The Sookie Stackhouse Novels Book 5 Dead as a Doornail

Dead as a Doornail, Book 5 in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, really pulls us into the shape-shifter and werewolf communities. Not to say that there aren't lots of vampire scenes, what with Eric still confused about his time spent at Sookie's house, and Bill being back in town. Sookie just has a lot on her  plate. Like Jason's eyes getting yellow at the full moon. Like every guy she knows trying to get her to date him. Like learning a lot about werewolves that she really didn't want to know. Like private detectives looking for Debbie Pelt, and Alcide guessing Sookie's deep dark secret about Debbie's whereabouts. Lots of things happen in this book. It's a thrill ride! I read it in about 3 days. And that's with me working at my real job too. So here is Dead as a Doornail.
When Sookie sees Jason's eyes change color to a golden yellow, she knows that his torture at the hands of Felton Norris has changed him into a were-panther forever. She gets help from Calvin Norris, leader of the Hot Shot community and fellow were-panther, to take Jason under his wing during his first change. Jason gets to run with the Hot Shot pack at the full moon, even though the pure bred Hot Shotters turn into panthers while Jason turns into a panther-man hybrid (like a Lon Chaney Wolf Man, but panther-man). Surprisingly, Jason embraces his new self and doesn't feel bitterness for having been made this way through the kidnap and torture of a psychotic were-panther.
At work the first night of the full moon, Sam, being a shifter himself, steps out early to go change and run. Sookie, Terry Bellefleur (who doesn't have as big a role as in the tv series, and who is in fact a Vietnam veteran, not an Iraqi vet), and the new cook, Sweetie are in charge of the bar during the three nights Sam has to go answer the call of the wild. When Sookie's friend Tara (not African-American, by the way) comes in with a strange and just plain evil-looking vampire, Sookie tries to get Tara alone to talk to her about this new guy, but the vamp, Mickey, tells Sookie to get lost. He's also a bad tipper. Not nice. Sookie gets bad vibes from Mickey and can't understand why Tara isn't with her older sugar-daddy vamp boyfriend anymore. However, since Mickey won't let Sookie get Tara alone, there's really nothing she can do. The next night, Sam is back at the counter, and Claudine comes into the bar with startling news. Calvin Norris was shot in the chest. He's at the hospital, but in bad shape. Then Claudine tells Sookie that another shooting, this one ending in the young girl's death, was related to Calvin's. They were both shifters. Then as Sookie and Sam are locking up and leaving, Sam gets shot. Luckily it's only in his leg, but he bleeds a lot and his leg is broken. He'll heal fine, but he can't tend bar. Sam sends Sookie to Eric to ask for a replacement bartender in the meantime. Eric still wants to know what happened between he and Sookie during his stay at her house while he was cursed, but Sookie, in fear for the power her revelations would give him, doesn't tell him anything. She does, however, get the replacement bartender: a vampire pirate by the name of Charles Twinning. Sam wants Sookie to let Charles stay at her place for protection, but she is tired of being the half-way house for the undead and refuses.
Private detectives Jack Leeds and Lily Bard Leeds (characters in another series of Harris's which I haven't read, yet) come into the bar looking to talk to Sookie about Debbie Pelt's disappearance. They also go to Sookie's home and meet with her there. Reading their minds, Sookie learns they don't really think she killed Debbie, so she is a bit more at ease.
Sookie visits Calvin at the hospital. He's kept in a a single room with a werewolf bodyguard named Dawson. He admits Sookie, and she learns that the shifters in Hot Shot think that the shooter is someone who hates other shifters. The reason they think the shooter hates shifters is because perhaps he was bitten and turned instead of born two-natured. The Hot Shotters suspect Jason. Calvin has an uneasy handle on the Hot Shot shifters so they won't just go after Jason, but there's no guarantee on how long he can hold them off. It puts a fire under Sookie to find out whodunit.
Alcide comes to visit Sookie to tell her Colonel Flood has died in a car accident and she should come to the funeral with him. The thing is, Were funerals are quite ceremonial, so Sookie has to dress up. She calls Tara to borrow a suit. Tara tells Sookie to let herself into her house, but go straight to the closet and back out again. Mickey is there, and Sookie shouldn't disturb him. It's pretty tense.
