Dead Until Dark is the first book in Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series. Sookie is an ordinary waitress at a bar in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, but she has the ability (or as she thinks of it “disability”) to read minds. Most of the time, it’s more of a curse than a blessing. Although she’s learned how to put up a guard against other’s thoughts invading her mind, she still can’t always control it very well, which has made dating extremely difficult. Recently vampires “came out of the coffin,” so everyone now knows of their existence. When vampire Bill Compton comes into the bar one night, not only is Sookie physically attracted to him, but all she can hear from him is blessed silence, something that’s very appealing. When she learns that Bill fought in the Civil War, Sookie’s grandmother wants her to ask him to speak at one of her historical society meetings, which leads to the start of a romantic relationship between Bill and Sookie. But there’s a serial killer on the loose who’s been murdering women in the area, and after finding one of the bodies herself and discovering that the women had ties to vampires, Sookie asks Bill to help her do a little investigating. Some of the townsfolk think that Bill or others of his kind might be responsible for the murders, although Sookie is all but certain that isn’t the case. Then her own brother, Jason, who also has ties to all of the women is implicated, but again Sookie is convinced of his innocence. When Bill needs to leave town for a while on business, though, Sookie herself could become the next victim.

Aside from her ability to read minds, Sookie is a pretty ordinary and down-to-earth young woman. Orphaned at a young age, she and Jason were raised by their grandmother, and Sookie still lives with her in the house she grew up in. She works as a waitress at Merlotte’s Bar and Grill, where she’s made friends with some of her co-workers. However, Sookie’s love life is basically non-existent. She tried going out with guys a few times and found that hearing all her date’s thoughts made it far too awkward, so she’s decided not to date at all. As someone who has a strange ability herself, she’s been somewhat curious about vampires ever since their existence became known. When Bill comes into the bar and she can’t hear any of his thoughts, it’s a real gift. As she gets to know Bill a little more and discovers that he’s having difficulty getting workmen to fix up his house, which happens to be almost nextdoor to Sookie’s, she offers to help. Between that and his speaking engagement at her grandmother’s group, they grow closer and eventually start a romantic relationship, something not everyone in town is thrilled about. When the killer starts picking off women not unlike Sookie, one by one, and Sookie herself appears to be a possible target, Bill makes every effort to keep her safe, but when he has to leave town to secure their future, she could be the next victim. I really liked Sookie. She shows kindness and compassion toward others and is very relatable as the girl next-door type. She’s accepting of Bill and vampires in general, but she’s not foolhardy when it comes to the danger they can present. When it comes to the killer, I like that she uses her head and doesn’t take unnecessary risks.

Since the book is written in Sookie’s first-person POV, we only see the supporting characters through her eyes. Bill is the consummate Southern gentleman, but as someone who’s been alive for 150 years, he struggles a bit with finding a balance between being protective and respecting Sookie’s autonomy. It’s clear that he can be a dangerous creature when provoked, but at the same time, he has a gentle side with Sookie and is far more self-controlled than some of his so-called friends, who don’t seem to have any compunction about killing humans. Overall, Bill is a good guy for a vampire and a character that I very much liked. In addition to Bill, there are several other secondary characters that we get to meet who play important roles. Sookie’s boss, Sam, is a little sweet on her and also protective of her, but he’s keeping a very big secret. Sookie’s brother, Jason, cares about her but isn’t always in tune with her needs. He isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer and he’s a total a man-whore, which gets him pegged as a prime suspect in the murders. Sookie gets to meet Erik, a very old vampire who can pull rank on Bill if he chooses, and his business partner, Pam, who run the vampire bar, Fangtasia. Then there’s Sookie’s friend and fellow waitress, Arlene; Arlene’s ex-husband and current boyfriend, Rene; Andy, the detective investigating the murders; and many other quirky small-town cast members to round things out.

