Dead and Gone is Harris’s most recent addition to the Sookie Stackhouse series with the next novel being released in May 2010. As usual, Harris doesn’t disappoint. Before starting the Sookie Stackhouse series (the basis for HBO’s True Blood) Harris was a mystery writer, one of my favorite genres, and this shows in the series. Each book, while focusing on Sookie, includes a complex murder mystery and stays true to the whodunit plot line. I read two books from Harris’s other series (Lily Bard and Harper Connelly) and did not enjoy them nearly as much as I enjoy the Sookie Stackhouse series. Sookie is an instantly likable character, down to earth, realistic and friendly and is much more complex and better developed throughout the series than either of Harris’s other heroines. Harris’s mastery of the small town Louisiana culture is also excellent and her development of the various backwater characters is complex and interesting.
Dead and Gone once again develops several plot lines that all revolve around one larger mystery, keeping the reader on the edge of his or her seat. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series! For those who haven’t read any Sookie Stackhouse novels, I would recommend starting with the first novel, Dead until Dark, and continuing through the series as each book builds on the overarching plot line of the series while also developing a new mystery.
This book also further illustrates the theme of Harris’s other novels, race relations and prejudice. Focusing on the weres coming out and the reactions to this revelation, the small town of Bon Temps is once again less than ecstatic about those that are different living amongst them. The strains on the relations between the various factions (vampires, werewolves and humans) shows Harris has a much more complex understanding of southern culture and that the books are about more than just fantasy and murder.
[...] if you haven’t read it, get a copy!). I have no problem reading the gory parts of the Sookie Stackhouse series but have not yet been able to get through the first episode of the series True Blood (based on [...]