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…

I felt pretty good about this book. I’ve been lukewarm about a lot of the books in the latter half of this series, but here we had a little bit of an old fashioned whodunit, rather than a lot of vampire/fae politics. Of course, we can’t get away from the politics altogether. I’ve always preferred action over talk in this series, and there was plenty of action here. Sookie makes some interesting decisions in this book, and I quite enjoyed the return of Bubba. It was enough to keep me interested in the next novel.

Other reviews:

Dead Reckoning (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris : Book Review
Book Review: Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
Candace’s Book Blog: Book Review: Dead Reckoning
Review of “Dead Reckoning” by Charlaine Harris « Rhapsody in Books
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris « Book Monkey

Audiobook length: 10 hrs 23 min | Approximate word count: 84,000 (’11 total: 3,972,850)

2010: So Much For That (Lionel Shriver)
2009: Drop Shot (Harlan Coben)
2008: Creation in Death (J.D. Robb)
2007: Final Jeopardy (Linda Fairstein)
2006: All Through the Night (Mary Higgins Clark)
2005: The Count and the Confession (John Taylor)

Used in these Challenges: Countdown Challenge 2011; 2011 Audiobook Challenge; Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge 2011;

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…

And with this book, I am officially caught up with the series! Unfortunately, this one wasn’t that great.  There was no overall story or theme here, just a bunch of smaller problems that have to be solved all at once. Sookie is starting to lose some of her depth, and is almost becoming a parody of herself.  I’m hoping that the next book is a little more thoughtfully written.

Other reviews:

Dead in the Family by C. Harris | Literary Escapism
All About {n}: Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
Writings Of A Wicked Book Addict – Dead In The Family
Charlaine Harris – Dead in the Family « Fyrefly’s Book Blog
Review: Dead in the Family « Stiletto Storytime

Page count: 320 | Approximate word count: 87,939

2009: High Noon (Nora Roberts)
2008: A Living Nightmare (Darren Shan)
2007: The End (Lemony Snicket)
2006: Narcissus in Chains (Laurell K. Hamilton)
2005: Nora, Nora (Anne Rivers Siddons)

Used in these Challenges: Countdown Challenge 2010; 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; 2010 Pub Challenge; E-book Reading Challenge; Finish That Series Challenge; Pages Read Challenge Season 2;

For Sookie Stackhouse, the day to day activities of the vampire and were communities in and around Bon Temps, Louisiana, are of vital interest, She’s blood-bound to the leader of the vamps, a friend to the local were pack, works for a man who is shifter, and has a brother who is a were-panther…

But for most of the humans in Bon Temps, the vamps are mysterious seductive creatures-and they don’t even know about the weres.

Until now. The weres and shifters have finally decided to follow the lead of the undead and reveal their existence to the ordinary world.

At first it seems to go well. Then the mutilated body of a were-panther is found in the parking lot of the bar where Sookie works. The victim is someone she knows, so she feels compelled to discover who-human or otherwise-did the deed.

But what she doesn’t realize is that there is a far greater danger than the killer threatening Bon Temps. A race of unhuman beings–older, more powerful and far more secretive than vampires or werewolves– is preparing for war. And Sookie will find herself an all-too human pawn in their battle…

A lot happens in this book.  A lot.  And it seems like every character that’s ever made an appearance in the series shows up. I think that in the end, too much happens, and the stuff that’s important isn’t fully developed.  I was a little surprised at what happens to some of the characters at the end of the book, but I’m glad that Harris has the guts to kill off major characters, not just the minor ones.  This isn’t the best book in the series, and it’s full of holes, but it’s still candy for my supe-loving brain.

Other reviews:

REVIEW: Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris | Dear Author
Whimpulsive: Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris – Dead and Gone « Fyrefly’s Book Blog
Musings of a Bookish Kitty: Review: Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
Dead and Gone (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris : Book Review

Page count: 320 | Approximate word count: 87,939

2009: Bad Things (Michael Marshall)
2008: Key of Light (Nora Roberts)
2007: Born in Death (J.D. Robb)
2006: Dark Angel (Karen Harper)
2005: Godplayer (Robin Cook)

Used in these Challenges: Sookie Reading Challenge; 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; E-book Reading Challenge; Pages Read Challenge Season 2;

After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the manmade explosion at the vampire summit, everyone—human and otherwise—is stressed, including Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who is trying to cope with the fact that her boyfriend Quinn has gone missing.

It’s clear that things are changing—whether the weres and vamps of her corner of Louisiana like it or not. And Sookie—Friend to the Pack and blood-bonded to Eric Northman, leader of the local vampire community—is caught up in the changes.

In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death, and once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood finished flowing, her world will be forever altered.

