Dead as a Doornail (Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Book 5) by Charlaine Harris

Dead as a Doornail is the 5th book in the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire book series by Charlaine Harris.  This review will deal with events from the other four books so, if you wish to enjoy the adventure  of the story fresh and have thoughts of starting this book series at some point, turn back now or be spoiled for ever!

So, quite a bit happened in Book 4, Dead to the World.  First and foremost, we found out there are witches in Bon Temps!  We also found out what it would be like if Eric wasn't Eric anymore.  These two occurrences  are not mutually exclusive.  Sookie found Eric after the witches took away his memory away.  Sookie was then convinced to take care of Eric while Pam found a way to get rid of the witches.  Of course the plan relied on Sookie and some werewolves (why not).  This is where Alcide's psycho-ex, Debbie comes in.  Proclaiming herself there to help, she found an opportunity to try and take Sookie out.  Long story short, Debbie was unsuccessful and nobody knows where she is.  That's mainly because Sookie blew her away with Jason's shotgun and Eric buried her somewhere while his memory was messed up.  Once he was back to himself, he didn't remember anything that happened when he didn't remember his real self.  Too bad since he and Sookie really hit off then! Then, there's Jason and the were-panthers (sounds like a U/F doo-wop group)

The thing that I liked about Dead to the World, I love about this book.  Charlaine Harris not only gives us a primary story to deal with but, she layers a few subplots to spice up this book.  The stories are woven in a way that aids the pacing so that, we're never bored though still not left exhausted by an abundance of action.

Sookie is as ever on her road to self discovery.  This is the one spot that the book way outpaces the HBO show.  In the books, she does not just deal with situations, she learns from them.  We see some of the same from the other characters but, it's more obvious with Sookie.  I do have to give Jason his due.  In the first book, that character was rather less than we saw on TV but, he has starting really evolving lately.

Dead as a Doornail was probably just what I needed from the series to keep my interest.  There is plenty of action and exposition to keep a reader entertained.  It still gets an R rating from me for its violence, language and frank use of mature situations.

 

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by Tynga at Wednesday, September 23, 2015

 Ace Books, Charlaine Harris, Purchased, Review, Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire, True Blood, vampires  3 People left their mark

✎

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

This is the fourth book in the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mysteries Series.  If you have not yet read or watched the HBO show, yet intend to read this series, turn back now and please, please, come back later. I will likely disclose knowledge from the earlier books.  Information otherwise know as spoilers.

In book 3, Club Dead, we were finally introduced to the character Alcide Herveaux , werewolf and big-time surveyor.  We also meet his father, and his sort-of ex, Debbie Pelt.  Also patrons of Club Dead is the King of Mississippi, Russell Edgington and  his entourage.  These introductions came as a mixed blessing to Sookie.  She was looking for Bill Compton and, as it happened, Russell had Bill Compton.  So that, eventually, worked itself out.  The meeting with Debbie and some of the other werewolves could have gone better to say the least.  Then there was Sookie's introduction to Bill's maker, Lorena Ball.  That one ended with Lorena skewered like a kabob and Sookie having to get inventive with vampire disposal.  In the end, Sookie wound up alone healing as best she could at home.

In the fourth installment, Sookie is bound and determined to make it on her own with no help or interference from supernatural creatures no matter how handsome or gifted in the boudoir they may be.  This plan falls apart no sooner than she makes it when she happens upon a very tall, very blond and Nordic looking vampire wearing only jeans, running down the road early New Years' morning.  Can you guess who it is?  To make things that much more interesting, Jason is missing.  Sookie is very suspicious because she had seen him with woman who was a shifter just before he vanished.

All this is great setup for something that Charlaine Harris is great at: concurrent story lines.  My disappointment with the Club Dead was that there was just the one main story that seemed to follow the regular three act sequence felt a little too much like any other book by any other author.  Dead to the World was a return of Ms. Harris at her best.  We got new characters and a broadening of the supernatural creatures in and around Bon Temps.  I'm finding that developing the types of creatures can be just as important to the story as development of the characters themselves.  Learning and experiencing the difference between a Shifter and a Were along with Sookie gives a bit of depth to the story that would be lacking in a simple narrative explaining it in almost scholarly terms.

