 "Back From the Dead" | 2008-09-26 |
| - Reviewed By dcrazmo |
| Phew! This is a marked improvement from "Living Dead in Dallas," the muddled sequel to Charlaine Harris's terrific first Sookie Stackhouse "mystery." I'm putting the word in quotes, because that's still the area in which Harris falls short for me. Oh, there's a dead body all right, but how it got dead and whodunit is ultimately a big "who cares?" That said, "Club Dead" is a fun ride, much more in keeping, stylistically, with the first in the series. And we're introduced to a great new character, a hunky werewolf who may or may not get in the way of Sookie and Bill's romance. One thing that does bother me a little: Harris is remarkably sadistic to her heroine. This is the third Sookie Stackhouse book, and the third in which she's beaten to a bloody pulp. Literally. OK, James Bond gets beaten up on a regular basis, as do a lot of other detectives/spies etc., but Sookie's just a normal person. Sure, she keeps some dangerous company, but there seems to be a mean streak in Harris that I'm not all that comfortable with. "Club Dead" renewed my interest in this series, but I'm hoping that as time goes by, Harris is a little less hard on Sookie. I'm sure Sookie is, too. |
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 "Another fine Sookie Stackhouse adventure" | 2008-09-20 |
| - Reviewed By robertwmoore |
I just finished the fifth novel in the Southern Vampire Mysteries aka the Sookie Stackhouse novels so I'm a little behind in my reviewing. In one of the great happy circumstances of my life I had independently decided to read this series of novels AND to watch the new Alan Ball TV series, not knowing that the latter was based on the former. I had already ordered the first four novels in the series (but had not yet received them) when I read that TRUE BLOOD was based on Charlaine Harris's books. Since then I've become a big fan of both. I'll start on the sixth Sookie Stackhouse book sometime this next week just as I eagerly await the third episode of TRUE BLOOD tomorrow night. And with the announcement that the show has already been renewed for a second season (it will come out this summer) and with Harris certain to write new novels (I won't read the eighth until it appears in paperback -- I like my books to match when possible -- this winter), Sookie Stackhouse seems destined to be around for quite some time to come.
The challenge in any series is how to keep expanding the world it describes without becoming too diffuse. CLUB DEAD follows LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS by moving much of the novel's action to another southern city, this time the much smaller metropolis of Jackson, Mississippi. Sookie has to go there in an attempt to find and rescue her vampire boyfriend Bill, who has been captured by parties unknown (though, of course, not by the end of the book). She is aided by a new character in the series, a were named Alcide Herveaux. I won't go into plot details, but the novel has a lot of fun and memorable scenes.
Bubba is back! The idea is that when Elvis died and was taken to the morgue, he wasn't quite dead. The coroner was actually a vampire and he attempted to revive the King as a vampire, but something went wrong in the attempt and he was left a tad feeble-minded. The vampires keep him under wraps, but occasionally he gets out into the public and people see him, accounting for the sightings. Bubba (he doesn't react well to being called Elvis) could have been a terrible character, but he is handled with just the right touch to be a lot of fun.
The main reason I continue to enjoy these books is the wonderful narrative voice that Harris given Sookie. As a reader you come to like and love Sookie, even if her life isn't going as smoothly and as wisely as she would like.
Because a lot of people are becoming aware of these books as a result of TRUE BLOOD, let me add that if you like the show, you will love the books. I think both are great in their own ways. I highly recommend both. |
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| "Josephine's" | 2008-09-17 |
| - Reviewed By shonnak |
| On my list this book is only second to Dead to the World in southern vampire mysteries. I adore Alcide Herveaux and love, love Eric Northman. |
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| "Give Me More Sookie" | 2008-08-17 |
| - Reviewed By User: A30UCG69TYW95P |
| Simply addictive. Once you've finished you will be looking for your next Sookie fix. You'll feel like a starved vampire if you start reading this series. |
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 "good, but something's missing....." | 2008-08-16 |
| - Reviewed By retroredux |
in this third installment of The Sookie Vampire mysteries, Sookie's vampire boyfriend, Bill, has come up missing and Sookie and new "hunky werewolf" character Alcide go to Mississippi to try to find him. While there's a lot to love in book 3- revisiting old characters like Bubba/Elvis, or Sookie's interaction with Alcide and Erik, this book seemed to flounder a bit. I think my main problems with the book were the absence of Bill and the pretty much absence of any mystery storyline. In fact, I felt the whole "Mississippi" storyline was very underdone and not even resolved by book's end.
