Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9)
by Charlaine Harris
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Book Reviews of Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9)
Book Review: A Crucifixion at Merlotte's Bar
Summary: 4 Stars
Dead and Gone (2009) is the ninth fantasy novel in the Southern Vampire series, following From Dead to Worse. In the previous volume, Amelia and Octavia concocted a spell to remove Sandra's influence from Tanya. Hopefully the change in Tanya would reduce the strain between Jason and Crystal.
Eric remained as Sheriff of the Shreveport area after the Las Vegas vampire kingdom took over the Louisiana kingdom. Sookie broke up with Quinn. Then Sookie and Calvin found Crystal in bed with another man. Octavia finally turned Bob back into a human being. And Sookie found Hadley's son Hunter.
In this novel, Sookie Stackhouse is a waitress at Merlotte's Bar and Grill. She also has a little disability: she hears what other people are thinking. Since vampires are much less likely to have perceivable thoughts, she tends to relax in their company.
Jason Stackhouse is Sookie's older brother. He has recently become a werepanther and has married within the Hothouse community.
Crystal Norris Stackhouse is married to Jason and is pregnant with his child. But they have been separated since she was caught committing adultery.
Bill Compton is a vampire. He was Sookie's first lover, but they have since broken up. He lives across the cemetery from Sookie's house.
Erik Northman is a vampire and a Sheriff in the Louisiana kingdom. He owns Fangtasia, a vampire bar in Shreveport. He had once been Sookie's lover and would like to renew the relationship.
Sam Merlotte is owner of the bar where Sookie works. He is a pure shapeshifter, able to change into almost any animal, but he prefers to transform into a collie. Sam has not revealed his love for Sookie.
Niall is a Fairy prince and Sookie's great-grandfather. He has only recently come into Sookie's life, but she is very happy to have more family, even if he is a fae.
In this story, Sookie learns that the Weres and other shapeshifters are intending to reveal themselves that evening. She is working at the bar when the news is announced on the local station and elsewhere around the world. Then Sam and Tray Dawson shift to their animal forms in front of the crowd within the bar.
The shapeshifters are definitely prepared for their Great Revealing. Bill Compton and another vampire are present for muscle if necessary. Yet almost all of the patrons are surprised, but not unduly upset.
Unlike most, however, Arlene -- another waitress -- has a fit about the news. She and her buddies in the Fellowship of the Sun are already angry about the vampires. Now they have something else to fume about.
Then Sam gets a call telling him that his mother has been shot by her husband. His stepfather apparently freaked out when she changed in front of him and now he is sitting in a jail cell. Sam has to fly home to Texas to look after his mother and leaves Sookie in charge of the bar.
Later two FBI agents show up to question Sookie about the events in Rhodes. While Sookie is carefully avoiding mention of her telepathy, she gets a phone call about a body in the back parking lot. The FBI agents follow her to Merlotte's, where they find Crystal hanging from a cross.
Jason and Calvin have been notified and soon arrive at the crime scene. Calvin wants to sniff the body to get the scent of the killers, but the cops won't let him near it until they are through. By then, all useful scents had been obscured by their handing of the body.
The cops suspect Jason of the murder, but he has an alibi. Strangely, Calvin does not believe that Jason had done it. Naturally, Sookie KNOWS that Jason is innocent of this crime, but who listens to her?
Just to add to her troubles, Niall tells Sookie that other fairies are out to kill his family. Shortly thereafter, a fairy threatens to kill Sookie and gets a garden trowel in the guts. His body turns to dust and Sookie washes it away with a hose.
This tale leaves Sookie with almost more to do than is physically possible. Her friends and acquaintances provide some help, but she hates to expose them to the dangers facing her. Erik interferes in her life again, but she later asks him for help.
Sookie is threatened from all sides. She learns more about the fairies than she wants to know. And she eventually learns who had hung Crystal from the cross.
The story is full of twists and turns. Its sequel should be coming soon. Read and enjoy!
Recommended for Harris fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of preternatural/supernatural creatures, murder mysteries, and courageous telepathic heroines. For those who have not previous read this series, the initial volume is Dead Until Dark.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Book Review: Not up to Expectations
Summary: 2 Stars
SPOILERS HEREIN -- BEWARE
Unfortunately, this book doesn't overall measure up to previous installments in this series that I've loved so much for years. The novel has too many sub-plots (with the result that none of these sub-plots are treated or resolved effectively). Harris simply tried to tackle too many plot threads in a single novel. I thought the Were Revelation would have been a fascinating novel in its own right, but with the fae war and the murder mystery and Sookie's being married via pledge to Eric all competing for page-time in an already short novel, nothing got the attention it deserved.
