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Sookie Stackhouse Boxed Set (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood)

Charlaine Harris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A truly superb series of novels 5 out of 5 stars.
94 of 95 people found this review helpful.

This past year I began a reading project of the major vampire novels and stories, from John Polidori's THE VAMPYRE to Bram Stoker's DRACULA to Richard Matheson's I AM LEGEND to Theodore Sturgeon's SOME OF YOUR BLOOD to more recent works. I had previously read various novels, including the Anita Blake series, which started promisingly but not only never lived up to its initial promise but regressed to embarrassingly awful pornography. In August of this year I decided to read Charlaine Harris's vampire series, which was originally known as The Southern Vampire Mysteries but eventually became better known as the Sookie Stackhouse Novels.

Now, this is where the story gets odd. Completely independently of my reading project I had heard about and planned on watching Alan Ball's new series TRUE BLOOD. I was a huge fan of SIX FEET UNDER and was anxious to see how he would handle a series dealing with vampires. A few days after I had ordered the first four Sookie Stackhouse novels I learn to my great shock that Ball's new series was based on the very same novels. It is the most serendipitous coincidence in my life as a reader.

Because so many people have become aware of these books as a result of the TV series, a word about the differences between the two is in order. There are both definite similarities and some sharp differences between the two. The books focus much more on Sookie and less on the lives of the supporting characters, not surprising given that Sookie is the narrator in the novels. Sookie's narrative voice is for me one of the joys of the books and I miss that very personal perspective when I watch the TV series. The books are also far less sexual than the series, though there are several sex scenes (though it never descends to the pure porn found in the Anita Blake books). The series differs sharply from the books when it deals with characters other than Sookie. For instance, Tara in the books is a minor (and white) character. Jason plays a far smaller role. Just about everything touching Tara and Jason cannot be found in the novels. Sam and Tara are not involved. Without giving spoilers, Lafayette cannot be regarded as an important character in the books. On the other hand, Eric is as important as the other three main characters in the books, Sookie, Bill, and Sam. Still, based on all but the last 2 or 3 episodes of Season One of the TV show, Sookie's story there is pretty close to that is the first novel in the sequence.

The one huge advantage of the novels over the series is that there is just so much more that happens. Season One of the series corresponds to the first novel in the sequence. I expect that the TV show will begin to diverge from the novels in the second season. So I see no reason for anyone who enjoys the show not to plunge in and enjoy a whole string of new adventures in the life of Sookie Stackhouse, barmaid and telepath. What has delighted me is how consistently superb the novels are. I felt the second novel in the series, DEAD AND LIVING IN DALLAS, was a bit less entertaining than the second book, but all the rest in the sequence were increasingly excellent. And they all mesh to tell a unified story. One novel ends and the next picks up the story perhaps as little as two or three weeks later.

The novels also introduce new and more interesting supernatural characters. The Anita Blake novels did this as well, but I felt that that series was increasingly less successful. Both series introduce weres (were wolves, were tigers, were panthers, and others), witches, vampires from other locales, and fairies. But throughout it all Sookie remains both an innocent and an explorer.

All in all, this is one of the most enjoyable long series of novels that I know. My only real disappointment is that a date has not yet been announced for the next and ninth novel in the series. Charlaine Harris (who lives in the southern part of my native state of Arkansas) has a couple of other series and 2009 apparently is devoted to those. My hope is that perhaps the success of the TV show will cause Ms. Harris to revise her plans and bring out another Sookie Stackhouse sooner rather than later.

I will add that on some boards many fans of the books don't like Anna Paquin as Sookie. I do. She isn't quite the way the books describe Sookie, being slender and not at all voluptuous, whereas in the books Sookie is constantly described as curvy and very chesty. But I think Anna Paquin gets a lot of the spirit of Sookie. She feels in her performance very much like someone who has been traumatized by hearing the thoughts of others.

If you are a fan of TRUE BLOOD, you should definitely read these. I actually prefer the books to the TV show, though I like the show as well. But if you haven't watched the show, but enjoy well written book on supernatural themes, you should read these anyway. In the recent tradition of revisionist accounts of vampires, this is one of the best.

The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize)

Aravind Adiga

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 64 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Introducing a major literary talent, The White Tiger offers a story of coruscating wit, blistering suspense, and questionable morality, told by the most volatile, captivating, and utterly inimitable narrator that this millennium has yet seen.

Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life -- having nothing but his own wits to help him along.

