Now that I've read the whole series, this one is my favorite in the series. You get to see Sookie's personality develop, as well as alot of other characters including Quinn. The tempo of the book is different then the other books because most of it isn't set in Bon Temps. Most of it takes place at a vampire confrance, with lost of vampire politics, and "supes" interaction. It never stops! You're either learning about the supernatural community, or Sookie's life is in danger, either way, I was engrossed.
If you like this series, this book won't disappoint. If you haven't read the first 6 books Ms Harris does a really good job or "recapping" what you need to know about the first books without making it boring for those that have.

This book is action packed, and I highly recommend. It has to be paired with the next book in this series, the eighth book. I would consider books 7 & 8 together, to get the complete story. The 7th book is just a launching pad to the 8th book. So, as you finish book 7, have the next book on hand, ready to go!

Now, in book 7, we are introduced to Vin Diesel, oh, sorry, I mean the wer-tiger Quinn. He's great, but in comparison to the Vamps, his character just doesn't hold up. By book 8, he is gone.

Other sideline love interests get wrapped up as well, pretty much leaving things up to Bill and Eric.

Eric's character develops quite a bit in these two books, and he becomes much more likable and relatable. Sookie becomes more attached to him, for both physical and emotional reasons. He is a contender for Sookie's heart.

Bill, Bill, Bill. What can I say? He is a lout, and more of his mistakes become known. He mopes around quite a bit. Still, I think we all know that Sookie and Bill ultimately belong together. Hopefully, in the future, Bill will actively try to win Sookie's forgiveness, rather than passively watching from the shadows.

After all the action in books 7 and 8, Sookie's character grows up a bit, and she realizes that she is capable of doing things she never thought she would. In view of her own compromised morals, her anger towards Bill softens by the end of book 8. And, Bill finally seems to be ready to fight for Sookie's love. I have to say, Bill's moping around was getting a little old!

Hopefully, Ms. Harris will write the next book SOON. 2009? Please? The 8th book kinda wraps things up, leaving the reader at a comfortable place.

A new Vampire regime is in place, along with a reorganized wer-pack, and the horizon is wide open for all sorts of new Sookie adventures.

Love this heroine, Love this series! Yea Charlaine Harris! I recommend this series to all my friends!

I'd read Charlaine Harris's offering in the short story collection Many Bloody Returns (Sookie Stackhouse), and on meeting feisty Southern gal and home-grown telepath Sookie Stackhouse, I was eager to read more.

I won't say I found some things disappointing in this book, but it gave me the feeling that parts of it needed to be fleshed out a little more and other parts trimmed. The characters, especially in the first third of the book, got a bit cluttered and I was almost wishing there was a character list in the beginning of the book so I could flip back and keep everyone's names and identities straight. The pacing seemed a bit slow and meandery through the first third of the book, and I got a bit impatient to get to the actual vampire summit.

However, I enjoy Sookie and her balance of introspection and feistiness. The world that she lives in is both otherworldly and folksy. I love Charlaine Harris's vampires: they may not think as humans do, but their problems are just as real as a human's and you want to see them resolved. The post-Hurricane Katrina setting adds to the poignant reality of the story and counter-points the wit and the fantasy elements. You think of vampires as being completely foreign to things like natural disasters, but Ms. Harris bridges the gap between mortal and supernatural, by showing how they too can be affected by the forces of nature, just as much as their human brethren. I'll admit I saw the terrorist attack coming, almost as soon as the bomb disguised as a soda can turned up, but I was so wrapped up in the characters and their web of conflicts, that I caught myself thinking "Oh no, please don't let it happen! They got enough on their plates..." I utterly *loved* the Britlingens and I hope to see them again in this series. The book has its flaws, but I'm definately coming back to visit with Sookie and her friends -- and enemies -- very soon!

love the Harris series. Its fun and entertaining! I look forward to the next book in the series!

This book was every bit as good as the others, maybe better. I just love Sookie Stackhouse, hope the series never ends.

These are somewhat the silly side for my tastes. I read the last two or three while home sick, just blew through them. The writing is not the strongest. There are a few humorous moments here and there, but they're just not that good. I do give credit that Sookie develops somewhat; she's not as 'green' as she was in the first book, and I like that she grows. The concept is a bit different with a woman who can read minds and she's intrigued by vampires because she can't read their minds, and gets introduced into all this intrigue and whatnot. Perhaps if this didn't go on into seven or eight books and actually got resolved without some major battle in each book and Sookie always battered and bruised and deciding who to sleep with and yadda yadda yadda. I also don't care for all the odd characters, the fairies and angels and werewolves and the hierarchies. I mean, yeah, if you have one supernatural creature why wouldn't you have other kinds? But I just don't care for it. In terms of fantasy I've much preferred The Book of Lost Things or The War of the Oaks. Maybe I just have vampire fatigue, because there are a lot of vampire chick fiction books out there right now. But if you like vampire chick lit you probably will like this.