The novel is full of continuity errors that are glaring to most fans (where were the editors at Ace and her own continuity editor?) -- many of those errors have already been noted in other reviews posted here (Eric's handwriting changing from a grand flourishing style to "crabbed"; vampire tears are red instead of pink in this one; the name of Claude and Claudine's dead sister is wrong; it was Chow and not Clancy who attacked Hallow, just to name a few). And while I cheered for the underlying message that Sookie sought out Eric for emotional companionship of her own accord, I was curious as to why Eric would choose to spill all his backstory in his own bar within easy hearing range of all his subordinates. I'm glad readers got that backstory, and I'm glad that Sookie sought out Eric's company just because she likes being with him, but it seems more editorial thought could have been given to meet both goals in a more plausible way.
Why is Sookie going all Bella Swan on us? She has had her moments of being indecisive, stubborn, mean-spirited, selfish, etc. throughout the series, but at her core, she was always still recognizable as the resilient, compassionate, gutsy Heroine we readers have loved from the beginning. Not so much in this last book. Sookie is by turns ungrateful, emotionally distant, reckless for herself and others, self-centered, whiny, cold, crude and just generally unlikeable. Many fans I've spoken with have echoed the same lament: what do we do now that we HATE our heroine? For many of us, the series is now all about Eric as default since Sookie has become so unsympathetic. At this point, I almost feel sorry for Eric if he does manage to get commitment from her at long last.
I am a huge Eric fan, and the only redeeming things about this book were Eric-centric ("Darling you can nail my @%s anytime" being one of the only humorous lines in the whole book (where has Harris' sense of humor gone anyway?)). I thought Eric showed true growth as a character, and he has proven to me that he is genuinely in love with Sookie and wants something lasting with her. He makes repeated attempts to get her to focus on their relationship, to no avail.
Which brings me to my biggest complaint with this novel -- the "suitor battle" has become protracted and ridiculous. Harris needs to settle Sookie with her love interest and have done with it. The storyline is stagnating and her fans are tearing each other to shreds over the issue. Unless this is intended to be a romance series (which Harris maintains it is not), then I can see no benefit to stringing this out any further. It seems obvious to me that she has been writing toward Eric for the past 9 novels, but whether it's Eric or any of the other men in line for her heart, it ought to be settled and soon. It surpasses believability that Sookie could continue to be so clueless about the blood bond for example. She understood the fundamentals of it in the previous book -- so why has her understanding regressed in this one? Might it have something to do with Harris attempting to pacify all factions of her fan base for a few more books?
I did enjoy Bill's redemption in Sookie's eyes, and I hope this will allow Sookie to at last fully move in her love-life. "I will make you a rug on my floor" is hands-down the best line in the book. As I said, Eric has good development overall. When I finished the book, I was initially very satisfied on the Eric/Sookie front, because it does seem that all the other suitors have far less likelihood of ousting Eric by the end of the action here. But, the book is not at all up to Harris' usual standards, and while it pains me to do it, I can only give this one 2 stars. I hope Harris will settle the suitor question, bring back more of the humor that was such an important part of the appeal of this series until recently, write more carefully and slowly so that there are fewer continuity errors and less frenetic plot pacing, and generally get a better handle on what the overall plan for this series is. One senses that she no longer has a firm focus on where she's headed with Sookie, and I think she could benefit from thinking all of that through a bit more before moving on. I like having a new Sookie every May as much as the next fan, but I have grown fond of better quality overall than what I saw in this last one.
Book Review: Dead and Gone - Spoiler Alert
Summary: 5 Stars
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SPOILER ALERT!!! I read this book in only one day! I had forgotten how just how intense Sookie Stackhouse's world was. This book was non stop action from the start. Here is the description from the back of the book.
Except for Sookie Stackhouse, folks in Bon Temps, Louisiana, know little about vamps--and nothing about weres.
Until now. The weres and shifters have finally decided to reveal their existence to the ordinary world. At first all goes well. Then the mutilated body of a were-panther is found near the bar where Sookie works--and she feels compelled to discover who, human or otherwise, did it.
But there's a far greater danger threatening Bon Temps. A race of unhuman beings--older, more powerful, and more secretive than vampires or werewolves--is preparing for war. And Sookie finds herself an all-too human pawn in their battle.
Here is the real deal. The book starts with the Weres coming out to the world. Sam shifted in the bar to show everyone that he was really a shapeshifter. Not everyone took the news so well and Sam's stepfather shot his mother when she told him her secret. Sam had to immediately leave to be by her side in Texas and he left Sookie in charge of the bar.
Sookie was approached by Eric's daytime guy with a request for Sookie to meet with Eric at Fangtasia. He also gave her something wrapped in velvet and said that Eric requested that she gives it to him in front of his guest, which happened to be the new Vampire King of Louisiana. When Sookie arrives at the bar and hands Eric the wrapped gift he opens it and it is the small knife that was used in vampire weddings. This meant that Sookie belonged to Eric and they were married in the vampire community. This protected Sookie because the King of Louisiana was there to request Sookies presence with him to gather information, and because Quinn requested to see Sookie. Sookie was outraged by Eric's trick but their blood tie made it her for her to stay mad.