Lots of moving and shaking in this book, both for Sookie and for the supernatural world in general.  I really like how Harris has used Hurricane Katrina to really drive the overall story arc of the series.  She could have easily just mentioned it and moved on, but instead she has shown us some far-reaching implications. There’s no overall plot to this book, but a lot of loose ends are tied up (or are at least an attempt is made). Sookie also discovers a branch of the family she didn’t know about. I read this in about a day, so I must have been pleased.

Other reviews:

REVIEW: From Dead To Worse by Charlaine Harris | Dear Author
From Dead To Worse (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris : Book Reveiw
Darque Reviews: From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
Review of “From Dead to Worse” by Charlaine Harris « Rhapsody in Books
Charlaine Harris – From Dead to Worse « Fyrefly’s Book Blog

Page count: 336 | Approximate word count: 92,336

2009: City of Thieves (David Benioff)
2008: Full Tilt (Janet Evanovich)
2007: The Color of Magic (Terry Pratchett)
2006: City of Bones (Michael Connelly)
2005: J is for Judgment (Sue Grafton)

Used in these Challenges: Sookie Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010; 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; E-book Reading Challenge; Pages Read Challenge Season 2;

Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has her hands full dealing with every sort of undead and paranormal creature imaginable. And after being betrayed by her longtime vampire love, Sookie must not only deal with a new man in her life-the shapeshifter Quinn-but also contend with the long-planned vampire summit.

The summit is a tense situation. The vampire queen of Louisiana is in a precarious position, her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started. Soon, Sookie must decide what side she’ll stand with. And her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe.

A lot of the time, later books in a series can feel watered down or old, but I’ve really enjoyed the path this series is on. Despite the heavy vampire politics in the recent books, things are not too difficult to follow here. In fact, some of the clues were neon-sign obvious to me, though Sookie doesn’t figure things out until way too late.  She also makes some logical jumps that I’m not sure I would make in her shoes. I’m finding myself warming to her relationship with Eric, and disappointed in Quinn.  I thought the most interesting part of this book was the action Sookie takes that can possibly expose her "gift" to the public at large. I’m already on to the next book, so we’ll see what happens!

Other reviews:

All Together Dead (True Blood) by Charlaine Harris : Book Review
Charlaine Harris – All Together Dead « Fyrefly’s Book Blog
All Together Dead « reading comes from writing
All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris « Scooper Speaks
Whimpulsive: All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris

Page count: 352 | Word count: 96,733

2009: Breathers (S.G. Browne)
2008: Twisted (Andrea Kane)
2007: Hollywood Station (Joseph Wambaugh)
2006: The Slippery Slope (Lemony Snicket)
2005: The Rebels (John Jakes)

Used in these Challenges: Sookie Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010; 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; E-book Reading Challenge; Pages Read Challenge Season 2;

There’s something about almost dying that makes a girl rethink her priorities. Take Nicki Styx—she was strictly goth and vintage, until a brush with the afterlife leaves her with the ability to see dead people.

Before you can say boo, Atlanta’s ghosts are knocking at Nicki’s door. Now her days consist of reluctantly cleaning up messes left by the dearly departed, leading ghouls to the Light . . . and one-on-one anatomy lessons with Dr. Joe Bascombe, the dreamy surgeon who saved her life. All this catering to the deceased is a real drag, especially for a girl who’d rather be playing hanky-panky with her hunky new boyfriend . . . who’s beginning to think she’s totally nuts.

But things get even more complicated when a friend foolishly sells her soul to the devil, and Nicki’s new gift lands her in some deep voodoo.

As it turns out for Nicki Styx, death was just the beginning.

There’s nothing particularly complex here, but I enjoyed it.  Nicki deals pretty well with her newfound “gift”, and I like her relationships, both with her best friend Evan and her new (and unlikely) boyfriend, Dr. Joe. No one really knows why or how Nicki can now see and talk to the dead, but the voodoo makes for an interesting twist.  Not every dead person is looking for the light. The tone here is also good… It’s not as silly as a MaryJanice Davidson, but not as serious as a Laurell K. Hamilton. I would definitely read more in this series.

Page count: 384 | Approximate word count: 76,800

2008: The Whole Truth (David Baldacci)
2007: Holiday in Death (J.D. Robb)
2006: All That Remains (Patricia Cornwell)
2005: I’ll Be Seeing You (Mary Higgins Clark)

Used in these Challenges: Spring Reading Thing 2009; 100+ Reading Challenge 2009; 1st in a Series Challenge; The 999 Challenge; Read Your Own Books Challenge;

Harper Connelly heads to Doraville, North Carolina, to find a missing boy—one of several teenage boys who have disappeared over the last five years. And all of them are calling for Harper. She finds them, buried in the frozen ground. Soon Harper will learn more than she cared to about the dark mysteries and long-hidden secrets of Doraville—knowledge of the dead that makes her next in line to end up in an ice-cold grave.