These are on the silly side. I read the last two or three while home sick, just blew through them. The writing is kind of amateurish. There are a few humorous moments here and there, but they're just not that good. I do give credit that Sookie develops somewhat; she's not as 'green' as she was in the first book. The concept is a bit different with a woman who can read minds and she's intrigued by vampires because she can't read their minds, and gets introduced into all this intrigue and whatnot. Perhaps if this didn't go on into seven or eight books and actually got resolved without some major battle in each book and Sookie always battered and bruised and deciding who to sleep with and yadda yadda yadda. It reads like lame wish fulfillment.

Since there are already a plethora of reviews both praising and denigrating this book, I'll only tell you why I loved it.
I was happy that Ms. Harris was letting Sookie move on and out, in terms of new situations and new types of characters. A Fairy Grandfather,witches and, of course, Bob the Cat. I was also glad to see Barry the Bellhop show up again. Sookie needs to know someone else who is in her own "line of business".
As for the naysayers who weren't happy about our heroine's lack of acumen in not having figured out what was going to happen, fie on them. She is NOT supposed to be a superwoman, just a human with telepathic abilities. I'm perfectly happy with letting Sookie know what she knows when she knows it, even if I figured it out before she did. It's all about her journey, not mine.

I love these books....I alternately laugh and cry....I cannot wait for a new one and once I have it I cannot stop til I am done....I think the house could burn down and while I was escaping I would still be reading.....

I love this series, but this installment is just disappointing. There's no romance to speak of, no sexual tension, no witty banter, and all those great guys Sookie's introduced us to over the years barely rate a mention. Plus, the plot is pretty thin, and Harris devotes long passages to pretty mundane things like shopping. The plot of this book is mainly boring political intrigue, with Sookie sounding more like an embittered and inflexible Lily Bard (from Harris's Shakespeare series) than herself. I sure hope the next installment is better.

A suitable continuation of the Sookie series. I couldn't put it down any more easily than any of its predecessors! Definitely worth owning -- even on a book-buying diet!

This is the latest in Charlaine Harris' vampire series starring human mind-reader and heroine Sookie. Harris does a fantastic job extending this series without getting dragged down in the history/past books. It's fresh, it's fun, it's interesting and I couldn't put it down!!! If you haven't read any of this series you can jump in here, but I recommend going back and reading each one! (I'd hate for you to miss out on the ride so far!) It does contain some sexuality and so I recommend readers in their 20's and up.

This is the 7th book in the series and was just as exciting as the first 6! I love Sookie's sense of humor and her strength that she doesn't even know she has! Such a quirky and fun series!

I found this installment of the Sookie series a little harder edged than previous novels. Sookie's life, while still hilarious at times, has become more complicated. She faces more moral "gray" areas and dilemmas than in previous books. Quinn is still delicious and I hope he and Sookie continue their relationship in future books. The large number of characters made the book intriguing, and I liked the details of vampire politics and justice.

This book was soo good, I loved the character of Sookie. This book kept me reading up until the last page I couldn't put it down. Another amazing and intriguing read I HIGHLY recommend is Love Returns Through The Portal Of Time

This is the first of the Southern Vampire series that I listened to on audio. It was weird, frankly. The narrator's voice was nothing like I imagined Sookie.

The general story: Sookie is off to Chicago with Queen Sophie and the rest of the Louisiana vamps for a vampire summit. QS is going to be on trial for killing her husband, which she did not do. Sookie is going to read the minds of the humans to help QS decide who's up to what.

Sookie tries to balance being with Quinn, avoiding Eric and Bill and doing here work for Queen Sophie. While they are there, other vampires wind up dead, humans have all kinds of problems and there is a group of anti-vampire protesters causing problems. Actually, fairly big problems. Sookie winds up letting humans see that she is a telepath, which winds up causing her big problems.

This was probably my favorite of the Southern Vampire series. The storyline was attention getting and there were more developed relationships with Sookie and Quinn and Eric.

Excellent book! Fun,fast read! Great series of books. You will love Sookie Stackhouse. She is truly a "Steel Magnolia" Southern belle. I was skeptical about the very first book when I started reading the series. Then I got into the story and I was hooked. I read the first 3 books within a 5 day period. I can hardly wait for the next book to be published.

