Living Dead in Dallas (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 2) by Charlaine Harris Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.50 You Save: $4.49 (56%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.00 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Living Dead in Dallas (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 2)
Book Review: Brillant
Summary: 5 Stars
Sookie Stackhouse is a southern belle w/ a gift--though she sometimes calls it her curse--for reading people's minds. An ability which causes her no shortage of grief amongst the townspeople of her hometown of Bon Temps, Louisiana. In the previous book, she finally meets the man of her dreams: Bill Compton. Bill is a total blank to her. She cannot read his mind and that makes him instantly attractive and interesting to her. The fact that to her he is dark, mysterious, and handsome couldn't hurt either. Their attraction to each other grows, without some setbacks and roadblocks in the way, as the first book progresses and ends.LIVIND DEAD IN DALLAS continues their romance and also shows us more of Sookie's growth since her first meeting w/ Bill. This time around her life is thrown a dangerous curve when she must travel to Dallas w/ Bill to help investigate the disappearance of one of that city's vampires. It would seem that the vampire leader of Louisiana has loaned out Sookie's telepathic services as part of the deal she made with this vampire in the previous book. A vampire whose obvious lust for Sookie and the use he can have with her unique power doesn't sit well with her lover, Bill.
So off to Dallas she goes, but not before one of her co-workers and also a friend of hers is killed and made to look like one of the townspeople committed the crime. As usual with her "gift" Sookie knows this to be untrue, but with her mission to Dallas more paramount, she sets this aside until her return.
Sookie's adventures in Dallas shows her more of the society that Bill has lived in most of his life. As much as vampires have been "outed" for over two years, they are still seen with revulsion and hate. LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS introduces what could be an interesting group if handled well. The Fellowship of the Sun Center is akin to an ultra-religious right group with a healthy dose of the KKK mixed in. Sookie must not only infiltrate and discover if this group of anit-vampire zealots has kidnapped one of Dallas' vampires, but also she has to deal with the fact that shapeshifters are also pretty much in evidence in Dallas. Unlike Ms. Hamilton's ANITA BLAKE series where shapeshifters are also outed as well as vampires, Ms. Harris' shifters want to remain a secret and will protectively guard that secret. This is a welcome change that separates Sookie's world from that of Anita's.
Sookie grows in this book. She no longer hates and fears her telepathic ability, though there are times in the book that she wishes she didn't use it to read someone's mind. But she has begun to hone and practice her ability with Bill's help and support. Sookie also remains pretty grounded in her personality and mindset, even though events both dark and unusual keep happening to her. Unlike Anita, Sookie doesn't gain a power in this new installment. Other than the enhanced reflexes and strenght she's gained from ingesting the blood of Bill and a couple of other vampires, she's stuck to having just plain old telepathy.
The relationship between Sookie and Bill remains a working project. Even with her liking to Eric, the vampire leader of Louisiana, which confuses her more than anything else, Sookie still stays by Bill's side. Where as Eric wants her not just for her body but also for what her power can give him, Sookie knows that Bill just wants her for being Sookie and nothing more and nothing less. It is a surprise to her at times that the most human relationship she's had with one of the opposite sex and he turns out to be far from human.
LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS is a successful and enjoyable follow-up to DEAD UNTIL DARK. It's tone is much darker and we see Sookie plunged into one dangerous scrape after another in this installment. We also learn, through Sookie's eyes, that dark going-ons and unusual habits are not just the province of the vampires and supernaturals. Sookie learns that the people of her town have their own dark secrets, but despite this Sookie emerges untouched by this darkness and more wise because of it.
Book Review: If you like the Anita Blake series, you might like this....
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the second book in the Southern Vampire novel series and is a blend of the cosy mystery with a dark twist of vampirism and a little romance. In Sookie Stackhouse's world, vampires have 'come out of their coffins' a la the style of Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake series. The vampires have a legal status in America (pay taxes)and many of them are trying to go 'main stream' i.e. live with humans and try not to kill them. Anyway, Sookie, a small town waitress with a gift of reading people's minds is having a streak of bad luck. First one of her co-workers is murdered and she is the unfortunate person to find him. Then she encounters a mythical creature in the woods who poisons her and the local vampires save her, leaving her in their debt. So when they ask her to go down to Dallas and use her telepathic powers to help locate a missing vampire, she agrees, but this is only the beginning of her troubles. Sookie is a likeable character and human character, despite her gift. And she narrates this story in a chatty, witty style. She is no superhero, her only gift or 'disability' as she calls it is her powers of mind reading, but that has schooled her abilties to keep a straight face when she inadvertantly 'hears' something she really didn't want to know, but her gift has some uses. The book is fast paced and engaging. It is quite sensual in parts (but nothing as extreme as Anita Blake's more recent exploits), and, oh yes, of course there are a few gory scenes. This is an excellent sequel to Dead Until Dark, which should be read first so you get an idea of how Sookie gets involved with the vampires in the first place.Book Review: Not quite up to the original
Summary: 3 Stars
I've only given this book three stars, although I'm not sure why, as I thoroughly enjoyed it. I suppose it's because it doesn't rank as great literature and the odd sex scene does veer almost to the tacky. But the thing is, I really enjoyed it and wish it had been much longer (I could have happily read on at the length of War and Peace!) It's nicely innovative, being about vampires trying to be politically correct in small town America, as well as a sub plot of murder and mayhem. The sort of book you can pick up at any time and get straight into, but also that's worth reading - to my mind not many novels combine the two.Book Review: BUY IT!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a FANTASTIC book by Charlaine Harris - it's the 2nd book in a series - the first being 'Dead until Dark', the 3rd is 'Dead Club'. I love this Author's style of writing, it's so easy. I loved this book, a definate keeper, you won't be disappointed.Book Review: Great series...
Summary: 4 Stars
Sookie Stackhouse had been minding her own business, but Bad Luck found her. First one of her co-workers was murdered and no one else seemed to care. Then a beastly creature, called a maenad, gave Sookie's back a painful lashing laced with poison. A few vampires (Bill and Eric included) sucked the poison from her veins to save her. So when the vampires wanted Sookie to help them out with her special telepathic abilities, she agreed. **** This novel picks up close to where the first left off. This book, just like the previous one, is a mystery story that can stand by itself. Yu do not have to read the first to fully understand what is going on. The secondary characters from the first book are in this one too, however, more time is spent on the mystery. Very good reading here. ****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch.