Sookie is off to Jackson, MS to save Bill after a mishap. Bill is on special assignment for the Queen of Louisiana but it goes wrong. Sookie and Eric must save him, unfortunately, Bill has also been unfaithful angering Sookie, will she save him or go with Eric or someone else? Are werewolves really a shady type of supernatural being? This book is better than book two and picks up the series once again. Poor Sookie seems to spend her time getting beaten up and carried around but with vampires willing to put her back together, she never seems to mind much. The book is good fun and contagious reading. I'll definitely follow through and read more in the series.

Charlaine Harris has become one of my favorite authors. This is a great series with a colorful cast of characters!

I'm not really sure how to write this review. This was an ok book. Just ok. It was kinda a letdown for me after reading her first two books in the series. Sookie is again on the road in Mississippi this time. She was out of her element which could be good in some ways, but I think in this book it was bad. I just felt that a lot of the book didn't flow and wasn't reality based. Yes, I know that vampires aren't real so you have to suspend some thinking but come on...do you really think that little Sookie is going to go in and beat up on vampires. Anyway, I loved that Eric was a huge part of this book and I'm definitely starting to like him a lot better than Bill at this point. Sookie and Eric's interaction is building up to an explosion and I can't wait for that to happen. I did like the new werewolf that they introduced and hopefully he will continue in the series, maybe as Jason's boss. I really wanted to love this book, but I didn't. However, it wasn't bad. Just not great. I would recommend this book to anyone who has started the series and is looking for the next step in the relationships. It's not really a great mystery.

First I would like to say that the books in this series are fluff reading. Fun to read and then forget about. They don't have any depth at all. Nothing to ponder. No insight to the human condition. If you are looking for the Dune of vampires, this is not it.

That being said, I am disapointed that Sookie gets all slutty in this novel. If that trend continues, I will stop reading.

I've read the first 5 books, and Club Dead was my favorite. They are all wonderful, but in this book a new character, Alcide, is introduced. The books are very intertwined, but I find them all very entertaining!

Charlaine Harris has a great nack for writting. I have enjoyed all 3 books. This one was a wonderful blend of different cultures. I can't wait for book 4.

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).

I had all the other books in this series, quickly grabbed up once True Blood began on HBO. But sadly I was missing #3, Club Dead. I used my gift certificate to buy this book and I love it. Some very important plot points occurred in this book, so I'm glad Amazon had it for me ;)

I really liked this book. It was so suspenseful that I had to read the end and then go back and read the book.

I've enjoyed the first two books in the Sookie Stackhouse series - they were fun and fluffy and a nice distraction from the real world - but this one had some bits that really bothered me. Mostly Sookie's feelings about men and women and their 'place' in society, but also... the abuse in the relationship (cheating and physical) that seems to have been waved off. This is not a book for someone who has been in an abusive/traumatic relationship - I'm not sure I'd say it's 'triggering', but I would say it'd be pretty annoying to read her flippant attitude towards it. And somehow, this didn't seem to fit with the image I had of Sookie. Of course, she's the author's creation, and it's up to them to do with her what they please, but I can be disappointed and annoyed with the decision.

Other than those little hiccups in the story, it was the same fun, adventurous, fluffy read I've come to expect from the series. Completely unbelievable, of course, but a storyline that pulls you in and keeps you reading. I particularly enjoyed some of the peripheral characters (especially Alcide) and hope they make an appearance in later books (partly because of what that would mean to the plot!). If I continue to read them. I have to admit this one has soured me on the series, and I'm not sure if I want to continue. Perhaps I will start the next in the series, just to see if anything changes. But if it doesn't, I'm going to be done with this series for good.

WARNING: contains spoilers

This books opens up soon after the action of Living Dead in Dallas. However, all is not well w/Sookie and Bill. He's been acting distant and soon has to take a sudden business trip.

I won't give anything more away other than to say that the ending of this book was a big disappointment and Harris took the story and the Bill/Sookie relationship in a direction that I did not see coming. This book introduces us to more of the supernatural beings that walk among us and includes a scene involving a car trunk that still gets debated by the fans of the series.

