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Definitely Dull Nov 9, 2008 (112 of 115 found this helpful)
This was such a bizarre entry in what has become one of my favorite mystery series. First of all, starting this book will be totally confusing for anyone who hasn't read "One Word Answer," a short Sookie Stackhouse story that Harris wrote for an anthology. How do I know? Because I hadn't read it by the time I began "Definitely Dead," and I was definitely confused. Sookie's cousin was murdered in New Orleans, and the Vampire Queen of Louisiana sent an emissary to visit Sookie in Bon Temps? When? Not in any of the previous books I'd read. I knew I couldn't be crazy, so I did some online research, found the short story, and was able to download it for free. Then the beginning of the book made sense to me. But how unfair is that to readers who either don't know about the story or have access to the internet? At least publish the short story in the paperback edition of "Definitely Dead" so that readers aren't completely lost. Or include a note at the beginning of the book that directs readers to the anthology. Something, anything.
Second of all, the story involving Sookie's dead vampire cousin, the core of the book, doesn't really get rolling again until around page 130. Before then, the book is strictly filler, with unimportant subplots, one involving Jason and his werepanther girlfriend, the other about a missing child, who Sookie helps find. Those aren't spoilers, folks, because these side stories have NOTHING to do with the book's actual plot. So why are they even there? Who knows? Maybe Harris is setting things up for future entries, but that doesn't make for an involving reading experience this time around.
Thirdly, I wish Sookie would settle on a boyfriend. Bill, Eric, Sam, Quinn...On the one hand, I've always enjoyed Harris's ability to keep readers on their toes and defy expectations, but Sookie is starting to look like a right little pop tart. And was it really necessary for Harris to give us a plot twist that makes us detest and reevaluate a favorite character? Again, Harris likes to pull the rug out from under Sookie (and us, vicariously), but it seemed excessive and very mean-spirited. Harris hasn't seemed to know what to do with this character for a few books now, and it shows. Fourthly, when Sookie does make it to New Orleans and the book's real story actually begins, it turns out to be an uninteresting, overcomplicated one, with a plot element that was corny when Dumas used it in "The Three Musketeers."
Lastly, Harris throws us all a curve and gives us a hint about Sookie's family background that's completely inconsistent with the rest of the series, and made for a lot of backtracking. What, is Harris making this stuff up as she goes along? Sure sounds like it. Every writer should take a page out of JK Rowling's playbook and plan a series in advance. It goes a LONG way towards avoiding this kind of sloppy plotting. And if Sookie is a -- well, I don't want to give it away -- then it means she's not a normal woman in abnormal circumstances. Which means she's not us, the reader, and that's a shame.
And did it bother anyone else that Quinn took Sookie to see "The Producers?" Why couldn't Harris just say "the theater?" There have never been other references to present day movies or TV shows -- not that I remember -- and I found it very bizarre. Maybe I just don't see Sookie liking or getting that particular show. "Rent," yes -- "The Producers," no. Maybe it's just me.
All in all, if you're following Sookie's story, you're going to want to read this one as well, but prepare to put the book down, as I did, every few days. It's that dull.
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Definitely Delightful May 4, 2006 (112 of 120 found this helpful)
I love the Southern Vampire series so much. I have enjoyed every last book - to the hilt - and this one was no exception. What I love is how the books are heartwarming, heartbreaking, poignant, funny, suspenseful, romantic...all at once. The characters are amazingly well drawn and Sookie's evolution from book to book as she gains confidence, experience, and some hard knocks is so fascinating. That alone makes this installment worthwhile.
Sookie is definitely a bit snappish throughout the book, but she's also more confident, more sure of herself - more willing to take initiative. She's tired of being manipulated and she's trying, as hard as she can, to get control of her life. It's no surprise that she's on the bristly side.
Sookie visits New Orleans and learns more about how vampire society works - she meets the Queen, who wants to employ her directly. So the power relationship is obviously shifting a bit between Sookie and the Bon Temps supes. I think this is a Very Promising Development.
The romantic interest here is Quinn, a were-tiger who oozes machismo. I found him a little bit campy. Eric and Bill appear - not often, but enough. There are some *major* revelations in that department, which pleased me inordinately (And, not to give away too much, but I have loathed Bill since Dead Until Dark).
There's also more afoot on other fronts - the continuing drama of Debbie Pelt & the Fellowship of the Sun & Claudine's mysterious presence.
I always feel totally drenched in the physical environment of the Southern Vampire books - Harris writes about the south in such a vivid way it can make a die-hard California girl like myself want to visit Louisiana just to see the pollen or drive down a narrow country lane. New Orleans, however, gets a more-or-less minimal treatment: Sookie doesn't get much of a chance to explore.
Alas. A year until the next one comes out.
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Disappointing :( Jul 27, 2006 (19 of 23 found this helpful)
i found this book sorely disappointing. The first four books were great, and then after that...the series seems to be going downhill. in this novel, there's too many things going on at once, too many characters running around. Especially new ones. Harris' established characters aren't involved in the storyline in any meaningful way, they just pop up here and there. She might as well not have written them in at all. I miss those characters, especially Eric and Bill. Those vamps were the reason i got into the series in the first place. With this book i found myself wholly uninterested in the plethora of new characters and was in anticipation of even a small cameo appearance of the established ones. I couldn't get into the story either...it just draaaaaged. And there were too many subplots. Plus, the ending was kinda disappointing too.
