Ah, Sookie Stackhouse. The books that the tv series True Blood is based on, it can best be described as Twilight but good. Sookie is a strong character with interesting abilities, and her hometown, Bon Temps, Louisiana, is filled with interesting, fully fleshed out characters.
Dead Reckoning, the newest book in the series, was released on May 3. I will be spoiling things that happen in each chapter, so read at your own peril! Also, please don't spoil me if you've already read it – that would be incredibly rude, and I wouldn't like it. So, if you're still with me, hit the jump!
I find it interesting that this book starts out with cleaning out the attic. The previous book dealt was about coming to terms with the past, and learning how to move on. I hadn't realized this when I first read it, but on reflection every character who plays a major role has to deal with something from their past and come to terms with it; Bill has to forgive himself for inadvertently causing his “sister” Judith's transformation into a vampire, while Eric and Pam have to deal with Eric's sire Appius and “brother” Alexei. The primary antagonist, and the source of most of the mystery, was a fairy named Colman who blamed Sookie for Claudine's death – he was her husband, and she was Sookie's fairy godmother. Man, that feels ridiculous to type out. And, on top of all that, they all had to deal with Dermot, Sookie's Great-Uncle, who was driven made by a spell. In the end, Appius, Alexei and Colman end up dead, Bill has reconciled with Judith, who was never mad at him in the first place, and Claude and Sookie break the spell on Dermot.
Bringing it all back to the book I'm supposed to be talking about, the fact that Sookie is cleaning out her attic of all the useless old things that have been collected struck me as a continuation of those themes. She seems to understand that she doesn't need to cling to the past at this point, and is finally fully coming to terms with her grandmother's death. I also like the dialogue from Claude and Dermot, as it contrasts their personalities nicely. Claude is still the douche we all know and love, while Dermot is... well, he's kind of like a lost puppy.
For most of the time at the bar, nothing much happens, though we get some tidbits about what has been going on around town. Churches are still occasionally picketing Merlotte's, which is a shame, because Sam is one of my favorite characters. In the first book he was clearly set up to be Bill's romantic rival, but he didn't obsess over Sookie once it became obvious that they would never have a relationship. I'm always happy to see him in a scene, as he has a way of grounding everything, which is a strange thing for a shapeshifter to do.
All of this is just meant to lull the reader into a false sense of security. After all, nothing that big could happen in the first chapter, right? I had forgotten how quickly things tend to go wrong in these books, and I think that's a testament to Charlaine Harris's writing skills, because I was completely thrown off when a molotov cocktail was thrown through the front window and explodes on a table.
Harris does a really good job at making the reader feel the panic that sets in around fire, and the next few pages pass in a blur as Sam and Sookie put out the fire and the authorities arrive. Eric then shows up, and he is... well, he's kind of being overbearing, which isn't usually how he treats Sookie. Thankfully, and in another moment that reinforces why this series is so much better than Twilight, Sookie realizes that he's being a jerk and (subtly) tells him to stop, and he listens. After the police interrogate her, Eric brings her home, and has called Pam to meet them there with a hairdresser. I love the description that is given for the stylist. Sookie is very clearly a country girl, and she can't understand weird haircuts at all, and the stylist has an amazingly strange haircut.
Not a whole lot else happens, though Eric continues to act slightly oddly. I'm not complaining, by the way – a little bit of a breather is necessary after the hectic events of the chapter, but there isn't much to talk about. The most interesting thing is the last line, which is the earliest time we've ever had confirmation that the antagonist is supernatural. These books have been good about showing that the existence of the supernatural doesn't mean that mankind is any less dangerous. Several times the antagonist has been completely mundane, and it's refreshing to see a series that deals with vampires and shapeshifters allow the villains to be completely mundane.
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