The pacing and interweaving of the stories is excellent and in the tradition of the first two books.  This has been one of the aspects that I have grown to appreciate from authors like Ms. Harris and others like Jim Butcher who use similar storytelling patterns.  Let's face it, life doesn't happen in separate three act dramas.  It happens all at once without intermission.  This is a wonderful way to lend a bit of reality to the story in order to bring the reader deeper into the tale.

Dead to the World is classic Sookie and a must read for any burgeoning fan.  Of course, it almost goes without saying, this is not a YA book.  This is an R rated book due to it's violence, mature subjects and mild sex scenes.



 

 

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by Tynga at Wednesday, August 05, 2015

 Ace Books, Charlaine Harris, Purchased, Review, Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire, True Blood, vampires, werewolves  2 People left their mark

✎

Club Dead (Book 3 of the Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries) by Charlaine Harris

This is a review of Club Dead, Book 3 of the Sookie Stackhouse series. If you haven’t read, but may someday in the future want to read the previous books, please come back once you have. Unless, of course, you like spoilers, because, I’m likely to spoil the heck out of the first three books right off the bat.

Here I am in book 3 already, and I still, get a little tripped up by differences in the book Sookie and the TV show Sookie. Along with Sookie’s more pronounced physical attributes in the book, she also seems to be less likely to believe in her own appeal. I think it’s an interesting character trait that is realistic. I we use the other characters reaction to Sookie, we get a slightly different picture of her. They seem to see her as a strong willed, sharp minded and rustically beautiful woman. It’s really the only thing that explains how she can be the center of gravity to so many odd and dangerous events. Little things like a maenad causing a small group from Bon Temps, including her best friend Tara, to lose all sexual control right before Sookie’s eyes.

In this installment, we meet Alcide Herveaux, surveyor from Mississippi. Alcide is commissioned by Eric to help Sookie with a little project. As to be expected, the situation around this project isn’t quite what people expect. Though this is not a straight forward murder mystery, there are elements of one woven throughout the story. There are many dead bodies that show up but, for the most part, you know who the culprit is. It’s all that surrounds these events that makes the real mystery.

This story is easy to follow and makes sense even with the twists and turns it follows. My only real disappointment was with the lack of a secondary plot. In the first two books, there were at least two plots going on almost simultaneously and I thought that gave the stories a bit more authenticity. After all, life doesn’t occur consecutively. All too often, things happen concurrently and inconveniently.

This is still a worthy addition to the Sookie Stackhouse collection and I am still enjoying the journey. As always, this book is intended for a mature audience with the violence, language and sex scenes. I would put this deep in the R rated area.

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by Tynga at Wednesday, July 08, 2015

 Ace Books, Charlaine Harris, Purchased, Review, Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire, Urban Fantasy  4 People left their mark

✎

Day Shift by Charlaine Harris

The more I read this series, the more I seem to fall in love with its characters. Mind you, it's only the second book of the series, but Day Shift has revealed a lot of background information about the citizens of Midnight, Texas. The more I think about it, the more I realize the series hasn't really settled with a main character. At least, not yet. It's almost as if the main character is the town, and its citizens are simply supporting the stories it's hosting.

To be quite honest, Day Shift wasn't very thrilling nor was it very engaging. I liked the book enough because I really enjoy the characters, but when it comes to the story, it's a little bit disappointing. The story really begins when Manfred is in Dallas for a working weekend in a hotel, where he plans to meet up with clients and do personal psychic readings. However, the night before he's set to start working, he notices another Midnight, Texas resident, Olivia, dining in the same hotel restaurant. He thinks little of it until the next morning when Olivia's dining companions are found dead in their hotel room. And things get even more complicated when Manfred's own client dies in the middle of the reading. The timing and the circumstances are bad for Manfred's business, especially when he is accused of murdering and stealing from his client.

As suspicions are raised, Manfred is the main focus of the murder investigation and reporters camp out in front of his house in Midnight. Along with the newly renovated and grand reopening of the Midnight Hotel, the town is getting more attention than the residents are used to. The people of Midnight like the fact that their little town is quiet and doesn't get many visitors, and all the action is making some of the residents anxious and unhappy about the unwanted publicity. Manfred and Olivia join together and decide to solve the murder, in order to get rid of the unwanted attention as soon as possible. The more they investigate, the more things get complicated and troublesome.