At the funeral, Sookie learns that the packmaster's funeral is the opening of the campaign for the next packmaster. Alcide's dad is running, and now Alcide has drug Sookie into and put her on his father's side. She might have come of her own accord, but is pretty pissed that Alcide sprung it on her. The other candidate for packmaster is Patrick Furnan, Harvey Davidson dealership owner. Alcide tells Sookie he brought her to read Furnan's mind to see if he has plans to sabotage Alcide's father's campaign, and because she may influence fence-sitters who know how much she helped in the Witch War. When she shows some attitude, Alcide lays on her that he knows she killed Debbie. If that weren't enough, he then twists it around to say that because of that, Sookie kind of owes him, so she should help him out with the packmaster campaign. Alcide, you big dummy. That really makes Sookie mad (duh). When Alcide drops Sookie back at home, he tells her that he doesn't care about Debbie's death (yeah right). Of course Sookie doesn't buy it, and she's still mad.
At work, Sam convinces Sookie to let Charles Twinning stay at her place for protection. She also has another run in with Mickey and Tara. Tara seems to be in a daze and Mickey is just as vile as ever. That night, Charles wakes Sookie to tell her that someone is sneaking around her house. It turns out to be Bill who is more than a little jealous of Charles being there. After a brief, and not too pleasant exchange with Bill, Sookie goes back to bed. She is awakened later, this time by Claudine, who tells her that her house is one fire. Sookie gets out, and Charles is already outside. He tells Sookie that it was the human he has killed and is lying in the yard. Bill runs over from his house across the cemetery, and the fire trucks show up. They manage to save most of Sookie's house, but it was a matter of inches and air flow. Close call. When the police arrive, they discover a Fellowship of the Sun card in the dead man's wallet. Since Sookie made a few enemies there in Dallas, it's plausible one radical decided to torch her house while she was sleeping in it.
The next morning, Sookie meets the insurance guy (who helps his insured by using magic spells!) and gets everything lined up for a clean up and remodel. Then it's back to work for Sookie. She gets a lot of love from her co-workers. Including Sam. They start kissing in his office, but Bill walks in acting really possessive (as per usual). Sam and Bill have a little fight, but break it up. Everybody wants Sookie! Strong independent woman that she is, Sookie decides to stay at her brother's house instead of Bill's or Sam's.
The next day as Sookie is cleaning out her damaged kitchen, Alcide pulls up. He's a little miffed Sookie didn't tell him her house caught on fire, and his feelings get hurt when she tells him she doesn't need his help fixing it or paying for it. She still has that baby sitting money from watching Eric. Alcide and Sookie kind of make up, and he asks her to move in with him and start a relationship. WOW. As much as she wants to take the easy road, Sookie can't let her problems be solved for her and she says no. Another point for feminism! Plus she can't believe that Alcide would be over Debbie so quickly, especially after knowing it was Sookie who killed her. he also doesn't want to get involved with the werewolf politics going on right now with the election of the new packmaster. The timing is just never right for those two (sigh). So Alcide drives away lonely, and Sookie stays. She goes to return Tara's suit, and Mickey wakes up in time to intimidate her. What a nice guy.
When Sookie goes to the library the next day to take back some books, she is shot and wounded. Just like the other victims. Sookie however, felt the push of the criminals mind just in time to duck so the bullet grazed her shoulder. She's good at near-death experiences. Bill visits her in the hospital and acts like the sweet Bill Sookie fell in love with, so she lets him comfort her by cuddling her in the hospital bed. The next morning, Claudine's brother Claude picks Sookie up and drives her home to the duplex she is now renting from Sam. Claude is also a fairy, therefore very attractive. Unfortunately, he plays for the other team. He used to be a stripper, and tells Sookie that Merlotte's new cook, Sweetie used to be a stripper too until she had a bad car accident. Tara comes over later and tells Sookie that the rich vampire she was dating passed her off to Mickey and now she can't get rid of him. Her self-worth is shot from being treated like a pet and now she doesn't really have the nerve to pick herself up. Sookie wants to help her friend, so when she leaves, Sookie calls Eric. In exchange for telling him what happened during his stay at her place, he will get rid of Mickey. Eric pulls some strings, there is a pretty nice fight scene, and Mickey is no more. Tara is a little beaten up, but she'll live. Now Eric knows everything. The nights with Sookie, and about Sookie killing Debbie Pelt. He can't remember where he buried her or where he hid her car of course, but he knows everything else. He knows he told Sookie he would give it all up for her.