Born in the dark heart of India, Balram gets a break when he is hired as a driver for his village's wealthiest man, two house Pomeranians (Puddles and Cuddles), and the rich man's (very unlucky) son. From behind the wheel of their Honda City car, Balram's new world is a revelation. While his peers flip through the pages of Murder Weekly ("Love -- Rape -- Revenge!"), barter for girls, drink liquor (Thunderbolt), and perpetuate the Great Rooster Coop of Indian society, Balram watches his employers bribe foreign ministers for tax breaks, barter for girls, drink liquor (single-malt whiskey), and play their own role in the Rooster Coop. Balram learns how to siphon gas, deal with corrupt mechanics, and refill and resell Johnnie Walker Black Label bottles (all but one). He also finds a way out of the Coop that no one else inside it can perceive.

Balram's eyes penetrate India as few outsiders can: the cockroaches and the call centers; the prostitutes and the worshippers; the ancient and Internet cultures; the water buffalo and, trapped in so many kinds of cages that escape is (almost) impossible, the white tiger. And with a charisma as undeniable as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn't create virtue, and money doesn't solve every problem -- but decency can still be found in a corrupt world, and you can get what you want out of life if you eavesdrop on the right conversations.

Sold in sixteen countries around the world, The White Tiger recalls The Death of Vishnu and Bangkok 8 in ambition, scope, and narrative genius, with a mischief and personality all its own. Amoral, irreverent, deeply endearing, and utterly contemporary, this novel is an international publishing sensation -- and a startling, provocative debut.

Cross Country

James Patterson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Hunter or Hunted? 4 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

In the fourteenth installment of the Alex Cross series, James Patterson delivers an action-packed suspense which doubly entertains and heightens the reader's socio-political awareness. Cross Country opens as Alex arrives on scene to investigate the brutal and sadistic mass murder of a Georgetown family. The case immediately becomes personal when he recognizes the matriarch as his collegiate lover, Ellie, an established professor and published author. Quite naturally, he vows to find the killer(s) to avenge Ellie and her family.

When within a few hours murders of other prominent diplomatic families are slain in the same manner; Cross finds a strong lead in an African mercenary known as the "Tiger;" a man who uses "lost" Sudanese boys as his henchmen. Taken from today's headlines and other books (A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, What Is The What by Dave Eggers), these "lost boys" are orphaned children who are often taken from camps where they are then drugged, trained to kill, and perform horrific acts toward their countrymen and peers. Alex follows the Tiger to Nigeria and within minutes of landing, he is kidnapped, beaten and imprisoned for three days; only to be rescued by a cocky, obnoxious, and seemingly indifferent CIA operative. Just as innocent victims are starved, dehydrated, and stripped of all their money and belongings as well as their inalienable rights, so is Alex. In this episode, he suffers from terrible physical and mental abuse. He is threatened and tortured, but that does not stop his relentless pursuit of the Tiger through the streets of Lagos, the jungles of Sierra Leone, and the refugee camps in the Sudan (Darfur).

Despite the governmental corruption, ugly politics, corporate greed, and police brutality, Alex manages to befriend a few brave, good-natured people. A maimed diamond mine worker with a prophetic name (Moses) and a beautiful Nigerian journalist, both act as his guide and savior in some very tight situations. Cross Country satisfies a promise Alex (and perhaps Patterson) makes to several of his African benefactors -- a promise to live to tell their stories, recount the atrocities (genocide, rapes, torture, starvation, amputations, etc.), and witness the depravation of their human rights.

Surprisingly, Alex is on the defensive throughout most of the novel. Although he was anxious to see the "Motherland," there was no one to greet him with a warm embrace, nor was there time to bask in the sun -- he was fighting for his life constantly. The plot ends in typical Patterson fashion -- there is a rather weak climax and somewhat predictable plot twist (I was disappointed that so much was "told" to us in a few pages of Epilogue rather than "shown" to truly wrap up the loose ends neatly) and obviously culminating with Alex, our hero, living for another crime frighting episode. I think fans of the series will be pleased with this offering.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub

Editorial Review:

When the home of Alex Cross's oldest friend, Ellie Cox, is turned into the worst murder scene Alex has ever seen, the destruction leads him to believe that he's chasing a horrible new breed of killer. As Alex and his girlfriend, Brianna Stone, become entangled in the deadly Nigerian underworld of Washington D.C., what they discover is shocking: a stunningly organized gang of lethal teenagers headed by a powerful, diabolical man--the African warlord known as the Tiger. Just when the detectives think they're closing in on the elusive murderer, the Tiger disappears into thin air. Tracking him to Africa, Alex knows that he must follow. Alone.

