Definitely Dead

***SPOILERS*** My boyfriends back now I’m gonna be in trouble…Hey now, hey now Sookie ‘s boyfriends back. Sookie has a new man in this book and they are taking it slow by courting. Town is still skeptical that Sookie doesn’t know what happened to the Were’s Ex-fiance and now her family is breathing down her neck too. Sookie is summoned due to the death of her cousin (who died a vampire) and of course while she is in the town clearing out her cousins home she runs into all kinds of danger but makes some new friends along the way. Sookie is also made aware that Bill was sent personally by the Queen to tempt and lure her along for her special skills. Will Sookie ever heal from the stake through her heart??? Or will Sookie become serious with her new boyfriend /tiger???

Due to the story starting off with characters that haven’t been really mentioned before it feels like you have skipped a book. That’s because you have! There’s a story called ‘Dracula nights’ that needs to be read before this one. It’s a off shoot story which is not included in the Sookie Stakehouse book list. It’s also not available on Kindle which is doubly annoying. But if you just sort of mentally fill in the blanks of the story you’ve skipped then this is once again a great Sookie story. Also Quinn sounds heaps hott!!

Just like the novels before, this one is jump started immediately. Apparently Sookie has inherited something from her cousin Hadley. For years, the Stackhouse family had thought Hadley was on drugs. Turns out, she was a vampire and now she’s been murdered.

Sookie has a new suitor vying for her favor. Quinn is a weretiger who first met Sookie at the packmaster choosing ceremony and it seems that she made such an impression on him that he wants to date her.

So much happens in Louisiana when Sookie goes to collect her cousin’s belongings. The queen of Louisiana has made an alliance/marriage with the king of another state. This ceremony happens to be going on during Sookie’s visit.

If you think Sookie has led a danger filled life before, then you’ll be shocked at all the danger that constantly surrounds her in this book. Not only that, but Sookie faces a horrible betrayal; one that she doesn’t believe she’ll ever be able to forgive.

I truly loved all the thrilling action in this book. Amazing how far people are willing to go to deceive others and acquire what they truly want most.

Another great book to add to such an amazing series. Sookie once again finds herself in a pickle that she has to fight her way out of but luckily she has a new beau to help her out. She also deals with a huge betrayal that totally breaks her heart. I am really excited about the budding friendship with Amelia and am looking forward to seeing how she does in Bon Temps.

<Spoilers> Definitely Dead is definitely different from the previous Sookie books in the way the plot develops. This books switches focus at the beginning and shines on the domestic side of Sookie, to get us grounded again in a bit of the personal everyday side of life. In this book, Sookie begins dating Quinn, the Were Tiger, which at the end of the story, results in the cover art. Sookie this time after some disallusionment with Bill, decides that she will pace herself with the romance, and take things slow. Yet slow doesn’t necessarily mean not steamy…

Charlaine develops the world of Sookie Stackhouse quite nicely with this book, especially the idea of good witches with powers more akin to Samantha, and the idea of backstabbing political intrigue with the mystery regarding the death of Sookie’s cousin Hadley. The whole of the story revolves around the Queen of Louisiana and her marriage to the King of Mississippi, and the former were turned vamp who shows up in typical Sookie fashion in a closet!

Another developmental idea is the idea of Sookie using her powers for good. Not only as an excuse to get her into all sorts of vampire functions, like all the books before, but for actual benefit to the community. The idea of this is so obvious, but for some reason has never occured to me before reading about that in this book. Now some caveats are learned about this activity in the next book, so please relish this little vignette and enjoy it, because it might not happen much in the future.

On the romance side, Eric forces some serious disallusionment with Bill by revealing his secret life as the Queen’s spy, and Quinn really finds himself helpless to take the edge off that shocker. Other than that, the romance in this book is slow, and a bit tedious in her pursuit of a guy which we know she wont wind up with in the end. But, if you exercise your patience, you’ll stop and notice that Quinn seems nice, and is a refreshing change of pace from Sookie’s past beaus.

The action and the mystery combine at the end, as key plot elements come together, and mysteries are solved in the aftermath. People who crave vampire/were blood soaked action will find this story right up their alley, as swords chop chop chop up unwilling victims left and right. I feel like beheading certainly qualifies as the title inspiration of definitely dead.

Emotionally, this book is great. You really feel great depths of despair at Bill’s shocking revelation, and a parade of others as this story takes you on unexpcted twists and turns. If there was anything missing it was that true love mushy mushy type stuff which really has been absent since book 1 now that I think about it.

This is a very good book, regardless what others have said. I believe someone said that Sookie wouldn’t like ‘The Prouducers’ which could be realistic since she was going on a date and didn’t really get to pick what show she would watch. Charlaine has never been shy about using real world business establishments like Ralph and Kacoo’s, and Walmart and apparently is not worried about using real world shows which will date the books. I’ve always enjoyed the fact that the events in these books supposedly occur just before they are published which leaves them hopelessly dated. I mean, Sookie doesn’t have a cell phone for several books…and isn’t really keeping up with the information age anyway.

Recommended.

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