The next day at work, Sookie and Sam decide to go try to find clues at Sookie's crime scene. Sam changes into a blood hound and he starts sniffing. Sheriff Andy Bellefleur, who was on a stakeout nearby, comes up to Sookie and what he thinks is just a dog, and tells them to leave. But before they can, spoiler alert Sweetie steps out with a rifle. She was bitten by a Were while she lay bleeding from her car accident and despises all shifters now. She thought Sookie was a shifter because she smelled a lot like them when she came into the bar. When Sweetie hears a noise in an alley and fires, Andy shoots her down. Sweetie did hit Dawson though. Calvin sent him to look after Sookie. Despite the gunshot, Dawson lives. Weres and shifters are great healers.
Alcide comes by Sookie's to tell her she is now doubly a Friend of the Pack and that she should come to the packmaster contest. She reluctantly agrees.
Calvin is released from the hospital and Sookie goes the visit him. Patrick Furnan is there, and he tells Sookie to watch her back. Calvin is going to ask for something in return of the help he's given her, and she probably won't like it. Dum dum dum... Sookie decides she needs to help Alcide's dad win the packmaster contest. The contest is set into 3 trials: agility, pain tolerance/endurance, and fighting prowess. The contest is run by an outsider. A tall, bald shifter that Sookie learns is named Quinn. The two competitors are in wolf form and come out even in the agility round. When Sookie reads the mind of Furnan in the endurance round and finds he is cheating, the Were pack convenes in secret to decide what to do. She meets Quinn officially and they are both very intrigued by the other. It's raining men for Sookie Stackhouse! When the contest begins again, the Were's have decided Furnan lost that round by forfeit. But the last round, the fighting round, will now be determined by who is left standing at the end. It's not a good fight, and spoiler alert when Alcide's dad gives up, Furnan rips his throat out anyway. The look in Alcide's eyes, tells Sookie not to try to comfort him, so she leaves with a heavy heart. If she hadn't announced Furnan was cheating, maybe he wouldn't have killed Herveaux. It's tough. But one of my favorite quotes from this scene is, " The next time someone told me I had to watch a supernatural rite, I was going to tell him I had to wash my hair."
At work that night, Bill comes in with a date. It's not a good night for dear Sookie. But then she gets a visit from Bubba, everyone's favorite undead superstar. Bubba has a message from Eric: "He's not what he seems. He's a hitman." Since Bubba's change over to becoming a vampire wasn't too smooth, when he gets confused, things could get ugly. So Sookie doesn't push much when Bubba can't remember who was the hitman. But then Charles is behind her, and the door to the back hall is closed. Sookie tries to fight back, and gets the attention of the bar patrons who come to her rescue. They hold down the vampire and think to call the police until Charles asks to be staked. They happily oblige. Team work. As it turns out spoiler alert Charles was sent by the maker of the bartender at Fangtasia she got killed in book 1 Dead Until Dark doing her first favor for Eric. He was trying to wound Eric by killing Sookie. Charles was the one who set fire to Sookie's house, and he had planted the Fellowship card on a random guy he killed and brought to her house to frame for it. And he was so nice!
This was a fun book. Though I really didn't understand why Harris throws all these men into Sookie's life IN ONE BOOK. Definitely worth the read though. Harris does it again. Several plot lines, great endings to all, and you are never, ever bored.
Up next, book 6 Definitely Dead, where we learn more about Sookie's family and we get closer to Quinn.  Quinn, the were-tiger, that is ;)

The Sookie Stackhouse Novels Book 4 Dead to the World

Because the last post was so long, I decided that maybe splitting the review into 1 book portions would be easier and faster to read. We get to delve deeper into the shifter/Were communities in the next 2 books, so it's a fun ride. Something life changing happens to Jason; the brewing chemistry between Eric and Sookie... Well, it's worth the read to be sure! So here is the next book!