Charlaine Harris does it again with her book "All Together Dead." Once again, I couldn't put it down, I laughed out loud, and I fell in love with all of the characters. A fabulous, fun read!

The story is enjoyable. It moves fast and is fun. I love Sookie and the rest, but as I read I started to have feelings of being tired. I'm ready for some resolution of the storylines and I'm not seeing that. It continues to get larger, when I think I am ready for the series to come to a glorious and satisfying end.

If you haven't been reading the series, don't start with this book. The first part is full of characters from previous books and I had to concentrate to put everyone in the right spot/frame. Sometimes I wondered why some characters were mentioned, because they had no relation to the main plot of the story. Anyway. The second part was very entertaining. I had difficulties putting the book down after the vampire summit started. Like some other reviewers, I somehow can't picture Quinn as a perfect lover. He's nice, maybe he's to good. I don't know. He's not hot, but Eric is. If I have to chose between those to, it would be Eric. I wish I could read the next book tomorrow....

I have really liked Sookie but this may be the end of her for me. I dont know what has transpired but the last book and now this one seems to not have the Sookie I loved. The author just ambles along it seems in no apparent direction and with reason she never gets anywhere. I usually complain that a series is getting boring and predictable by now but this book wasnt predictable because it appeared to not have a destination to start with.

I probably will read the next one just to see if Sookie has evolved or is lost forever or if she has made any decision on her love life or maybe has another male sniffing after her. Good luck on her search.

I love to read and re-read this series of books and look forward to every one.

This was my 1st and last CD purchase of this series. I found it hard to understand and hear. Maybe it is just a poor quality manufacture or the oddly rendered accents of the reader. I just don't know but I do know I kept turning up the volume in an effort to understand the words more clearly. I repeatedly backed it up to try and pick up large amounts of conversations I did not clearly understand. In the end I just gave up trying and let it play to the end.

I'm going to sit down and read the book as I am sure I will like it much better.

I buy lots of books on CD. I listen to them as I paint, strip woodwork, etc. and I listen to my favorites repeatedly. This is a lousy CD and I highly recommend it be avoided.

This book is why I read paranormal fiction. It is also proof that a series seven strong can still be imaginative, entertaining, and endearing. Unlike my recent disappointment with MJD's new Betsy book, the newest Sookie installment brims with interesting plotlines. We are involved in no less than three mysteries to solve here, as Sookie the telephathic waitress from Bon Temps, travels to a Chicago-like area to help a Vampire Queen. The great thing about Ms. Harris' writing is that you can never tell when something is mentioned, that it may be hugely important later on. I enjoyed seeing some characters from previous books make an appearance at the Vampire Convention. Although some may disagree, I think the author did a beautiful job in dealing with the Post-Katrina problems. Likewise, she handled a story arc that was reminicient of September 11th, with gentle hands. I wasn't thrilled with Definitely Dead, but I couldn't be more pleased with All Together Dead. This book brought Sookie Stackhouse right back to my must read list.

This has become one of my favorite series so I have high expectations for these books. The first 100 pages were a little too much filler but I did appreciate how Harris wrote about Sookie at the baby shower to show how she is connecting with society a little bit more and making some friends (as opposed to the complete outsider she was in book one). Things pick up once Sookie is at the summit, but I was not happy with the Sookie/Eric interaction at first. Eric's character seems to get kinder with every book but Sookie's is getting tempermental and nasty, which just makes me feel like she's just being mean to Eric. However, the events that unfold towards the end made the whole book for me. I thought it was very powerful and very tastefully done. I see some other reviewers couldn't believe how selfish Sookie was being but I could totally see where she was coming from. She is a small town girl who is beginning to fit in and love her life so the prospect of being torn away from that and travel to strange places is terrifying. Her first instinct is to run away. The only thing that I was very unhappy about is that we don't find out what happened to Eric and Bill and company at the end, and that was what I was most interested in-and now I have to wait until May to find out! But all in all, this installment did not disappoint, although I'm hoping with the next book there are some advancements with some of these story lines.

This had become one of my favorite series, but I was so not thrilled with this latest one. The first 100 pages were a little too much filler - I mean, I did appreciate that Harris wrote about Sookie at the baby shower to show how she is connecting with society a little bit more and making some friends (as opposed to the complete outsider she was in book one) but that combined with detailing Sookie's shopping for the summit, mundane tasks at work, etc. made the story drag a little too much. Things pick up once Sookie is at the summit, but I was not happy with the Sookie/Eric interaction. The tension between Eric and Sookie is getting drawn out and tired (where as in other books it was exciting). Eric's character seems to get kinder with every book but Sookie's is getting tempermental and nasty, which just makes me feel like she's just being mean to Eric. I also don't feel like the story line advanced in this book. I will keep reading the series of course because it's excellent, but this installment was a low point.

