I have been an avid reader of the Sookie Stackhouse books for about 5 years now. I was late to the game and caught up with everyone right before "True Blood" came to TV.
I fell in love with the first 8 books, but lately it seems that Mrs. Harris is just filling the books with whatever she can. I have read books 9 and 10; and will continue to read any of the books that she puts out in this series, but I can't seem to get as excited about a new book as I used to.
In the 11th installment of Sookie, we see a person from her past come back, even though I had really forgotten about the Pelt's, I actually had to skim through a few books to get updated on the back story there.
I liked that Mrs. Harris brought back Amelia and Bob, but I was not in the least bit happy about them figuring out how to break the bond between Sookie and Eric. And don't even get me started on the whole Eric being arranged for with the Queen of Oklahoma!! I swear, Sookie just can't catch a break with the vamps in this series!!! Maybe she should actually give a were a shot!

The conflict with Victor was brought into this book, but I felt the demise of Victor and his "crew" was too fast and way too neat. I mean really, I understand that the scene couldn't last for that long, but it wasn't even a full chapter; or so it seemed to me.
I was left wondering about a lot of things through out the book, and I feel that a few things could have been cleared up in this book; like really, what was up with Claude and Dermot? I understand that Mrs. Harris needs to leave some things up in the air so that she can continue the series, but still, some things could have been either cleared up as I said earlier, or answered altogether. I felt that the book just really dragged on way too much. ( )

Well, at least Sookie learns why she's telepathic.and a couple of important things happen in her love life. Oh -- and the Pelt problem is solved. Good thing I hadn't read these books in awhile so that I'm not liking Eric Northman. The Bubba appearance was nice. ( )

Best part: Sookie thinking irrelevant thoughts while laying naked next to Bill in his cellar to hide from random men who want to kidnap her. Why was she naked? Um, how else do you hide your tracks when you're soaking wet? TAKE OFF ALL YOUR CLOTHES. Duh.

Worst part: In general, the rest. In particular, the part where Sookie needs to ice her "yahoo palace" after yahooing Eric.

To sum up: This book was not good, but it did make me laugh a few times. It seems like Harris is dropping some obvious hints that Sookie's true love is Sam, which is fine by me. Just it end already, Charlaine. It is dying.

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An author that should have stopped sooner with the series ( )

Meh, it was ok. Not quite sure why I keep reading this series. It seems like Harris is bored with the story and the characters and is out of ideas, so she just opted to make everyone miserable. I will admit that I tend to more enjoy books with endings that are happy or at least resolved. This book had neither quality. ( )

This one was kind of slow, not a lot seemed to be happening. I wasn't as into this one as I had been for other books in the series. Why does Sookie have so many enemies? Shouldn't the supernatural people have all the enemies? It seems like everyone is always out to try and kill her. I don't know. Read it if you've read the rest of the series but don't expect a whole lot.

All in all, it's okay for the 11th book in a series. ( )

More of Sookie, Eric, Pam, Weres, Fae and Bill. Oh, and Bubba makes an appearance. A big mess for Sookie to get herself in to and out of. She finds out more about her "disability" and her heritage. Sookie seems to be unsure what she wants but i guess she realizes that what she wants (a normal life) he will never have or get. The carefree Sookie from the earlier novels is replace by a harder, unhappier Sookie...... ( )

Not quite ready to quit the series yet, but I'm getting close. Come on, Charlaine Harris! Rally 'round! ( )

Always entertaining, and the narrator, Johanna Parker, adds a lot. ( )

I like these books, I've realized, because for me, following Sookie Stackhouse's mundane chores and decisions is entertaining. It makes me appreciate the little things a bit, to walk through the day-to-day of her life with her. But this book seemed almost solely comprised of minutia. There wasn't really enough development and action for me. Still, I enjoyed it. ( )

Very disappointing. ( )

Sookie is a girl who over a short period of time has managed to collect many enemies, but while some will go all out to get her or die trying, others are already dead. Living in this state of constant danger, knowing that at any moment someone could strike her down, is taking its toll and as Sookie's enemies move against her and those she loves, Sookie and the gang decide it time to take matters into their own hands.

As a telepath Sookie is used to keeping secrets, many of them not even her own; however she is not so used to having secrets kept from her. Now it seems that all those closest to her, all those whose thoughts she can't hear, are keeping things from her. But meanwhile Sookie is distracted with the discovery of the truth of her past, her realization of her true feelings for her vampire husband and her admitting to herself what she truly wants from her life.