At the beginning of book 4 Dead to the World, Vampire Bill Compton tells telepathic ex-girlfriend Sookie that he needs to go to Peru to do more research on his vampire directory, but that he wants to talk things out when he gets back. Sookie, still hurt by his betrayal and her own brush with death at Bill's hands, reluctantly agrees to meet with him when he gets back. She then goes to work at Merlotte's Bar and Grill. There she sees her brother, Jason with a new girl on his arm. A shifter girl. It's New Year's Eve, and Sookie doesn't get off until after 2 am and is completely worn out. That's why she doesn't quite believe it when she sees Eric Northman, Viking vampire and Sheriff of Area Five running along the side of the road barefoot in blue jeans. Oh it's definitely Eric. The only thing is, Eric has no idea who he is or why he's running along the road on the outskirts of Bon Temps, Louisiana. And he has no idea who Sookie is either. She convinces him to come back to her house and calls Pam, Eric's second in command. Pam gets Sookie to watch him for the remainder of the night until she and the new bartender, Chow, can come get him the following night. Sookie and Eric alone in her house... But he doesn't have his overly sexual, confident personality! He is confused and scared, needing Sookie's help and in his extreme loneliness seeks her for human interaction. It's a completely different Eric. He's so sweet that Sookie doesn't know what to think at first, but his shy, unassuming, and anti-Eric politeness makes her think she could get used to this new Eric.
The next day, Sookie asks her brother Jason to go get some clothes and necessities for Eric. When he returns, he tells Sookie that there are missing person posters up with Eric's picture on them with a $50,000 reward for any info about Eric's whereabouts. As Chow and Pam explain, Eric had a meeting with a witch coven that went awry. The coven, led by a Were named Hallow and her brother, are trying to take over the supernatural community's stakes in business and enterprise. When Eric refused the coven's offer, the witch cursed him which transported him to the middle of no where (Bon Temps's surrounding woods, in this case) and erased his memory. Because of the posters all around that the witches posted in an effort to find him, it's decided that Eric should stay with Sookie where he won't be seen or looked for while the others try to find the coven and a way to un-curse the Sheriff. Sookie begins to protest until Jason talks the vamps into paying her for her babysitting. $30,000 to look after Eric Northman (sign me up!).
Sookie gets a call the next morning from Jason's boss saying that he never showed up for his road work supervisor job. Even though Jason is a hound dog with the ladies, he's always faithful to his work. Sookie reports his disappearance to the police, but immediately decides somehow the witches must be behind his abduction. She looks around his house, not seeing much until she notices blood on the pier of his pond. The police find a panther print nearby and begin to suspect Jason went hunting for and/or got attacked by a panther. Sookie has heard that some of the coven witches are shifters though, so she begins to expect the worst.
In her hunt for the coven, Sookie starts investigating at Fangtasia, Eric's bar where the witches first approached him. When she gets there, she notices the back door ajar and finds two waitresses, one of them dead, lying on the floor, the victims of another cruel curse. From the live waitress she learns that the witches are still on the hunt for Eric and have been drinking vampire blood. Add that to the fact that at least one is a Were and several are shifters, and you got yourself a lot of bad coming your way. With this news, Sookie heads to Alcide's to warn him of the threat. She can see far enough into his mind that he has gotten back with his ex-fiance Debbie who has had it out for Sookie since she spotted them at Josephine's (Club Dead) in Jackson. Debbie has done some pretty bad things to Sookie, including putting her in harms way of a starved vampire. After hearing the disturbing news of a coven with shifters, Alcide takes her to meet the packmaster of Shreveport, Colonel Flood. Flood thinks there may be a connection between the witch coven and the fact that his second in command didn't show up for their meeting the night before. Alcide and Sookie, who becomes a Friend of the Pack, head over to the place the missing woman worked to also find her body. Things are getting grim.