Enjoy

This book was better than some, but Sookie is becoming annoying. I had to struggle to get through the book.

So first off the only reason I'm even wasting my time with these books is because I am totally hooked on the HBO series and I don't want to wait years to find out what happens (even though the show is really nothing like the books)...SPOILER ALERT!!! The smartest thing Sookie has done thus far is when she "rescinded" (took back) the invitation into her house from Bill and Eric, which by the way I have never read a vampire book where that is even possible. I keep hoping one of these books will actually be a good read, but holy cow I'm having a hard time justifying the waste of time!

I liked this almost as much as my favorite so far in this series, (book 4 - Dead to the World).

Sookie's boyfriend, Vampire Bill goes out of town on business and turns up missing. Sookie agrees to help find him and works with Eric (Bill's Vampire Boss) and several others, including a werewolf named Alcide.

Finding out the circumstances why Bill left in the first place (from Eric) leaves Sookie upset and somewhat heatbroken, but Sookie's a good person and wants to do the right thing.

Sookie heads to "Club Dead" to listen in on the minds of others to see if she can learn anything about Bill's disappearance. Of course Sookie gets herself in many dangerous and deadly situations during her hunt for Bill, but makes more friends (and a couple enemies) in the supernatural world along the way.

In this series, you're drawn into the supernatural world, learning much more about the Vampire heirarchy, politics and culture. This installment is smart, sexy, humorous, fun and gripping ---as are all the others in this series.

OK - I'm officially hooked on the Sookie Stackhouse series. "Club Dead" did not disappoint. I know some readers were disappointed with Bill, but you have to admit it's pretty funny that even a dead guy will cheat - come on, you're alive for eternity but can't stay faithful for a lousy couple of months!!!! Snappy dialogue, great characters, total escape. I'd be reading book 4 right now but this series has become so popular with HBO's Trueblood that the book stores in my neck of the woods have sold out! I'll be stalking my mailman until it hits my mailbox.

When I started reading the book, I had already read some reviews and knew that Bill and Sookie were facing a tough time. I didn't want to read it, because I thought they shouldn't change in their relationship at all.
Boy was I wrong: Introducing Alcide and more of Eric, it makes for better scenes and also helps Sookie's development and growing up. She seemed sulky at times and stubborn when she couldn't get Bill to do what she wanted - but this book explains more about the nature of the *beast* and how they are trying to fit into the mortal world. I can't wait to read the other books, but if you were hesitant about picking up another Sookie Stackhouse volume after book 2 - give it another go with Club Dead!

Phew! This is a marked improvement from "Living Dead in Dallas," the muddled sequel to Charlaine Harris's terrific first Sookie Stackhouse "mystery." I'm putting the word in quotes, because that's still the area in which Harris falls short for me. Oh, there's a dead body all right, but how it got dead and whodunit is ultimately a big "who cares?" That said, "Club Dead" is a fun ride, much more in keeping, stylistically, with the first in the series. And we're introduced to a great new character, a hunky werewolf who may or may not get in the way of Sookie and Bill's romance. One thing that does bother me a little: Harris is remarkably sadistic to her heroine. This is the third Sookie Stackhouse book, and the third in which she's beaten to a bloody pulp. Literally. OK, James Bond gets beaten up on a regular basis, as do a lot of other detectives/spies etc., but Sookie's just a normal person. Sure, she keeps some dangerous company, but there seems to be a mean streak in Harris that I'm not all that comfortable with. "Club Dead" renewed my interest in this series, but I'm hoping that as time goes by, Harris is a little less hard on Sookie. I'm sure Sookie is, too.

I just finished the fifth novel in the Southern Vampire Mysteries aka the Sookie Stackhouse novels so I'm a little behind in my reviewing. In one of the great happy circumstances of my life I had independently decided to read this series of novels AND to watch the new Alan Ball TV series, not knowing that the latter was based on the former. I had already ordered the first four novels in the series (but had not yet received them) when I read that TRUE BLOOD was based on Charlaine Harris's books. Since then I've become a big fan of both. I'll start on the sixth Sookie Stackhouse book sometime this next week just as I eagerly await the third episode of TRUE BLOOD tomorrow night. And with the announcement that the show has already been renewed for a second season (it will come out this summer) and with Harris certain to write new novels (I won't read the eighth until it appears in paperback -- I like my books to match when possible -- this winter), Sookie Stackhouse seems destined to be around for quite some time to come.

