Dead and Gone: A True Blood Novel (Sookie Stackhouse 09) [Paperback]

This is the ninth book in Charlaine Harris' long running Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire series, a series that continues to be one of the most original of the genre avoiding many of the typical cliches.

The plot is relatively simple - the weres have come out to the general public and on the night of the announcement a were is murdered in the parking lot outside Merlottes bar. Sookie must use all her abilities and connections to uncover the killer or killers and protect herself from a new and deadly enemy connected to her fairy great great grandfather. The plot is much stronger than that of the last book in the series which felt to me a bit like a filler book tying off old loose threads, but I'm not entirely happy with what happened to certain characters, Claudine in partciular.

Sookie has always been quite a positive, sunny and upbeat character in the books up to this, but time and the events of the past seem to be knocking this out of her. Sookie seems a pale shadow of her Pollyanna like former self but in light of what has happend to her in previous books and in this book it does make sense.

Overall this is a good enough read. Charlaine Harris is a competent writer and this book is not bad, but theres a sense of darkness (or despair or something I can't really quite put my finger on) about this book that left me slightly saddened in the end with its not so happily ever after.

First Sentence: "Caucasian vampires should never wear white," the television announcer intoned.

Now that vampires have come out and been acknowledged by society, members of the ware species have decided it's time to do the same. However, not everyone is accepting of discovering someone they know can turn into an animal.

Telepathic bartender, Sookie Stackhouse, is called back to the bar at which she works to find a police scene. Her warepanther sister-in-law has been murdered and left in the bar's parking lot. Was it a hate crime? Sookie is determined to help the police, her brother and the ware community find the killer.

Sookie also finds herself in personal danger as war as broken out among unhuman beings. Her great-grandfather, Naill, warns her that one of his sons is leading those who want to destroy all humans with fairy blood, which includes Sookie. It is going to take all her friends, including "Bubba," once the King of rock-and-roll, to keep her alive.

When Laurell K. Hamilton went astray with her books, I was delighted to find Charlaine Harris, who gets better with each book. Harris has created an almost plausible world of humans, vampires, wares, fairies and all other paranormal beings, while referencing back to actual events in reality.

I couldn't help but draw parallels between the ware communities coming out to the gay community. In both fiction and fact, prejudice and violence are evident. The resolution of the murder is both sad and horrible to contemplate. The fairie war speaks to ethnic cleansing. Believe me, these are no Disney-like fairies. There is violence and brutality with a resolution I found rather sad but interesting as it left no hint as to where Harris is taking the series.

The characters are critical to me when I read, and Harris has created wonderful characters. Sookie is very real and we learn more about her parents' death in this book. I particularly like that often, during the situations in which Sookie finds herself, in spite of not being one to go to church, she worries about how God will perceive her thoughts and actions. We also learn more about the background of Eric, the head vampire for the region. We lose a lot of characters, with this book, but I was delighted to see "Bubba" back and laughed at Sookie's fairie godmother's comment about Irish names.

This would seem to be a transitional book for the series as it was darker and more serious than previous entries. I also found it a bit sad. It will be interesting to see where the series goes from her. I am anxious for Ms. Harris' next Sookie Stackhouse book.

DEAD AND GONE (Para/Mys-Sookie Stackhouse-Louisiana-Cont) - VG
Harris, Charlaine - 9th in series
ACE Books, 2009, US Hardcover - ISBN: 9780441017157

I agree with everything in the previous reviews. I love the Sookie books and find Charlaine to be an excellent author. This book however fell short of my expectations, I felt too many charactors were thrown into this book at once. The story itself seemed rushed and almost as if it was thrown together because Charlaine is under contract to make book 9!

The story itself stars off with the shifters coming out and a murder of a Ware, that isnt the main story however as Sookie has to deal with her fae heritage. I dont feel the 2 story lines run together well and the ending and the reveal of who actually commited the murder dont sit well with me at all.

This book is a lot more central round Sookie and her plight. I would have liked to have seen a lot more of Eric, Bill, Pam and Sam. I felt nearly all had only bit parts in this book which is disappoining. I also agree with the other review that the charactors themselves felt wrong. I understand that the books are getting darker and Sookie cant be little Miss Happy all the time but some parts of all the charactors just felt way off. Would Eric really discuss his previous life of being human so openly in the middle of the bar and then for it to just be left in the middle of the story and not returned to ....

I am an avid follower of the series and I was expecting a lot more of this book, I am keeping my fingers crossed for book 10.