Sookie Returns to Bon Temps the next morning the FBI at her door questioning her about the explosion and wanted to know how she was able to find the survivors and who was the boy that assisted her. During their questioning Sookie receives a call that Crystal, Jason's pregnant wife was crucified outside of Merlots Bar. The FBI agents thought it might be a hate crime and they tagged along with Sookie to the bar.
Sookie is also visited by her great grandfather Niall the Fairy. He tells Sookie that she may be in danger because of a fray war that was forming and his enemy was trying to kill and his bloodline. Sure enough a Fairy shown up to kill Sookie but she is gardening and happened to have an iron tool in her hands and killed the Fairy.
Sookie also has another surprise visitor that was Quinn. Bill sees Sookie and Quinn arguing outside and comes over to protect Sookie. I turns in to a fight and ends with Sookie getting knocked out. When she wakes up Eric is in bed with her and she knows he gave her his blood to help her recover. Sookie gets the courage to ask Eric if he really remembers the time they spent together when he was under a spell and he tells her that he remembers every second. He also told her that part of the spell was that he would be close to his hearts desire, and that was why he was running down Sookie's road. And he offers for Sookie to quit her job and move into his house, but she refuses.
Arlene makes an attempt on Sookie's life and she is arrested along with her boyfriend. Sookie spots another fairy in the woods and is worried about her safety. She calls in a favor with the vampires and the werewolves she is sent Trey from the weres and Bubba from the vampires. Trey is poisoned Bubba is weakened, and Sookie is kidnapped by fairies. Sookie learns that Niall is from the Air fairies and Brendan is of the water fairies and they were responsible for the death of her parents.
She is tortured and knew she was going to die, but she wakes up in a hospital with Claudine. Eric arrives shortly and he said Brendan is on his way to destroy everyone. He gives Sookie a lot of his blood to get her strong enough for the fight. He then bring her into the room where Bill is receiving blood from Clancey in preparation for the fight. Bill tells Sookie that he will die fighting for her. Brendan and the Frey bust into the room and the fight begins. Of corse the vampires win the fight. Pam comes and picks up everyone and returns them home.
Niall the only remanding prince decides to close the off the fray world and remove all contact with the humans for the humans safety. He goes to tell Sookie bye and when he is leaving he says that the vampire really loves her but he leaves before she could think to ask which vampire.
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Book Review: Satisfying Installment in the Sookie Stackhouse series
Summary: 4 Stars
POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW:
I have to say I don't understand the 1 star reviews at all. This isn't a perfect book, like some I found myself feeling like too much was happening and it felt like a series of events rather than a typical novel story arc.
A lot of stuff happened in a sequence, but I was about to the end of the book and I didn't know how I got there, if that makes sense. The author's skimming through certain scenes also made it harder for me as a reader to fully appreciate the emotions of certain scenes. (Though the ending I felt she nailed, and I got a little weepy at a few things Eric said as well as Bill.) That is why I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5. But, that didn't really significantly hamper my enjoyment of the book.
I would have liked for it to be longer though. The book could have been an additional 200 pages to flesh things out more. And I NEVER say that about books I read. Normally I feel they should be shorter, but Harris has such an engaging style that I think the Stackhouse series would benefit from some added length and development. I wanted more Eric and Sookie, I wanted more weirdness from Arlene. And even more Bill, because I liked him in this book (even though I'm on Team Eric.)
I've always been supportive of Sookie and Bill working it out as long as Sookie and Eric can remain together as well. If it's just one or the other, I'm for Eric.
Overall it was an entertaining read. It was funny, and despite what some readers have said, the characters sounded like the characters to me. Yes, Sookie is a little harder now, but that's pretty normal for all she's been through.
I loved the Sookie/Eric stuff. Another reader said something about Sookie comparing Eric to another lover while they were in bed together, I must have missed that scene, I never saw that happen. If it happened it was pretty subtle.
Harris has never written super-explicit sex, so this scene seemed just fine to me on that front as well.
I thought the torture sequence later in the book was handled well, i.e. there was a lot of violence in this book but it wasn't like torture porn. It was done tastefully with description in the right places to let us know what happened without giving us nightmares for weeks. Though the way the scene was handled did make it harder to connect to the character emotionally as a reader, at least until the aftermath.
I have liked the Fairy storyline since it was introduced as well as her great grandfather. It was nice to have an older family figure to fill in the absence of her grandmother. I also think it gives us at least a logical reason why so many vampires and other supes seem to want to sleep with Sookie. If everyone just randomly wanted her it would be a bit lame, but the fairy blood at least explains the attraction to some degree.