The challenge in any series is how to keep expanding the world it describes without becoming too diffuse. CLUB DEAD follows LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS by moving much of the novel's action to another southern city, this time the much smaller metropolis of Jackson, Mississippi. Sookie has to go there in an attempt to find and rescue her vampire boyfriend Bill, who has been captured by parties unknown (though, of course, not by the end of the book). She is aided by a new character in the series, a were named Alcide Herveaux. I won't go into plot details, but the novel has a lot of fun and memorable scenes.

Bubba is back! The idea is that when Elvis died and was taken to the morgue, he wasn't quite dead. The coroner was actually a vampire and he attempted to revive the King as a vampire, but something went wrong in the attempt and he was left a tad feeble-minded. The vampires keep him under wraps, but occasionally he gets out into the public and people see him, accounting for the sightings. Bubba (he doesn't react well to being called Elvis) could have been a terrible character, but he is handled with just the right touch to be a lot of fun.

The main reason I continue to enjoy these books is the wonderful narrative voice that Harris given Sookie. As a reader you come to like and love Sookie, even if her life isn't going as smoothly and as wisely as she would like.

Because a lot of people are becoming aware of these books as a result of TRUE BLOOD, let me add that if you like the show, you will love the books. I think both are great in their own ways. I highly recommend both.

On my list this book is only second to Dead to the World in southern vampire mysteries. I adore Alcide Herveaux and love, love Eric Northman.

This is definitely one of my favorites in the Southern Vampire Series thus far. I really enjoy the quirky twist the author puts on the vampire genre.

In this installment Sookie is off on another adventure; this time to track down her likely ex-boyfriend and once again tangle with a few supes at the same time. We get to meet a few exciting new characters and get to know some of the old ones a little better. The characters are flawed but still likeable and the lines between villains and heroes are once again blurred. Throw out all the old stereotypes in this one. A very entertaining and enjoyable read.

Simply addictive. Once you've finished you will be looking for your next Sookie fix. You'll feel like a starved vampire if you start reading this series.

in this third installment of The Sookie Vampire mysteries, Sookie's vampire boyfriend, Bill, has come up missing and Sookie and new "hunky werewolf" character Alcide go to Mississippi to try to find him. While there's a lot to love in book 3- revisiting old characters like Bubba/Elvis, or Sookie's interaction with Alcide and Erik, this book seemed to flounder a bit. I think my main problems with the book were the absence of Bill and the pretty much absence of any mystery storyline. In fact, I felt the whole "Mississippi" storyline was very underdone and not even resolved by book's end.

But in the end, as a Southerner, I cannot deny the overall charm and whimsy of the series. Which means that while I will try the rest of the series, I hope they get better than this one.

3 stars.

This is the third book in the series... By now you would think that Sookie would have learned her lesson but no. She allows herself to be pulled into situations where she just gets brutalized. Her it's probably a good thing that Bill has become her ex.. but the way things are going with Eric.. I really just want to smack some sense into that girl.
Also, I noticed it in the previous books and it's bound to pop up in later books since it is a series about southern folk but the racism that pops up in this series is just sad. I don't think there's one positive black character in this series that doesn't play into some typecast minor role. It's more than irritating...

How many times can an author recycle a love-plot that is only tepid from the start? Harris seems determined to find out.

Best book yet in the Southern Vampire series. Although I am dissapointed in Bill the vamire, you can not help but admire Sookie's strength and mental fortitude. Poor kid...it's amazing she's survived thorugh book III and hasn't let Eric or Bill bring her over. Already started Dead to the World and ordered all the books, I CAN'T wait to finish the series (although I will really miss these characters when I am done). Remember to keep checking HBO for the new series "True Blood" which will air this fall (hopefully) and is based on the Southern Vampire series.

