book review

BOOK REVIEW: Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

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Title: Club Dead

Author: Charlaine Harris

Book Length: 274 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Mystery, Horror

Read Start Date: June 4, 2022

Read Finish Date: June 17, 2022

Number in Book Series: 3

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Things between cocktail waitress Sookie and her vampire boyfriend Bill seem to be going excellently (apart from the small matter of him being undead) until he leaves town for a while. A long while. Bill’s sinister boss Eric has an idea of where to find him, whisking her off to Jackson, Mississippi to mingle with the under-underworld at Club Dead. When she finally catches up with the errant vampire, he is in big trouble and caught in an act of serious betrayal. This raises serious doubts as to whether she should save him or start sharpening a few stakes of her own ..

My Review: When Bill goes missing in Mississippi, Sookie is sent by Eric to Jackson to discover his whereabouts. Bill has been working on a secret project for the vampire queen of Louisiana and Eric fears that Bill has been taken as a result and is being tortured for information. Although Sookie is torn about accepting such a mission (since Bill has been cheating on her with a formal vampire lover), she departs for Jackson anyway.

Once in Jackson we meet Alcide, a werewolf. Sparks fly, but nothing happens as both Sookie and Alcide are in relationships with the status “it’s complicated.”

Once again Charlaine Harris spins a tale that is entertaining and nail biting. Will Sookie find Bill in time? Will she hook up Alcide?

Other Books in this Series: 

Book #1: Dead Until Dark:

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: 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.

See my review of Dead Until Dark here.

Book #2: Living Dead in Dallas:

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is having a streak of bad luck. First her co-worker is killed, and no one seems to care. Then she comes face to-face with a beastly creature that gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn’t enjoy it).

The point is: they saved her life. So when one of the bloodsuckers asks for a favor, she obliges – and soon Sookie’s in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She’s supposed to interview certain humans involved, but she makes one condition: the vampires must promise to behave and let the humans go unharmed. But that’s easier said than done, and all it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly….

See my review of Living Dead in Dallas here.

BOOK REVIEW: When the Bough Breaks by Judith R. Bernstein, Ph.D.

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1189662Title: When the Bough Breaks

Author: Judith R. Bernstein, Ph.D.

Audiobook Length: 8 hours and 15 minutes

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Genre: Nonfiction, Parenting & Families

Read Start Date: June 14, 2022

Read Finish Date: June 16, 2022

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Explaining that parents can never get over the loss of a child, a psychologist and bereaved parent offers strategies by which parents can accept and integrate the effects of trauma into their lives.

My Review: I received this audiobook as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

“We don’t get over a trauma, we adapt our way of thinking and feeling about the world as a consequence.” This quote is so true!

My brother died 8 years ago in June. The pain and trauma that such an event brings to a family is just staggering. You go through a lot of emotions…and not every family member grieves the same, which at times can be trying.

I wish that I had had this book back then. I know it is written for parents who have lost a child, but I think that losing a brother is also hard — especially when they are younger than you. Through this book, I learned a lot more about the grieving process and I related to the many stories shared by the parents in this book.

I would also recommend this book to people who have not lost a child or close loved one, but who know someone who did. At times the behavior of those grieving may seem “strange”, but in reality, it is perfectly normal. This book will help others understand and support people who are grieving.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

BOOK REVIEW: Toxic Rage: A Tale of Murder in Tucson by A.J. Flick

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41562444Title: Toxic Rage: A Tale of Murder in Tucson

Author: A.J. Flick

Book Length: 303 pages

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Nonfiction, True Crime

Read Start Date: April 29, 2022

Read Finish Date: June 11, 2022

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Brian Stidham fell in love with Tucson, Ariz., the minute he came to town. A young and talented eye surgeon, he accepted a job with an established eye surgeon to take over his pediatric patients.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Stidham told a friend. “I can live right there by the mountains and go hiking. It’s a great deal for me there. The partner I’ll be working with is ultracool. He’s giving me the keys to the kingdom.”

Brad Schwartz, the doctor who hired Brian, was ambitious and possessed surgical skills few others had. But he was a troubled man.

Within a year of Stidham’s arrival in Tucson, the medical relationship would be severed by Schwartz’s personal troubles. Stidham broke away to start his own practice. Rumors abounded within the medical community that Schwartz was incensed and considered the departure a betrayal. His rage grew, even driving a wedge between him and his fiancée, Lourdes Lopez, a former prosecutor.

