn that in the US, vampires are organized into kingdoms, equivalent to states, which are further divided into areas (Eric, Bill’s boss, is the Sheriff of Area 5). Suspecting that Bill is being held by the King of Mississippi, Russell Edgington, Sookie heads to Jackson to infiltrate the Mississippi vamp community and rescue him.
I’ve had a hard time writing this review, because I find I don’t have that much to say about Club Dead. The plot of Club Dead is more tightly focused than the previous two books, very simple and straightforward. There is almost no mystery to speak of. We see very little of Bill, and almost nothing of Bon Temps. There’s much less of Sookie puzzling about the differences between humans and nonhumans, or meditating on character or morality — in fact, although she grows quite a bit, she’s much less reflective throughout this book. And the new characters, such as Alcide, while solid, were less intriguing to me than the secondary characters in the first two books.
I did really enjoy it, though, and I’m still very enthusiastic about the series, which shows that I can actually love something even when it doesn’t make me think.

Sookie tackhouse books – "Dead to the World" review:
"This is the fourth Sookie Stackhouse book. Sookie is a telepathic waitress in a small town – everyone knows what she can do, but no one really wants to think about it very much. Sookie is now very aware of the many different types of magical creatures living in and around her town. In this book, Eric, a vampire she knows, turns up with amnesia. A group of witches have come to the town, and one of them cursed Eric because he didn’t do what she wanted. Now the witches are looking for him, and Sookie is stuck caring for him while she tries to restore his memory and figure out what’s going on before she ends up dead. Protecting herself and her friends will involve working with both the vampires and the werewolves.
Unfortunately, the witches also have shapeshifters in their ranks, so everyone has to be doubly careful."

Sookie Stackhouse books – "Dead as a Doornail" review:
Another heroine might have skipped right to self-righteousness. But Sookie knows that she has cut a life short, and that life is valuable, however bad the choices that have shaped it. Although paranormals are rife with heroines who excel as guiltless retribution, I was glad Sookie felt like a normal person would who had to shoot someone at close range.
I think that for Sookie, there’s a very interesting parallel between conservative Christian morality and traditional feminine norms. As the books progress, she is moving father away from both, represented in part by her rejection of the Fellowship of the Sun, and strongly in the next book with her rejection of her local priests. An emotion which signals this shift for Sookie is anger. In the first several books, she either didn’t anger, or reflected that anger was not her usual style. In later books, she’s more angry and more comfortable with it.
But she’s still the good girl, as her differing relationships with vamps from her friend Tara reveal. Tara used her vamp boyfriends to gain material possessions, and Sookie makes it clear that this is no better than fangbangers using vamps, or vamps using humans for blood. I have some mixed feelings about Sookie’s judgmental attitude towards Tara, actually. Sookie is developing a bit of a hard edge, which becomes clearer in later books.

Sookie Stackhouse books – "Definitely Dead" review:
Telepath Sookie Stackhouse pulls herself away from new love interest Quinn (a were-
tiger), and travels to New Orleans to sort through her murdered cousin Hadley’s estate. Hadley, a fairly new vampire, had been quite the bohemian goth-eccentric as well as lover to the Louisiana Vampire Queen Sophie-Anne. And now she is definitely dead – the non-negotiable finale to a vampire existence.Ominous events shadow Sookie from even before she leaves her home of Bon Temps.Murder, missed messages, and mayhem presage the even greater dangers Sookie encounters in The Big Easy. Hadley’s landlady, the witch Amelia, joins with Sookie to solve the mystery of the body they find in Hadley’s closet. Forces conspire to stop Sookie from delving into Hadley’s past, and her relationship with the Queen.
Perhaps the most vicious blow is not physical, but emotional, as Sookie discovers the real reason her first love, Bill, came to Bon Temps.

Sookie Stackhouse books – "All Together Dead" review:
My absolute favorite Sookie stackhouse to date. A lot of stuff happens in this book, but towards the end the action is great and goes somewhere you weren’t really sure Ms. Harris would take you. Sookie travels to a Vampire Summit with Queen Sophie-Ann’s entourage, which lends to some hilarious moments with different vamps and the fangbangers at their side. Like I said before, there is a lot more action then in previous books which is just exciting. Plus Quinn and Eric play for sookie’s interest. When I started reading this series I was afraid it would follow the same old formula every time, but thats not really the case here and i’m glad. Charlaine Harris is building great stories one on top of the other and they are surely going to lead to something great.

Sookie Stackhouse books  – "From Dead to Worse" review:
The story opens with our agreeable Southern Belle allowing herself to suffer the insult of being asked to attend the Bon Temps society wedding of the year, not as a guest, but as bar staff. Further proof that this is the Sookie we recognise (- and want to shake sometimes) comes later in the chapter when one of the brides of the double wedding pleads with Sookie to take a momentary break from setting up drinks and slip into the gown of a bridesmaid who’s fainted. “I was amazed that Halleigh has had the presence of mind to divest Tiffany of the bridesmaid dress before her departure for the hospital. Brides are ruthless.” In the midst of changing from bridesmaid princess back to bartending Cinderella, Sookie’s former beau and first love, The Vampire Bill (- no, really) turns up in the room to tell some truths about his feelings for her. They have a slight history of betrayal, these two, and Sookie’s snarky reaction to his earnest admission put my back up that we might have more of the cynical pod-Sookie from the last book. Happily, in moments she is once again her genial, open-hearted self, even advocating a budding relationship between her boss, bar owner/shapeshifter Sam Merlotte, and a werepanther Sookie is suspicious of, simply because she wants Sam to be happy. Mind you, there has always been a little frisson of something something between Sam and Sookie, so her obliging happy face is even more selfless.

The books details:

• Mass Market Paperback: 1 pages
• Publisher: Ace (November 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441017770
• ISBN-13: 978-0441017775
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 6.2 x 4.2 inches

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