Review: Club Dead, Charlaine Harris

This is book 3 of the Southern Vampire Mysteries.  For the first of the series, check out my review of Dead Until Dark.

Sookie’s vampire boyfriend Bill has a secret.  He’s been spending all his time hunched over the computer and lately doesn’t even pay Sookie attention when she gets home from work.  Sookie is even more confused and upset when Bill tells her that he’s going away for a while, to Seattle, which she automatically knows is a lie.  When Eric approaches her a few days later and tells her that Bill’s been kidnapped, Sookie doesn’t know what to think, but she goes along to save him, teaming up with a surprisingly attractive werewolf along the way, at a creepy club the likes of which she’d happily never see again.

It seems to be about the third book of an urban fantasy series that everything clicks for me and I just want more.  That is definitely the case here.  All of a sudden, I really just want more Sookie.  I loved her voice in this novel; it felt very distinctive and southern and perfectly pitched to what was going on.  I could completely sympathize with all of her money woes, her relationship woes, and even her physical pain (luckily I’ve never been beaten up, so I can’t empathize, but I felt so sorry for her).  I felt like she was my friend and I wanted to make her happier.

Something I really like about this series is that the relationships are not infalliable.  I could sense in the last book that Bill and Sookie weren’t necessarily going to stay together, and while she was certainly hurting for it, I think it takes the story in a much more interesting direction if she’s not tied to one particular person (or vampire).  Bill has proved the dangers of falling in love with a vampire and part of me wonders where Sookie is going to go next.  I hope she doesn’t go back to Bill.  I think I know where she’ll go, but I can’t tell you how much I wish I had Dead to the World right now!  Unfortunately my library’s copy is out, my new library doesn’t have a copy, and I don’t really have the money to spare to go buy the whole series, but when I do, I’m really looking forward to continuing.

Anyway, that is besides the point.  I think that Club Dead is my favorite of the three I’ve read so far.  It’s easy to love a book when you love the narrator.  I hope that Sookie finds the confidence and love she needs and I will totally continue reading to find out.