From the author Time magazine has called "the man who can't miss," CROSS COUNTRY is the most heart-stopping, speed-charged, electrifying Alex Cross thriller yet.

Salvation in Death (In Death)

J.D. Robb

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Ancient church rituals meet cutting- edge crime solving in the latest novel in the #1 New York Times–bestselling series that’s “Law & Order: SVU—in the future” (Entertainment Weekly).

In the year 2060, sophisticated investigative tools can help catch a killer. But there are some questions even the most advanced technologies cannot answer.

Ridley Pearson has praised J. D. Robb’s suspense as “taut” and “nerve-jangling.” Her latest thriller sets a new standard for suspense, as the priest at a Catholic funeral mass brings the chalice to his lips—and falls over dead.

When Detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas confirms that the consecrated wine contained potassium cyanide, she’s determined to solve the murder of Father Miguel Flores, despite her discomfort with her surroundings. It’s not the bodegas and pawnshops of East Harlem that bother her, though the neighborhood is a long way from the stone mansion she shares with her billionaire husband, Roarke. It’s all that holiness flying around at St. Christobal’s that makes her uneasy.

A search of the victim’s sparsely furnished room reveals little— except for a carefully hidden religious medal with a mysterious inscription, and a couple of underlined Bible passages. The autopsy reveals more: faint scars of knife wounds, a removed tattoo—and evidence of plastic surgery, suggesting that “Father Flores” may not have been the man his parishioners had thought. Now, as Eve pieces together clues that hint at gang connections and a deeply personal act of revenge, she believes she’s making progress on the case. Until a second murder—in front of an even larger crowd of worshippers—knocks the whole investigation sideways. And Eve is left to figure out who committed these unholy acts—and why.

Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, No. 1)

Charlaine Harris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 385 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The Show is Better 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book because I really enjoy the HBO sensation, True Blood. There are spoilers in this review.
There are apparently 8 books in the series, and this is the first and left me unconvinced I should carry on. Unlike the show the book is done in first person entirely from Sookie's standpoint. This is very limiting because (in the show) there are many interesting characters with many different storylines. Not in the book though.

Other than Eric and Bill (vampires that are 'super-hot') all of the other characters are mentioned in passing. Some included in the television show are excluded (Tara) or completly watered down (Lafayatte, Jason, Amy Burley). The extra characters that Sookie isn't thinking about getting intimate with become shadows, when people die in the book (including Sookie's grandmother) it gets all of 2 sentences of attention. When Sam reveals his big secret she throws up and carries on.

Overall it's not the worst but bland and undeveloped. The show is much more enjoyable.

Editorial Review:

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.

A fun, fast, funny, and wonderfully intriguing blend of vampire and mystery that's hard to put down, and should not be missed. (Susan Sizemore)

Praise for Charlaine Harris:

Harris writes neatly and with assurance. (New York Times Book Review)

An author of rare talents. (Publishers Weekly)

Club Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 3)

Charlaine Harris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 153 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Mary Sue avoidance: blue-collar is better 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I liked the first Laurell Hamilton "Anita Blake" book; it seemed an interesting universe, for which she may owe a great deal to her writing-group, and an interesting lead character----I can ignore a clich\'e or two (my God, in "Foxtrot" comics, the teenage girl's idea of a French romantic lead's name is automatically "Jean Claude", and making him a coupla-centuries-years'-old _French_ vampire---come on, I'd think all right-thinking people had thrown out that moth-ridden rice years ago).

But in quick succession, the plots tended toward the romance novel and the heroine became over-confident and -desirable---every single straight male creature desires her on sight of her petite form, making her an obvious Mary Sue (viz also L.K.H.'s elf-girl books, where it's worse).

(L.H.K.'s denials of this, e.g. on "Hour Twenty-Five", are so funny I nearly lost the sphinctural integrity field.)

Why am I writing about Hamilton here? Simple: I find this book extremely reminiscent of Hamilton, but avoids her excesses. Sookie sound more like an human being, is not the character everyone loves, and does not live a physically luxurious life. O.K., it really sounds like the author was once a fairly-attractive-and-minorly-stacked waitress in the Deep South, who among us has not? That's an exaggeration---I, for one, never had the legs for it, and I can't stand heat or bars---but even so: the more like a normally problematic life the hero[ine] has, the less of a Mary Sue.

Similarly, there's sex here, but it's presented as something pleasant (or very pleasant) that real people (and Other Things) do, not as Mind-blowing Invocations of Universe-Rending Primeval Magicqk, which in my experience only happens only once in every three times at best.