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Definitely not my favorite book in the series... May 3, 2006 (73 of 98 found this helpful)
I look forward to reading the Southern Vampire Mysteries every year (well, every year since I discovered them). The first four books were the best of the series. (Dead as a Doornail was great too though.) I had looked forward to reading Definitely Dead and read more on sexy weretiger Quinn. Even though I had a hard time conjuring a gorgeous baldheaded, olive-skinned man, I do like Quinn a bit, though I need to know more about him. However, I wasn't thrilled with this installment and its "twists." But more on that stuff later. Hadley, Sookie Stackhouse's cousin, had been a vampire. She was murdered and is now definitely dead (as opposed to being vampire-dead). Hadley's apartment and her possessions now belong to Sookie, and she has been summoned by the Vampire Queen of Louisiana to claim them. Sookie is disturbed with the fact that her cousin had been a vampire. She had taken part in the execution of her cousin's murderer (this took place in the short story "One Word Answer" in the Bite anthology) and she isn't thrilled with the prospect of seeing the apartment and visiting the vampire queen. But someone is doing just about anything, including committing murder, to keep Sookie from claiming her inheritance. Did Hadley have some skeletons in her closet? Who is stopping Sookie from going to New Orleans and why? On top of everything else, the Pelts are again questioning Sookie about their daughter Debbie's disappearance, Eric is insisting upon taking her to a vampire council meeting and some Weres may want her dead. All poor Sookie wants to do is enjoy a few dates with the gorgeous Quinn. There are several twists throughout the novel.
I have to say that the first one-hundred or so pages are quite boring. There is some building of what is to come ahead, but most of it is too short and sparse to spark my interest. The scenes at bar Merlotte are always fun and Harris's descriptions of the south and of Sookie relaxing on a warm sunny day are great too, and I enjoy the witty dialogue as well, but the other stuff centered on internal monologue and on Sookie getting reacquainted with practically every character in the series was a big bore for me. In the first one-hundred or so pages, we get appearances or mentions of Bill, Alcide, Sam, Eric, Jason, Claude, Claudine, Maria-Star, Quinn, Calvin, the Pelts, Merlotte's regulars and several very small, filler characters, some of which I couldn't remember at first. Out of all those characters, I was only interested in Bill, Eric and Quinn. It seems that Ms. Harris felt the need to bring up these characters even if most of them were not relevant to the plot. It matters little to me if some of them are in one of the novels or not. Perhaps a brief mention of them would suffice. After we got out of that hallway, which included a mini-mystery centered on a missing school boy, the story got interesting and the action began. I was enjoying the story a great deal... until I read the part about the "twist" with Bill. I had a feeling that it was a contrived plot device to write him off the series or to make him unlikeable to us readers. I hate it when authors do that! Laurell K. Hamilton did it with Richard and now Charlaine Harris has done it with Bill. But I sincerely hope that isn't the case, for Bill is my favorite character in this series and I'd hate to see him go. He has done some vile things to Sookie that don't make him good boyfriend material, but what I like about him and Eric is that they're flawed and complex and not vanilla vampires. The point of vampires is that they don't behave or think like regular people. Also, I'd like to read about his side of things. Ever since Club Dead, it has been all about Sookie and her broken heart, with very little opportunity to have Bill defend himself. I hope this new twist is just new conflict between him and Sookie and nothing else. It is obvious to me that Ms. Harris has put Bill and the other men "in t
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Definately a bit more serious Nov 10, 2006 (16 of 20 found this helpful)
I've liked about everything I've read from Ms. Harris, but the Sookie Stackhouse (or Southern Vampire) series is my favorite. All of these Sookie storys have featured a very likable lead whose supernatural talents have made her valuable to the vampire population.
In this latest, which certainly isn't my favorite, Sookie has to take care of her late cousins personal effects. It would have been interesting if she could have met Hadley before the murder. I think it would have made a good story. The Queen of Louisana was surprisingly likable. I'll be glad to see her again.
Ok -- now regardless of the climate of the storys we might still agree Louisiana and surrounding states are still part of America and therefore should be bound to the same laws. When Sookie asked the Queen did she still HAVE to go to a big summit, the Queen tells her yes she does. Why not go home, inform the police she is being menaced by certain vampires and tell 'em all to get stuffed? The vamps in this series are trying very hard to be "mainstream" (whatever in heck that means) and stay in good with the human population/lawmakers/legal system/etc. Tell Eric she doesn't owe him a #@$!! thing and to stay out of her life, along with his henchmen.
I can understand Sookie falling in love with Vamp Bill and I can understand why he showed up in the first place. He could have been a bit more honest, but he isn't human and he doesn't pretend to be. So they have sex. And she has sex with Eric. Now she is dating Quinn. Can we see a trend beginning to develope here?
Along with many, many others I have this horrible idea that Sookie is in danger of going the way of that former kick-a** Anita Blake (now turned whiney valley girl nympho [...]). Please Ms. Harris -- don't go there. I like Sookie now as much as I USED to like Anita Blake. Keep her the good girl she is, doing the best she can with what life has given her. I don't care what you do with Bill or Eric. I like both characters, but I can live without 'em. I kind of like Pam, too, and would appreciate it if you didn't kill her off.
But please. Keep Sookie just the way she is. Stay away from the dark road Ms. Hamilton insists on traveling.
Not as good as the previous, but good enough to buy or borrow.