Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is on a streak of bad luck. First, her coworker is murdered and no one seems to care. Then she's face-to-face with a beastly creature that gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn't enjoy it).

Point is, they saved her life. So when one of the bloodsuckers asks for a favor, she complies. And soon, Sookie's in Dallas using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She's supposed to interview certain humans involved. There's just one condition: The vampires must promise to behave -- and let the humans go unharmed. Easier said than done. All it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly....(back cover blurb)

New purchase based on a recommendation from a fellow BXer. That would be you, N8an, if you happen to read this journal entry. [grin] 2nd in a series.

In this second installment of the "Southern Vampire" series, Sookie discovers there are many other supernatural beings besides vampires. Well, she already knew of one such, close to home, but she thought he was an anomaly. Wrong!

The story: Our intrepid heroine takes her first plane trip to Dallas to fulfill an obligation to Eric, the regional head honcho vampire, who needs to fulfill an obligation to the head honcho vampire of Dallas. (Love those vampire politics.) Bill, her vampire boyfriend, accompanies her. As a result of their investigation into the disappearance of another vampire, they wind up entangled with a reactionary religious organization known as the Fellowship Of The Sun, which is dedicated to the extermination of vampires. Shapeshifters and another telepath have supporting roles in the events that occur.

Charlaine Harris further develops her mythology here, although I noted a major inconsistency from volume I, Dead Until Dark. In the first book, Harris stated the vampires had "come out of the coffin" four years previously. In this one, she said it was two years. Maybe I'm just picky, but there's a big difference between the two time frames. Two years seems like barely enough time for humans to have become relatively accustomed to the existence of vampires, much less to have made the kind of accommodations (special hotels, airlines and other services) prominently featured in this novel.

Also in this novel, I notice the potential beginnings of a romantic triangle, or perhaps even a quadrangle. Shades of Laurell K. Hamilton. [shudder]

A utterly predictable marshmallow fluff of a novel. Enjoyable despite its flaws.

Mailed to dyluvsbooks today.

Thanks avanta7!!

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