Reviews of Books 5 and 6 in the Sookie Stackhouse Series

Dead as a Doornail

Someone is shooting shifters around Bon Temps. And a news report indicates that many other people in nearby areas have also been shot by a sniper in mysterious circumstances. Although the world at large may not realize the significance of the snipers victims, Sookie and several others in the community realize that all the targets have been shifters. Once again, Jason is the chief suspect until Sookie jumps in and saves the day for him.

Apart from the shifter deaths, there is another sub-plot. The werewolves of Shreveport are choosing a new packmaster and Sookie neds to get involved to prevent any under-handed behavior during the process.

My thoughts on this book

I think this is the part in the series where it is slowly losing its charm for me. I suppose it could be because of reading these books in quick succession, but I am starting to feel that this series is sagging a little.

I could easily guess the two bad guys in this novel and everything was predicatably rather hum-ho. A new love interest has also been introduced for Sookie – Quinn, the were-tiger, who just does not capture my interest. He is descibed as big and bald and handsome, and somehow all I could visualize was this:

He also calls her “babe” and that does not fly with me AT ALL. I sense that the next couple of books featuring Quinn are going to be a real drag to get through. I just don’t like him.

Definitely Dead

I was warned by Fyrefly’s review of this book that I should read one of the short stories called “One Word Answer”, which can be found in the anthology Bite, or in A Touch of Dead. So, I dutifully did my additional reading berfore embarking on this book. Boy, am I glad I did because this book would have been completely confusing, otherwise.

Synopsis

Sookie’s cousin Hadley, has passed away and Sookie is named her beneficiary. She goes to New Orleans to clear up Hadley’s belongings and settle all her financial and personal matters. This gets complicated because Hadley was a vampire who had been having a love affair wth the Queen of Louisiana. After a lover’s tiff, she had stolen one of the Queen’s baubles that was gifted to the Queen by her husband. This is causing a bit of a political situation among the vampire community. Sookie now has to step in and save the day for the Queen.

There is another sub-plot to this story, there is someone out there (and it is easy to guess who) with a personal vendetta against Sookie. In addition, Sookie and Quinn are now definitely seeing each other. Sookie also makes a heart-breaking discovery about Bill and herself that really upsets her.

My Review

Well, there’s a lot happening in this book which I like. I also liked the introduction of a new friend for Sookie who seems really cool. I think what Sookie really needs is a friend, and not another guy. Unfortunately, she hooks up with Quinn in this one, and I really see this relationship going nowhere when nothing has been resolved with Eric conclusively. What I also did not care for as much was all the vampire politics. It just seemed a bit too contrived in this book.

Last Words

Is this series going to pot? I definitely hope not. I am still reading these books and enjoying them. But, I guess I am just not as into them as I previously was. I am going to persevere however, because I still do feel interested in Sookie and want to see where and with whom she eventually lands up.