Similarly, vampires can be attractive and seductive, but what I've seen so far doesn't exceed the humanly possible---they seem to operate at the [Adolph Hitler|Jack Kennedy|Charles Manson|Ronald Reagan|Barack Obama] level (note: I am not evaluating character or goodness here, just apparent attractiveness, though of course if you hate a pol's views [as I do Reagan's, Hitler's, and Manson's] it's a lot easier to see their popularity as stemming solely from mindless seduction).

And the evil gone against here is similarly less super-powered---the stakes are high for the heroine, but only bad writing needs to have much more in the balance (e.g., the execrable "James Bond" films, in which always The World is in Danger).

Editorial Review:

Sookie's boyfriend has been very distant-in another state, distant. Now she's off to Mississippi to mingle with the underworld at Club Dead-a little haunt where the vampire elite go to chill out. But when she finally finds Bill-caught in an act of betrayal-she's not sure whether to save him...or sharpen some stakes.

Definitely Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 6)

Charlaine Harris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 149 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Definitely Dull 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This was such a bizarre entry in what has become one of my favorite mystery series. First of all, starting this book will be totally confusing for anyone who hasn't read "One Word Answer," a short Sookie Stackhouse story that Harris wrote for an anthology. How do I know? Because I hadn't read it by the time I began "Definitely Dead," and I was definitely confused. Sookie's cousin was murdered in New Orleans, and the Vampire Queen of Louisiana sent an emissary to visit Sookie in Bon Temps? When? Not in any of the previous books I'd read. I knew I couldn't be crazy, so I did some online research, found the short story, and was able to download it for free. Then the beginning of the book made sense to me. But how unfair is that to readers who either don't know about the story or have access to the internet? At least publish the short story in the paperback edition of "Definately Dead" so that readers aren't completely lost. Or include a note at the beginning of the book that directs readers to the anthology. Something, anything.

Second of all, the story involving Sookie's dead vampire cousin, the core of the book, doesn't really get rolling again until around page 130. Before then, the book is strictly filler, with unimportant subplots, one involving Jason and his werepanther girlfriend, the other about a missing child, who Sookie helps find. Those aren't spoilers, folks, because these side stories have NOTHING to do with the book's actual plot. So why are they even there? Who knows? Maybe Harris is setting things up for future entries, but that doesn't make for an involving reading experience this time around.

Thirdly, I wish Sookie would settle on a boyfriend. Bill, Eric, Sam, Quinn...On the one hand, I've always enjoyed Harris's ability to keep readers on their toes and defy expectations, but Sookie is starting to look like a right little pop tart. And was it really necessary for Harris to give us a plot twist that makes us detest and reevaluate a favorite character? Again, Harris likes to pull the rug out from under Sookie (and us, vicariously), but it seemed excessive and very mean-spirited. Harris hasn't seemed to know what to do with this character for a few books now, and it shows. Fourthly, when Sookie does make it to New Orleans and the book's real story actually begins, it turns out to be an uninteresting, overcomplicated one, with a plot element that was corny when Dumas used it in "The Three Musketeers."

Lastly, Harris throws us all a curve and gives us a hint about Sookie's family background that's completely inconsistent with the rest of the series, and made for a lot of backtracking. What, is Harris making this stuff up as she goes along? Sure sounds like it. Every writer should take a page out of JK Rowling's playbook and plan a series in advance. It goes a LONG way towards avoiding this kind of sloppy plotting. And if Sookie is a -- well, I don't want to give it away -- then it means she's not a normal woman in abnormal circumstances. Which means she's not us, the reader, and that's a shame.

And did it bother anyone else that Quinn took Sookie to see "The Producers?" Why couldn't Harris just say "the theater?" There have never been other references to present day movies or TV shows -- not that I remember -- and I found it very bizarre. Maybe I just don't see Sookie liking or getting that particular show. "Rent," yes -- "The Producers," no. Maybe it's just me.

All in all, if you're following Sookie's story, you're going to want to read this one as well, but prepare to put the book down, as I did, every few days. It's that dull.

Editorial Review:

Sixth in the Anthony Award-winning Southern Vampire series.

Spiked with a frothy fusion of romance, mystery, and fantasy, this bestselling series sends the supernaturally gifted cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse to New Orleans, where she has to deal with the legacy of one of her own family and a host of potentially dangerous characters.

Rough Weather

Robert B. Parker

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A hurricane hinders a kidnapping and Spenser goes on a search for the man responsible— the infamous Gray Man, who has both helped and hunted Spenser in the past.

