Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

Sookie Stackhouse #4

I'm really enjoying the Sookie Stackhouse series and I'm not ashamed to admit it!  I'm off work this week, still recovering from my hospital stay, and they are the perfect books to make constant resting bearable and pass the time alone enjoyably. 

This book, Dead to the World, is my favourite of the series so far.  Sookie has a lot of problems to deal with in it: her brother Jason goes missing, Eric gets amnesia and there are a bunch of evil witches around.  Eric is my favourite character, both from the books and the TV show, so I was happy to see him elevated to the status of a major character in this book.  I was also happy to see the action back in Bon Temps and Shreveport, with all the local characters I had enjoyed from the first book having a larger role to play.

I think that what makes the series so successful is that in each book there's a good mix of old and new characters.  The old ones are beginning to feel like old friends and the new ones keep the interest going.  The mix of supernatural creatures is expanding with each book too, which is OK at the moment, but I do hope things don't end up getting a bit silly.  I'm cool with vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters and even witches but a fairy?  Not so much.  I could see this becoming more and more of a problem as the series progresses, with Charlaine Harris having to involve new supernatural creatures with each book to keep the interest level up.

I do enjoy the way the books are written too.  There's a slight tongue in cheek sarcasm to them, which I love.  Charlaine isn't taking herself too seriously.  In fact, reading the books remind me of watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  You know you aren't watching Oscar quality entertainment and that you could be watching something more meaningful, but that wouldn't be anywhere near as fun.

Score: 4 out of 5