dark fantasy

I can't tell you how much I looked forward to this book, more than I've looked forward to books in a long time.

However, I was not as happy with this one as I could have been.

Of course, I still enjoyed it, read it in one sitting even. And i absolutly cannot wait for the fourth book (Anyone know when it will be?

But, some things to consider:

Watch out for the AB Factor. The AB Factor is the Anita Blake factor. I used to love the Hamilton series about the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter. However, after about oh, book four, Anita became quickly, EVERY other person's object of lust in the vicinity. Human, nonhuman, straight, gay, bi...whatever. EVERYone wants to *bleep* Anita.

Well, it appears in this book that this same factor is creeping into the Harris series. Please, oh please, Ms Harris...don't make Sookie the object of lust to everyone...please?

I wish the book had kept the men wanting Sookie to either Bill or Eric. Adding in Alcide, and the Weres, and such..well, it was just too much. Part of the charm of Sookie is that I can see her as EVERYwoman.

I loved that she sent both guys out of her house at the end, and I loved too that she acknowledged to herself that since dating Bill, she's been beaten more than any person ought to have to endure. That's a very telling factor of her life. It's gotten out of control.

I did get a tad annoyed that she's constantly being beaten up or threatened in this book....readers barely catch their breath before another attack happens.

I wanted more details too on Bill's infidelity....I'm shocked...what happened?????? What the heck is his deal? For an "old fashioned" vamp, he's definitely changed.

Please, hurry with the next one.....I need some closure...this book left me hanging and I need more :)

K.

Club Dead is, by far, my favorite installment of the Southern Vampire series.

Club Dead tells the story of Sookie's adventures to find and rescue Bill, who has mysteriously gone missing. With the help of Eric and Alcide (a newly introduced Werewolf), Sookie travels to Mississippi to immerse herself into night culture to find out was has become of Bill.

The first two books were introductory books where we were given overall assessments of all the characters. The marvel of this book is that we are now neck deep in DEVELOPMENT!!! All of the characters go through believable changes, just as We Real People go through changes in our own lives. We find out what kind of "person" Bill really is; we get a better look at Sookie and her insecurities and emotional quirks; and at the same time, we meet some new people too! And let me not forget to mention the better glimpse of Eric; which, by the way, I am reluctantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. But I must wait for the 4th book to see if it ever does drop.

Club Dead has about the same amount of violence as the first two books and about the same of sex as Dead until Dark. The plot of Club Dead a little weaker than the plots of first two books, but it is not detrimentally so. It still carries its own weight within the series especially considering the growth of each of the characters, which is this book's strongest point.

If you have read Dead Until Dark and Living Dead in Dallas, I recommend you read this one for some interesting and frustratingly entertaining developments - it's amazing how this book sensibly mirrors real people and how we can be disappointed with and hurt by one another.

If you have NOT read Dead Until Dark or Living Dead in Dallas, DO NOT read this one. You MUST first read Dead Until Dark then Living Dead in Dallas in order to fully appreciate the characters' growths that Club Dead represents in the series.

I give it a 5 of 5, not because it's perfect but because if you read the first two this book is exactly what you think it should be, hope for, and expect.

Sookie finds out that Bill (the dullest and most tedious vampire ever imagined) has been cheating on her! (A-ha! knew I didn't like him for a reason). He's working on a secret mission for the Queen of LA (yes the sate) and he direly tells her if he goes missing to check her crawl space.

So, scene two, Bill goes missing (yipee!). She finds some computer disks but doesn't look at them, wierd, then Eric, Bill's boss asks her to find him.

She finds out he was leaving her for his vampire lover when he was kidnapped in MS. She has to investigate that kingdom and her entree in is sexy werewolfe Alcide.

So she goes to find her errant lover and shack up with the very tempting wolf. Eric comes in disguise to follow her repeatedly almost seducing her (lord but he's so much sexier than Bill, I wish she'd chose him) and the hijinks begin. It's a little darker than its predcesors, but the characters grow as you'd expect them to.

Sadly, Sookie has a few TSTL (too stupid to live- got that from another reader) moments. I mean, she wants to forgive Bill even though he was leaving her and had been cheating on her. Gimme a break, no man is worth that humiliation. And she turns down Eric though she wants him badly, even comes dagerously close to full blown sex. In fact, what they do would be considered in many countries sex, but not by most Americans' standards.

It's highly entertaining and had me laughing more then the first two and the characters seem so much more fleshed out, so much more real. Totally worthy read! The ending had me hooting with laughter and I've got to read the fourth. Once again I highly recommend!