Sookie finds out the name of the shifter who Jason was seeing (not that he knew) and tracks her house down in the little community of Hot Shot outside of Bon Temps. Things are weird in Hot Shot, and Sookie can tell that everyone is a shifter. She finds Jason's date, Crystal Norris, who is more than reluctant to talk to her until her uncle, Calvin Norris, the apparent leader of the Hot Shot community. Crystal tells her the night Jason went over to Sookie's that when he came back she heard him pull up and open the truck door, but he never came inside and she heard shuffling noises around the back of the house, but didn't notice anything else. Now Sookie is really worried. Calvin Norris offers to let her stay at his place and be his woman. He would take care of her, and she would have a whole community of family members close by for protection, plus she would help thin out the blood pool. Sookie just can't get behind the idea of being Calvin's kept woman in the small and inbred community (what an offer!) and decides to turn him down, but nicely. Good thing she has Eric at home to comfort her (repeatedly ;)).
After the coven goes to Bill's empty house to check for signs of Eric, ending in a Were getting hit by their getaway car, the Weres and vamps meet up at Merlotte's to decide what to do about the evil witches. When friendly fairy, Claudine shows up, there is a lot of tension in the air between the groups. Being the naturally upbeat fairy she is, she dissipates the tension and reveals that she knows where the coven is hiding out. Who else comes to this meeting? Debbie Pelt, Alcide's girlfriend, who calls Sookie a bitch to her face as she walks out. What a peach. In a juxtaposition from TrueBlood, Debbie's character in the book, while just as mean and hateful as her character in the tv show, is actually well educated and works at an advertising firm. At the conclusion of the meeting, the group realizes that maybe the coven is trying to drain Eric to sell his very old and very potent blood on the black market. The group decides to act quickly and attack the coven at their hideout, after checking with the local Wiccans around to see if they will help.
The date is set for the next night. The group gathers again at Chow and Pam's house. Then Bill shows up back from Peru. He notices Eric and Sookie being friendlier, but more than that, he noticed Debbie Pelt in the group. Bill reveals that Debbie was part of the group that tortured him in Jackson, Mississippi. With that news, Alcide does something serious. He "abjures" Debbie from the pack. Figuratively, they can't even see her. But since they can't just let her walk out knowing all the plans, Bill is in charge of her. If she steps out of line, she's dead. Sookie is put in charge of listening in to the house to count people inside. The vamps and Weres wait outside to rush in while the Wiccans try to put safe-guarding spells on the Bon Temp/Shreveport group. Sookie learns there are innocents inside, so she can't just let the Weres and vamps rush in and kill everyone, so she sticks around for the fight. Then things go down. There's a lot of blood and a lot of animals. Debbie Pelt tries to kill Sookie, but Eric stops her. Then it's over. The group captured Hallow and plan to use her to un-curse Eric, but Eric goes home with Sookie because she's the one he feel most comfortable with. That turns out to be a good plan, since Debbie Pelt is waiting at Sookie's with a gun. Eric takes the bullet meant for Sookie, spoiler alert and she grabs a shotgun and ends Debbie Pelt for good. Eric heals his wound, buries Debbie's body, and hides her car. Sookie starts cleaning and pondering how her life could have led her here. She concludes that she acted in self-defense and decides to not dwell on it. I agree. Debbie was murderous trash.
The next day, when Eric awakes the next night, his curse is broken. He doesn't remember any of his time with Sookie, or in fact, anything after meeting with the witches the first time at Fangtasia. On the one hand, Sookie is hurt because she lost the easy-to-talk-to, kind, and loving Eric, but then again, she knew it wouldn't last and she is kind of relieved that he doesn't remember any of it. Like telling her he would give up everything for her. Everything. And most importantly, that he helped her dispose of a body. Pam comes to pick him up, and Sookie heads to work. They leave not a $30,000 check, but a $50,000 check for services rendered.
Sookie learns from Sam that the animals the Hot Shot community turns into are panthers. She puts two and two together, heads to Hot Shot with Sam, gets Calvin caught up (it's obvious he never suspected anyone in his community would take Jason), and they go to Felton Norris's house. Felton has had a crush on Crystal forever and wanted her for himself. In order to achieve this, spoiler alert Felton kidnapped Jason, kept him in a shed, and bit him over and over again in his panther state in order to turn him into a were-panther and make him less desirable to Crystal. Jason might turn into a panther at the full moon.
