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Character driven with enemies from the past

I found my joy again in reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels in Dead Reckoning. As with many longer series the early books had a lot of new stuff to fascinate, then came a dip in originality and in quality. It was just more of the same. It is still more of the same but the story is more character driven which I enjoy.

Sookie and her boyfriend Eric is exploring ‘going steady’ which is a new experience for the both of them. It generates many small situations that amused me.

The fallout from the shifters revelation continues in this novel. Early on there is a firebombing of Merlotte’s, the bar where Sookie works. She catches a glimpse of the perpetrator before taking cover. She soon realizes that there is more to her investigation than shifter-haters.

They also have to deal with the king’s henchman Victor. He is out to get Eric and all the people around him, Sookie included. It is endearing the way Pam and Eric tries to keep Sookie out of it to ‘protect’ her. Like that ever is going to work. This is where Sookies personal journey comes into play. She has to face some hard facts about herself and her relationship before it is over and Eric is … let us say consistent.

Pam is the character I most enjoyed. She becomes more her own here.

Did I mention Bubba is back?

I liked and enjoyed this lightweight entertainment that is Southern Vampires. It is very character driven so be warned if you don’t go for that kind of thing. The plot is the weakest part, it is partly inconsistent with earlier books. I mostly enjoyed being with the characters for a while though.

There are quite a few unresolved threads for future books at the end. I hope Charlaine Harris continues on this trend but we need more plot in the next volume. I recommend Dead Reckoning to fans of True Blood and Southern Vampires if you like character driven stories.

Book Information

Dead Reckoning (True Blood 12) by Charlaine Harris (Gollancz 2011) – Amazon US | UK

With her knack for being in trouble’s way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte’s, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover Eric Northman and his “child” Pam are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, Sookie is drawn into the plot-which is much more complicated than she knows…

True Blood (HBO) is one if my favorite TV series and it is on that route I came to read Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampires series about the telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse. Here is my view of book number ten.

After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she’s angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he’s under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie’s connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry…

Information

The book is dedicated to their son Patrick.

The jacket art depicts a blond woman in a green dress hovering opposite a hovering blond man wearing a black mantle with two thorny roses intertwined in the background. Those Roses have some glitter in it. The man in me feels that glitter is a bit too much.

Anyway, the protagonist and point of view is as usual Sookie Stackhouse, waitress extraordinary, not that she has much time to waitress.

The Author

I have only read Charlaine Harris’ Sookie series so far but I am starting to glance at her other works and a sample here and there is on my to-read list. Charlaine lives in a small town in Southern Arkansas with her family.

World building

As usual in all Sookie Stackhouse books the world building sneaks up on you without being noticed until you realize that you are not in Kansas anymore. I especially enjoy the Were’s ways and Eric and his maker and their backstory.

Plot

Sookie is trying to patch her life together after being tortured to inches of her life in the Fairy War. Bill saved her life but suffer greatly from silver poisoning. She feels bad for that and wants to help him, but their relation is a bit awkward now when she is ‘married’ to Eric Northman.

The shifters stepped out of the closet in the last book and now the government wants them all to register like the Vampires have to, but the Shifters don’t want to. Emotions gets high on both sides and some will do almost anything to get their will done.

Vampire politics are worse than ever, Eric is the local sheriff but after Cartina he has a new boss assigned by the king, and the boss is making trouble for him and Sookie. If that was not enough Eric’s maker shows up …

Sookie also has her family to deal with; Jason seems to have found a girlfriend that can keep him straight this time but then fairy cousin Claude moves in because he feels lonely; which in itself creeps Sookie out a bit.

Then they find a body buried on Sookie’s land …

Characterization

I liked the characterization in this book better than in the last. Sookie comes alive and feel much more ‘realistic’ in this book. The last few have felt a little bit like the same old but here Charlaine has succeeded in rekindling the feelings I felt when I read the first Sookie novels. Sookie is also a great deal darker which makes sense if you have been tortured and almost killed.

Eric is such a great character and he gets to play on his more emotional side here.

My View

I got the feeling back, Dead in the Family is one of the best Sookie Stackhouse novels so far. Maybe there isn’t as much fighting in this one but there is stuff happening all the time. If you like True Blood you should really give this series a go. The TV series deviate from the books at some points but that is not anything Charlaine Harris and her fans think matter so much. It’s a bit sad Elvis isn’t in the TV series but it’s no big issue for me. Now I can’t wait on the next book. At least I have season 3 of True Blood to keep me entertained, it premieres now on Sunday June 13.

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Is Zombies this year’s Vampires? Maybe for AMC as they pick up The Walking Dead to series. It Premieres in October tied to the network’s popular movie franchise FearFest. So far we have only one cast Jon Bernthal (The Pacific, The Ghost Writer) who will play Shane, Grimes’ partner. Bloody-Disgusting have what they call a forerunner in the cast for the lead character Rick Grimes, Lee Miller (Hackers, Dracula 2000, “Eli Stone”).

Production begins in June in Atlanta for the six episodes of season one.

“The Walking Dead is that rare piece of material that plays on many levels,” says Joel Stillerman, Senior Vice President of Programming, Production and Digital Content. “Kirkman’s series brilliantly captures the social commentary and ongoing human drama of the zombie apocalypse; and let’s us kick a little zombie you-know-what from time to time.”

The Walking Dead tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The comic goes on to explore the challenges of life in a world overrun by zombies who take a toll on the survivors, and sometimes the interpersonal conflicts present a greater danger to their continuing survival than the zombies that roam the country. Over time, the characters are changed by the constant exposure to death and some grow willing to do anything to survive.

Built on the comics with the same name by “Robert Kirkman has created a world in The Walking Dead with real characters, real human emotion, and great stories that paint a very smart, sophisticated, and layered picture,” said Joel Stillerman, the channel’s senior VP of original programming, production and digital content. “In that respect, this is the quintessential AMC version of a property like this, and I think that is what makes these books resonate for so many people.”

The Walking Dead has been published by Image Comics since 2003.

Source: AMC

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