Dead Until Dark by: Charlaine Harris
Sookie Stackhouse is rumored to be a simple girl in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. She and her family have lived in the area her entire life. If anyone had a different opinion about Sookie it may be that she’s not only simple minded, but a little crazy. See, Sookie has a sort of disability. She can read people’s minds, as a telepath, you don’t get real close to the people around you. She has always been able to know when someone liked her, or didn’t, when someone was being fake or real. This has always put a damper on her love life. All of this changed the night Bill Compton came into Merlotte’s bar, where she’s a waitress. She knew at the very moment he walked in that he was not of the living. Bill is a vampire. Since vampires “came out of the coffin” two years prior, Merlotte’s had never had a vampire patron. Sookie knew in the instant they had contact that things were about to change. There was something besides the vampire issue that was different about Bill, she couldn’t read his mind. Quickly things go from normal to horrible as “Fang Bangers” start turning up dead. Jason Stackhouse, Sookie’s older brother is the main suspect, since he had slept with most of the victims. Sookie has to use her disability to clear her brother’s name and make sure that Bill doesn’t get blamed as well.
Dead Until Dark is riveting. I picked it up and couldn’t put it down. It’s southern living meets Interview with a Vampire. I must also say that it is rated NC17. It’s erotic and sensual, but not trashy. There is great suspense and it keeps you guessing who the murderer is all the way through. There are quite a few characters in the book, and all of them are memorable no matter how small the character is in the book. Harris does a great job of making sure whenever she mentions someone she gives you just enough about them to keep them fresh on your mind. We meet a few other vampires in this first installment of the series.
It’s hard for me to pick out things that I didn’t like in the novel. I guess as the reader progresses you just want Sookie to be happy, you feel with her and learn of a new world with her. She is always curious about how faithful Bill is to her, but still loving their time together. I know if I would have read through the book (and the entire series) a little slower, I could have picked out a few things, but I’m not going back now.
I very much enjoy Sookie. She is a brave, spunky character that doesn’t get into too much trouble where it is unbelievable, but you still wonder what her life would have been like if she hadn’t met Vampire Bill. Bill awakens this person in Sookie that she doesn’t know exists.
So, what do you think? Have you watched True Blood? Have you read the series? What are your thoughts? Leave me a comment.
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