I loved the further development of the Eric/Sookie storyline. LOVE Eric, and while some have said this Eric is mushy and not at all like himself, recall Book 4 with Amnesia Eric. This is very much like Amnesia Eric and I've always felt like that was the "real Eric" behind the indifferent mask he often has to wear in order to maintain the power he has.
Some readers mentioned Sookie's many suitors in this book, but I didn't really feel it was overkill here. The only characters that seemed to have anything romantic for Sookie were Eric, Bill, and Quinn. And Quinn was unrequited, a matter of Sookie trying to finish ending that when he didn't want to let go. I don't get that vibe from Sam much.
I'm really thinking the only romantic threads going on here are Sookie/Bill and Sookie/Eric. So IMO not that much.
One reader said something about Sookie not feeling any remorse for killing someone and killing them so easily. Well it was an evil fairy bent on killing her. How hard was it supposed to be? I think she felt bad about it, but she's obviously not going to whine and cry about it, I wouldn't.
And after being tortured it's perfectly normal and human to be sorry your torturers got a quick death.
Unlike some readers I don't think Sookie has lost her humanity or become cold.
I read a lot of the 1 star reviews before reading this so I was prepared for the worst, overall I think Harris delivered in this book, I just wish it had been longer so everything could have been better and more fully developed.
Book Review: Alrighty, who kidnapped the real Charlaine Harris?
Summary: 1 Stars
Okay, I have never been strongly motivated to write a review ever but this book just makes me mad. What has happened to this series, which used to be, even in its dark moments, full of wit, humor, cynicism and insight?
The main characters all sound so far from their usual selves that I'm thinking that the ghost writer who wrote this one for Harris didn't even bother to read the previous books with any degree of care.
*****Spoilers*****
I always thought that the fairy plot line in this series was so poorly conceived and realized. But to build up a storyline further in book 8, only to have it play out absurdly in book 9 is just beyond the pale. WHY would Niall leave his great-granddaughter alone without protection in her house if she had had to kill a fairy in her own garden after the fairy said he was there to kill her? Didn't he know there were raving lunatic fairies roving around looking for ways to get at him and that his granddaughter was an obvious target? And WHY, if Eric had shown up to protect her in Dallas, Jackson and 'Rhodes,' to reveal truths to her in New Orleans and taken bullets for her time and again, would he have the cold and poorly dialoged sex in Chapter 10 and then leave her alone without protection after he too learned she had killed a fairy who had shown up to kill her? WHY would Bill, ever trying to re-ingratiate himself, leave Sookie on her own after lurking around while she was clearly safe with Eric and then leave when Eric left? Does Quinn even own a cell phone? Can the man call Sookie, ever, to talk to her? And since when is Sam mean to Sookie? The entire plot structure was just written like a sketch, without editing and without being informed by plausibility in any fashion.
Let's not even get started on the number of gruesome deaths (some of pregnant women no less) which is really something. And then there's what the author does to her heroine, who's already suffered just about every misfortune possible short of her own death. Do we really need a telepathic martyr?
And what pushed Arlene over the edge from being a judgmental, not really friend into being a hardened crucifixion supporting accomplice to murder? And fairies, pagan fairies, use crucifixion to kill a very pregnant character? I guess until now it hadn't occurred to me how badly conceived the inner workings of fairy parts of the Sookie series were, until they were revealed egregiously by this very bad book. I just can't believe that Charlaine Harris really wrote it!
Sookie suffers major setbacks in her character's insight and maturity, in a book that genuinely reads as if it was ghost written. Her character seems to have regressed! She does not feel remorse, as previously, over killing even in self-defense. She does not feel much outrage over being tricked into a binding commitment. She does not do anything to dissuade a new character's death in an unjust fashion, when she clearly sees that he was not ultimately the culpable party for a murder. She doesn't even appear to feel all that bad when friends die for her. And her 8 books-long growing relationship with one of the central characters takes a major step back, with not being able to reflect on what she feels, what he feels, and leaves me not caring about what *any* of them feel. Maybe Ms. Harris needs to produce novels at a slower pace. That way she can really write them herself. Because I'm finding it really hard to believe the author of Living Dead in Dallas wrote this book.
As so many other reviews have noted, the number of continuity errors is truly an embarrassment, for the author, her editor and her shameful publishing house, who thinks that readers are too easily snookered into buying a book to care about whether or not its content is an insult to the readership.
Well this reader vows to wait for the library to get book 10. I want to see that the book was really written by Charlaine Harris (the one I remember from All Together Dead or Living Dead in Dallas or Club Dead, who could give us a really good read) before I plunk down my money for another hardbound that just pillages the characters she created.
Readers, do yourselves a favor. Read Patricia Briggs, or Shirley Damsgaard. Not Dead and Gone. Let's pretend it was a mistake that we're going to politely ignore.