With Sookie as her mouthpiece, Charlaine Harris opened up the floor for the discussion of genre fiction in this latest installment of the Sookie Stackhouse series, because it turns out our sweet little friend Sookie proudly claims a self-education through none other than two of the least respected forms of the genre novel: romance novels and trashy mysteries.

The snob in me wants to snort in disdain and feel offended for liking Sookie. But the other half, the half that isn’t afraid to admit that More...

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: Things between cocktail waitress Sookie and her vampire boyfriend Bill seem to be going excellently (apart from the small matter of him being undead) until he leaves town for a while. A long while. Bill's sinister boss Eric has an idea of where to find him, whisking her off to Jackson, Mississippi to mingle with the under-underworld at Club Dead. When she finally catches up with the errant vampire, he is in big trouble and caught in an act of serious betr More...

Opening Line: Bill was hunched over the computer when I let myself in his house.

CLUB DEAD is the third instalment from the Sookie Stackhouse series and I really enjoyed this one, having finally come to terms with the fact that this is urban fantasy and not paranormal romance. I was able to focus on the action, horror, humour and mystery aspects here and just let the romance take a back seat. Sookie is also starting to feel like a delightful, adventurous friend who I can’t wait to hear from to le More...

Club Dead for me is where the Sookie Stackhouse series really starts getting its feet under it. Things are definitely not well between Sookie and her boyfriend vampire Bill, and as Sookie heads to Mississippi to track him down and rescue him from lethal peril, she is torn between the attentions of the werewolf Alcide--and way more attention than she'd like from the vampire Eric, who is growing more and more interested in her with every book. Unfortunately for Sookie's peace of mind, the interest More...

Once again, Harris has continued to improve from one book to the next, thought it still has its flaws. The story starts a little slow, and gets monotonous at times, but it picks up toward the end, making the overall book pretty enjoyable. These books truly are like candy for the brain.

I was very pleased to find that Bill was missing in action for most of this installment, but despite the reprieve, he still managed to inspire a whole new level of loathing on my part. I hope that Harris doesn't al More...

The Sookie Stackhouse books are definitely not great literature by any means, but they're a bit like candy--hard to stop reading and very enjoyable. This third book was more of the same, and while there were times I wanted to slap Sookie (even though she gets beat up a number of times in here...again. What's with Charlaine Harris's obsession with beating the snot out of Sookie all the time, anyway?), I really enjoyed reading this.

The main thing I liked was actually the introduction of werewolves More...

Notes: This is, for now, my favourite book in the series and it's not a coincidence that Bill goes missing for the most of it.
I'm quite torn about this series since, while I like the stories a lot and I'm curious about what'll happen next, I can't stand very much 2 of the major characters: Sookie & Bill. I find both of them quite annoying & their relationship just doesn't trasmit me anything...however for 2 I don't like there are some I love! First of all Eric that I liked from the star More...

Annoying, boring, charmless, dumb. Since I was already on a roll of unpleasant books, I finally forced myself to read my second (her third) novel (the magazine SFX had made me import two with their misleading review).

After a typical (cold, boring) interlude showing how irresistable he is (he wears flanel and has hair), vampire Bill disappears at the start of the book and readers are supposed to be stupid enough to fear for his life. Even if Sookie's feelings hadn't been so badly written, I still More...

Honeymoon seems to be over and everyday life has come to Sookie´s and Bill´s relationship. And that Bill has a secret mission he isn´t inclined to talk about and even leaves on a secret business trip doesn´t improve things either. One night Eric (Bill´s charismatic vampire boss) shows up and reveals Sookie that Bill wants to leave her and has gone back to his former vampire lover Lorena. Not only that this news are bad enough Eric tells her also that Bill has been kidnapped and he needs Sookie´s More...

Sookie's vampire boyfriend, Bill, has become secretive and distant, and then disappears entirely. Eric's sure he's been kidnapped, and so Sookie goes to Mississippi to find him - even though it looks like he was going to leave her for his vampire ex. A gang of werewolves is causing problems but Sookie has the help of Alcide, a werewolf who owes Eric a favour, and the sexual tension simmers away. Actually, this third book has no sex scenes at all, what with Sookie's love life being so up-in-the-a More...

Good riddance, CHEATER! Was she worth it?



Too late for your vampire tears now

Mississippi has a King, Louisiana has a Queen and Bill has gone missing. Sookie enters Club Dead in hopes to find out what has happened to Bill. Eric simply rocks.

In Club Dead the character of the werewolf Alcide is introduced as a possible romantic interest for Sookie. It’s quite funny how she lusts over the guy throughout the book, while at the same time she’s upset with Bill about his relationship with his ex.

Poor Bill. I’m a little sad about how easily he’s been dismissed by the author. Gran More...

This was really more like 3.5 stars for me. As literature, it's pure trash. But the story has really drawn me in now. I am glad the author varied up her topic a bit with this one, adding in what I hope because a new regular character. If you are looking for an mindless read, this book would do fine as a stand alone, but you would probably enjoy it more having the back story from the first two books.