In Club Dead, the third novel in Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series, Sookie finds herself trying to discover who kidnapped her vampire boyfriend Bill after he disappeared while working on a secret project. Her journey takes her to Jackson, Mississippi, at a supernatural club popularly called Club Dead. Her host is Alcide Herveaux, a handsome werewolf, who in addition to accomodations, provides a good deal of sexual tension during Bill's absence. Bill's Viking vampire boss Eric also lights Sookie's fire (as the series progresses, who isn't Sookie trying to sleep with?!?).

As several other reviews have mentioned, Harris's Southern Vampire books all contain something akin to softcore vampire/human porn of all persuasions, in addition to graphic violence. Sookie loves herself a good time in bed, and Harris certainly doesn't shy away from lurid details.

There were more varied supporting characters in Club Dead, including an extended appearance by Bubba, who is actually The King (yes, Elvis), but whose drug-addled transition to vampire didn't go as planned. Alcide is a likeable introduction to werewolves and fairly well-fleshed-out, as is his psycho on-again, off-again Shifter girlfriend Debbie Pelt.

Sookie spends a good deal of the novel coming to grips with Bill's betrayal of her; he'd gone back to dating/bedding his vampire mistress Lorena, leaving Sookie furious (and sexually frustrated). I would group these books into a Southern Vampire Chick Lit Light classification; you've got hints of Southern English, Civil War references, Southern culture, and supernatural lore (vampires, werewolves, goblins, shifters).

Honestly, the Southern Vampire books are highly formulaic, something along the lines of a) Sookie discovers something ominous at or after work, b) great vampire sex, and c)at least one instance where she is severely beaten or injured to the point of death, but hey, it's my literary equivalent of junk food and I enjoy every guilty (and calorie-free) minute of it. The third book in the series was an improvement over Living Dead in Dallas, and had a much more cohesive plot and backstory. Fans of vampire novels such as Anita Blake will probably enjoy Club Dead.

What's one of these paranomal romance books without a vampire nightclub with its own peculiar rules of etiquette?


Not to mention slim-hipped pillow pretty boy proprietors or staff that fancy a well buildt young small town for playtime and plaything.

Luckily for her, her main sucker squeeze can hold his own.


3 out of 5

I read a lot and recently got into reading myster thriller type of books and some how ended reading the book 2 of charlaine harris sookie stackhouse series. It was a book I enjoyes so much that I have actually already bought several other books and I down reading to book 3 =) Great series

Some spoilers follow.

I am probably having a different experience coming to this series when so many books are already done. Thus I can move from book 2 to book 3 in a day, and not have to wait a year the way the folks who have been reading the books as they come out do. With that in mind, it seems to me that Harris changed her mind about what book three was going to be. Book 2 ended with Sookie's relationship in fairly good shape and the implication that she was going to have to deal with her increasing superhuman-ness (she was worried about glowing again as the book ended).

To my mind, the change in direction was a good idea. In my review of book 2 (Dallas), I complained that the series was not enough "Urban Fantasy" and too much "Supernatural Romance". You didn't have to worry too much because no matter what, TRUE LOVE would win, and Sookie and Bill would always be together. This book reminds me a little more of Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan books. In those, Rachel fell head-over-heels for a rat and finally ended up leaving him. I'm not saying that Sookie _should_ leave Bill, but he has some heavy duty explaing to do, and I really like Harris's leaving the possibility open. Furthermore, I complained that in book 2, Sookie was very much on a "high horse" about other's moral failings. In this book, she has some "failings" of her own, especially in allowing Eric to get to third base with her.