The main story and mystery surrounds Manfred but the other residents of the town also have their own problems to deal with. The town Reverend, simply referred to as Rev, is charged with the care of a growing boy; Joe finds himself in a situation where the only way to survive is to do something he promised long ago he wouldn't do; Olivia deals with her past and we learn more about who she is, and what she does for a living.

We also meet a few new characters who are living temporarily in the Midnight Hotel. One of these characters is actually linked to Sookie Stackhouse, the main character of Charlaine Harris' other bestselling series. With this link, we confirm our suspicions that this series is based in the same universe as the Sookie Stackhouse books. I highly doubt the author will push this link any further but it's good to know that things may get even more supernatural. Like Bon Temps, Midnight is a special town that seems to attract the supernatural, but the why of this has yet to be investigated.

Overall, I was a little bit disappointed with the main mystery but the various side stories add excitement to the book. For someone that hasn't finished Charlaine Harris' other series, I'm actually quite invested in this new one. I'm really looking forward to reading more about Midnight and its mysterious residents. Who wouldn't be attracted to a town with a witch, a vampire, a psychic, a shape-shifter, a talking cat and angels?

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by Tynga at Monday, June 22, 2015

 Ace, angels, Charlaine Harris, Library, Midnight, Midnight Texas, Mystery, Paranormal, Penguin, psychic, Shapeshifter, Texas, Witch  2 People left their mark

✎

Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire #2) by Charlaine Harris

This is the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries series. So, fair warning, there will be spoilers from the first book. If you haven’t read it, intend to read it and dislike spoilers, you may want to come back a bit later.

In the first book, we met Sookie and many of her family, friends and acquaintances. Of course, I say ‘acquaintances’ because, Sookie feels like such an outcast due to what she refers to as her disability, her ability to read minds. She believes, and she seems to have enough proof, that most of the residence of Bon Temp the she’s strange. Considering some of the characters who inhabit Bon Temps that could be taken as a compliment. For example, Andy Bellefleur, the only detective on the Bon Temps Police force. Andy doesn’t admit to believing in Sookie’s ability and then asks her to use it to help in police matters. There’s also Holly Cleary, one of Sookie’s co-workers who also keeps a polite distance from her. These and a few others help illustrate the rift between the normal people and the supernatural folks of the area.

Sookie is not on her own, though. She has her friend, Arlene Fowler, her boss Sam Merlotte, her brother Jason and of course, her grandmother, Adele Stackhouse, before her passing, more or less wind up in her corner. They all give varying degrees of support for her relationship with Bill Compton (AKA Vampire Bill).

The second book starts out with the discovery of the body of another of her acquaintances, Lafayette. Having watched the TV show, I was completely surprised when that happened. This starts one path of this bifurcated story in which, another murder mystery is investigated and of course, Sookie is asked to help. The other path comes in the form of Eric Northman requesting Sookie’s help in another matter. This makes for quite a bit going on during one book but, it does lend the story a bit a credibility. In reality, the world doesn’t stop to figure out one mystery, life tends to go on.

Living Dead in Dallas does a very good job introducing newer characters, developing characters from the first book and telling two unrelated stories. I’ve also noted what seems to be the use of supernatural characters as an analog for differences in people in the real world. In that way, it reminds me of the Wild Cards series. The social commentary isn’t heavy handed and may only be in my mind so, it doesn’t get in the way of an entertaining story.

Living Dead in Dallas does very well in keeping my interest in the happenings of Bon Temps and of Sookie Stackhouse. Just like the first book, I would recommend this for mature audiences only due to sexual content and violence. It definitely falls deep in the R rated territory.



 

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by Tynga at Wednesday, June 03, 2015

 Charlaine Harris, Purchased, Review, Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire, True Blood, vampires  5 People left their mark

✎

Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse Book 1) by Charlaine Harris

As you can see, the winner of my poll was Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris.  For all those who participated, thank you very much.  It was close but,  in the end, the numbers were clear on who won.

Ms. Harris does a wonderful job of introducing the reader to the characters of the story through the eyes of Sookie Stackhouse herself.  Being familiar with the TV show, I was familiar with Sookie and her brother Jason even though in the book Jason has a slightly different personality and Sookie's is a bit different.  The description and development of the characters was enough to get over all the differences between the two tellings of the story.

