Werewolves, Werepanthers, and Werefoxes, Oh My!

Club Dead is the third installment to the Southern Vampire Mysteries and by far my favorite. It's a wonderful blend of action, romance, and comedy.

Club Dead introduces a new supernatural element to the series, the Weres. Weres are not limited to wolves but also include tigers, panthers, and foxes (oh my.) I find the idea of a Were Fox to be the most adorable thing ever.

The book follows telepathic barmaid Sookie Stackhouse and her search of her missing boyfriend that leads her to Mississippi. She is accompanied by her bodyguard, Alcide, a werewolf forced to protect her by Eric. Some sparks fly between the two.

For the first part of the book I liked Alcide but the character is quickly revealed to be weak and indecisive. The love/hate relationship among him and his Were girlfriend, Debbie, slows the book down some. I did adore the snarky dialogue between Debbie and Sookie, though.

Eric and Sookie are sizzling in the novel and I am glad to see the connection among her and Bill fade some. Bill is unlikable in this book and shows signs of weakness as well.

Watching the current season of True Blood will be interesting. I watched the first two seasons with no knowledge of the books. If anything, reading the books have enhanced my love of the television series. Both Alcide and Debbie have been cast in Season 3 and I cannot wait to see them show up.

Bring on the cat fighting (pardon the pun.)

Dead Until Dark (Mild Spoilers)

I am a fan of True Blood. I am also an avid reader. So it made sense that I wanted to read the books that spawned the series. Thanks to the awesomeness of ebay I have received the boxed set of this series.

Now, sadly, I have to say that Dead Until Dark is boring. It's an awesome book but it turns out True Blood stayed completely true to the novel. Which would've been more awesome had I not watched the series first. The whole mystery plot of who was killing the fangbangers had already been spoiled for me.

At least it gave me a chance to see what they changed in the leap from book to HBO. For instance, no Tara in the first book. She is in the series but has a smaller role. For instance, Sookie's brother Jason has a smaller role, he's still a suspect in the murders but the whole vamp blood/Amy Burley storyline was made up for the series. Tara also does not appear in the first book and Lafayette's is more of a peripheral character.

Nothing against the character of Tara but having Sookie with nobody close to her made her isolation and loneliness a little more believable.

I actually like the book's portrayal of Sookie and Bill's relationship better than the television's. Sookie is just a little more accepting of Bill's dark nature. When she learns that he killed a couple who attacked, she's just a little uncomfortable. Unlike the series where she completely freaks out.

Essentially Dead Until Dark covers the entire first season of True Blood. All in all it was a great book. But I was disappointed that I didn't discover the book series before the television series. I still suggest True Blood fans read this book, despite the spoilers.