"All Together Dead", the seventh book in the series is action packed, and much fun to read. Older characters are not forgotten, and we are introduced to new ones as well. I enjoyed being able to peek into Sookie's everyday life as she interacts with townspeople at a wedding shower, and while working as a cocktail waitress at Merlotte's. Her ties to the supernatural world also continue as she attends a were-wedding, and then agrees to accompany the vampire queen and her entourage to the Mid-West summit as the queen's official telepath.

The vampire world has changed drastically since Hurricane Katrina, and Queen Sophie-Anne is attending the summit in a much weakened position. Not only were much of her holdings destroyed during the hurricane, she is also on trial for the murder of her husband, and Sookie many be called to testify as a witness at the trial.

All of the usual vampire politics and intrigue are in play, and meanwhile, the activist group Fellowship of the Sun, has their own plans for the summit. Sookie struggles with her human loyalities as she is drawn deeper into the supernatural world, and experiences the hatred and bigoty of both sides. Additionally, Sookie's telepathic powers are changing and she struggles to remain true to her small southern town values as she begins to realize that she may never have just an ordinary life.

Sookie's love life becomes more complicated with the addition of the handsome shape-shifter, Quinn. There are many funny moments as Sookie tries to resolve her feelings for Bill and Eric, the previous men in her life, while developing a new relationship with Quinn.

If you enjoyed the previous novels in this series, you will enjoy this one as well. The characters and storylines are becoming more developed, and it is fun to watch how Sookie's character has grown. I am eagerly awaiting the next Sookie Stackhouse novel!

In Charlaine Harris's seventh Sookie Stackhouse adventure All Together Dead, it's a blend of CSI, 24 and World Trade Center as Sookie is sent to a vampire summit in Rhodes. As a human telepath, she's expected to scan human minds for signs of dishonesty in business dealings. Sounds simple enough, but much is brewing at the summit; Sophie-Anne, the Queen of Louisiana, is recovering from the devastating economic impact of Hurricane Katrina on her state's economy. That, and having her new vampire husband the King of Arkansas murdered. Sophie-Anne will stand trial for his murder at the summit.

Sookie's ex-boyfriend Bill (also of a bloodsucking persuasion) is also at the summit, as is the handsome, ancient Viking Eric. Although Bill's out of the romantic picture, Eric and Sookie once again find time to exchange bodily fluids (in Sookie's case, drinking Eric's blood to gain a powerful edge). Sookie's new flame Quinn the weretiger is also working at the summit. Unlike Harris's previous Sookie books, there is precious little in the way of "fooling around," for which some readers will be grateful.

Instead, Sookie is wrapped up in several ongoing dramas at the summit, including a run-in with Fellowship of the Sun members. Fellowship of the Sun is an anti-vampire group that performs terrorist acts against vampires and their human associates, and Sookie's getting some bad, guilty vibes from werewolf-turned-vamp Jake Purifoy, who hates his new undead existence. Add to that that someone murdered the remaining vamps from Arkansas under Sookie's nose, a crude bomb was planted outside the Queen's hotel room, and several vamps (and people) turning up dead, and you have quite a mystery. A horrific event provides the wrenching climax, although references to 9/11 seemed unnecessarily overstated.

All Together Dead provides more action and interwoven plots than in the last several Southern Vampire novels, making it one of my favorites in the series. If you were looking for more hot undead romance, you'll want to read the earlier books; Sookie's simply too busy in Rhodes for any extracurriculuar activities.

Harris has carefully nurtured Sookie's gift of telepathy across the series, and Sookie is allowed her moment in the sun at Rhodes, where her gift becomes the difference between life and death for survivors of a terrorist attack. Without the romantic baggage of previous novels, Sookie has reverted to her headstrong, confident self, which is a relief after putting up with her lust-and-lovesick preoccupations in earlier novels. Bill fans will be disappointed, as Sookie is clear that she wants him out of her life. Eric hasn't gained much ground with Sookie since his amnesia in Definitely Dead, and Sookie discovers some dark, dark secrets about Quinn's past. From the standpoint of action, intrigue, and character development, this may be the best in the series thus far (book eight, From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 8), is due in May 2008).

I have enjoyed most (if not all) of Charlaine Harris' adventures with the vampires of the south and I have never been disapointed. This was an exceptional one and I am glad I added it to my collection.