| | |  | DSLR & SLR | Home » » » Dead Until Dark: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel | | | | | | | Description: | | Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out....Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea. | | | Product Details: | | | Average Customer Rating:
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 Augments the HBO Series nicelySep 02, 2010
Tells the story of Sookie, a mind reader, and her adventures in a small southern town called Bon Temps. In Harris's world, Vampires are "mainstreaming" with society, thanks to artificial blood that keeps them alive. Sookie is a charming character with strong values but an open mind. She can sometimes be nieve, but her character is none-the-less believable and relatable. There is a mystery in Bon Temps, and Sookie is going to find out what is going on. This is a bit different than the series, making it enjoyable even to those who have seen the HBO show.
Red Wine and Vampires Book ReviewSep 02, 2010
SPOILER ALERT!!! In terms of paranormal romance series this is my favorite. This was the first series of vampire books that I read after Twilight lured me into this world. I really enjoy how Charlaine Harris eases you into this time where vampires exist alongside humans. Harris makes all of the characters likable and situations believable. I highly recommend reading this series. There is so much action that you wont be able to put the books down. Here is the wiki breakdown from the first installment in The Southern Vampire Mysteries.
In Dead Until Dark, Sookie Stackhouse is a telepath who lives in a world where vampires have recently come out to the public and become legal citizens, following the development by the Japanese of a synthetic blood. "Tru Blood" makes it possible for vampires to live in the open without the need to hunt humans for sustenance. Sookie is a waitress and she lives with her grandmother, Adele Stackhouse, and has an older brother,Jason. Sookie falls in love with a vampire, a Civil War veteran named Bill Compton. Bill's mind is 'silent' to Sookie. In his company, she is free from the constant strain of blocking or ignoring the thoughts of the humans around her. In his first visit, Sookie saves him from the Rattrays (vampire drainers), and Bill returns the favor the next night when the Rattrays attack Sookie. In the meantime, there are several murders in Bon Temps, and people believe that vampires are behind the murders because many of the bodies are of women who have been known to hang out with vampires, and most have been bitten. The Bon Temps police suspect Sookie's brother Jason and arrest him because he has been romantically linked to two of the victims. Sookie wants to help her brother and asks Bill to take her to a vampire bar called Fangtasia in nearby Shreveport. Fangtasia is owned by Eric Northman, a vampire sheriff who is much older and more powerful than Bill. Eric soon discovers that Sookie can be useful and orders Bill to have her use her telepathic ability to determine the identity of the person who has been stealing from his bar. Sookie finds out that Eric's partner, Longshadow (a vampire), has been stealing money, and she almost gets killed in the process. Eric saves Sookie's life by staking Long Shadow when he attacks her. Back in Bon Temps, Sookie finds her grandmother Adele slaughtered in the kitchen. Bill, concerned with Eric's power over him and Sookie, decides to improve his own position within their vampire hierarchy. He asks Bubba, a dim-witted vampire, to protect Sookie while he is gone. Sookie discovers that her boss Sam is a shape-shifter when she lets a stray dog sleep beside her and finds a naked Sam in the morning. While Bill is gone, Sookie discovers that the murderer is her brother's friend Rene Lenier. He almost kills her, but she fights back. Badly injured, Sookie wakes up in the hospital and finds Bill by her side. Bill tells Sookie that he has become his area's investigator, working under Eric.
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 A SHOCK TO FANS OF THE SHOWAug 30, 2010
Sookie Stackhouse has been waiting for something her whole life but she didn't know exactly what it was until a vampire named Bill walks into Merlotte's, the bar where she works waiting tables. In the world of Dead Until Dark vampires are real. In fact, they've been out of the closet so to speak going on about two years. Everybody knows about them and they've even began to try to assimilate themselves into mainstream American society.Well, SOME of them have. Some live lawless lives using and preying on humans like they've done for thousands of years. But Bill is different. He's come home to the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps after 200 years of wandering. He wants to stay in Bon Temps. Become part of the town. Of course, just because everyone knows about the existence of vampires doesn't mean they aren't still feared.
People fear Sookie as well. It's well known that she has a "gift". Actually, Sookie calls it a "disability". Sookie can read the minds of the people around her at will. Over the years she's been able to sublimate those thoughts into white noise that she doesn't pay much attention to unless she wants to, but it's still a pain in the butt to always keep a shield up. It's also a real block to getting a date. She's 25 years old and still a virgin. But Bill is different. He's the first vampire she's ever met and she learns something about him that tickles her pink. She cannot hear Bill's thoughts. Finally, she can be around someone with whom she can experience some peace and quiet.
Just because it's a small town doesn't mean Bon Temps is a QUIET town. On the same night Bill shows up at Merlotte's, Sookie has to rescue him from a pair of white trash "drainers". Some people drain blood from vampires against their will because the blood has extraordinary healing and narcotic powers if drunk by a human. The drainers sell the blood to buyers like dealers selling coke. If the vampire dies in the process, well, that's just too bad. And then there's the problem of the mysterious murders of two young townswomen. Both of the girls just happen to have been waitresses at Merlotte's....just like Sookie! Sookie begins to think she might be next even as her fellow residents start to think that Bill might be responsible since the murders started just as he arrived in town.