I would probably rate the first book as five stars for introducing Sookie. I rated the second book at two stars for some plot and character problems. I would probably rate this one as four stars for the change in direction, but plot and setting problems knock it back to three. First, I simply do not buy the vampire organizational setup. They divide authority into regions which map exactly to US states? That just does not make sense, especially since the book drives home how old the vampire setup is by mentioning the Lousiana Purchase. State boundries are pretty recent. Does the vampire king of Virginia still "rule" West Virginia? If not, why not? Second, the mcguffin of Bill's list (confusingly called a "computer program" here as if the words "list" or "database" are unknown to Harris) is just not convincing. How much structure can these vampire kingdoms have if they don't even know who most of the vampires are? Why not wait until Bill was finished with it? If Bill was worried about it endangering him, why not just put it on the internet? He wouldn't make any money, but the cat would be out of the bag and the list would be out there for anyone who wanted it. Third, Harris is introducing too many supernatural species without thinking it out. In this book, there's a goblin, ergo there must be _lots_ of goblins. Same for the shapeshifters. She even raises the possibility (though she doesn't confirm it) that there might be human magic workers (witches). At some point it gets to be too much to keep quiet about. Fourth, there was that bit about her meeting her high-school friend in the vampire bar. What was that all about? It seemed to serve no plot purpose and raised a lot of unanswered questions: a) It seems to re-write the history of the disastrous 'orgy' in book two. In that one, Tara was mind-wiped. Here she seems not to have been. b) What in the world was she doing with a vampire? She should be well shy of the supernatural after the events in book two. c) She's now Sookie's "best friend"? It had been several years since Sookie had much to do with her in book two. d) She & Sookie had 'no idea' their high-school talent show dance was 'sexy'? Come on, Sookie admits to having plenty of sex drive back in book one, even if she never did the deed, and she can read minds. Right, she had no idea.

Anyway, you get the idea. It appears to me that Harris understands that the series can't _stay_ the story of a rural working-class girl dating a vampire. (Realistically, Sookie can't even keep her job through many more absences like this), and I'm glad she's growing the character and really making her think about her life, but she has some rough edges on the plotting world-building that need some more work.

Club Dead is an entincing novel in the Southern Vampire series. Truly Original! Sookie goes down to Jackson to find her vampire boyfriend Bill who has disappeared and she bleieves it was by force. With help from a studly werewolf, Alcide and from the rest of her vampire friends, Sookie is determined to bring Bill home. But there are many obstacles in her way, including Bill's vampire master. Sookie puts everything she has on the line to save Bill, but will it be enough?

Sookie's vampire friends basically rented her out to another group of vampires to find a vampire that disappeared. Sookie gets to develope her telepathic powers by reading the minds of the human employees of the vampires in Dallas. Sookie's detective work leads her right into the heart of a religous cult that has it in for vampires. She gets captured but to find out how she gets out of it please read the book. I like it and so will you.

The third installment of Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series, Club Dead, finds our Sookie facing more danger in her life with the vampires, but this time she's doing it with a broken heart. Bill, her vampire boyfriend, has suddenly taken off, reportedly with his former lover, the vampire Lorena. Bill's boss, Eric, is worried enough about Bill (and a secret project Bill's been working on), that he taps Sookie's expertise in mind-reading to help locate him when it seems that Bill may be actually be really, truly dead, or at least missing.

This episode of Sookie's life among the undead is action-packed, and we are introduced to the handsome werewolf Alcide, who is assigned to assist Sookie in her quest to find the faithless Bill. A new side of Sookie emerges in this book; though her heart is broken, she finds that she is strong enough to pursue the leads to Bill's whereabouts and even take on his erstwhile lover. There is quite a bit of violence in this novel, and things do not get sewn up neatly for Sookie, but she does learn something about herself in the process.

I quite enjoyed this installment. Sookie's rise in self-confidence is stirring, and the introduction of Alcide is quite nice as well. Eric is, as always, funny and sexy; Sookie must decide what her next move will be, and if she has the courage to turn her back on the vampire society altogether. Well written, and good fun! On to the next in the series.

The third and thus far best in the Sookie Series sees our spunky little heroine becoming slightly disillusioned with her vampire boyfriend, Bill. Lately he's seemed more interested in his secret "work" than in her...and to add insult to injury, he is leaving town on a secret "work" mission. Sookie is furious...and even more so when she is informed by Eric and Pam that Bill has become involved with his ex-love Lorena....who also happens to be the vamp who "made" Bill. But Bill has since gone missing...and who better to found out where he is but innocent little mind-reading Sookie? So Eric sends Sookie out to find Bill...undercover as the girlfriend of a Were name Alcide from the town of nearby Hotshot. Eventually it becomes clear that Bill may be in the fight of his undead life....but can Sookie save him before it's too late? Even more importantly, will she succeed in fighting ever-growing feelings for the attentive and attractive Alcide? But more frightening still...how long can she ignore the amorous overtures of the gorgeous Eric, a powerful vampire who also happens to be Bill's boss? Most importantly....how long will she want to?

