|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
The second book in the series about Sookie Stackhouse, a naive 20 something cocktail waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana, who happens to be able to read minds, and who has a vampire boyfriend, is even better than the first Dead Until Dark. Sookie comes to work at Merlotte's one day and finds Andy Bellefleur's patrol car still in the parking lot. Andy, a local police detective, had gotten really drunk the night before and Sookie had called his sister to take him home, but the car should have been gone by the time Sookie returned to work, after having switched shifts with a co-worker. She notices that one of the doors is slightly open and investigates. An awful smell emanates from the car and she opens the door to find the naked body of a young gay man of color, Lafayette, one of the short order cooks that Sam Merlotte employs. Sookie and Bill have been summoned by Eric, the head vampire of their area. They are on their way to Shreveport, when the car dies. Bill goes for help, and Sookie, who has just had a spat with Bill, decides to walk back to Bon Temps. She is attacked by a Maenad who causes Sookie to sustain terrible lacerations to her back. Bill gets her to Shreveport where the toxin is sucked out by the vampires and her blood is replaced. After her recovery, Bill and Sookie are lent to the vampires of Dallas to help solve a problem, Sookie's telepathic abilities are in great demand, and she is beholden to the vampires of Louisiana, so she embarks on her first airplane ride. Living Dead in Dallas is not quite like reading one of the Anita Blake vampire hunter books of Laurell K. Hamilton, but comparisons are inevitable. In both, vampires are more-or-less accepted members of society, and there are other supernatural creatures, such as shape-shifters around. But Sookie is not as sophisticated as Anita. She reminds me more of Kathleen Taylor's Tory Bauer, younger and more innocent, but with the same small town appreciation of her neighbors. This "southern vampire" series may be a fitting successor to Harris' now defunct, Lily Bard Shakespeare series.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, June 2002
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
|