Dead Reckoning is less the murder mystery that we have come to expect from this series and more a murder plot, with the one exception of a spur of the moment killing. There is plenty to sink your teeth into in this book, killers on the loose, vampire politics, treasures revealed, fairy plots and a baby showing to throw. But underneath it all is the continuing story of Sookie that is just as amazing, horrible and addictive as ever. Also look out for an appearance from Charlaine's other heroine Lily Bard. ( )

Felt like this book should have been part of the previous title; remove a few hundred pages of fluff/padding and it would have felt more like a solid narrative. ( )

This is a short novel (336 pages) that might have benefitted from being a little longer. It has the feeling of "The next episode in" rather than a full novel BUT it is a very pleasing episode (and so much better than the gratuitous, exploitive, porn-candy that Ball produces in "TrueBlood").

I continue to be impressed by how deftly Charlaine Harris uses Sookie's interior dialogues to create a distinctive and evolving world view. Her writing takes no effort at all to read but this is because she writes well, not because she has nothing to say.

This novel continues to explore the arc Sookie is going through from "telepathic girl next door" with a crush on a vampire to someone powerful and dangerous in their own right. In this book Sookie comes to terms with some hard truths about herself, learns new things about her grand mother and reappraises her relationship with just about everyone.

I admire the way Charlaine Harris can make a mundane baby-shower seem like the part of Sookie's life where she is pretending to be someone she has long ago stopped being.

There is a lot of violence and death in this book. It is described with flair and fills the mind while it's happening, but the violence is not gratuitous, its purpose is to show us how, with each killing, Sookie takes another step away from being human.

At one point in Sookie's interior dialog she notes, with some relief, that all the humans have left the room. I believe that she no longer automatically counts herself in that category.

I'll be back for the next episode. I'm happy to wait if that means there'll be more to feed on, but I know the publishing machine demands to be fed and I'm happy to take 336 pages slices of storytelling as good as this. ( )

Once again, I started another Sookie Stackhouse novel, not being able to remember who was who, and what was going on... and yet, I got sucked in! Harris does this to me, every time. The fact that Lily Bard and her BF Jack were there were a lovingly done, but very brief added bonus, that I thrilled at (having just finished the Shakespeare series recently).
An easy read, but altered from the original works, and seemingly watered down somehow. But with just enough back story and momentum to keep me interested enough to finish it a day later. But with a lot of loose ends, to keep one coming back for more. lol ( )

Wow. So much drama! So much to take in! Another great Southern Vampire Mystery! ( )

This book was both enjoyable and frustrating at the same time.
Dead Reckoning honestly feels like it's more filler than anything else and I never thought I'd say this but I'm over Eric and Sookie. Despite how much I love Eric, with the last two books their relationship has taken a nosedive and I kind of just want it to end already.
I'm also getting a bit tired of constantly reading the same descriptions of past events/characters over and over again. I understand it's part of a long going series so of course a little recap is necessary but it's a bit excessive.
I did however like learning more about the fae and since I don't quite trust Claude I'm curious to see how the fairy storyline plays out!
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this was definitely better than Dead in the family. It kept hold of my interest at least. Sookie was way to whiny and slightly hypocritical in this story. And I truly hope Charlaine Harris isn't planning on trying to rekindle the romance between Sookie and Bill, it would be completely lame, and I would stop reading the series over it....but honestly this series is on the down slope and I fear with only so many books remaining in the series that Harris isn't going to be able to get it back on the upslope to fix the blunders the past two books have been. ( )

There were a lot of plots in this book that never seem to really come together and that really pulled me out of the book. The ending seemed really rushed and a little random. That being said, I adore Dermont and really hope that he doesn't turn out to be a bad guy. He seems to truly care about Sookie and it would be a shame if he had ulterior motives. It was also fun to read about Adele's past, thought it was hard to believe it at first. ( )

I like the series. It's the same as the rest of the series. I realized near the end that I had read it before but since I had basically finished it I'm marking it as read now. ( )

Super-fluffy brain candy for a difficult week...

I have loved many of the books in this series but the last three have been odd. If feels like Ms. Harris is tired of the series but has to finish her contract. She is a great story teller but in the last 3 or 4 books the characters have lost some of their vitality and a lot of their action seems wooden and strange. I never thought I'd say this but I'm ready for this series to end. ( )

I thought this book was pretty good. Not my favorite book, but it was nice to find out more info about Sookie's Grandmother's past. Sookie did get on my nervous a few times. She really shouldn't be so wishy washy. You date vampires girl get used to there being blood and violence. ( )

Compared to the start of the southern vampire series, this book seemed to lack something. Interesting storyline, yet at times felt a little rushed. ( )

I feel like Sookie might be losing it. I feel like she has had so much go on in such a small time and she is losing touch….shes not like she used to be. Maybe she has just grown up a little? Something is up with Eric…...I didn’t really like him very much in this book. And his bond with Sookie is getting old now. Thank you Amelia! Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now that that’s behind up let’s move forward. Overall this was one of my least favorites. I feel like our characters were so “out of character” and again I will say for I dunno the 10th time SOOKIE AND SAM!!!!! *End of Story*
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