The next night, Sookie gets a visit from Eric who has a lot of questions that she won't answer. One of which being why he found brain tissue on his coat sleeve. Sookie can't tell him for fear of the power he would have over her with that information. She is saved by a knock on the door from a Were who is doing a routine questioning with the people who were present at the "Witch War" about the whereabouts of Debbie Pelt, who hasn't been seen since that night. Sookie plays it cool, and the Were leaves. While she was asking questions, Eric found Sookie's coat from that night, covered in blood stains. He is utterly suspicious, but can't get a straight answer. At least until book 5 Dead as a Doornail which the synopsis of is coming soon!

The Sookie Stackhouse Novels by Charlaine Harris Books 1-3

The Sookie Stackhouse novels are the books on which the HBO series "True Blood" is (these days, incredibly loosely-) based. Spoiler alert: the show and the book have so very little in common anymore. Since about season 2, HBO has definitely taken some liberties. Here's an example: there is no Jessica. Bill never had to make a vampire. As much as I love her character, she isn't actually in the books. Another thing (SPOILER ALERT) is that Lafayette's character has such a small role and in fact he is discovered murdered at the start of the second book. Bummer. They really created Lafayette out of thin air for the show though, so props to HBO for the character development from scratch.
I tell you this so you understand that the books and the show are not completely the same. Also, the books ROCK. I love them so much. I have read 1-8 already, but for blog purposes I am re-reading them up to at least book 11. I will review three at a time so that my blog isn't overrun with posts.

This post contains the summary of books 1-3 of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, that is Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, and Club Dead respectively. Get excited!

First off, I have to say that I love Charlaine Harris's writing. She is so good at giving the reader complete and rounded characters. The Sookie Stackhouse novels are written in first person, so you have to listen to Sookie's thoughts, much like she does to the people she meets. The thing is, her thoughts don't bore you, and in fact keep you utterly entertained. I read these 3 books in a week. We are introduced to characters that have been completely thought out, with back story, personal dilemmas, and futures. We are given a wide cast, but one that is developed and thoroughly explained to us by our narrator.
Not only does Sookie get a voice, but she gives a voice to the rural South. Having been born and raised in a small East Texas town, Sookie's observations remind me so much of home. From the mannerisms to the believable dialogue, Harris takes us into rural Louisiana and paints a picture so true and so rewarding, that readers beg for more. The small town of Bon Temps, with its mystery and its separateness from normal city-life, intrigues us and leaves us wanting more.
Another way Harris has us on the edge of our seats is of course with the suspense of the plot. Or plots, I should say. The idea of several plot lines weaving throughout the books may make you think it would be a hard read and confusing to the point of dislike, but Harris's roller coaster is a premium rush. The stories never get convoluted, and because Sookie can prioritize and compartmentalize, we aren't left wondering about one part of the story for too long. Some other turn comes, and we are right back to the front row of suspense and fun. The flow of the books is the perfect speed to keep you entertained while making you just as mad as Sookie, or making you laugh at one of her quirks. They are hard to put down, and I recommend them to anyone who likes vampires or dark fantasy.

One interesting thing about Harris's writing is how she introduced Bill compared to how she introduced the other men in Sookie's life. When Sookie meets Bill she is of course interested because she can't read his mind, but is isn't described as particularly good looking. Not only that, but in his first real dialogues with Sookie, tries to intimidate her and/or explain how deadly, dangerous, evil, and unlike humans vampires are. When Sookie meets Eric he is on a type of throne surrounded by worshipers (He's on a dais at Fangtasia surrounded by Fangbangers). He is described as tall and muscular. In his first interactions with Sookie, he flirts with her and makes passes (actually, that's kind of constant). Sure he may treat Sookie like a servant at times, but the readers can overlook that because she starts working for him, and he is a high ranking vampire official.