Three years after Stidham moved to Tucson, his life ended in an empty, darkened parking lot. But who would murder such a nice man in such a violent manner? Lourdes, who had witnessed Schwartz’s toxic rage toward his former partner, feared she knew. But would her suspicions be enough to catch the killer? Find out in TOXIC RAGE.

My Review: I received this book several years ago from Netgalley as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I stopped reviewing books when the pandemic started for some reason, and am just going back now to read what I didn’t before. I’m a true crime junky, so I was excited to read this book about a case I had never heard about.

Brian Stidham was hired by Brad Schwartz to be another doctor is Schwartz’s ever growing practice. Although a successful doctor, Schwartz was plagued with troubles, eventually leading him to become an addict. While in rehab, Stidham leaves Schwartz’s practice to start one of his own, igniting a fury in Schwartz which eventually leads to Stidham’s murder.

The Goodreads synopsis of this book is a little misleading. The hook of the synopsis: “Lourdes, who had witnessed Schwartz’s toxic rage toward his former partner, feared she knew. But would her suspicions be enough to catch the killer? Find out in TOXIC RAGE,” makes it sound like Lourdes is the focus of the book and we follow her story as she tries to uncover the killer. This isn’t what happens at all. Lourdes is actually a very small part of the story. And actually, it was pretty obvious that Schwartz was the killer from the beginning.

While I liked this book, I felt that there was a lot of repetition. For example, Schwartz went around telling anyone he spoke to that he wanted Stidham dead. He even asked several people if they could kill him, or if not, knew anyone that could. We heard from each of these people. This got a little mundane and at points I found it hard to get through. It would have been more powerful if we had heard the details about one or two of the most shocking stories, and then the author could have lumped the rest into a brief paragraph or two.

Despite the above, I did find the book to be very interesting. Even though the book makes it very obvious from the beginning that Schwartz was the killer, the book still explores the other possibilities the police looked into. I thought it was good that the author wrote what actually happened rather than have an opinion as to what happened. The book seemed well researched and included information about interviews and court proceedings.

While I would recommend this book, it wasn’t my favorite true crime story.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

BOOK REVIEW: Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

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Title: Living Dead in Dallas

Author: Charlaine Harris

Book Length: 291 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Mystery, Horror

Read Start Date: May 16, 2022

Read Finish Date: June 3, 2022

Number in Book Series: 2

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is having a streak of bad luck. First her co-worker is killed, and no one seems to care. Then she comes face to-face with a beastly creature that gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn’t enjoy it).

The point is: they saved her life. So when one of the bloodsuckers asks for a favor, she obliges – and soon Sookie’s in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She’s supposed to interview certain humans involved, but she makes one condition: the vampires must promise to behave and let the humans go unharmed. But that’s easier said than done, and all it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly….

My Review: Sookie is back for another tale of vampires and shape shifters. The book opens with a murder mystery–Lafayette the cook at Merlotte’s is found dead in the parking lot. It was rumored around town that Lafayette was into sex parties. Could someone from this scene have done it?

We are also introduced to even more supernatural creatures — a maenad, werewolves, even other shape shifters! The surprises keep coming!

Although the opening of the book was about Lafayette (and we come back to this by the end of the book), the middle of the book takes place in Dallas. Sookie is loaned to the Dallas vampires for an assignment — read the minds of humans to find out where a kidnapped Dallas vampire was taken. Through this adventure we meet a fresh set of characters, learn about an anti-vampire organization hell bent on destroying vampires, and watch Sookie get further ensconced in vampire politics.

Another hit from Charlaine Harris!

Other Books in this Series: 

Dead Until Dark is the first book in the series.

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: 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.

See my review of Dead Until Dark here.

BOOK REVIEW: Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi

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59120294Title: Black Mouth

Author: Ronald Malfi

Audiobook Length: 12 hours and 12 minutes

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal

Read Start Date: July 25, 2022

Read Finish Date: August 1, 2022

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Perfect for fans of Stephen King’s IT, a group of friends return to their hometown to confront a nightmare they first stumbled on as teenagers in this mesmerizing odyssey of terror.

