Product Description

The supernatural community in Bon Temps, Louisiana is reeling from two hard blows: the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina, and the manmade horror of the explosion at the vampire summit in the up-north city of Rhodes. Sookie Stackhouse is safe but dazed, and she's yearning for things to get back to normal. But that's just not happening. Too many vampires - some friends, some not - were killed or injured, and her were-tiger boyfriend Quinn is among the missing. It's clear that things are changing, whether the weres and vamps like it or not. And Sookie, Friend to the Pack, blood-bonded to the leader of the local vampire community, is caught up in those changes. She's about to find herself facing danger and death and, not for the first time, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood has stopped flowing, Sookie's world will be forever altered . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18225 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

About the Author
Charlaine Harris is the author of several New York Times bestselling series of supernatural romantic mysteries, including the Sookie Stackhouse books, the harper Connelly series and the Shakespeare quintet. She lives in Arkansas.

Customer Reviews

3.5 stars - Too much happening
First Sentence: If this was "The Lord of the Rings" and I had a smart British voice like Cate Blanchett, I could tell you the background of the events of that fall in a really suspenseful way.

Bartender and telepath Sookie Stackhouse is both angry and missing her waretiger boyfriend, Quinn, who went missing after the explosion at the vampire summit. The two leaders of the wares have issues of their own as their women are being targeted and killed.

With New Orleans and southern Louisiana still trying to recover from Katrina, there are serious changes in the vampire community as well. Sookie's life takes an unexpected turn when she meets her great-grandfather, Niall.

There was a lot happening in this book; in some ways, almost too much. There are times when the story gets a bit slow; there is no central focus to the story and no particular mystery. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the book.

If anything, this seems to be a transitional book. Characters from the past books were included and addressed, which I liked. There were some tense moments, some touching moments and some light moments, particularly with Bob the cat.

The ending was excellent and, hopefully, a segue to the next book. I just hate to have to wait another year to read it.

I still enjoyed this
Yes, I enjoyed this instalment in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I adore the small town atmosphere combined with a parallel realistic supernatural world. However, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I feel I should have done. I don't want to give anything away (I get a wee bit frustrated by spoilers and when I'm scrolling down reviews it can be hard for my eye not to catch something) - I'll just say that to me Sookie seems to be getting more selfish: the Quinn section of the story seems half baked and self absorbed (on Sookie's part) and seeing as things happen that allow Sookie to be given 'favours' by the powerful then if she'd wanted she could have helped Quinn and others. Even Sookie admits her reaction to her long lost relative comes over as whiny.

The Eric development was something I'd really been looking forward to and felt more could have been made of that. Though I'm glad it happened (yes, I'm talking in riddles!).

What I did enjoy was the way lots of loose ends were tied up (especially Sookie's ancestry) and interesting scenarios have been set up for the future with two particularly intriguing new characters (a king and a fairy - you'll discover who they are when you read the book!). However, it felt very much an 'inbetween book' - so I hope the next will have a stronger plot.

Of course, if you're reading this series then you HAVE to read this volume. If you're new to the series then you really won't get enough out of it and should start at the beginning with 'Dead Until Dark' (you're so lucky - you'll have eight books to read!). Very much looking forward to True Blood on TV (the new Southern vampire Sookie TV series)- hope we don't have to wait too long for it in the UK.

Oh how I loved this
I must say that for me this series and this character keeps on getting better. Despite the authors best efforts you can't really read these out of sequence so for anyone contemplating the author, start at the beginning.

Sookies relationship with Quinn and with Eric takes some intriguing turns, her relationship with the supernatural community is deepening and she finds out some family information that I think will take us lucky readers in some new directions. Amelia is becoming one of my new favourite characters and we get to meet her dad which is enlightening!

This book is both a great story on its own and promises some great next installments- Just wish she would write a bit faster!