Then there is Alcide. One thing Sookie mentions often is how his body temperature is higher (and much higher than Bill's) than normal, and that is mentioned as an attractive thing. Not only that, but Sookie imagines herself living her fantasy life with Alcide: mornings with big breakfasts, meeting for lunch, etc. All these are daytime activities that Bill can't ever participate in in Sookie's life.
The big question is, was this contrast created by Harris intentional? I have mixed feelings about the answer. Either it's a major flaw in our male protagonist  or it's a way to create an under-dog effect for Bill at the end of the novels. None of those choices are particularly pleasing.
But ponder that while you read the synopses of the first 3 Sookie Stackhouse novels.

In book 1 we meet Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic waitress living with her grandmother in the rural Louisiana town of Bon Temps. Before you give up right there, keep in mind that Anne Rice wrote her famous vampire novels around New Orleans. See? It's kind of a Mecca for vampires. Anyway, because Sookie can read minds, she isn't too popular with the guys around town. That is until she meets dark and brooding vampire Bill Compton when he gets a table in her section of Merlotte's Bar and Grill. Vampires "came out of the coffin" two years ago when the Japanese created a synthetic blood drink that replaces the human blood needed for vampiric survival. Because they no longer have to feed on humans, they revealed their existence to society and were given basic human rights and made citizens. Bill is the first vampire Sookie has ever seen, and to her his brain is absolute heaven: she can't hear a single thought in his head! When Sookie uses her mind reading to save Bill's life from vampire "drainers" (people who steal the blood of vampires to sell on the black market because of it's euphoric, healing, and all-around bettering effects) she and Bill begin a relationship that turns into dating. Soon bodies start piling up and it's looking like the victims were into Fangbanging, hanging around vampire haunts wanting to be bitten. It turns out Sookie's brother Jason, the man-about-town of Bon Temps, also has a "connection" to the two victims. To prove that Jason hadn't frequented the places the murdered girls visited, Sookie gets Bill to take her to Fangtasia, "The Premier Vampire Bar of Shreveport." There we meet Eric Northman, tall, blonde, Viking, and very undead. Eric owns Fangtasia and is Sheriff of Area Five, which means that in vampire hierarchy, Bill has to listen to Eric. Since Sookie, in vampire terms, belongs to Bill, she also has to do what Eric asks. That means using her telepathic powers to snoop for the Sheriff. Sookie makes a deal with Eric to read minds whenever he asks, but that the humans she "reads," even if they are guilty, aren't harmed. Now Sookie kind of works for a powerful, lethal, and overtly sexual Viking vampire in her spare time from waitressing at the bar owned by a spoiler alert shape-shifter What a life.
Long story short, Sookie is almost murdered by the killer who targeted women who he felt were less than human because of their dealings with vampires. She narrowly avoids death, but she does give pause to dating Bill because she has a good chance of being hurt.

On that note, book 2, Living Dead in Dallas, finds Sookie dating Bill happily, doing some mind reading for Eric, finding a dead body in the bar parking lot and working at Merlotte's. On the way to Fangtasia, Sookie is injured by a maenad, a Greek era forest nymph of sorts who once worshiped the god Bacchus. She sends Sookie with a message for Eric: by striking her on the back with sharp poisoned claws. When Bill and Sookie finally get to the bar, she needs a blood transfusion to survive. Sookie lives, but has scars and a lot of questions. Apparently, maenads feel like they are owed tribute by supernatural bar owners for all their take of the alcohol, violence, and sex they generate. So Eric decides to pay the maenad so that she'll  hopefully leave Louisiana. When she is feeling better, Eric loans Sookie out to the Dallas area vampires who are missing one of their members. Bill and Sookie go to investigate and discover the Fellowship of the Sun might be involved. The Fellowship (not even close to Tolkein's) is a group who believes all vampires are evil and should be killed (for the final time). Sookie and one of the Dallas vampires' humans try to infiltrate the Fellowship headquarters, but are taken captive and held in the basement. Turns out the missing vampire is there along with Godfrey, a vampire who wants to commit suicide by "meeting the sun." The Fellowship has turned his wishes into a huge ceremony scheduled to take place at dawn, with the Dallas vamp and Sookie tied to him. Both vamps and Sookie (via close proximity) would burn to death in front of hundreds of witnesses.
