As someone who’s very much in tune with HBO’s TRUE BLOOD, I’m one of tens of thousands of people currently curious enough to give Charlaine Harris’ novels — which serve as the series’ source material — a try. Most will go for the first book, 2001′s DEAD UNTIL DARK, but don’t overlook A TOUCH OF DEAD — SOOKIE STACKHOUSE: THE COMPLETE STORIES.
The new collection boasts all five of Harris’ previously published short stories from her established universe, which now numbers nine novels strong. As long as you’ve seen the show, TOUCH will make a fine starting point; but if you haven’t, don’t, because it does require some familiarity with the characters, as they’re not readily reintroduced.
Sookie is a Southern waitress with mind-reading powers, and she lives in Louisana at a time when vampires have chosen to live among humans. Other supernatural happenings occur about town. In “Fairy Dust,” Sookie’s called upon to solve the disappearance of one-third of a set of triplets from a strip club; too-alike names (Claude, Claudette, Claudine) muddle an otherwise simple, straightforward read, if a minor mystery.
A vampire-only club prepares for the arrival of Prince Dracula — hopefully — for an exclusive party in “Dracula Night.” Sookie teams with a witch to determine who rifled through a real estate agent’s files in “Lucky.” Sookie (God, how I hate that name) gets news of her vampire cousin’s demise in “One Word Answer,” and helps nurse a wounded werewolf back to health — including sexually — in the Christmas Eve-set “Gift Wrap.”
Harris’ strong suit is punchy dialogue, seasoned with inoffensive good humor. Depth in plotting is not, at least judging from this quintet of tales. All in all, they’re okay, but seem to suffer from being created specifically to fit a theme, rather than being stories the author just had to tell. Even though the characters don’t always act as they do on TV (vampire Eric, primarily), it’s easy to picture them in these offshoots, which aren’t likely to be adapted for the screen. My curiosity is now sated, and while I won’t continue with Harris’ fiction, I liked it well enough not to be disappointed.
Speaking of, many of A TOUCH OF DEAD’s negative reviews online stem from consumers being pissed that this is an anthology, rather than a full novel. Don’t blame Harris for that; blame it on your own failure to read what the cover quite clearly states. —Rod Lott
Related posts:
- A Touch of Death
- Blood Lines: Richard Matheson’s Dracula, I Am Legend, and Other Vampire Stories
- Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories
- Button, Button: Uncanny Stories
- The Vampire Archives: The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published / By Blood We Live
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I’m still on the first book and am really getting in to it!! I can’t wait to read the whole series!
You will love the series, Im about to read book 9 and I cant wait for book 10 to come out. Enjoy!