Another engaging, pageturning installment of our southern vampire series. This one is my favorite thus far...too bad we can only give it 5 stars!!!


DYB

Club Dead (2003) is the third Rural Fantasy in the Southern Vampire series, following Living Dead in Dallas. In the previous volume, the maenad didn't leave any survivors on the deck except Tara. Eric and Bill set fire to the beach house to cover the deaths. Portia took her brother Andy home, Sam took Tara and Eggs back with him, and Eric returned to Shreveport. Then Bill and Sookie also left and Callisto wandered off to who knows where.

In this novel, Bill Compton leaves town after hiding his database files and computer system in Sookie Stackhouse's closet. He tells Sookie that he is going to Seattle, but she knows that he is lying. Then Bubba shows up sitting on her front porch swing.

Bubba says that Eric has sent him to guard her, but doesn't know why. Sookie is on her way to work, but decides that Bubba can't go into the bar area; after all, he is too well known to just sit at a table. Bubba refuses to stay in the car in the back parking lot since he couldn't know when she is threatened. They finally agree that Bubba can sit in the office while Sookie is working.

As Sookie goes into the building to get Sam's permission, a Were gang member grabs her and then Bubba crushes his throat. After a bit of confusion involving Kevin -- a local cop -- Sookie, Sam and Bubba clean up the area and stash the body out of sight. Then Pam shows up later asking about Bubba.

In this story, Sookie learns that Bill has gone to Jackson after being summoned by Lorena, his master. He had called Fangtasia the previous night stating that he was coming back to Bon Temps to take care of some business, but he had never arrived. Eric has learned something about Bill's whereabouts from paid informants, but he can't just go searching for Bill since Mississippi is outside his jurisdiction. Indeed, it is a separate Vampire Kingdom.

Sookie can't read vampire minds, but she can go listen to the human minds in the Mississippi Kingdom. Eric has arranged for a Were named Alcide Herveaux to take her to Jackson and to provide an apartment. Alcide will also escort her in Josephine's, a vampire bar that caters to other supernaturals as well. The Weres, however, call the bar Club Dead.

Sookie is really hurting in this story. Bill has lied to her and then went to another woman. Even if this woman had brought him over, most vampires go their separate ways after the first few decades. Why did Bill go to Mississippi?

This story introduces Debbie Pelt, a shapeshifter who had been dating Alcide, but had recently left him for another shifter. But Debbie doesn't like other women in Alcide's life. She is a vixen in more than one respect.

Sookie also meets Janice Herveaux Phillips -- Alcide's sister -- whom she likes very much. Janice owns a hair salon and insists that Sookie have her hair and nails done properly for Josephine's ambiance. Sookie has never even been in a hair salon before this and really enjoys the experience. She even gets to repeat the experience the next day.

Sookie has problems with the Jackson Weres. The Were who had attacked her in Merlotte's Bar had been from Jackson. Then Jerry Falcon, another member of the same Were gang, accosted her in Josephine's and was forcibly removed. Jerry's body later showed up in Sookie's apartment in Jackson.

Highly recommended for Harris fans and for anyone else who enjoys murder mysteries with vampires, werewolves and other preternatural creatures.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Sookie Stackhouse is asked once again by Eric, a vampire leader, to leave her waitress job so that she can use her telepath skills to locate a missing vampire. The problem is the vampire she is supposed to find is her boyfriend, Bill, who she has just learned has betrayed her.

This is an exciting tale with a lot of emotional ups and downs. Poor Sookie seems to get into one difficult situation after another, all to rescue someone she is really angry with. Helping her on her quest is a werewolf named Alcide. He is indebted to the vampires and takes Sookie to the city and Club Dead as payment on that debt. The sparks fly and he soon realizes his task is not a hardship. I really enjoyed Alcide, I hope we see more of him in future stories.

