FROM DEAD TO WORSE

The supernatural community in Bon Temps, Louisiana is reeling from two hard blows: the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the manmade horror of the explosion at the vampire summit in the up-north city of Rhodes. Sookie Stackhouse is safe but dazed and she's yearning for things to get back to normal. But that's just not happening. Too many vampires - some friends, some not - were killed or injured and her were-tiger boyfriend Quinn is among the missing.

It's clear that things are changing, whether the weres and vamps like it or not. And Sookie, Friend to the Pack, blood-bonded to the leader of the local vampire community, is caught up in those changes. She's about to find herself facing danger and death and, not for the first time, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood has stopped flowing, Sookie's world will be forever altered...

Sookie Stackhouse is one of my favourite characters. The Sookie Stackhouse series is one of my most favourite, so I was very excited about reading this one. Every time I read the latest Sookie book, I feel like I'm catching up with a bunch of old friends. Friends that live in a small town where not-so ordinary things happen all the time. And this book's no different.

Once again, Sookie somehow finds herself caught in the middle of a very serious were situation, as well as a vampire one. Both turn out to be very dangerous, but with surprising results.

One of the things I love about this series is the large cast. There are a lot of characters that have been in the series from the beginning, but Charlaine Harris always manages to introduce a bunch of new ones. Very intriguing people with otherworldly talents and secrets of their own. She also does a great job at making sure that her readers don't forget any of them because they're all so interesting.

In this installment, Sookie is forced to face just how deeply her blood bond with Eric is, while trying to deal with the fact that her boyfriend, Quinn, is MIA. Not to mention that Bill keeps popping up to remind her he's in the shadows. Her love life is still as complicated as ever, but at least her family seems to be expanding and a few family secrets surface. Things that help her understand her fairy connection.

From Dead to Worse is a wonderful, action-packed, emotional, intriguing read that'll keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. And boy, did I love the end. I wasn't expecting it to end the way it did, but now can't wait to find out how this new character will be included in future stories.

From Dead to Worse, May 2009, ISBN 0575083964, Gollancz Paperback