Heidi Bradshaw is wealthy, beautiful, and well connected —and she needs Spenser’s help. In a most unlikely request, Heidi, a notorious gold digger recently separated from her latest husband, recruits the Boston P.I. to accompany her to her private island, Tashtego. The reason? To attend her daughter’s wedding as a sort of stand-in husband and protector. Spenser consents, but only after it is established that his beloved Susan Silverman will also be in attendance.

It should be a straightforward job for Spenser: show up for appearances, have some drinks, and spend some quality time with Susan. But when Spenser’s old nemesis Rugar—the Gray Man—arrives, Spenser realizes that something is amiss. A storm, a kidnapping, and murder tear apart what should be a joyous occasion, and Rugar is seemingly at the center of it all. The only thing is that the sloppy kidnapping is not Rugar’s style—as Spenser knows from past encounters. With six dead bodies and more questions than he can process, Spenser begins a search for answers—and the Gray Man.

With its razor-sharp dialogue, crisply etched characters, and high-wire narrative tension, Rough Weather once again proves that “Robert B. Parker is a force of nature” (The Boston Globe).

Bones (Alex Delaware, No. 23)

Jonathan Kellerman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

When it comes to writing deftly layered, tightly coiled novels of suspense, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman reigns supreme as “master of the psychological thriller” (People). Now, Kellerman has worked his magic again in this chilling new masterpiece.

The anonymous caller has an ominous tone and an unnerving message about something “real dead . . . buried in your marsh.” The eco-volunteer on the other end of the phone thinks it’s a prank, but when a young woman’s body turns up in L.A.’s Bird Marsh preserve no one’s laughing. And when the bones of more victims surface, homicide detective Milo Sturgis realizes the city’s under siege to an insidious killer. Milo’s first move: calling in psychologist Alex Delaware.

The murdered women are prostitutes–except the most recent victim; a brilliant young musician from the East Coast, employed by a wealthy family to tutor a musical prodigy, Selena Bass seems out of place in the marsh’s grim tableau.

Conveniently–perhaps ominously–Selena’s blueblood employers are nowhere to be found, and their estate’s jittery caretaker raises hackles. But Milo’s instincts and Alex’s insight are too well-honed to settle for easy answers, even given the dark secrets in this troubled man’s past. Their investigation unearths disturbing layers–about victims, potential victims, and suspects alike–plunging even deeper into the murky marsh’s enigmatic depths.

Bizarre details of the crimes suggest a devilish serial killer prowling L.A.’s gritty streets. But when a new murder deviates from the pattern, derailing a possible profile, Alex and Milo must look beyond the suspicion of madness and consider an even more sinister mind at work. Answers don’t come easy, but the darkest of drives and desires may fuel the most devious of foes.

Bones is classic Kellerman–relentlessly peeling back the skin and psyches of its characters and revealing the shadows and sins of the souls beneath. With jolt after jolt of galvanizing suspense, it drives the reader through its twists and turns toward a climax as satisfying as it is shattering.

Backup

Jim Butcher

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

The Magic is Gone 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

One would think after nearly a dozen superb and successful Dresden novels, Jim Butcher would have socked enough magical energy away not to foist this childish trash on his unsuspecting fans in the form of a "Novella of the Dresden Files". First, it's doesn't come close to a novella--its an overly long unedited short story, in large 12 point font, double spaced with blank pages between chapters to stretch it to 70 pages, packaged in hard cover, to justify its outrageous price.

The story itself demonstrates none of the suspense, action, compelling reading, or character development as in the least of the Dresden novels. The story is trite, the plot weak, the writing at a sixth grade level, and the climax anticlimactic.

Not only should Butcher and his publishers be embarrassed at pricing this as a legitimate book, they should be embarrassed more at the inferior quality of the work.

Editorial Review:

Let's get something clear right up front.

I'm not Harry Dresden.

Harry's a wizard. A genuine, honest-to-goodness wizard. He's Gandalf on crack and an IV of Red Bull, with a big leather coat and a .44 revolver in his pocket. He'll spit in the eye of gods and demons alike if he thinks it needs to be done, and to hell with the consequences--and yet somehow my little brother manages to remain a decent human being.

I'll be damned if I know how.

But then, I'll be damned regardless.
My name is Thomas Raith, and I'm a monster.

So begins "Backup," a twelve thousand word novelette set in Jim Butcher s ultra-popular Dresden Files series. This time Harry's in trouble he knows nothing about, and it's up to his big brother Thomas to track him down and solve those little life-threatening difficulties without his little brother even noticing.