Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a ride! I've had the Sookie Stackhouse books in my 'to be read' pile for ages, and I thoroughly enjoyed this first instalment. Exciting, funny, and sexy too, I read it in record time.
Sookie is a barmaid in Bon Temps, Louisiana. But she is no ordinary girl. Sookie is a telepath, and when the story opens, she is doing her best not to listen in to her customer's thoughts, as usual!
She is just performing her normal duties, waiting on tables, serving drinks, etc, when Bill Compton walks in. He is handsome, dark haired and dark eyed, but his skin is very pale. Sookie knows immediately that he is her very first vampire, and she's pretty excited about it...
You see, vampires have come out of the coffin, so to speak, because the Japanese have invented a form of synthetic blood that allows vampires to survive without snacking on humans. All over the world, vampires were now mingling with the general population, although some countries have been more accepting than others.
Sookie soon realises another advantage her new vampire customer has over the other patrons in the bar. She can't read his mind. For Sookie, that is like a little holiday! (The only other person she can't "read" clearly is her boss, Sam Merlotte, and she can't work that out - but all will be revealed at a later date...)
So, she is immediately curious about and attracted to Bill.
Unfortunately for Bill, there are a couple of "drainers" in the bar that night as well, the Rattrays. "Drainers" capture vampires and drain them of their blood, which has powerful properties (like making you more attractive!). The Rattrays lure Bill outside, and, using a silver chain (because vampires are weakened by silver - a handy tip in case you ever come across one) the Rattrays overpower him and begin to do their dirty work.
Luckily for Bill, Sookie's special talent had alerted her to the Rattray's plan, and she comes to the rescue.
Before long, Sookie is discovering the joys of - how shall I put this - intimacy - with a vampire, and boy oh boy, it was quite the eye opener for me! It made me wish my husband was a vampire. But I digress. And naturally, as soon as Bill shows an interest in Sookie, Sam decides that he is interested too!
This is not the only dramatic development happening in Bon Temps. Girls are being murdered, and Sookie's brother, Jason, who is a big hit with the ladies, is a prime suspect, as he has had intimate relations with the victims in the past.
Sookie becomes more involved with the local vampire population, including Eric Northman, who owns a nightclub in the nearby town of Shreveport ("Fangtasia"). Her unusual talents are much in demand, and she begins to use her telepathic powers to try and discover the killer.
Then Sookie and Jason's grandmother is murdered, and Sookie believes the killer meant it to be her. As danger closes in, Bill assigns a vampire bodyguard to protect Sookie. But this is not just any vampire. Everybody calls him "Bubba", but in life he was known for his incredible singing and his white jumpsuits... Thank you, thank you very much. Unfortunately when Bubba was brought over, something didn't go quite right and so he prefers to drink cat blood and gets upset when people call him by his real name... And all those sightings you keep hearing about? Well, that's why, people. I'm glad I could clear that up for you!
Anyway, the killer soon comes after Sookie, and things get pretty dicey there for a while, but justice is served in the end.
This book was great fun. Fast moving, funny, exciting, sexy, and with a heroine who has a distinctive and likeable voice. I've got really behind with my reviews because I'm enjoying these books so much (I'm now up to Book 7 - "All Together Dead"). So more reviews to come!
View all my reviews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a ride! I've had the Sookie Stackhouse books in my 'to be read' pile for ages, and I thoroughly enjoyed this first instalment. Exciting, funny, and sexy too, I read it in record time.
Sookie is a barmaid in Bon Temps, Louisiana. But she is no ordinary girl. Sookie is a telepath, and when the story opens, she is doing her best not to listen in to her customer's thoughts, as usual!
She is just performing her normal duties, waiting on tables, serving drinks, etc, when Bill Compton walks in. He is handsome, dark haired and dark eyed, but his skin is very pale. Sookie knows immediately that he is her very first vampire, and she's pretty excited about it...
You see, vampires have come out of the coffin, so to speak, because the Japanese have invented a form of synthetic blood that allows vampires to survive without snacking on humans. All over the world, vampires were now mingling with the general population, although some countries have been more accepting than others.
Sookie soon realises another advantage her new vampire customer has over the other patrons in the bar. She can't read his mind. For Sookie, that is like a little holiday! (The only other person she can't "read" clearly is her boss, Sam Merlotte, and she can't work that out - but all will be revealed at a later date...)
So, she is immediately curious about and attracted to Bill.
Unfortunately for Bill, there are a couple of "drainers" in the bar that night as well, the Rattrays. "Drainers" capture vampires and drain them of their blood, which has powerful properties (like making you more attractive!). The Rattrays lure Bill outside, and, using a silver chain (because vampires are weakened by silver - a handy tip in case you ever come across one) the Rattrays overpower him and begin to do their dirty work.
Luckily for Bill, Sookie's special talent had alerted her to the Rattray's plan, and she comes to the rescue.
Before long, Sookie is discovering the joys of - how shall I put this - intimacy - with a vampire, and boy oh boy, it was quite the eye opener for me! It made me wish my husband was a vampire. But I digress. And naturally, as soon as Bill shows an interest in Sookie, Sam decides that he is interested too!
This is not the only dramatic development happening in Bon Temps. Girls are being murdered, and Sookie's brother, Jason, who is a big hit with the ladies, is a prime suspect, as he has had intimate relations with the victims in the past.
Sookie becomes more involved with the local vampire population, including Eric Northman, who owns a nightclub in the nearby town of Shreveport ("Fangtasia"). Her unusual talents are much in demand, and she begins to use her telepathic powers to try and discover the killer.
Then Sookie and Jason's grandmother is murdered, and Sookie believes the killer meant it to be her. As danger closes in, Bill assigns a vampire bodyguard to protect Sookie. But this is not just any vampire. Everybody calls him "Bubba", but in life he was known for his incredible singing and his white jumpsuits... Thank you, thank you very much. Unfortunately when Bubba was brought over, something didn't go quite right and so he prefers to drink cat blood and gets upset when people call him by his real name... And all those sightings you keep hearing about? Well, that's why, people. I'm glad I could clear that up for you!
Anyway, the killer soon comes after Sookie, and things get pretty dicey there for a while, but justice is served in the end.
This book was great fun. Fast moving, funny, exciting, sexy, and with a heroine who has a distinctive and likeable voice. I've got really behind with my reviews because I'm enjoying these books so much (I'm now up to Book 7 - "All Together Dead"). So more reviews to come!
View all my reviews