But in the end, as a Southerner, I cannot deny the overall charm and whimsy of the series. Which means that while I will try the rest of the series, I hope they get better than this one.
3 stars. |
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 "hmm" | 2008-08-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: ALWKQ1NFSF5XP |
This is the third book in the series... By now you would think that Sookie would have learned her lesson but no. She allows herself to be pulled into situations where she just gets brutalized. Her it's probably a good thing that Bill has become her ex.. but the way things are going with Eric.. I really just want to smack some sense into that girl.
Also, I noticed it in the previous books and it's bound to pop up in later books since it is a series about southern folk but the racism that pops up in this series is just sad. I don't think there's one positive black character in this series that doesn't play into some typecast minor role. It's more than irritating... |
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| "Cinful" | 2008-03-20 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1NXVTKEQHM6NN |
| Best book yet in the Southern Vampire series. Although I am dissapointed in Bill the vamire, you can not help but admire Sookie's strength and mental fortitude. Poor kid...it's amazing she's survived thorugh book III and hasn't let Eric or Bill bring her over. Already started Dead to the World and ordered all the books, I CAN'T wait to finish the series (although I will really miss these characters when I am done). Remember to keep checking HBO for the new series "True Blood" which will air this fall (hopefully) and is based on the Southern Vampire series. |
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| "Werewolves and vampires and Shifters, oh my!" | 2008-03-14 |
| - Reviewed By canadianyuppiewannabe |
In Club Dead, the third novel in Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series, Sookie finds herself trying to discover who kidnapped her vampire boyfriend Bill after he disappeared while working on a secret project. Her journey takes her to Jackson, Mississippi, at a supernatural club popularly called Club Dead. Her host is Alcide Herveaux, a handsome werewolf, who in addition to accomodations, provides a good deal of sexual tension during Bill's absence. Bill's Viking vampire boss Eric also lights Sookie's fire (as the series progresses, who isn't Sookie trying to sleep with?!?).
As several other reviews have mentioned, Harris's Southern Vampire books all contain something akin to softcore vampire/human porn of all persuasions, in addition to graphic violence. Sookie loves herself a good time in bed, and Harris certainly doesn't shy away from lurid details.
There were more varied supporting characters in Club Dead, including an extended appearance by Bubba, who is actually The King (yes, Elvis), but whose drug-addled transition to vampire didn't go as planned. Alcide is a likeable introduction to werewolves and fairly well-fleshed-out, as is his psycho on-again, off-again Shifter girlfriend Debbie Pelt.
Sookie spends a good deal of the novel coming to grips with Bill's betrayal of her; he'd gone back to dating/bedding his vampire mistress Lorena, leaving Sookie furious (and sexually frustrated). I would group these books into a Southern Vampire Chick Lit Light classification; you've got hints of Southern English, Civil War references, Southern culture, and supernatural lore (vampires, werewolves, goblins, shifters).
Honestly, the Southern Vampire books are highly formulaic, something along the lines of a) Sookie discovers something ominous at or after work, b) great vampire sex, and c)at least one instance where she is severely beaten or injured to the point of death, but hey, it's my literary equivalent of junk food and I enjoy every guilty (and calorie-free) minute of it. The third book in the series was an improvement over Living Dead in Dallas, and had a much more cohesive plot and backstory. Fans of vampire novels such as Anita Blake will probably enjoy Club Dead.
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| "Not Free SF Reader" | 2008-03-04 |
| - Reviewed By bluetyson |
What's one of these paranomal romance books without a vampire nightclub with its own peculiar rules of etiquette?
Not to mention slim-hipped pillow pretty boy proprietors or staff that fancy a well buildt young small town for playtime and plaything.
Luckily for her, her main sucker squeeze can hold his own.
3 out of 5 |
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| "Awesome Series you can not miss" | 2008-01-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3NIL74P7UNRUI |
| I read a lot and recently got into reading myster thriller type of books and some how ended reading the book 2 of charlaine harris sookie stackhouse series. It was a book I enjoyes so much that I have actually already bought several other books and I down reading to book 3 =) Great series |
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