Deadlocked

A Sookie Stackhouse Novel, Book 12

By: Charlaine Harris

Narrated by: Johanna Parker

Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

It’s vampire politics as usual around the town of Bon Temps, but never before have they hit so close to Sookie’s heart….

Growing up with telepathic abilities, Sookie Stackhouse realized early on there were things she'd rather not know. And now that she's an adult, she also realizes that some things that she knows about, she'd rather not see—like Eric Northman feeding off another woman. A younger one.

There's a thing or two she'd like to say about that, but she has to keep quiet—Felipe de Castro, the Vampire King of Louisiana (and Arkansas and Nevada), is in town. It’s the worst possible time for a human body to show up in Eric's front yard—especially the body of the woman whose blood he just drank.

Now, it's up to Sookie and Bill, the official Area Five investigator, to solve the murder. Sookie thinks that, at least this time, the dead girl's fate has nothing to do with her. But she is wrong. She has an enemy, one far more devious than she would ever suspect, who's set out to make Sookie's world come crashing down.

©2012 Charlaine Harris, Inc. (P)2012 Recorded Books, LLC

Disappointing!

What was most disappointing about Charlaine Harris???s story?

The whole storyline!

What does Johanna Parker bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

I always enjoy her reading.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

The story left loose ends. kinda all over the place. Ending left me unsatisfied.

Any additional comments?

Big Question Mark!

The worst one in the series...

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I have loved this series since the beginning, but the last two books have really left me disappointed. I feel like Charlaine is done with the series, but keeps putting out a new book because the fan base is so big. Know when to end a good thing, before it goes downhill.

Harris Forgot to Make Things Happen In This Book

(I would say this contains very minor spoilers, but there is really nothing to spoil)


It must be make things so much easier for Harris to give Sookie avoidance tendencies in this book. I can imagine it must be far more difficult and time consuming to think up and write characters actually doing something of substance, pertaining to the overall storyline. Adding the humor, intrigue and sexiness these books were full of in the past must be even more tricky, because this book had none of these things.

I can't figure out if Harris is just no longer interested in the story or if she simply did not know how to write this book without giving away the end. Either way, this was really terrible. Almost nothing happened in this book, and one or two things that did happen were so poorly told, it was like reading fan fiction written by a teenager.

I see some people are happy that she is wrapping up the stories of the more minor characters, but really she hasn't. The characters all suddenly have lost any dimension. Their endings are flowery and nice, and rather boring,

(here are those minor spoilers)
Speaking of boring, I can only wonder how many actual pages were full of nothing but Sookie going to Taco Bell or Dairy Queen, cooking meals, and shopping for food. Not to mention an investigator that asked the same useless questions over and over. And over and over. And over again.

I will read the last book because I loved the series, but I have lost any kind of hope that it will be any good. That is so disappointing. It is my opinion that the second to last book in a series should leave you anxious for the last book, while giving you enough to ponder and guess as to what it all might mean, how things will work out. This book leaves you with nothing but perhaps the knowledge of how to make sweet potato pie.

Disappointing--character overload

I love the world that Charlaine Harris has created, and I look forward to each Spring when a new installment will be issued. But.... this year is particularly disappointing. There are way too many characters to keep straight after a year's time or more since their first appearance. Consequently, I become mostly disinterested in most of the minor characters; and the characters I'm mostly interested in--Bill, Eric, Sookie-- play a lesser role.

This series is becoming a poorly written who-done-it.

So, Ms. Harris: please drop the number of minor characters. Keep this world you've created alive, and well by concentrating on the characters we've come to love.

Lisa

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If this book had been as good as the previous ones in this series, I would've given it more stars. I felt like this book was just a loose end tier without any of the character development I am use to from this author. Mostly I felt it was glib. AND I miss the kitsch this author used to insert in her books.

Has Deadlocked turned you off from other books in this genre?

A bit.

What about Johanna Parker’s performance did you like?

Love the reader! She is very talented and keeps me entertained without distracting from the story.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Deadlocked?

I would have cut out many of the scenes that seemed to be there just to explain loose ends, which seemed to be the whole book. I also would have the author insert some more tension in Sookie's love life. This whole book was a vague gloss over of her relationship, which has always been the best part of these books.

Any additional comments?

Take it out of the romance section if you aren't going to have any romance in the book.

Sookie runs out of steam.

Argh - the furthest decline yet in the previously interesting and creative stories of the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mystery Novel series. I love the earlier novels - they're classic - but these later ones are just so phoned in. I wonder what happened to Charlene's inspiration.

There is nothing new here - no where to go with the story - the characters do their same old static shtick. (Sookie even makes a joke about this in the story) The only thing left to do is burn out some of the previously interesting characters, add a few poorly flushed out villains and minor characters, and slowly spin towards the final conclusion of the series where presumably something exciting will happen.

Sookie'd out

I must be Sookie'd out because this book never actually went anywhere. My suggestion is skip this one. Absolutely nothing happens that's memorable.

meh

There was no real action until the last two hours. There was a lot of cooking, shopping, cleaning blah blah blah. I have not read these books in about 13 years. I could not remember a lot about them. They are by far better that the show but I like to read or listen to something exciting. I already know about shopping and cooking and cleaning. Thanks anyways.

So DIsappointing

Nothing happens in this book - absolutely nothing. Hunter, Bubba and Quinn are mentioned for about 45 seconds each, and the mentions do not further the story. Dribs and drabs of the Fae, Weres and Vamps come up, but not in any coherent manner. No plot, no hot vampire sex scenes - nothing that led me to enjoy the series was in this book. I don't buy these to hear about Sookie going to Taco Bell!!I have loved the series, but Ms. Harris just phoned this one in. Save your credit - I wish I had. Narration was wonderful though - Johanna Parker is perfect for these books.

An Once Great Series, Slowly Dies.

What would have made Deadlocked better?

What would have made Deadlocked better? EVERYTHING and ANYTHING.There was NO Character Growth. And to tell you the truth, not much of a story. I feel like I was ripped off. When is something important to the series storyline going to happen?This book was complete fodder.

Would you ever listen to anything by Charlaine Harris again?

Time will tell. I can tell you one thing, I will not buy a book again until the reviews are in.

Have you listened to any of Johanna Parker’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Johann Parker does a wonderful job. She always does.It's not her fault that this book was so very lacking.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Deadlocked?

Well, let me see. I would cut some of Sookie 's errands. Eric is really not in this book. His scenes with Sookie are few. But lucky us, we get to read on and on about Sookie going to the Post Office, Walmart, and Taco Bell.There is not one romantic, ahem, sex scene in the whole book. The author really let her fans down. How many more books will people buy if she keeps this up? NONE.