I must confess, this novel is my very favourite out of the whole Sookie Stackhouse series, and when I picked it up late last night, for a bit of reading in bed, I didn't put it down 'til I'd finished it (which was at 4.30am....)


Dead to the World begins with Eric, half naked, running down the road in the early hours of the morning. With no idea how he got there, of even who he is, Sookie takes him home only to discover that there's even more that goes bump in the night and this time, it's the witches who are out to play.
But these aren't a bunch of old ladies who dance around naked in the woods. These are serious witches: powerful, deadly and power hungry.
The witches are looking for Eric, and what’s more, they've put a very handsome reward on his (very handsome) head. Sookie is determined to live a normal life, as normal as possible when you're telepathic anyway, yet somehow gets roped into babysitting the amnesia riddled Viking. Though he may look the same, Eric is a completely different person. Gone is the confident, commanding Eric, replaced by the shell of a man who won’t even sit in a room with his subordinates without Sookie there to guard him.
Jason is also missing, last seen in the company of a shifter from the inbred community of Hotshot and Sookie is certain the two cases are somehow connected.

This book seems to return to the basis of the first novel, a blend of love and danger, as Sookie begins to enjoy the company of Eric more than she thinks she should, whilst the threat of the witches becomes more and more serious everyday.

My Verdict
I'm sincerely hoping that this will be the basis for the 4th season of True Blood; only time will tell. Sookie in this book is the perfect mixture of love with a side order of ass-kicking, which I also love about her character in the series. (Who doesn't love a woman who can dress up in a cute dress whilst shouting "go back to hell, where you came from, you dead piece of shit" at a vampire.
9.5/10

Labels: Dead to the World