[Bookwoman] Southern Vampire Series

[Lee Anne Phillips]

Well, how many vampire novels can you recall 
in which the protagonist was a waitress in a
small-town roadhouse? There's a new addition 
to the series in Definitely Dead, (May 2006)
and Sookie is as feisty as ever, coping, as always,
with an assortment of the denizens of the *real*
demimonde, assorted vampires, werewolves,
witches, demons, were-tigers, as well as the
real-world good citizens of her home town,
who are uneasily aware of the reality vampires
but mostly ignorant of the eality of all the 
other creatures out of nightmares and fantasy
who lead hard-scrabble lives in the American
South. Oh, and the were-tiger seems to have
a crush on her. What more could a psychic
barmaid want?

Charlaine Harris has come up with an interesting 
combination of murder mystery, supernatural
thriller, and romance and her depictions of 
daily life in semi-rural Louisiana ring true,
even if we can't personally vouch for the 
rest of the mix. The romance part doesn't
take up too much of the book, for those 
who are leery of the typical "Lord Kinkade
strode through the hall with a curse, casting
aside his sword and tunic to reveal the rippling
landscape of his manly torso..." genre novel.

Sookie's suitors are more likely to get their
tails caught in the door when she kicks them
out, and to sleep on her couch if she let's
them stay over at all. As I said, she's feisty,
and the books quite often droll.

I'm kind of a fan, and buy these in hardback,
so the book won't be available in paper for
a bit. 

Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris:

1. Dead Until Dark
2. Living Dead in Dallas
3. Club Dead
4. Dead to the World
5. Dead as a Doornail
6. Definitely Dead

There are a few short Sookie stories in various
collections as well.

http://www.charlaineharris.com/