When Sookie is beaten and almost raped by one of her captors, Godfrey rescues her and decides to help her escape. Because it's daylight, Godfrey can only do so much, and Sookie can't call Bill. On her way to find the exit, Sookie is helped by a shape-shifter who helps her escape in a fast-fleeing car. The Dallas vampire group rescues their missing member and throw a welcome home party. The party gets blasted on all sides from Fellowship members with assault rifles just seconds after Sookie tries to warn the group. Eric, who made a surprise visit, covers Sookie from the bullets, but is struck himself and makes her suck the bullet out. She ingests some of his blood (which was his plan all along), but tries to find Bill in the aftermath. She discovers that he went after the attackers, without checking on her safety. Sookie is about done with Bill now. When she returns home, Sookie tries to find who murdered Lafayette and left his body in the Merlotte's parking lot by going to an orgy. It's believed that Lafayette went to this orgy and bragged about it or mentioned who some members were and was killed for it. Sookie gets Eric to tag along and act as a kind of body guard. When Sookie has discovered who the murderers are and wants to leave, they are stopped by the maenad looking for more tribute. She is pleased with the orgy and the murderers, though she does punish the criminals by turning them into little more than hamburger meat. The maenad feels that is enough payment and leaves the area, and the murderers are wiped out. Two birds, one stone.

Book 3, Club Dead, opens with Sookie and Bill in kind of a rut. He is constantly working on his computer, being really secretive about it, and not giving Sookie the hot nights she has become accustomed to. When Bill tells Sookie he has to leave town for a couple weeks (a recurring theme) and lies about the destination, she has her suspicions. Then Sookie is almost hurt by a were looking for her in Merlotte's. She is saved by Bubba, the dimwitted vampire body guard she has when Bill leaves on trips. I won't tell you who Bubba really is, it's much more fun to read for yourself. When Eric and his second in command, Pam show up on her doorstep to tell her that Bill has been kidnapped and is being held hostage in Jackson, Mississippi, Sookie is heartbroken and terrified. That is, until they tell her that he went to Jackson to meet up with an old flame, his Maker and ex-lover, and that Bill was planning to leave Sookie in the dust. Oh she was going to be taken care of financially, which only made the anger colder for Sookie. As mad as she is, she doesn't want Bill to die, especially by torture, so she agrees to try to find him. Enter werewolf Alcide Herveaux, owner of a surveying company and a good looking bod. He owes Eric a favor and is going to escort Sookie to the bars in Jackson so she can "listen" to the patrons and see who might have taken Bill and where. She and Alcide hit up Josephine's a supes-only bar that the weres call Club Dead. It isn't like Fangtasia which caters to the Fangbanging variety, but is exclusive to vamps, weres and shifters. No humans allowed unless accompanied by a supe. There Sookie meets the King of Mississippi (another vampire hierarchy thing), Russell Edgington and in protecting a vampire from a stake through the heart gets injured and is taken back to Russell's mansion to recuperate. She takes more of Eric's blood to help heal, and sets out in the daylight to find Bill. Russell had him kidnapped to try to gain the computer program Bill had been developing: a complete database of all the vampires in the world. She discovers him tied up in a renovated stable, and as she is trying to get him awake enough to half carry, they are attacked by Bill's maker/lover. Sookie ends up staking the vampire and gets Bill safely tucked away in her trunk. By nightfall, Bill wakes up enough to try to explain that he had to answer his maker's call and go to Jackson. That doesn't explain the cheating and casting off, so Sookie gets Eric to drive her home. They are attacked by weres, looking for information about one of their missing pack members. This particular pack member's body was found stuffed in Alcide's closet by spoiler alert Bubba who killed him because the were was trying to get in to hurt Sookie. Eric and Sookie evade the weres and make it back to Bon Temps. A few days later, Bill goes to Sookie to try to talk things out, but really, she's just too upset and hurt to hear anything he has to say. In a moment of brilliance, she rescinds Bill's invitation into her house which makes him have to leave and not come back in until he is invited again. Sookie does the same thing to Eric, and tries to have a normal life. That is, until book 4 Dead to the World!