Living Dead In Dallas. - Charlaine Harris

Synopsis: Sookie Stackhouse is living in Bon Temps, Louisiana, and she likes working as a cocktail waitress at Merlotte's. But she's having a streak of bad luck. First her co-worker is killed, and no one seems to care. Then she comes face-to-face with a beastly creature which gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn't enjoy it).

The point is the vampires saved her life. So when one of the bloodsuckers asks for a favour, she obliges - and soon Sookie's in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She's supposed to interview certain humans involved, but she makes one condition: the vampires must promise to behave, and let the humans go unharmed. But that's easier said than done, and all it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly.

Review

The second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, then, and certainly just as enjoyable as the first. Sookie owes the vampires a debt, and she isn't one to let down a promise, as she travels to Dallas to help out in their investigations. Things don't run quite as smoothly as she wishes, however, and she soon finds herself way out of her depth.

The Fellowship lurk around every corner, and wait resolutely to harm vampires, or those that have associated with them; believing that they deserve to atone for their sins. They are at the centre of Sookie's discoveries and she travels to their headquarters in order to help her investigations, and save the person the vampires want returned. Soon though, she finds herself captured, betrayed, and ultimately alone; with only her skills to help her.

Danger fast approaching, Sookie faces her toughest and most stern test yet; she must escape, and she must help those she can. It's easier said than done, however, as the reader turns the pages in anticipation, and feels the anxiety of the characters. The novel is engaging, gripping, whilst at the same time a fast-paced read; a tribute to how easy it is to lose yourself in the pages.

I recommend this series so far to anyone that enjoys a novel that has a bit of everything; plenty of action, littered with humour and wit that had me laughing out loud at some points. It mixes tension and odd moments of romance nicely; a fantastic read.

4/5.