Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Truly enjoyable vampire mystery/romance
Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire novels (Dead Until Dark and LIving Dead in Dallas)are reminiscent of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series,(a series I thoroughly enjoy reading over and over) but Sookie, the heroine of Ms. Harris's novels is less like Anita Blake and more like Stephanie Plum, Janet Evanovich's bounty Hunter ( another thoroughly enjoyable and re-readable series) Anita Blake is more polished and experienced, more at ease with her supernatural abilities than Sookie. Sookie is more human and fallible, kind of a Calamity Jane, but very likable. Her budding romance with a newly arrived vampire is fraught with misunderstandings between species, but they manage to communicate very well anyway. The vampires in this series make no excuses for what they are, predators, but still have a not so nasty side, especially since they are trying to "mainstream" and live with humans. Ms Harris throws in a few shapeshifters, colorful local residents, and reprehensible villains, both human and supernatural. Prepare to sit yourself down for a wonderful read. The plots were well thought out and equally well written. I am eagerly looking forward to her the next book in this series.
Rating: - An Outstanding Read! NOT to be Missed!
"Living Dead in Dallas" by Charlaine Harris is the second instalment in the series that started with the superb "Dead Until Dark", and I honestly don't know which one I liked better, they are both just SO fantastic! Sookie and Bill are both wonderfully quirky and lovable characters who I just can't get enough of. The only bad thing about this book was that it had to end, and now I have to wait what seems like FOREVER for the next in the series!"Living Dead in Dallas" starts with Sookie Stackhouse, feisty telepathic waitress and girlfriend to sexy Bill the vampire, on a string of bad luck. First a friend and co-worker is murdered and then Sookie receives a painful and poisonous lashing from a beastly maenad as a message for Eric, the area's head vampire. Bill gets the injured Sookie to Eric's club in Shreveport, where he and some of his vampire friends work together to remove the poison from her body. But the thing is, Eric saved Sookie's life, so when he asks her to go to Dallas to help find a missing vampire, Sookie agrees. So, Sookie and Bill head off to Dallas where they meet with the head vampire, Stan, whose "brother" Farrell has been missing for several days. After an attempted abduction on Sookie and a few other clues that Sookie picks out of the minds of others, it becomes apparent that the "Fellowship of the Sun", a vampire hate group, is responsible for taking Farrell. But when Sookie tries to go undercover at the "Fellowship of the Sun" to find Farrell, things go terribly wrong, and she suddenly finds herself scheduled for sacrifice! After a fabulously thrilling, dangerous, and exciting adventure in Dallas, Sookie returns home to Bon Temps, where the murder of her co-worker is still a mystery. Determined to find the truth, Sookie takes matters into her own hands, and the suspense once again builds to a fever pitch and leads to a satisfying conclusion. And amidst all the fast-paced action and the thrilling adventures, is the ever-present romance between Sookie and Bill, which is, in my opinion, one of the sweetest, sexiest, most honest, and heart-warming romances I have ever encountered. Sookie and Bill are an unforgettable pair, and I look forward to watching their love grow and evolve through many, many more books! So, if you are looking for a book that has it all - humour, adventure, suspense, horror, and romance (among other things) you just can't miss with "Living Dead in Dallas". Harris' storylines are fresh, fun and fascinating, so buy both books in this amazing and inspired new series TODAY. I guarantee you will fall in love with Sookie and Bill just like I did, and become so wrapped up in their adventures that you'll have to read each book in one sitting. So do NOT miss out, "Living Dead in Dallas" comes very, very highly recommended!
Rating:  - A fun Vampire read
I just finished Dead and Living in Dallas. It may not be quite as good as Dead Untill Dark, but I enjoyed it. The tone of the book is fresh and better than so many of the cookie cutter epics that fill the fantasy shelves these days. I'm a sucker for first person narration and I like Sookie Stackhouse's voice. She is stong, and strait forward without being crude or abrasive. She's not a rocket scientist, and she knows it, but she does not let that stop her. She is honest, hard working and real.This book and the one before it do invite comparison to the Anita Blake series. There is a lot that is the same, vampires, murders, shape changers, but Charlane Harris can keep the tension up and the plot going in her books with about half the body count and weird sex. I'm not a prude, but I like that. The tone of the book is much more like Tanya Huff's Victory Nelson stories, or some of the non-vampire urban fantasy books that I've read, than Hamilton's Anita Blake series.
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