Dead until Dark

Harris, Charlaine. (2001). Dead Until Dark. New York, NY: Ace Books.

ISBN: 9780441008537

Pages: 292

Annotation: Sookie Stackhouse’s vampire boyfriend is suspected of murder.

Summary: Sookie Stackhouse can read minds and this has kept her from having a love life. She wants someone she can’t read. Then she meets Bill Compton: the first vampire to come to Bon Temps. She can’t read him, he is handsome and he likes her too. Happily ever after is disrupted by her co-workers being murdered. It doesn’t help that meeting Bill gets her introduced to other vampires who exemplify the not so pleasant aspects of vampire society. If Sookie can’t figure out how to navigate both she’ll be out one boyfriend and perhaps also her life.

Genre: mystery, supernatural, romance

Evaluation: very good read

Some places got to steamy or violent for me, so I wouldn’t give it an excellent rating. I tend to like less of those aspects the better, so another reader might keep from giving this book an excellent rating because there isn’t enough of them. That aside, I enjoyed this book. Sookie is a relatable character: she wants, like so many of us, someone who understands. She cares about her family, her job and the people she interacts with. Her determination to be fair, especially to someone different like her, endears her to the reader and to Bill. I liked how Harris portrayed vampire society. Getting involved with it solves some human problems, like having to worry about unsavory humans bothering you at work, but then there are vampire problems such as unsavory vampires wanting your allegiance or wanting you dead. I haven’t lived in the South, but her portrayal of that also interested me: the locale, the details of society such as the descendants of the glorious dead, etc.  The mystery was gripping: I could feel the danger and tried to figure out who was after Sookie. The person behind the murders is plausible, so the identity does not feel unrealistic.  This book is a very good read for fans of vampires and maybe those who want to take a journey into vampire book territory.

What else to read and watch:

Other books by Charlaine Harris.

The HBO series True Blood is based off this series.

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson series) by Patricia Briggs for a heroine with a supernatural ability coming into contact with the supernatural.

Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress series) by Jeaniene Frost for a heroine with a supernatural ability coming into contact with the supernatural.

Undead and Unwed (Undead series) by MaryJanice Davidson for a heroine who becomes involved with vampire society.