I normally don't enjoy a book where the two main characters are at odds, but that was not this case with this story. Ms. Harris writes a realistic tale about relationships and their complexities, lacing it with fascinating characters, some battles, a few tears and a couple laughs.

Like the previous stories in this series, this book has a lot going for it; I didn't want to put it down. With the first two books I was kicking myself for waiting so long to start reading this series, I had wished that I would have discovered them back when Ms. Harris wrote the first one. Now, having read this one, I am glad I have the entire series at my disposal now, because if I had to wait a year for book 4, I think I'd go a little nutty.

Ms. Sookie is Bill really back with his ex? Does Eric just want your help to find Bill? What about this sexy Alcide? What's a mind-readin' cocktail waitress to do? Have a jelly donut?
Book three in the Southern Vampire Mystery Series does not disappoint and will leave you wanting to read number four...five...six...

Book is great. Haven't read a Sookie Stackhouse that I haven't enjoyed. Now my kids and coworkers are hooked.

Book is great. Haven't read a Sookie Stackhouse that I haven't enjoyed. Now my kids and coworkers are hooked.

....is a HOOT!!! You gotta love any series that has Elvis as a Vampire named "Bubba"...But shhhhh. He doesn't know he was Elvis. Read the series... and enjoy!!!

These are definitely beach reading - but the books are fast paced and very very funny.

Having read all 6 books in the Southern Vampire series, I feel that this one is the best. The plot is very tight and driven. I also loved the introduction to the werewolf community. This book is a must read b/c it's a major turning point in the relationship of Bill and Sookie. I can't put my finger on it, but this is one of my favorite series.

You know how you sometimes go to those action movies ("guy flicks") and from the moment you sit back in your seat until the closing credits 90 minutes later, you are assaulted by car chase after car chase, explosion after explosion, and you have no idea where to look first or what's really going on? That is how I felt reading "Club Dead."

I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, but I seriously had no clue where the plot line was -- or if there even was one. Yes, there was a ton of action, but it was enough for three or four books instead of just one. And the motivations about what was going on was never really explained.

A lot happened in this book, but I'm not really sure what it was -- or why it occurred. Too bad, as I really enjoy the characters, and Harris has a great way with words.

This book wasn't as good as the previous two. But that is just my opinion. After being reccomended this series I have always bought all of her books, but this one was pretty boring in parts. Bill isn't very interesting, I'd much rather see Sookie with the sensual Eric.

Speaking of which, that is what perks this book up. Sookie somewhat 'teams' up with him when Bill goes missing. I like Sookie, she's brave, smart and crafty. I think because I'm not a huge fan of Bill is the reason I was 'mey' about this installment. Which is funny becasue he was kidnapped and wasn't even in most of the book. Still, the story didn't capture until the last half.

Despite that, I still enjoy the series. The story telling (of the series) is simple, sometimes dark, sometimes compelling but always funny. I don't think many characters, including the main, are fleshed out, but I love their relationships. For these characters, dwelling in the small town of Hotshot is the only place they could thrive. I'll keep reading until Harris stops writing.

I enjoyed this book as much as the other one by Charlaine Harris. Her ability to tell a story and draw you in is rare, yet she can do this. I look forward to reading more from this author.

My paperback copy is wearing out. Would love to have this reprinted in hardback.

Sookie Stackhouse is similar to Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich. She gets by with a little skill, a whole lot of luck, and help from her ever-increasing lineup of friends who bail her out of trouble. This series is fun fantasy! If you want to start at the beginning, the first book is Dead Until Dark. Enjoy!

Well, every romance inevitably catches a snag or two. In this, the third installment of Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series, Sookie discovers to her horror that lover Vampire Bill is not on the secret business trip he told her about, but instead has run off with his ex-lover Lorena, a powerful and beautiful vamp. Sookie has no time to indulge her grief and feelings of betrayal, however, because it also becomes evident that once reunited with Lorena, Bill was kidnaped by some very nasty folk. Sookie joins forces with Eric, the owner of the Fangtasia nightclub, to find and save Bill before it's too late. Apparently single once more, Sookie must grapple with her conflicted feelings for Eric, for her shapeshifter boss Sam, and for Alcide, the werewolf paying off a debt to Eric by assisting in the search for Bill.

