Trouble and love is the theme of this episode, much of it is of course troubled love but never as twisted as Bill and Lorena though Franklin and Tara’s does come close.

Last week

There were a lot of crimes being done last week. Everyone had a hard time, Tara is vampnapped, Pam is about to die-die, Bill betrayed the queen and Sookie is about to be hunted by a bar full of biker werewolves. Missed anything? Read my list of crimes from last week: True Blood 3.04 – 9 Crimes – The List

This week

Franklin reports to Russell about Bill’s research on Sookie. Is Bill working for the queen? He also brings Tara because they should be together; he is such an entertaining freak. Tara is scared out of her wits especially after he proposes to her so they can be together for ever. Vampire wedding next week?

Sookie escapes the bar but now she knows about Russel feeding the werewolves his blood so she is determined to talk to him. Debbie Pelt discovers Sookie at Alcide’s place and swears to ‘fuck her up’.

Jason has his first day as a policeman but he fails to convince his fellow colleagues but it is kind of entertaining. He chases after that mystic girl he saw in the forest in a borrowed police car and gets her name it’s Crystal. They take a walk together, kiss and make animal love by the lake. I wonder what her cousin-brothers will do?

I was very surprised when Eric showed up at Russell’s place, even more so of the turn that encounter takes. Eric flashes back to the night his father and mother was killed by werewolves, when he finds his father’s crown in Russell’s collection. He swore vengeance on his father’s killers so that was what he was up to during WW2. Hm, that ought to be interesting for the future.

Sam’s trashy family moves in and shows all the bad sides they can. There is something weird going on with Tommy and his dad. His dad say’s he owns him, what is up with that? Is he the pack leader? I thought he wasn’t a shifter.

“I am the happiest man in the world”, Terry tells Sam as he moves in with Arlene. She on the other hand looks guilt ridden. Besides feeling sorry for Terry I don’t really care for that side story.

Lafayette gets a visit from Jesus, they are cute together. Looks like Lafayette might get lucky soon.

Hoyt walks in to Sam’s with a date, with Jessica working there. Tommy shows interest in Jessica …

Bill escapes to warn Sookie but he is to late. Russel and Cooter crashes in just after him. But when Cooter goes after him she blasts him much like she did once last season. And that is scene for this episode.

It was an entertaining episode and it looks like the many plot lines are starting to converge. Sookie, Eric, Bill and Alcide are now all in one place.

New characters this week was

Colonel John Flood – The Pack Leader
Astrid – Eric’s viking mother
Ulfrick – Eric’s father the king

Postmortem

Next week

True Blood 3.06 – I Got a Right to Sing the Blues (HBO)
Spurned by Eric, Sookie fears the worst for Bill, whose fate now lies in Lorena’s hands. Fueled by a night of bloody passion, Tara executes a desperate plan to stave off Franklin’s advances. In Bon Temps, Tommy finds it difficult to leave the family nest; Jessica gets her fix from a Merlotte’s customer; and Jason’s romance with Crystal hits a snag, as does Lafayette’s with Jesus. After revealing his master plan to Eric, Russell pays a visit to Louisiana in order to start executing it.

Original title was: What Do You Know About Love.

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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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