Available at Amazon.com ^[1]

Written by Charlaine Harris

“A Delightful Southern vampire detective series” is how this book was described. Outward appearances give it a sort of adult Harry Potter look to it, making it a very outwardly appearing book. This story is only part for the main character in a series, though you don’t need to read those in order to follow this book, everything is explained.

For what it’s worth, it was definitely a good read.

The setting takes place in a little New Orleans town. The world that the main character, Sookie Stackhouse, is much different than our world is today. Vampires have made their existence known to the world, and openly consort with the general public. Rules regarding Supernaturals are in place, making mortals feel protected. In the shadows still hide the daemons, werewolves, fairies, and others not of our world. Sookie is telepathic mortal who can recognize the Supernatural by their lack of psychic and telepathic projection.

The story itself isn’t a brain buster. It is easy to follow and highly enjoyable. Charlaine’s use of jargon and Southern style in her writing definitely pulls through in the story. The characters are all very enjoyable, and all go through some sort of development throughout the story. There are twists and turns around every corner, and new elements to Sookie’s world that she faces. The path that she takes to get her to the ending though is a bit rough, and ends up getting many people hurt.

The story also involves several adult scenes with Sookie and her new boyfriend, Quinn, which were very tastefully done. They were not smutty, but very elegantly written, leaving me breathless. The scenes describe Sookie’s adult, sensual nature and actually play towards a secret that is revealed about Sookie.

I think one of the things I liked most about the book was her interactions with the Supernaturals, and their reactions to her. While there is a trust that she won’t betray them, there is also distrust in that they don’t’ truly understand how it is she knows about them. Another interesting thing I found in the book was that Sookie has a fairy godmother. Charlaine is using old fairy lore in order to tie in many new creatures and connections between characters, which I find very fascinating.

This book is one to put on your casual reading list, something to read at night before bed. I enjoyed it and was able to finish it in two nights of reading. The story was easy to follow, so if your not looking for a complicated storyline, this is definitely worth your time. With further review, I do hope the series turns out to be a must have, and you can look forward to reviews of those books as well.

Reviewer: Crystal Mazur