If you haven't read the new Sookie Stackhouse book, Deadlocked, by Charlaine Harris, it IS SAFE to read on. There are NO SPOILERS ahead.
I'm a huge Sookie fan. Although I don't watch much television, I always make time for True Blood. In fact, I started watching the HBO series before I knew it was based on books by Charlaine Harris. I love good, intense HBO series (such as Carnivale, Six Feet Under, and The Sopranos), so it was no big surprise that I was immediately hooked on Sookie and her Bon Temps cohorts.
After watching for a bit, I realized that there was a wonderful literary world of Sookie Stackhouse. A friend loaned me the first several books in the series, and then I just kept on going. And now I'm all caught up, so I have to inconveniently wait until Harris releases a new book. There is a huge advantage to getting a late start, and that is being able to read book after book, one right after the other, without having to wait months or years to find out what happens next.
There are some major differences between True Blood and the Sookie Stackhouse books. Some fans are put off by that, and typically I would agree that the more closely a movie follows a book, the better. But True Blood is not a movie, it's an evolving series - just like the books. I actually really love some of the changes the HBO writers have implemented (expanding on Lafayette's character is just one example). In general, I view the television Sookie and the book Sookie as two separate but related entities.
Deadlocked, which is book 12 in the Sookie Stackhouse series, was just released this month. Like all these love/mystery/detective/supernatural tales, it was just as I expected and hoped it would be. Harris writes fun books, and Sookie is a strong, no-nonsense woman. She is likeable and has no pretensions; I think she and I could totally hang in real life.
Who am kidding? I would in no way be into slaying vampire kings and clandestine meetings with werewolves and stuff. No thanks. But I do enjoy reading about these escapades. And there are plenty in Deadlocked. Sookie, Eric, Bill, Sam and the gang are up to their same old shenanigans. Does life ever calm down for poor Sookie? It's like a super explicit grown up version of Scooby Doo, except the monsters are real.
Of course there is a cliffhanger. I think that's a no-brainer, right? I would have hoped more would be resolved, yet the end of Deadlocked leaves some of the same questions from Dead Reckoning (book 11) unanswered. Although this is a little frustrating, I would expect nothing less of Harris. She likes to keep her fans on their toes. I will be breathlessly awaiting book 13...but luckily I'll have the new True Blood season (premiering in June!) to distract me in the meantime.
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