Product Description

New in the “addicting” New York Times bestselling series featuring Sookie Stackhouse.

After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the manmade explosion at the vampire summit, everyone—human and otherwise—is stressed, including Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who is trying to cope with the fact that her boyfriend Quinn has gone missing.

It’s clear that things are changing—whether the weres and vamps of her corner of Louisiana like it or not. And Sookie—Friend to the Pack and blood-bonded to Eric Northman, leader of the local vampire community—is caught up in the changes.

In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death, and once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood finished flowing, her world will be forever altered.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #921 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Harris outdoes herself in this pivotal eighth Sookie Stackhouse novel (after 2007's All Together Dead), packing the story full of romantic tension and supernatural action. Having barely survived a catastrophic vampire hotel explosion, Sookie's back at work in Bon Temps, La., serving vintage blood and waiting tables at Merlotte's, a vampire bar. Participating in a friend's wedding and fending off the advances of her vampire ex-lover, Bill, and her blood-bonded pal, Eric, leaves Sookie chafing over the recent lack of communication from Quinn, her weretiger boyfriend. When a violent Were power struggle erupts as Vegas vampires attempt to take over Louisiana from disgraced queen Sophie-Anne, Sookie dives into the middle of it, determined to help her shape-changing, blood-drinking friends. Harris provides many fun twists, most significantly Sookie's meeting with her fae great-grandfather, Niall Brigant, which paves the way for a shock ending that will delight longtime fans. (May)
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Review
“[A] deliciously fiendish…increasingly riotous series.”
—Dallas Morning News

“Layered.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“[A] delightful Southern vampire detective series.”
—Denver Post

“I love the imaginative, creative world of Charlaine Harris!”
—Christine Feehan

“With…an audacious wink of her eye Harris creates a world that is both a weird possibility and a wild ride”
—The Anniston Star (AL)

"Charlaine Harris”
—Rocky Mountain News

”Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake…should cotton to Sookie Stackhouse”
—Publishers Weekly

”A style that’s much more fun than Anne Rice”
—Monroe (LA) News- Star

”A thoroughly engaging series”
—Locus

About the Author
Charlaine Harris writes both fantasy and mysteries. She is an avid reader and spends a huge amount of time watching fast-pitch softball.

Customer Reviews

Better than what others say (4.5 stars)
Oddly enough, I had poor expectations when I started reading this book due to the negative reviews here on Amazon, plus the lackluster writing of the previous book. Most of the complains seem to deal with the fact that there was no single event to tie the entire book together. Instead, we are treated to various mini crises interspersed with the tying up of the various plot points that have been remaining in the series.

However, I found that to the contrary, these sequence of events actually made the story much more interesting, as the thing that ties all these events together is Sookie herself, giving her a chance to develop her character further through various situations. Basically, this gives more of a 'slice-of-life' feeling to the book which I highly enjoyed.

In addition, with alot of the remaining loose ends being tied, this book feels like a major turning point in the series, if not a transition. If there was one quibble though, I guess it had to do with the abruptness with which she broke off her relationship with Quinn. I thought it (and he) deserved a better send off, instead of the 1 to 2 pages devoted to it.

From Dead to Worse - My least favorite
I have enjoyed all of the Books 1-7, but I am very disappointed in From Dead to Worse.

This book read like a guide book of Sookie-land. It reads as if Ms. Harris could not really think up a good enough plot to carry throughout the story, so she had some rather quick fix situations that only took minutes to resolve, with lots of detail about nothing leading up to them, and too much backstory being told to us rather than shown to us in action and dialogue.

There was no build up of mystery or suspense at all, these things practically happened out of the blue. And all these things happened in about a week, very haphazardly.

The fact that C.H. seems to want to make the reader dislike all of Sookie's ex's is kind of grating on my nerves. It's fine if Sookie wants to break up with them, but why do I have to be told not to like them? Find a new approach.

I have invested enough in these characters that I would read the next in the series, but if it doesn't live up to the original, I'll divest myself of Sookie and her friends.

The best part of this book was the thing that happened at the very end (won't spoil it), and the words THE END.

Death and Destruction, but Life Goes On in Bon Temps!
Sookie continues to deal with vampires and their hunters, with weres and her troublesome brother, with deadly supernatural politics that mere humans shouldn't easily survive. But the one thing Sookie is, is a survivor. After the big explosion in the last book that took out many an immortal and powerful vamp, Sookie is back at home in Bon Temps, LA, working at Merlotte's Bar for her friend and boss, Sam, and worrying about nothing more than the double wedding of her friend Halleigh and Portia Bellefleur. Of course, nothing is simple, particularly in tiny Bon Temps. At the wedding Sookie bumps into two strange strangers... one a vamp from out of town and another... she is not sure what, other than that he's older and beautiful and can seem to hide himself from vamps as well as humans.

But soon, trouble aplenty intrudes--with a were war brewing (someone is killing Alcide's supporters off, and Sookie finds herself in the middle of it). Then there is upheaval in the vamp world, wherein many vamps go to dust, again with Sookie in the middle. Few enough were left running about after the hotel explosion, but that doesn't keep a vamp war from breaking out. And Sookie finds out why her boyfriend, weretiger Quinn, has been mysteriously absent since she last saw him after the explosion.

Lots of crazy, but episodic adventure, lots of ends tied up, and lots more things opening up... Sookie discovers some distant relatives. And her love-life is as unsettled as ever.

I continue to be fascinated by Sookie's adventures. They are moving and funny and strange and horrific--and complex as things can get in a small town where the events outside can easily intrude. Sookie's concerns are her friends and family and doing the right thing as well as just having some fun... and looking for a boyfriend who can put her in the prime spot in his life. It's not as easy as it seems! But Sookie continues to try and manage, even as hotels explode and the world tries to cope with supernaturals-gone-public and the dangerous world still kept hidden from the public.

This is definitely one of the stronger books in the series, both getting back to Sookie's roots and yet still concerning her ties to the vamps and weres. If you're a fan of the series---and you certainly SHOULD be!--you will enjoy this book.