This novel marks a turning point in the relationship between Sookie and her adored boyfriend Bill, the vampire. Bill is getting in deeper and going higher in the ranks of the vampire community and when he disappears, the vampires call Sookie to find him. Eric makes a much larger appearance in this third book, which I think really adds to the story. You can’t deny that there is some great chemistry between Eric and Sookie. This book has solidified my enjoyment of Eric and the possibility of a rel More...

My, what a difference one book can make! This is the book that changes the Sookie Stackhouse series from the Sookie and Bill Show into so much more.

As the story begins, a chasm is growing between Bill and Sookie. She feels the distance, but is still surprised and hurt when he tells her he is taking an extended business trip and won't be honest about the details. After he is gone a short time, his vampire-boss Eric comes to Sookie to tell her Bill has disappeared. To make matters worse, Bill had More...

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris (pp. 288)

The third installment in the Sookie Stackhouse series is a bit of a dud. More campy than the first two with a healthy side of cheese, Harris steals more from harlequin and romance novels than the horror/vampire genre making this genre soup taste a bit funky.

Harris departs from the Bon Temps locales she’s established and spends more time in a world that she clearly hasn’t spent much time in real life. Descriptions of wardrobes and interiors seem taken from t More...

JOINT REVIEW - Originally posted on www.BookChickCity.com

CAROLYN

When I began reading “Club Dead” I did wonder if now three books in it would continue holding my interest, especially as these books are quite light, although they do hold some serious issues. But “Club Dead” held my attention throughout and I found myself loving Sookie even more than I did in the previous book. It was also nice not to have so much Bill. Although I enjoy his character it was great to see Sookie interact with other m More...

I'm not too enthusiatic in reading this one. For one thing they broke up. I always thought that it's going to be them against the world forever, whatever world that is.

And to think that he returned to his former "lover" which is not too outstanding at all. She's not even discribed too well.

C'monn even Sookie can staked her (although from Eric description at first he seemed to regard her as someone more powerful due to his longer existence. I mean he had doubt if he can finish the job. HAH!!!)

B More...

This was another good book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. However, I did find the first half of the book felt a little abnormal compared to the first two books and the last half of this one. Part of it was what felt like constant rehashing of facts of the series (such as what true blood is or things that have happened in the other books). Not that these "refreshments" were paragraphs long or anything, just sentences, but I still find such inclusions annoying. Please authors, make people read t More...

You know how you sometimes go to those action movies ("guy flicks") and from the moment you sit back in your seat until the closing credits 90 minutes later, you are assaulted by car chase after car chase, explosion after explosion, and you have no idea where to look first or what's really going on? That is how I felt reading "Club Dead."

I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, but I seriously had no clue where the plot line was -- or if there even was one. Yes, there was a ton of action, More...

This was my favorite book in the series, cause we got to meet Alcide. And my team changed, I'm on team Alcide, even if I know the werewolf never gets the girl.

Third in the series. Sookie’s vampire boyfriend Bill has been in another state working for the vampire Queen of Louisiana. Sookie thinks there is something fishy going on and discovers that Bill may have been kidnapped. While trying to track Bill down she ends up at a vamp nightclub called Club Dead. There, Sookie uncovers a stunning betrayal by Bill and has to decide if she’s going to help him or stake him. You will love some of the new characters in this book including Bubba, a VERY strange, v More...

After suffering through almost all of the Twilight series, I was in dire need of having my faith restored in heroines in this genre. As far as super light, fluffy and quick reads go these books are some of my faves out there so far. They have really grown on me and I enjoyed this one better than the last. I really like the heroine, Sookie Stackhouse. While I cannot specifically relate to her background and lifestyle, I can see how a lot of women would. She's independent, quirky, and smart. None More...

Sookie Stackhouse is back in the third instalment of the southern vampire series.
This time things aren’t going too well for Sookie with her vampire boyfriend Bill. He has been more interested in working on his computer than spending time with her recently. He seems distracted when she is around and his feelings for her seem to have cooled.
The story is well plotted with twists and turns that are original and unexpected plus the mystery element of the story is first rate too. The action in the s More...

Still good. Sookie is getting a lot tougher, she's definitely not some innocent naif anymore. The K@ and I are in agreement that Sookie should be done romancing the vamps and settle down with Alcide, the nice Werewolf from down the road. Still, little Sookie is an intrepid adventurer and proves that even surrounded by the most nefarious creatures that go bump in the night she can more than hold her own. This series is a complete guilt-inducing, sugar-intense ice cream coma of book fluff, but I c More...

Still reading this but I have some thoughts I want to put in writing. Even though I enjoy the storyline so far, I am getting thoroughly annoyed with Charliane Harris' lack of writing skills. I understand, that perhaps she's reached the top level of her particular skill set but does she not have an editor?? Is there no one that can say, "hey, two paragraphs about cooking breakfast (you cook the sausage first, to get the fat!!) is NOT RELEVANT OR EVEN REMOTELY INTERESTING!!" If I, as a reader, wan More...