For nearly two decades, Jamie Warren has been running from darkness. He’s haunted by a traumatic childhood and the guilt at having disappeared from his disabled brother’s life. But then a series of unusual events reunites him with his estranged brother and their childhood friends, and none of them can deny the sense of fate that has seemingly drawn them back together.

Nor can they deny the memories of that summer, so long ago – the strange magic taught to them by an even stranger man, and the terrible act that has followed them all into adulthood. In the light of new danger, they must confront their past by facing their futures, and hunting down a man who may very well be a monster.

My Review: I received this audiobook as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Okay so this book was touted as a book for lovers of Stephen King’s It. I thought it also had elements of King’s The Outsider as well.

Jamie, his special needs brother Dennis, and friends Mia and Clay grew up in Suttons Quay, West Virginia. A once vibrant town, Suttons Quay is now desolate in the wake of a mine collapse. The location of the collapse has been dubbed Black Mouth by the towns people, and living nearby the site is a black stain of sorts on the kids. For this reason they become very close to one another.

While strolling through the woods they come across a homeless man living amongst the trees (the Magician). He offers to make them his apprentices by teaching them various magic tricks and they are so elated that they overlook how strange and bedraggled he is. For his last and final trick he wants them to murder Dennis, but in the end, the kids refuse. Instead they start a fire in the woods, which unintentionally kills a woman and her newborn. The kids are sent away for the crime.

Moving on a decade later, Jamie was so traumatized by the past events that he has become an alcoholic, abandoning his brother in Black Mouth with their horrible mother.

Clay is a social worker who takes on the case of a woman accused of murdering her friend. She claims that the murderer was a man who resembles the Magician, and Clay begins to wonder whether the Magician is back at it again all these years later.

Mia now a famous horror movie director living in LA, spots who she believes is the Magician. She gets in touch with the rest of the crew, and getting the band back together, they attempt to piece together the mystery of the Magician so that they can get rid of him once and for all.

What I liked about the book: SPOILER ALERT, I do give away some things.

The characters were well developed and interesting. The pacing was good — I never got bored and I did NOT have to increase the listening speed to 1.25x. While having similarities to It and The Outsider, it was a work apart. Yes the kids went back to their hometown to defeat a monster they met in their childhood, but it wasn’t all supernatural — the monster turned out to just be a man and his copy cat. I kind of liked that because while It was all fiction, this story had more real elements to it.

What I didn’t like about the book:

The animal abuse. I know that writers use this to show how truly evil a person is, but really…I don’t need to read that shit. I don’t like. I don’t appreciate it. I think most of the time its superfluous. It gives me fucking nightmares. I HATE graphic animal abuse. If you are like me, do yourself a favor and skip this part.

Other than that, I liked the book and would recommend it.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

BOOK REVIEW: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

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34066798._SY475_Title: A Gentleman in Moscow

Author: Amor Towles

Audiobook Length: 17 hours and 52 minutes

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, 

Read Start Date: May 23, 2022

Read Finish Date: May 31, 2022

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility—a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel

With his breakout debut novel, Rules of Civility, Amor Towles established himself as a master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction, bringing late 1930s Manhattan to life with splendid atmosphere and a flawless command of style. Readers and critics were enchanted; as NPR commented, “Towles writes with grace and verve about the mores and manners of a society on the cusp of radical change.”

A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery.

Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.

My Review: As an aristocrat and general thorn in the side of the Bolsheviks, Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to spend the rest of his days in a hotel. “Thus, it is the opinion of this committee that you should be returned to that hotel of which you are so fond. But make no mistake: should you ever set foot outside of the Metropol again, you will be shot. Next matter.”

This book was good, but I didn’t love it. It is essentially the story of a man who is sentenced to live in a hotel for the rest of his life — that’s it. It is written well, but there wasn’t really all that much happening. It seemed like an interesting premise, but at points it got a little boring, and I found myself having to listen to it at 1.25x the normal speed just to stay attentive. The voice of the narrator of the audiobook version drags a little, and sometimes I found myself drifting away to other thoughts.

That’s not to say that this isn’t a good book, or that if you like this type of book you won’t enjoy it. I just usually like a bit more plot motion / action in the books that I read.