We meet Sookie and learn how she feels the whole town of Bon Tempe thinks her odd and keeps her outside of most social circles.  To be truthful, she knows they thinks that because, Sookie can read minds.  It led her to behaving strangely as a child until she could control it better. This situation is also what fueled her attraction to one Mr. Bill Compton and took her down the path that makes this story interesting.

I believe another key element to this story is the setting.  A story could be set in the creepiest of English castles and it still won't have effect that a small town surrounded by deep dark woods.   Couple that with the fact that the town is in Louisiana, legendary home to many voodoo practitioners, and the scene doesn't just draw you into a paranormal story, it swallows you whole.  At times, the setting is like another character in the story.

I always appreciate when an author can go beyond the surface with folklore and delve deep into the past to create the world of their story.  Charlaine Harris does this well in this story which gives it it's own special flair.  I look forward to the next installment if for no other reason than to see what new creature she can unearth from ancient mythology.

Sookie Stackhouse, like Jane Yellowrock or Harry Dresden, is not high fantasy but, more like blue-collar fantasy.  They are also very entertaining reads.  They can also inspire a person to examine some social issues in a different light without trying to tell people how to think (or shame them into it).  Anybody who has seen the TV shows knows, this one is not for the little ones.  It gets a definite R rating from me (the show gets a soft core X).  Language, adult conversations and a few sex scenes not to mention violence and of course, copious amounts of blood is the reasons why.

Next month will be Living Dead in Dallas Book 2 by Charlaine Harris.  Remember, we can spoil the heck out of this months book then.

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by Tynga at Wednesday, May 13, 2015

 Charlaine Harris, Penguin, Purchased, Review, Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire, the south, Urban Fantasy, vampires  3 People left their mark

✎

Giveaway: Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris

To celebrate the release of Day Shift by Charlaine Harris, Penguin is generously offering one copy of Midnight Crossroad to a lucky winner!

Stephanie reviewed the book yesterday, so I invite you to check her review!

Giveaway open to US & Canada

Ends May 19th, 2015.

Fill the form to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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by Tynga at Tuesday, May 05, 2015

 Charlaine Harris, giveaway, Penguin  2 People left their mark

✎

Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris

This book is definitely interesting. There's something mysterious and captivating behind the story and the characters kept me engaged through it all. I'll be the first to admit that this book isn't for everyone. From the various Goodreads reviews, it's obvious readers will have different responses to this first book of the series.

Midnight, Texas is a very small town. It's home to a variety of interesting characters, including a psychic, a witch, a vampire, a gay couple with a dog, a straight couple with a baby, and other seemingly normal people. One thing they all have in common, however, is that they all have their secrets. Manfred the psychic, the newest guy in town, quickly learns that no one asks questions in this small community. Those who want to share do, but it's unseemly to flat out ask about people's history. Manfred is alright with that until strange things start to happen. Especially when the community finds a decomposing body on the outskirts of town. Questions are now guaranteed.

The main reason why this book won't be for everyone is the slow build up. Not everyone will appreciate the slow and detailed introduction to the characters. Personally, I really liked it because it allowed me to really understand the characters before things unraveled. I'll admit, the book isn't full of action. It isn't even full of paranormal stuff. I would classify this book as a mystery first, with paranormal elements infused to add depth and detail. It's almost as if the author couldn't get away from the genre that truly made her famous. But somehow it works and I'm glad for the paranormal stuff.

Enter this book with an open mind. Forget that Charlaine Harris is behind the Sookie Stackhouse books. I haven't read Harris' other series so I can't speak for those, but Midnight Crossroad is definitely different from the Sookie books. It kind of reminds me a little of Kelley Armstrong's Cainsville series with the murder investigation and the constant secrets. It also has the mysteriousness of a Stephen King novel with all its different characters and point of views.

I'm keeping this review short because I truly believe readers need to explore it on their own. Do I recommend this book? Yes and no. Yes, because I really enjoyed it, despite being a little disappointed with the very little amount of action it included. No, because I don't want to be responsible for recommending a book that you won't like. I will be checking out the next book, which is releasing this week because the residents of Midnight, Texas charmed me as much as the ones from Bon Temps, Louisiana did. I definitely want to know more about them and see where their stories will lead us.