I’ve known about the Sookie Stackhouse series for a long time, as many of my romance reading friends on GoodReads had recommended it. For some reason, though, I wasn’t certain whether I would like it, so I put off reading it. Instead, I ended up watching the television show, True Blood, that’s based on the series first, which is a rarity for me. After enjoying it, I finally decided to put the books on my TBR list. Dead Until Dark ended up being a very good read and a good start to the series. I’d heard that the show was quite a bit different from the books, so I was bracing myself for disparate story lines. However, I was pleasantly surprised, based on what I recalled of the first season of True Blood, that it seemed to follow this first book fairly closely. There were some differences, but most of them weren’t jarring to me. I realize this may not continue as the series goes on, but I’m still eager to keep reading. I admit that because of watching the show first, there was little suspense for me to the mystery portion, because I remembered who the killer was. But I still think it was done well and probably would have kept me guessing if I didn’t already know. Another thing that I enjoyed was the romance between Bill and Sookie. I think one reason I’d been reluctant to read the books is that I didn’t know if they’d have enough romance to suit me, but this first book definitely did. Some readers classify the books as romance and I’m also comfortable calling Dead Until Dark a romance. I don’t know if that will be the case as I continue, but in this one, Bill and Sookie’s love story probably constituted roughly half of the book and it does have an HFN ending, with Bill taking steps to make the future of their relationship more secure. Everything taken together, I very much enjoyed this first foray into the Sookieverse and look forward to reading more soon. ( )

This book was pretty much the same as the first season of True Blood. There were a few differences, but for the most part, it was the same. Some scenes from the book, it felt like they were taken out perfectly and put into the TV show.

But, I do have to say, all in all, I enjoy the TV show better than the book. I love how Lafayette and Tara have a bigger presence in the show. Tara is totally absent from this book. ( )

More of a romance novel than I expected. And I'm about as interested in hetero romance as I am in vampires. But not bad. I'll probably read some of the others. ( )

I totally agree with Meghan that many of the clothing descriptions were unintentionally hilarious. Remember when she put on a yellow skirt and then made sure to put a yellow scrunchie over the rubber band holding her ponytail? That detail really sealed it for me. What's not to love about a telepathic waitress with a vampire boyfriend and 1991 fashion sense?

Actually, I honestly did like Sookie a lot. She was not at all your stereotypical paranormal mystery/romance heroine. First because everyone thinks she's dimwitted, and second because she doesn't take herself too seriously. I wasn't too into Bill though. Sookie's love for him seems based entirely on the fact that he's awesome in bed and she can't read his mind. Bill's love for Sookie is based on...what? Her blood tastes awesome and she's a hot virgin? And they said "I love you" to each other way too much. Show, don't tell, people.

I'm asking a lot of rhetorical questions in this review. Can a book really be called a "mystery" when the revelation of the killer's identity comes out of nowhere? Can it be called a "romance" when the sex scenes are kind of revolting? Aren't love triangles the best?

I did, in fact, enjoy this book. It had funny moments and some Southern charm without laying it on too thick. Fun read. I may continue reading the series. ( )

On the face of it, a story set in an alternative reality where vampires are accepted as a reality, albeit supposedly victims of a virus that made them allergic to sunshine, silver (the author's own addition, I think) and garlic, and where the Japanese have developed a synthetic blood for them to drink so that they can give up preying on the living and integrate into society, should have been really interesting.

It started off quite promisingly, when the first person narrator, 25-year-old Sookie Stackhouse, a bar worker, saves the life of Bill, a vampire newly moved into her town. Bill was born before the American Civil War and has taken possession of an ancestral house near to the one Sookie shares with her grandmother, now that vampires have legal and civil rights. Soon after, Bill is able to return the favour and the two fall in love, at least as much as a vampire and human find this possible.

Against this background, Sookie is trying to solve a series of murders because she is a telepath who has spent her whole life trying to block out the thoughts of others, but now with Bill's encouragement begins to develop her gift. And she eventually realises, without total enthusiasm, that it makes her useful to other vampires. Bill is not the most powerful in the area, and owes allegiance to Erik, who originated in Viking times.

As if the existence of vampires isn't enough, the author soon introduces the existence of shapeshifters. I liked her shapeshifter minor character and one or two other bit players, but Sookie herself isn't that interesting. We learn constantly about the clothes she dresses in, and how she spends time at home shaving her legs etc, but apart from her telepathy there isn't much to her. Gradually, due to the ingestion of vampire blood, she begins to become more than human, becoming stronger and able to heal better, but these aren't traits that make her more sympathetic to the reader. Similarly Bill is very bland and one dimensional. The only slightly interesting vampire is Erik.

Another problem I had was with the explicit sex scenes which came across as rather gratuitous, and detracted from what was supposed to be a murder mystery with supernatural beings in it. I found all that rather boring. It was also a shame that one minor character was killed off halfway through perhaps because it would have made it more difficult for Sookie to pursue the relationship with Bill if her grandmother was still alive. It seemed that the writer did that to remove an obstacle rather than because it was essential to the plot.

All in all, I would rate this as an OK 2 star read. ( )