BOOK REVIEW: A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

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352921Title: A Fatal Grace

Author: Louise Penny

Book Length: 311 pages

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Crime,

Read Start Date: May 13, 2022

Read Finish Date: May 30, 2022

Number in Book Series: 2

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Welcome to winter in Three Pines, a picturesque village in Quebec, where the villagers are preparing for a traditional country Christmas, and someone is preparing for murder.

No one liked CC de Poitiers. Not her quiet husband, not her spineless lover, not her pathetic daughter—and certainly none of the residents of Three Pines. CC de Poitiers managed to alienate everyone, right up until the moment of her death.

When Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, of the Sûreté du Québec, is called to investigate, he quickly realizes he’s dealing with someone quite extraordinary. CC de Poitiers was electrocuted in the middle of a frozen lake, in front of the entire village, as she watched the annual curling tournament. And yet no one saw anything. Who could have been insane enough to try such a macabre method of murder—or brilliant enough to succeed?

With his trademark compassion and courage, Gamache digs beneath the idyllic surface of village life to find the dangerous secrets long buried there. For a Quebec winter is not only staggeringly beautiful but deadly, and the people of Three Pines know better than to reveal too much of themselves. But other dangers are becoming clear to Gamache. As a bitter wind blows into the village, something even more chilling is coming for Gamache himself. 

My Review: This is the second book in the Armand Gamache novel series, and Gamache is back again in Three Pines investigating a murder. CC de Poitiers is an awful woman, hated by everyone, even her lover and family. The first 8-10% of the book is setting the scene for the murder, so Gamache doesn’t really enter the story until afterward.

The murder is imaginative — electrocution by metal chair, outside in the snow during a curling event. Several things had to fall into place, which on its face seemed rather impossible. CC had to have bare hands, in the freezing cold. CC had to be standing in water. CC had to be wearing shoes without rubber soles. And most of all, the chair had to be connected to electricity. How was this accomplished, and by whom? Was it more than just one person?

This series is fast becoming one of my favorites. Not only are the murder plots interesting, but the clues unfold in a natural way — and the author doesn’t make you feel like Gamache is some super smart super hero who figured it out when no one else would. He is just a good cop, with personal flaws, like everyone else.

I really recommend this series.

Other Books in this Series:

A Still Life is the first book in the series where we are introduced to Armand Gamache and the village of Three Pines.

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: The discovery of a dead body in the woods on Thanksgiving Weekend brings Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his colleagues from the Surete du Quebec to a small village in the Eastern Townships. Gamache cannot understand why anyone would want to deliberately kill well-loved artist Jane Neal, especially any of the residents of Three Pines – a place so free from crime it doesn’t even have its own police force.

But Gamache knows that evil is lurking somewhere behind the white picket fences and that, if he watches closely enough, Three Pines will start to give up its dark secrets…

You can find my review of Still Life here.

BOOK REVIEW: The Reaper’s Quota by Sarah McKnight

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59595361._sy475_Title: The Reaper’s Quota

Author: Sarah McKnight

Book Length: 190 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Paranormal

Read Start Date: July 17, 2022

Read Finish Date: July 24, 2022

Number in Book Series: 1

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Meet Grim Reaper #2497. Behind on his work, he must complete his quota of thirty Random Deaths or face termination in the worst way. Faced with an insurmountable task and very little time to complete it, Reaper #2497 struggles to hang on to the one thing he’s not supposed to have – his humanity.

My Review: I received this kindle book as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Grim Reaper #2497 (a.k.a. Steve) doesn’t like being a reaper very much. He only got the gig because he killed his business partner and then died decades later in Prison — see, if you kill someone, whether accidentally or otherwise, you spend your eternal afterlife reaping the souls of other people, until your bones get so old they literally turn to dust.

Steve fulfills his assignments (terminally ill people or other people slated to die) reluctantly, but he hates having to meet his “random death” quota a.k.a the 30 random people that he has to kill, some of whom, without Steve’s intervention, would have had long lives ahead of them. Since he hasn’t been fulfilling his quota lately, he is called in front of the Big Boss and told that he has to randomly kill 30 people in 3 days, otherwise Steve will be executed. The book is basically about Steve going about this grim tasks.

I really loved “The Office” or “Office Space” feel of this book — but instead of TP Reports, there are Random Death quotas. The reapers stand around the office water cooler “drinking” their Elixir (which they can’t really drink because the reapers are literally just walking skeletons) and talking shop. Some reapers are sadistic, some are over achievers, and some, like Steve, do the bare minimum with a modicum of effort. Sitting above the minions, making sure the work is carried out, is the nasty boss with a bad attitude ready to drop the hammer at any moment.

