I managed to get my hands on an advance copy of Charlaine Harris's Dead Reckoning and after finishing it all I could say was “WTF?”
I can’t say I’m surprised; the Sookie Stackhouse Series has been doing downhill for some time now, but I can’t seem to stop myself from reading them. It’s kinda like a car crash on the highway: You just gotta look. Yes, I’m a lookie loo. Sue me.
The very first paragraph had me utterly confused; Sookie says it’s been two years since her grandmother’s death. Wait, WHAT? All these books later and it’s only been two years! Two years and all that drama; glad I’m not Sookie. Okay, so maybe it’s a continuity error? Who knows.
Really, how many times can Sookie go through the same damn danger and not die? To me, this series continuously puts Sookie in danger and somehow she doesn’t get as much as a scratch. She gets rid of one enemy, only to have that enemy return a few books later. Ugh.
Never mind this girl is always conflicted about something or other, but never does anything about it. We have the back and forth about Eric and Sookie’s relationship and their vampire marriage. Either get it together or break up already! Yet Sookie and Eric still have time for some weird “monkey sex” on a porch swing that ends with Sookie icing her lady bits. Umm OWW on so many levels. *Shivers*
The weirdest—in my opinion biggest load of doo-doo—was the scene at Bill’s house (I keep wanting to call him Vampire Bill). Sookie is being chased through a storm and runs to Bill’s place. Bill is sound asleep in his hidey-hole, so that’s where Sookie is determined to hide. But she doesn’t want to leave a trail for her attackers so she strips. She takes off ALL of her clothing and hides it in a bush then runs to the hidey-hole NAKED and climbs on in. Bill doesn’t say a single thing, 'cause he’d dead to the world but manages to wake up and still not ask why his ex-girlfriend is naked in his hidey-hole. **Sidenote: Sookie’s feet are somehow dry and don’t leave wet marks. That’s talent, folks.**
What I’d really like to know is why Sookie is always dressed circa 1984 when her friend Tara (no, not the same Tara from the HBO series True Blood) owns a clothing store? Can’t she help a friend out? Why do we have to hear what Sookie is wearing all the time? Give the girl some Dior, and then we can talk clothing.
I think Charlaine Harris just keeps trying to up the WTF ante, but there is no particular reason why the hell all this weird stuff is going on, and really there’s no point. It’s like she’s trying to compete with the TV version or has became influenced by it. She’s gotten timelines confused and totally re-written things that are different in Dead Reckoning than what they were in previous books.
I need a resolution—hell I needed one five books ago. Or at least give me more True Blood, because I don’t know how much longer I can take this dragging-out deal we have going here. I’ve heard 1-3 more books in the series and I am holding out hope that that’s the truth.
Did you read Dead Reckoning yet? Did you love it or hate it?
Natasha Carty reviews Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy on her website Wicked Little Pixie and lives in Toronto, Canada, with her cat, Seamus.
