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I celebrated when I read that Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series was being made into a television series. Over the seven books preceding this one, these have grown in imagination and depth.. FROM DEAD TO WORSE is darker than the last, which was darker than its predecessor, but it still enthralls. If you can't accept the fiction that vampires, shapeshifters and fairies live in this version of the world, you'll have a hard time with this series. Sookie is still one of mystery's best protagonists. She's often taken for granted, and people assume she's not bright, sophisticated, or worthy of attention because she's small and blond, she works in a bar, and relies on a word-of-the-day calendar to improve her mind. But they'll learn. Sookie's got her own set of coping mechanisms, she doesn't take crap from people, and she has powerful friends. In FROM DEAD TO WORSE, Harris acknowledges the impact of Hurricane Katrina on her version of Northwest Louisiana and on New Orleans. Sookie's still got a houseguest, Amelia, a witch who escaped Katrina and accidentally turned her lover into a cat (don't you hate when that happens?), and the vampire world is reeling from recent events, which include an attack on a gathering of vamps (told in ALL TOGETHER DEAD) . All of Sookie's friends, colleagues and associates show up in this story, although some may not be seen again. Sookie tolerates a lot but is no pushover. In this tale, she breaks a very important tie when someone puts her in a very bad situation. Bad things continue to happen in the vampire world and there's a major shake-up or two in this book within that group and with Alcide Herveaux and the Were community he's part of. Sookie's getting a little tired of the demands placed on her by all these strange folks who value her rare ability as a telepath. Personal events move along too as Sookie is introduced, much to her surprise, to a member of her family, one who might explain to some degree, why it is that she has this rare ability. She still has friends like Sam, her boss, and Claudine her, well, fairy godmother and there's always Eric, who complicates Sookie's life in more ways than one. I occasionally miss the lightness that Harris brought to the first books, but it's balanced by the increased complexity of the world here. I'm not sure I want to know what other creatures exist in this alternative world. I do know that there's at least one character I won't miss and one I'll miss a lot. We'll just have to see if Sookie decides to forgive.
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, August 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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