In this book, we see Sookie begin to mature past her young adulthood, as she learns that love is not black and white, but many permutations of gray. Once again, Harris masterfully weaves a tale of horror, of humor, and - dare I write it? - humanity and the meaning of love. You'll inhale this one. Enjoy the rush.

Sookie Stackhouse is having boy troubles. Aside from the fact that hers is undead. Bill, her vampire boyfriend is being very distant and secretive. He is working on a computer project that he won't share with Sookie. Then, Bill unexpectedly announces he must go on a trip concerning this project and abruptly leaves Sookie without an explanation.

Sookie fears that the distance between her and Bill, physically and emotionally, are leading to big trouble between them, but she soon finds out that big trouble is already there. Bill has been kidnapped and Eric, head of the local vampires, sends Sookie on a roadtrip to Shreveport to see if she can find her man, and his mysterious project.

Charlaine Harris is definitely growing as a writer, which is a good thing. I had sworn off this series at one point because I was so disappointed with the characters and plot. However, in Club Dead, the reader can see how the characters are taking shape, becoming less one dimensional. Her plot execution is much better, as well. And the story is just plain entertaining. If you like Anita Blake but like a little less drama in your story, Charlaine Harris is the way to go.

I would definitely recommend this series.

I've started reading the Sookie Stackhouse books and have found them to be my guilty pleasure. I enjoy the characters and the world they're set in, but there are just too many logic flaws for my continued enjoyment. It started in me in the first book, when Sookie is being stalked by a serial killer. Her friends all know about her predicament, but seem alright with letting her babysit. I've met plenty of stupid people in my life, but non dumb enough to leave their kids with a woman who is admittedly being stalked by a murder. Also, in the third book, she learns that werewolves or shape shifter can only have one werewolf/shifter child when two mate. This means that the werewolf/shifter population is cut in half each generation, and if they have been around for hundreds, or maybe thousands of years, there should be practically none left at all, yet they're everywhere in the story. I enjoy the characters and the plot lines, but there are just too many flaws, unexplained foolish decisions by characters, and general inconsistencies with the fictional world they live in to get through to completely enjoy this series. Where as Ann Rice seriously needs an editor to cut, Harris needs an editor to critique.

Harris also has a vary limited bag of tricks to drive the action forwards. In between times of action or intrigue, there is almost always a sex scene, or description of a rock hard body Sookie wants. The writing is fun, but not crafted well enough to hold the readers attention without this. Some say it's a blend of several genres, but the romance is lacking, the mystery is full of illogic plots and character motivation, which in turn makes it very hard to suspend disbelief for the fantasy. My recommendation for anyone looking to crack into this series is look elsewhere.

Charlaine Harris has a great sense of humour...eg Elvis is Bubba, a not so bright vampire...that sex drugs and rock and roll lifestyle, oh dear. Enough of a whodunnit sort of plot which keeps the reader interested. Enough is left unsaid that it can lead you to want to read the next book in the series. The business with the queen eg. Also, I would have liked Bill himself to more fully explain and apologise to Sookie for his unfaithfullness...maybe in the next book?

I haven't read the other books in the series, so am not sure if they also contain such as the following: "Somehow, it had never crossed my mind-I guess since I'm an American-that the vampires who had snatched Bill might be resorting to evil means to get him to talk." Uhmm right, gosh golly, rah rah.

Follows in Laurell K Hamilton's steps by writing in the first person (through Sookies eyes), which can get a bit one dimensional, but is well done enough here to give intrigue by not giving away the motives/thoughts of all characters. I'm a big Hamilton fan, and I think her books have more power, but would still recommend this book. A little disappointing with Sookie betrayed and alone at the end (not to mention the non-consenting lone sex scene). A more upbeat ending would perhaps leave readers a bit happier...though probably an enticement to read the next book was the aim? The series has potential.