I picked up this novel simply because I was such a big fan of HBO's True Blood tv series. I don't have cable so I either have to watch at somebody's house or wait until they come out on video. So I thought I'd start reading the books until I can see the third season. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed initially by this first book. Usually, the book is always deeper and more detailed than the live action version, but that isn't the case with Dead Until Dark. My first reaction is to say that the tv show is the superior version, but I really can't. The experience is too apple and orange for a couple of reasons.
The biggest difference between the tv show and the novel is the fact that the entire book is completely narrated from Sookie's point of view. She does read some minds when people are around her, but she has no first hand knowledge of scenes taking place outside of her direct involvement. The easiest way to see the difference is to imagine the True Blood tv show being cut down to only scenes where Sookie appears. It's a pretty drastic change and the novel is poorer for it.
Because of the limited viewpoint, the supporting characters occupy a lot less space in the book. For instance Lafayette is barely mentioned. His role probably occupies about 3 paragraphs total. And if you're looking for Tara and her addict mom, you'll search in vain in this first novel. There is also no Jessica, the young girl that Bill had to turn into a vampire towards the end of the first season. There are also characters that appear only in the novel.
The book is almost completely focused on Sookie and Bill's evolving relationship. This isn't a bad thing, it's just that True Blood has a pretty big spotlight for its ensemble cast whereas the novel shines a laser pointer almost exclusively on our two lovers. Jason, Sookie's brother, is present, but he's much more of an jerk, even to his sis. He is a very unlikeable dude. Jason's character in the tv show seems to be taken from a dumb, handsome, and loyal friend of Sookie's named JB du Rone who only appears in the book.
The aspect of the book that didn't change was the broad plotline of the serial killings of the Merlotte's waitresses and the search for their murderer. After my disappointment over the lack of continuity or comparable experience with the tv show, I began to accept that this was a totally different take on the story. I started to enjoy reading it then. Mostly because it was fun to be surprised at how different it was. Some characters are reversed, some stay the same, some are absent entirely. The same can be said of the action. So if you're gonna try these books, approach them with an open mind. See them and the the tv shows as different reflections of a prism. Personally, in the end, I have to say I enjoy the tv show more. But I had fun with the book and will continue reading the series.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
A Guilty PleasureAug 27, 2010
Vampire stories, books, movies, etc., have always been a guilty pleasure of mine. I mean real vampire stories, not teen angst vampire stories. Even has a youngster, I got a thrill watching old Dracula films. Additionally, the urban paranormal detective genre is one of my favorites, so it really is a surprise that I have never read any of the Southern Vampire Mysteries...until now. On a recent vacation I had the luxury of time and read all 10 Sookie Stackhouse novels back to back, in the space of about 2 weeks. They were perfect vacation reads: fun, easy, and fast-paced. DEAD UNTIL DARK started the series off with a bang and propelled me right through the entire series to date.
Sookie Stackhouse has a "disability," as she calls it; she is a telepath and can hear the thoughts of the world around her. Over the years, she has learned to block out all those unwanted thoughts, but it is exhausting to keep her shields up all the time. Until she met Bill. You see, Bill is a vampire. When a viable synthetic blood substitute was invented by the Japanese, vampires around the world came out of the coffin, so to speak, and joined society. Bill is the first vamp that Sookie has ever met. And, miraculously, Bill's mind is blank to Sookie. Being around Bill is quiet, peaceful, restful...or is it? While being involved with a vampire may be soothing to Sookie's mind, her life is suddenly a chaotic mess, and she ends up with much more danger and adventure than she ever bargained for.
DEAD UNTIL DARK is a delightfully odd mix of genres: chick-lit, paranormal, romance, and mystery all rolled up into a fun little package. The pace is fast and intense, the writing style is simple and easy, and the characters are unique and very likable. And Charlaine Harris certainly knows how to captivate her audience.
Overall, I found DEAD UNTIL DARK (and ALL the Sookie Stackhouse novels) to be a perfect vacation read. DEAD UNTIL DARK made it very easy to relax my brain. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. I just sank into Sookie's world, stayed there, and let all my cares drift away. And that is exactly what any good novel should do. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 TrashyAug 26, 2010
I love mystery stories, and while not a "vampire" fiction fan, I was eager to read this book (mainly due to its popularity). Unfortunately, this was honestly the worst bit of trash I have read in decades, and all the positive reviews have left me wondering just what in the world passes for a quality these days?
The mystery itself was vaguely intriguing and held my interest, as did the hierarchy of the vampires, but the fact that the storyline was too frequently mixed with trashy vampire/human sex scenes where "quality" writing included a vampire taking the girls virginity and then putting his blood "inside her" so she could heal faster so they could do it again; and his being so forceful a non-alive being as to "pound her" into the ground while fooling around in a cemetery right after waking for the night and crawling out of the dirt naked because you know, the clothes would only get dirty if he wore them while sleeping (which is actually written in the story!), left me literally rolling my eyes and wondering if I was reading a story written by a high school girl who had a big English assignment due and too many posters of Twilight in her room.
If you are looking for a good mystery that won't insult your intelligence, try Charlaine Harris' other series, the Aurora Teagarden mysteries which begins with book titled "Real Murders". Actually, that book is so much better than the Sookie Stackhouse book, it's really hard to imagine they are even written by the same author. There's also Mary Higgins Clark/You Belong to Me, and of course the best mystery writer of all time and one of her best stories, Agatha's Christie/And Then There Were None.
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