From Dead To Worse

From Dead To Worse
Author: Charlaine Harris
Ace, 2008
303 pages

Season 4 of HBO's True Blood started last week, which put me in the mood for another Sookie Stackhouse book. This one's the eighth in the series. I haven't read eight books in a series since I was a kid reading Nancy Drew. So I see this as some kind of milestone.

To those who haven't read the books and don't watch the show, I apologize for the lack of a thorough recap. Feel free to click the links below -- preferably in order -- to get an idea of the series plot and characters.

This time around, Sookie's dealing with the revelation of her fairy/faery/fae heritage. With the help of vampire Eric Northman, Sookie has a secret meeting with her great-grandfather, who happens to be a Fairy Prince. In the meantime, werewolf Alcide's new girlfriend has been murdered, someone is trying to kill Sookie, and the vampire hierarchy in Louisiana is under fire, too. All signs point to war, but the question is, who's fighting whom? After all, things aren't always what they seem in supernatural Louisiana and Mississippi.

Sookie's friend (and roommate . . . and witch) Amelia has a pretty heavy role in this one, and new character Ophelia (older, powerful witch) is introduced. Quinn (Sookie's boyfriend in Book 7) returns, along with some major drama. For some reason, I never really warmed up to the Quinn character. I keep hoping that somehow Sookie and Bill will get back together, but I have to say, Eric is becoming more appealing as time goes by.

I'm glad I read From Dead To Worse now because it's helping me to understand the whole fairy thing, which apparently is going to be a continuing theme in the TV series. It's also helping me stay caught up with the changing vampire politics, but I suppose I'll need to keep reading if I want to fully get it. Like the other Sookie books, this one's an easy read. It took me a while, though, because I've had a LOT of personal stuff going on over the last week. Oh, well. On to the next book!

Previous books in the series that I've reviewed:
Book 1 - Dead Until Dark
Book 2 - Living Dead In Dallas
Book 3 - Club Dead
Book 4 - Dead To The World
Book 5 - Dead As A Doornail
Book 6 - Definitely Dead
Book 7 - All Together Dead