As an avid True Blood fan, I purchased the WHOLE series of novels during the gap between the airing of the second and third seasons on TV, in an attempt to satiate my withdrawal symptoms. And I have to admit, I was not disappointed!

Dead Until Dark is pretty much the first season of True Blood, including all the sex, nudity and violence. There are some differences though. The novel follows Sookie Stackhouse primarily (it's written in first person) and therefore some of the storylines in the TV series have been fabricated, or greatly expanded from small snippets. For starters, Tara and her crazy mother don't even appear in the book. And whilst Lafayette is mentioned, he plays only a small role. There are also people who appear solely in the book. (There's one pretty famous character and though never named, we know who he is, appears in the first novel and hints are left suggesting that he will be a recurring character.)

The novel begins with Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress in a bar in Northern Louisiana whose life revolves around work, sunbathing, sexual frustration, oh and listening to people's thoughts. Sookie is beautiful, she describes herself on the first page as having a "substantial" bosom and a "waspy waistline," but due to her mind reading "disability," love has never been on the cards for Sookie.
Vampires are "out of the coffin," though in Bon Temps, they're not exactly common, and when a vampire walks into Sookie's workplace for the first time, she's enthralled.
Enchanted by his mysterious, dangerous nature, and most of all his mental silence, we follow Sookie as she embarks on an adventure of love, much against the wishes of society. Though Sookie's not the only one raising eyebrows. Bill Compton, her vampire interest is attempting to "mainstream;" much to the distaste of the rest of his race who see humans only as toys or dinner.
Sookie's love life is only one of the storylines. In the small town of Bon Temps, young women are being murdered. Young women who like to sleep with vampires. With Sookie's brother and boyfriend as the two main suspects, Sookie fights to clear their names using all the tools in her arsenal, all the while trying not to become the next victim.
Sookie is also thrust into the world of vampire politics as we are introduced to the beautiful Viking vampire, Eric, who lusts to possess Sookie for both her blood and her "special gift."

In terms of literary techniques, this is far from the next Dracula. However, if you're looking for the adult version of Twilight, I'd definitely give this one a read. Personally, as a person who will read pretty much anything, this one appealed greatly to my inner tweenie as well as my love for a good murder mystery.

Verdict
A juicy love story. A juicy murder story. And some pretty juicy men too. Having read the entire series, I confess that some people may find the novel a bit boring, but they're only short novels and I would definitely recommend reading them one after the other.
8.5/10

Labels: Dead Until Dark