I find Harper and Tolliver to be rather interesting protagonists — two people just trying to make a living from an unusual gift and keep to themselves, but who keep getting pulled into other people’s affairs.  In this case, the discovery of a serial killer, an attack on Harper, and several other events all conspire to keep the two in Doraville much longer than they’d like. I’ve decided that this has been my favorite book of the three, maybe because we actually get a taste of a happy Harper in this one. Granted, her happiness comes from a realization of shared feelings between herself and her “brother”, but I had been told to expect it.  I was afraid I might feel icky about their relationship, which appears incestuous from the outside, but by the time the book got to it I was prepared.  Harper had already stopped thinking about him as her brother, so as a reader, I did too. I’m sad that this series hasn’t been continued yet, because I’m really interested to see how things continue for Harper and Tolliver.

This is the first book in the series I listened to instead of read, so I wonder if the audio production is what made me enjoy it more?  That is an interesting rumination for another time.

Audiobook length: 8hrs 42min | Approximate word count: 86,400

2008: Whitewash (Alex Kava)
2007: Op-Center (Tom Clancy)
2006: The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
2005: Blue Gold (Clive Cussler)

Used in these Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge 2009; 2009 Audiobook Challenge; The 999 Challenge; A-Z 2009 Challenge;

Elizabeth Phoenix once used her unique skills as a psychic to help in the Milwaukee Police Department’s fight against injustice. But when Liz’s foster mother is found viciously murdered—and Liz is discovered unconscious at the scene—her only memory of the crime comes in the form of terrifying dreams…of creatures more horrific than anything Liz has seen in real life. What do these visions mean? And what in the world do they have to do with her former lover, Jimmy Sanducci?

While the police question Jimmy in the murder, Jimmy opens Liz’s eyes to a supernatural war that has raged since the dawn of time in which innocent people are hunted by malevolent beings disguised as humans. Only a chosen few have the ability to fight their evil, and Jimmy believes Liz is among them. Now, with her senses heightened, new feelings are rising within Liz—ones that re-ignite her dangerous attraction to Jimmy. But Jimmy has a secret that will rock Liz to her core…and put the survival of the human race in peril.

I received this through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer’s Group, which had an extremely large batch of 1500 books to give away. As the reviews started trickling in from other users, I got a little concerned… they were all bad!  But now that I’ve read this, I think that most of those reviews were from people who don’t read much paranormal fiction, if any at all, and aren’t familiar with the genre.  I didn’t think this was that bad… I liked the premise of the ultimate struggle between good and evil, between different groups of fallen angels. It was a new spin on your typical vampire/werewolf/other-bitey-scary-thing storyline. The story moved pretty well for most of the book, and while there was a good amount of sex (which was one of the complaints I saw a lot), I thought it fit into the story and wasn’t particularly gratuitous.

It did have some problems.  I would have liked to have learned more about Liz’s time as a cop because I found myself forgetting that she had that background and was probably more capable than your average female being thrown into these circumstances. And unfortunately, the ending was pretty weak.  The story started to fall apart as the conclusion nears, and the crucial final events end up coming off as rushed. But overall, I liked it enough that I would read the next book in the series.

I somehow ended up with two advanced reader copies of this book, so stay tuned — I plan to give them away very soon!

Page count: 352 | Approximate word count: 96,800

2007: A Game of Thrones (George R.R. Martin)
2006: A Dangerous Fortune (Ken Follett)

While in Memphis, psychic Harper Connelly senses-and finds-two bodies in a grave. One of a man centuries-dead. The other, a girl, recently deceased. Harper’s investigation yields another surprise: the next morning, a third body is found-in the very same grave.

This one didn’t grab me like the first one did. There was just something missing, but I’m not sure what — some level of involvement. And I was a bit confused about Harper’s new feelings about Tolliver… She sees and treats him like her brother for all these years, and then all of a sudden she has “feelings” for him? That was a little weird, and out of place in this story. But I’ll likely read the third book, because I’m a sheep.

Page count: 295 | Word count: 74,459

2007: Through Violet Eyes (Stephen Woodworth)
2006: Eveless Eden (Marianne Wiggins)
2005: King’s Oak (Anne Rivers Siddons)

Harper Connelly has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. The way Harper sees it, she’s providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living-but she’s used to most people treating her like a blood-sucking leech. Traveling with her stepbrother Tolliver as her manager and sometime-bodyguard, she’s become an expert at getting in, getting paid, and getting out fast. Because for the living it’s always urgent-even if the dead can wait forever.

Harper and Tolliver are interesting characters. A little dark, a little moody, a little lonely. Dedicated to each other. This series appears to be a bit more serious than Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series, but this initial book is just as good. I had almost guessed what the deal was with the relationship between Dell and Teenie, but there was a twist there I wasn’t expecting! I also read the little bit of the second book that was at the end, which I rarely do, and I think the second book will be as good as the first.

Page count: 293 | Word count: 69,601

2007: The Bone Collector (Jeffery Deaver)
2006: Visions in Death (J.D. Robb)
2005: Jackdaws (Ken Follett)