Monday, May 21, 2012

Living Dead In Dallas by Charlaine Harris

(Sookie Stackhouse series, book 2)
When a vampire asks cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse for a favor, she complies. And soon she’s in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She agrees to interview the humans involved as long as the bloodsuckers promise to let them go unharmed. Easier said than done. All it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly.

Living Dead In Dallas is the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, and while it isn’t quite as good as the first book, it doesn’t disappoint. The book doesn’t waste anytime jumping into action and by page 8 we have a brand new mystery to solve when Sookie finds her flamboyantly gay co-worker Lafayette dead in the back of cop Andy Bellefleur’s car. I was seriously sad about this…I adored Lafayette. In the midst of a new murder investigation in Bon Temp, Sookie is propositioned to do some investigation work for Area 5 Sheriff, Eric Northman. A vampire has gone missing in Dallas, and he wants Sookie to interview the humans and use her gift of telepathy to see if they know anything about the missing vamp. She obliges and heads off to Dallas with vampire Bill, Sookie’s boyfriend. It’s in Dallas that we first learn of “Vampire Safe” hotels that come equipped with windowless rooms and synthetic blood on the room service menu. Wild stuff.

The vampire safe hotels aren’t the only thing we are introduced to in Dallas. More importantly, we learn about a fanatical Christian cult called the Fellowship of the Sun, who despise vampires and want to destroy them all…or get them to destroy themselves.  An additional antagonist looms in the woods back home in Bon Temp threatening the small town, and soon Sookie realizes there may be more to the mythological world than just vampires and shapeshifters.

The introduction of more mythical creatures expands the storyline a little more, but it’s a welcome development in my opinion. As much as I love the interaction between the vamps and humans, I like the idea of them exploring the lives of other creatures that are still in hiding to the general public. The relationship between Bill and Sookie still seems rather strong, however we do get to see the growing sexual tension between Eric and Sookie continue to rise. As much as I do love Bill, there is just something about Eric that makes me wish Sookie would explore  the the option of her and Eric together. He’s kind of an asshole, but oh my gosh, he’s just so seductive. Sookie has some major willpower to keep him at a distance, but just how long can she keep that up?

I read this book in one day, and although it wasn’t as good as the first book I really enjoyed it. If you read Dead Until Dark and enjoyed it, I would definitely recommend reading this book. As I stated in my review of Dead Until Dark, I am currently getting ready to start book 12 of the series, so I’ll just give you a heads up in case you are interested in reading this book and then continuing on in the series. Brace yourself. You’re about to get bombarded with a ridiculous amount of new characters from the third or fourth book on.

If you want to read a book that has mystery, vampires, and some pretty hot makeup sex…go grab yourself a copy of Living Dead In Dallas.  



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