Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

In the past couple of weeks, Sookie Stackhouse has become pretty common around my house.  We started watching the TrueBlood show and quickly became obsessed enough to decide that the books may be worth a shot.  I ordered in the first one and started reading it right away because I figured it would be a quick easy read.  It would have been quick too, except that I've spent most of my time watching the show instead of reading the book.  It's made for an interesting experience.  Sometimes it gets a little confusing.

That, actually, would be my one complaint about Harris's writing.  Sometimes I just don't understand what is going on.  The example that sticks out the most is Bubba.  I had to Google to figure out who Bubba was.  Why couldn't this have been spelled out a little better for the reader?  It appeared to be a pretty common question about the series.

In general, I must confess that I like to show better.  There is more going on.  It makes me laugh more often.  I like the characters that don't appear in the book or are just barely mentioned.  However, I love READING what Sookie hears in other people's heads and I actually like Sookie better altogether.

If you don't know the story, Sookie lives in a little town called Bon Temps.  This is our world but vampires have "come out of the coffin," as the book puts it.  Science has led to the invention of synthetic blood which the vampires can drink for nourishment instead of using humans as a food source.  That doesn't mean they do.  Sookie meets her first vampire, Bill, and falls head over heels for him.  In the meantime, women who have slept with vampires, or fang bangers, have been showing up strangled.  A killer is on the lose and Sookie is sure to be on his list because of her relationship with Bill.  This is one time where hearing other peoples thoughts doesn't seem to be helping.  Sookie is sucked into a game of trying to figure out who the killer is, attempting to find her way through vampire society, and protecting the people who mean the most to her.

This was a fun read and I have already ordered the next book in the series.  I can't promise that I'll make it through the whole set, though.