Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse, #11) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jun 03, 2012 Cee rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction, paranormal, vampires, faeries

2.5 Stars

I used to be a huge Charlaine Harris fan. Her books have always been so comfortable to me. Our ideal relationship has reached a rocky patch now, after some not-so-great reads. Like many other people, I'm developing a love/hate relationship with Ms Harris, and the Sookie Stackhouse series in particular.

Merlotte's is firebombed, and Sookie has no idea who's behind it. All she knows is that it was a supernatural - probably a were or shifter of some kind. While trying to stay alive, she 2.5 Stars

I used to be a huge Charlaine Harris fan. Her books have always been so comfortable to me. Our ideal relationship has reached a rocky patch now, after some not-so-great reads. Like many other people, I'm developing a love/hate relationship with Ms Harris, and the Sookie Stackhouse series in particular.

Merlotte's is firebombed, and Sookie has no idea who's behind it. All she knows is that it was a supernatural - probably a were or shifter of some kind. While trying to stay alive, she also has to juggle her relationship with Eric, and finds out more about her heritage.

When you lay out the plot like that, it looks better than it actually was. Plotting isn't the strongest point of the Sookie series, but the plot in Dead Reckoning was especially skimpy. There was no central conflict, just a few things that happened to Sookie. She takes the hits, then goes on to angst and paint her toenails.

What has drawn in thousands of readers of the Sookie books are the lovely characters. Sookie the spunky girl-next-door with a special ability, vampire Bill the mysterious but sweet guy, Eric the cool vampire viking, Pam the cold but hilarious second in command... But in Dead Reckoning, all of the characters have lost their sparkle. Sookie is dead tired with being killed and all the vampire drama. Bill barely gets any page time, but when he does, he's just weird. Eric, who was such an amazing character at the start of the series, is just brooding and lame now. Even sarcastic Pam seems to have lost her appetite for being bitchy and awesome. There have been rumours about how Ms Harris didn't really feel like writing the last few books, and it shows. There is no love, no passion in her writing for these characters we've come to adore.

About halfway through the book finally gains some speed, and the finale was decent. It just makes me sad where this story is going. I wish Ms Harris had wrapped up the series in ten books, instead of this weird extension that no one seems to enjoy. ...more

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Jun 20, 2011 KarenF rated it liked it

Shelves: library, urban-fantasy

Meh. Pam gets off some good one-liners and there's a lot of Sam which is what's saving this from a 2-star read. I feel like I should re-read some of the earlier books because I swear I used to like Sookie. It made sense in the beginning that she was rather confused and naive. Now 10 or so books and however long in series time we are into it and everyone is acting less mature and capable, not more. There are so many WTF moments in this book (and not in a good, fun way) (view spoiler) ...more

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Dec 20, 2010 Chelsea rated it liked it

Shelves: uf-pnr, vampires, fae-angels, weres

This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club (Chelsea) and My Bookish Ways (Kristin).

Chelsea: As with every Southern Vampire Mystery book, I liked getting to spend a few hundred pages with Sookie in Dead Reckoning. But this there were moments where she didn’t really behave like the Sookie I’ve come to know. She was freaked out about things she’s already come to terms with and doesn’t get into enough of an uproar about others. She just felt off.

Kristin: I agree. It took me about 85 page This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club (Chelsea) and My Bookish Ways (Kristin).

Chelsea: As with every Southern Vampire Mystery book, I liked getting to spend a few hundred pages with Sookie in Dead Reckoning. But this there were moments where she didn’t really behave like the Sookie I’ve come to know. She was freaked out about things she’s already come to terms with and doesn’t get into enough of an uproar about others. She just felt off.

Kristin: I agree. It took me about 85 pages or so to really get involved in the story, and my normal patience for Sookie’s puttering wasn’t quite as high in this one. Although, Ms. Harris did start the book off with a bang (literally) with the firebombing of Merlotte’s, and Sookie’s glimpse of the mysterious figures behind it.

Chelsea: The action scenes in Dead Reckoning were certainly the highlights. Harris is always great at choreographing action sequences with the right amounts of violence, fear and plot purpose.

Kristin: Her action scenes are always great, and I love it when we get visits from Bill (who is still close to my heart), and Bubba, which we do in Dead Reckoning. Unfortunately, Sookie also gets visits from some old enemies, adding just one more problem in the ever growing threat list. It also doesn’t help that things are coming to a head for Eric and Pam, and vamp politics are again threatening to take over Sookie’s life.

Chelsea: There’s always some otherworld politics at play! In addition to dealing with an Eric/Pam standoff, we have Victor’s vendetta against them.

Plus, Harris begins to lay groundwork for more faerie drama (when are they not up to something?) but she doesn’t do a whole lot with them other than hint at something big on the horizon. I wish we would have gotten a bit more movement on that subplot in Dead Reckoning.

Kristin: I definitely would have liked to learn more about that, but I suppose we’ll have to wait for that in the next one. That’s not all we’ll have to wait for! The fate of Sookie and Eric’s relationship is certainly up in the air, and I’m not at all sure I like Sam’s newest love interest, Jannalyn, although she is fierce! I’ll admit I always had hopes for Sam and Sookie, but alas…

Chelsea: Eric and Sookie’s relationship hit some spikes, again, for forthcoming events, but really their personal interaction is limited in this latest installment. When some big decisions need to be made or things get sketchy, I found myself wondering where the hell Eric was and just what was more important than Sookie. And why she didn’t seem to be bothered that he wasn’t around all that much. I can’t say if that’s supposed to hint to something, or if Harris was just wanting to focus on the ‘someone’s out to kill you’ end of things. Sookie was shocked by some of Eric’s behavior, but it’s the same type of behavior that freaked her out in Dead in the Family. Vampires can be callous, and at some point she’s going to have to truly come to terms with that.

All that said, I had a really good time reading Dead Reckoning. It was when I finished that I noted all the pieces that fell short for me. Worth the read for fans, who I think will be pleased it’s stronger than Dead in the Family.

Kristin: Oh, I certainly had a wonderful time with it too! I think there’s just so many things I’d like to tie up in a bow, and I’m not known for my patience! Sookie is one of my all-time favorite characters, and I always feel at home in her world, among her friends, family, and lovers. It was certainly stronger than Dead in the Family, and I highly recommend it to fans of the series! ...more

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Nov 12, 2010 Daffodil rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, vampires

Closer to 3.5 stars.

This is more in the line of a transition book. There are lots of events, occurances, etc, but the book doesn't really go anywhere. I kind of think it was more about maneuvering people into the right place and setting down information to prepare us for the next book. There's nothing wrong with that in theory. Other authors have managed it and told a great story. Somehow, Harris didn't quite reach that level and I was left feeling slightly disatisfied at the end. I'll continue ...more

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Jan 30, 2011 Joyce rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: drm-free-epubs, paranormal-romance, urban-fantasy, psychics, witches, vampires, louisianna, demons, shape-shifter, humor

Another Sookie story that I really loved. I love that the story still intrigues me enough to keep going. The gang is up against Victor who is in charge of the area but really wants Eric to be gone because he senses a threat. Eric and Sookie need to be one step ahead of him at all times. We have the fairies Dermott and Claude and her friend Amelia who all keep butting into her love life.

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