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by Tynga at Monday, May 04, 2015

 Ace, Charlaine Harris, Midnight Texas, Mystery, Paranormal, Penguin, psychic, Purchased, Review, Vampire, Witch  3 People left their mark

✎

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

Book Stats:
Reading level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal romance
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Ace
Release date: May 1, 2012

Series: Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire #12

Source: Review copy from Penguin

Reviewed by: Jenn

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

It's vampire politics as usual around the town of Bon Temps, but never before have they hit so close to Sookie's heart...

Growing up with telepathic abilities, Sookie Stackhouse realized early on there were things she'd rather not know. And now that she's an adult, she also realizes that some things she knows about, she'd rather not see—like Eric Northman feeding off another woman. A younger one.

There's a thing or two she'd like to say about that, but she has to keep quiet—Felipe de Castro, the Vampire King of Louisiana (and Arkansas and Nevada), is in town. It's the worst possible time for a human body to show up in Eric's front yard—especially the body of the woman whose blood he just drank.

Now, it's up to Sookie and Bill, the official Area Five investigator, to solve the murder. Sookie thinks that, at least this time, the dead girl's fate has nothing to do with her. But she is wrong. She has an enemy, one far more devious than she would ever suspect, who's set out to make Sookie's world come crashing down.

I was SO excited when DEADLOCKED arrived in the mail on Tuesday that I devoured it that evening! The Sookie Stackhouse series was one of my first forays into urban fantasy/paranormal romance and I've always enjoyed the stories (though I did find the last book, DEAD IN THE FAMILY, a little less satisfying). Needless to say, I was desperate to know what was going to happen to Sookie this time around and, overall, I was happy with how DEADLOCKED turned out.

With the series soon coming to a close, I was particularly excited to see what Charlaine Harris had in store for us with DEADLOCKED, the penultimate novel. There were a lot of loose strings left at the end of DEAD IN THE FAMILY and I was curious to see where the authors would take us, knowing that everything needs to be wrapped up soon. I wasn't sure what to expect since there are so many story lines in the series but I was quite pleased with the focus and plot of DEADLOCKED. DEAD RECKONING, the previous book, focussed primarily on Sookie's fairy roots, and we get a bit more of that this time around but the main mystery revolves around a dead body found on Eric's lawn. Naturally, this adds more strain to Sookie and Eric's already-stressed relationship, forcing Sookie to take a good, hard look at where she is in her life. There are also some wonderful moments with Tara, Jason, Pam, and Sam. Plus, the cover copy hints that Sookie has an enemy she'd never suspect and it's true! It makes a lot of sense when you find out who this enemy is but I never guessed that it would be him/her. (I'm deliberately being vague to keep this post spoiler-free for you.) We also get to learn more about the Cluviel Dor and see how having it impacts Sookie's life. It ends up revealing a lot about the people around her, which was great from the reader's point of view, though perhaps no so wonderful for Sookie.

Reading DEADLOCKED really showed me how much Sookie has grown since DEAD UNTIL DARK, the first book. Everything was so new to her then and now she's survived failed relationships, wars, and countless attempts on her life. There have also been some happy moments but the events that have shaped Sookie's outlook at this point are mostly the sad/scary ones. I love how much wiser Sookie is now, even though some of her troubles remain. It's really nice to see how much her relationships have changed over the series, with some becoming more meaningful and others changing in different ways. I find her relationships with her exes the most interesting because they demonstrate maturity from all parties.

DEADLOCKED comes out tomorrow so make sure you get your copy ASAP. It's an excellent entry in the series and Sookie fans will not be disappointed. DEADLOCKED has all of the things we love about this world -- Southern manners, tongue-in-cheek humour, strong characters -- and some exciting new developments. I can't wait to see how Charlaine Harris finishes up Sookie's saga next year!

P.S. I'm pretty sure that most everyone knows about Sookie Stackhouse, thanks to the popularity of Charlaine Harris' novels and the True Blood TV series. If you've only watched the show, though, you should know that the books are quite different in terms of tone and characters. (Jessica, for example, is not in the books and Lafayette isn't Tara's cousin.) The Sookie books have a much different tone and scope since they're narrated from Sookie's perspective. If you haven't tried this series, I'd suggest you begin with DEAD UNTIL DARK because Charlaine Harris has created a big world with a huge cast of characters and you might get lost if you jump in now.

Read an excerpt

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by jenn at Monday, April 30, 2012

 Charlaine Harris, Penguin, Review, Vampire  9 People left their mark

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