How Steve orchestrates his random kills is borderline ridiculous, which brings some levity into what otherwise would be a somber set of circumstances. Despite the humor, however, it does get rather tedious after a while and I would have liked to have more substance to the story, which is why I’m only giving the book 4 stars instead of 5. The book is 90% focused on the background story of the people that Steve kills and the description of how they die and 10% focused on bringing Steve’s story forward. The book ended with a cliffhanger, which I presume will pick up in a sequel — though I think that the book was short enough that it could have been continued as a Part 2 to the same book.

If you’re in the mood for something short and light, then this book is for you!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

BOOK REVIEW: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

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58468990._SY475_Title: The Paris Apartment

Author: Lucy Foley

Audiobook Length: 12 hours and 53 minutes

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Contemporary

Read Start Date: May 19, 2022

Read Finish Date: May 23, 2022

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.

The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.

The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge

Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.

My Review: Jess is struggling in England and has run into some issues at her place of work — she decides to crash with her half-brother Ben in Paris, but when she arrives at his apartment in an upscale apartment building, he isn’t there. He cannot be found. Where did he go? How does he afford such expensive digs? Where did all this blood come from? Suspecting the worst, but hoping for the best, Jess starts the search for her brother, enlisting the help from Ben’s friend Nick, who also lives in the building.

The other characters in the book are the other occupants of the apartment building, and through their narratives we soon get to learn how they are intertwined with Ben and in a more general way, each other and the building.

I just loved how the characters were portrayed, Foley’s writing style, and how the book came together at the end.

This book kept me guessing and wanting to read more. I couldn’t stop listening. What’s more, I never expected the twist! I love when that happens!

I would definitely recommend this book!

BOOK REVIEW: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

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301082._SY475_Title: Dead Until Dark

Author: Charlaine Harris

Book Length: 292 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Mystery, Horror

Read Start Date: March 27, 2022

Read Finish Date: May 16, 2022

Number in Book Series: 1

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: 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.

My Review: Sookie Stackhouse is just an average girl, working as a waitress in her small Louisiana town bar. Sookie is telepathic, which makes her kind of the town “weirdo”, and she has trouble forming lasting relationships, both friendship and romantic. In fact, she has never really had a boyfriend. After the Japanese developed synthetic blood, the vampires of the world decided to “come out of the coffin” since they no longer needed to feed on human blood to decide. In Sookie’s little town of Bon Temps, there isn’t much vampiric activity, and Sookie has longed to meet a vampire — one day she gets her wish, and Bill Compton (a vampire who was turned shortly after the civil war) walks into the bar.

Bill has decided to move back to Bon Temps, as this is where he lived while human. He has also decided to “main stream”, hence why he came into the bar. Sookie is immediately taken by him, as are two “drainers”. Through Sookie’s telepathy, she discovers the plot to drain Bill of his blood (vampire blood can be sold on the black market as a drug for a lot of money). When the couple leaves the bar with Bill, Sookie follows them and saves Bill from being drained of all his blood (which would have weakened him for decades, if he wasn’t still tied up when the sun came up).

Soon after, Bill and Sookie start an unconventional romantic relationship. Sookie discovers that she cannot hear the thoughts of vampires, and it is wonderful. As Sookie becomes more entrenched in the vampire community, a murderer is going around killing women who take vampires as lovers. Who is it? Will Sookie be a target now?

This was the second time that I read this book, and back when it was on HBO, I also watched the series. This book is always a fun read for me. I really love how Charlaine Harris melds different fantastical creatures (from vampires to shapeshifters) in the same novel.

The book is not only about a telepathic waitress who falls in love with a vampire, but there is also an element of mystery, i.e., there is a murderer in Bon Temps who is killing women who have affiliations with vampires.

This book combines several genres…its like a horror novel about vampires, but at the same time has a murder mystery to be solved, and at the same time, is a love story.

I also really like how Sookie is not some dumb, thin-stick blonde. Rather, she is intelligent, although working as a waitress, and she is of average build (a size 8). Other than the telepathic part, Sookie could be anyone’s sister or best friend.

This book is great for some light and fun reading.