Definitely Dead, by Charlaine Harris

• Format: Paperback 336 pages
• Published: 09 July 2009
• Publisher: Orion Publishing Co

Back cover blurb:

Sookie doesn’t have that many relations, so she hated to lose one – but of all the people to go, she didn’t expect it to be her cousin Hadley, a consort of New Orleans’ vampire queen – after all, Hadley was technically already dead. But she is gone, beyond recall, and she’s left Sookie an inheritance – one that comes with a bit of a risk – not least because someone doesn’t want Sookie digging too deep into Hadley’s past – or her possessions. Sookie’s life is once again on the line, and this time the suspects range from the rogue werewolves who have rejected Sookie as a friend of the pack to her first love, the vampire Bill. Sookie’s got a lot to do if she’s going to keep herself alive …

My review:

This took me FOREVER to finish, so I guess that is telling. A lot of this was ho-hum, the best part being Quinn the were-tiger, who seems to be a bit too good to be true. I guess I’ll keep reading, but the more I do the more I realise the TV series has veered so very far from the original storyline. Upshot: not enough hot vamps, too many weres.

My rating: 3/5

Dead as a Doornail, by Charlaine Harris

• Format: Paperback 304 pages
• Published: July 9, 2009
• Publisher: Orion Publishing Co

Back cover blurb:

Sookie’s got just a month, before the next full moon, to find out who wants her brother dead – and to stop the fiend! Sookie Stackhouse enjoys her life, mostly. She’s a great cocktail waitress in a fun bar; she has a love life, albeit a bit complicated, and most people have come to terms with her telepathy. The problem is, Sookie wants a quiet life – but things just seem to happen to her and her friends. Now her brother Jason’s eyes are starting to change: he’s about to turn into a were-panther for the first time. She can deal with that, but her normal sisterly concern turns to cold fear when a sniper sets his deadly sights on the local changeling population. She afraid not just because Jason’s at risk, but because his new were-brethren suspect Jason may be the shooter. Sookie has until the next full moon to find out who’s behind the attacks – unless the killer decides to find her first.

My review:

Definitely not as good as the last one, mainly because of a lack of vamps. Eric, in particular. He breezed in and out a couple of times, and I loved him trying to remember what happened in the last book, but there just wasn’t that spark that we all love so much. No smexy times at all, in fact.

This book was more about the shifters, and they aren’t really my cup of tea. Sookie is certainly popular with them, though, and manages to pick herself up yet another admirer in the form of Quinn. I assume he will return at a later date.

The ending was a surprise – I had most of the bad guys picked but one – but I should have known. I was glad to see the return of Bubba, too – man, I wish they would write him into True Blood. That would be a hoot!

I’ll keep on with the series, of course. Hopefully there’ll be more vamps in the next one.

 

My rating: 3/5

Dead to the World, by Charlaine Harris

• Format: Paperback 336 pages
• Published: 23 July 2009
• Publisher: Orion Publishing Co

Back cover blurb:

Sookie comes to the rescue of a naked, amnesiac vampire – and ends up in the middle of a war between witches, werewolves and vampires! Sookie Stackhouse is a small-town cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She’s pretty. She does her job well. She keeps to herself – she has only a few close friends, because not everyone appreciates Sookie’s gift: she can read minds. That’s not exactly every man’s idea of date bait – unless they’re undead – vampires and the like can be tough to read. And that’s just the kind of guy Sookie’s been looking for. Maybe that’s why, when she comes across a naked vampire on the way home from work, she doesn’t just drive on by. He hasn’t got a clue who he is, but Sookie has: Eric looks just as scary and sexy – and dead – as the day she met him. But now he has amnesia, he’s sweet, vulnerable, and in need of Sookie’s help – because whoever took his memory now wants his life. Sookie’s investigation into what’s going on leads her straight into a dangerous battle between witches, vampires and werewolves. But there could be even greater danger – to Sookie’s heart, because the kinder, gentler Eric is very hard to resist.

The Sookie Stackhouse books are delightful Southern Gothic supernatural mysteries, starring Sookie, the telepathic cocktail waitress, and a cast of increasingly colourful characters, including vampires, werewolves and things that really do go bump in the night.

My review:

Oh, Sookie! So many men throwing themselves at you, and the one you have a bond with can’t even remember your relationship!

I really enjoyed this book, possibly because it’s the first one I have read where I haven’t seen the televised version of it first. It will be interesting to see how True Blood interprets this book, given what it has already changed in the storyline. That said, I can’t wait to see Hot Eric and Sookie… *wipes brow*

There’s very little Bill in this, but we do see Hot Alcide again (always welcome) and another new male shifter interested in Sookie. She is so lucky.

I’m definitely going to get the next book to see how it all progresses.

 

My rating: 4/5

Club Dead, by Charlaine Harris

• Format: Paperback, 304 pages
• Published: 02 June, 2010
• Publisher: Ace Books

Back Cover blurb:

There’s only one vampire that cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is involved with (at least voluntarily) and it’s Bill Compton. But recently he’s been a bit distant – in another state distant. So Sookie sets off to Mississippi after him and finds herself mingling with the underworld at Club Dead – a little haunt where the vampire elite go to chill out. And when she finally tracks down Bill – catching him in an act of serious betrayal – she’s not sure whether to save him… or sharpen some stakes.

