Review: Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

One night I clicked on  my Kindle, which admittedly I had not done in about a month (I know, gasp), and forgot that I had started Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris some time during the school year.  For whatever reason, that probably amounted to two gazillion papers I needed to grade, I stopped reading it at around chapter two.  Well, I picked it up about a week ago to see if I could remember the story, and got sucked right in.  In fact, in no time flat I'd picked the storyline back up again, and am right back into Sookie's crazy life.

Synopsis:  This is the fifth in the Sookie Stackhouse installment.  In book four, Sookie had helped Eric (head vampire of the area) regain his memory and fight off a bunch of witches.  In this installment, Eric has regained his memory and gone back to Fangtasia, and left Sookie to fend for herself against the Hot Spot weres.  Sookie's previous friend Alcide has popped back up, still interested in Sookie, but more so for her ability to help him look into the minds of his father's enemies as he fights to take over as the leader of the "pack" there in Hot Spot.  Sookie, who has grown more than a little tired of being pushed around by people, and left vulnerable to all sort of attacks, didn't care for Alcide's tactics.  In the meantime, people in Bon Temps were getting shot, but no one quite knew who did it.  As always, Sookie needed help in this novel to protect herself, but Eric will only tell her IF she tells him what happened between them...something Sookie would rather not spill the beans on.  Besides, would the secret leave Eric or Sookie more vulnerable?

Review:  Although I was pretty attached to the Bill & Sookie storyline early on, which had me ticked off when the stories progressed into different avenues and creatures, I can now see how the arc of the story might be coming together.  In fact, I've begun to feel like I'm watching an episode of an exciting new show with each book, and each book gets me closer to the finale.  I hope that's the case, and that I like the finale!

The writing in book five is catchy, and keeps you moving right along.  Some of the day to day details of cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, and personal hygiene can throw me off from the action, as they pop up and slow the story down, but I've come to expect these scenes and see them as some sort of reminder that Sookie really is a human being living her life.  I'm not a huge fan of werewolves (nope, not even in that sparkly vampire series), so it didn't change much here.   This installment really does center on Alcide and his clan, and while we do see Eric, Bill, and a few other well-known characters, it really is pretty much about the changes in clan dynamics going on for Alcide and his family. 

I have to say that I do really enjoy reading the Sookie Stackhouse books.  There is one part of me that gets frustrated by the "hot" female that every male notices and wants to protect (even though she plays off the victim, "freak who can read minds" card), but really I'm one tough broad act.  It seems like such a cliche, and a bad one at that.  I can't say that Sookie plays it off any better than any other lead female pitted against crazy males, but I do like her sass.  Yes, the vixen damsel in distress annoys me, but I don't know how I would fix it if I were Charlaine Harris.  In the end, Sookie really does need protection from some of these crazy characters, and in some sick way, you hope it's one of the hottie males you like at the moment.  Sad, but true.  Overall, I enjoyed this book, and can see that it might be a pretty pivotal story in moving us along to other books down the road.

*FTC Disclosure:  This review was based off of a purchased e-book version of the novel.  No monies nor review copies were issued.

Because I read this on my lovely Kindle, it actually counts as my 2nd in the E-Book Reader Challenge.  I can hardly believe I haven't read more on my Kindle, but know I'll be remedying that this summer!