My review:

As with the previous two installments, I read this third Sookie Stackhouse book after having seen the True Blood television series. Despite loving the TV adaptation, I have to say I enjoyed the books far more. Without the distractions of Sam, Jason, Tara and Jessica and their backstories, the book concentrates on Sookie and her hot men: Bill, Eric and werewolf Alcide. Frankly, that’s all I need.

I’ve got the next three books lined up on my Kindle – can’t wait to get into them!

My rating: 4/5

The Monster (Price) At The End Of This Book

I recently had a bad experience buying a book from a local major retail chain, and it made me realise that I mostly shop online for a couple of very good reasons.

For two years now I have bought all my books through The Book Depository in the UK (let’s call it TBD for short). My husband discovered them after ordering some hardcover Tintin books through Amazon UK, only to discover they were being dispatched via the Book Depository. He looked up their website and found he could have got them cheaper buying directly, as the Book Depository offers free international shipping.

Their site has books I find hard to source here in New Zealand, and often has them earlier than we can get them. They are much cheaper and take about a week to arrive in my letterbox, which I find much more convenient than having to drive to town and pay $4 an hour for parking.

However, for my birthday my brother-in-law gave me a voucher for a major New Zealand book retailer, so I decided to use it two weeks ago to buy the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire.

I bought the first book, The Hunger Games, through the Book Depository for £5.42 ($NZ11.82), delivered to my door. Catching Fire was $NZ24.99, so I got no change from my $25 voucher. Sure, it was essentially free, but I had to pay my petrol and parking money.

However, it turned out to be a false economy when I reached page 234 and found it jumped to page 283 – 48 pages missing! As a result I couldn’t finish the book at the weekend and had to wait until last Monday to return the book to the store, meaning more petrol and parking money. The staff member happily replaced my copy with the last one they had in the store – its Wellington flagship on the Golden Mile of Lambton Quay – but it got me thinking about how I had never received a dud book from my online retailer.

I decided to conduct a quick price comparison in that store and along the Quay at the other major book retailer. Coincidentally, they are both owned by the same parent company, but often have vastly different stock.

Example 1: The Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. At the New Zealand stores, paperbacks are $NZ30.99 each. I bought Club Dead last month from the Book Depository for £4.53 ($NZ9.91).

The same book at Amazon US is $US7.99 plus a minimum $US9.98 shipping (total $NZ25.48) or the Kindle version is $US10.82 ($NZ15.34). At Amazon UK it is £3.97 plus a minimum £8.78 shipping (total $NZ27.89).

Example 2: An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon. Paperback in Wellington $NZ32.99.

TBD £5.99 ($NZ13.10).

Amazon US $US11.56 plus a minimum $US9.98 shipping ($NZ30.54) or Kindle $US14.40 ($NZ20.47).

Amazon UK £5.59 plus a minimum £8.78 shipping ($NZ31.43).

Example 3: Innocent, by Scott Turow. Hardback in Wellington $NZ43.99.

TBD £13.48 ($NZ29.48).

Amazon US $US18.47 plus a minimum $US9.98 shipping ($NZ40.43) or Kindle $US11.99 ($NZ17.04).

Amazon UK £9.00 plus a minimum £8.78 shipping ($NZ38.89).

Example 4: Dark Lover, by J.R. Ward. Paperback in Wellington $NZ24.99 at one store and $NZ26.99 at the other.

TBD £4.82 ($NZ10.54).

Amazon US $US7.99 plus a minimum $US9.98 shipping ($NZ25.54).

Amazon UK £5.00 plus a minimum £8.78 shipping ($NZ30.14).

Example 5: Dr Who: The Writer’s Tale – The Final Chapter, by Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook. Paperback took several months to get to New Zealand, where it retails for $NZ64.99.

I bought mine at Christmastime from TBD for £12.74 ($NZ27.87).

Not available from Amazon US, but Amazon UK £8.49 plus a minimum £8.78 shipping ($NZ37.77).

Example 6: A New Zealand author. The Jane Blonde girl spy book series for kids, by Jill Marshall. In New Zealand $NZ19.99 each.

TBD £5.39 ($NZ11.79).

Prices range on Amazon US between $US5.21 and $US8 plus a minimum $US9.98 shipping ($NZ21.59 to $NZ25.55). Kindle editions are $US7.90 ($NZ11.23).

Amazon UK between £1.00 and £4.99 plus a minimum £8.78 shipping ($NZ21.39 to $NZ30.12).

New Zealand book prices are expected to go up again on October 1 when GST rises from 12.5 percent to 15 percent.

Retailers are often in the news complaining about how their sector isn’t recovering from the recession, but when online retailers are vastly cheaper and so incredibly convenient it’s hard to see how the bricks and mortar bookstores can survive. With e-books starting to take off here too, there are even fewer reasons for me to shop on Lambton Quay.