Dead Ever After

A Sookie Stackhouse Novel, Book 13

By: Charlaine Harris

Narrated by: Johanna Parker

Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris has won numerous awards for her Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series, which has been adapted into the hit HBO show True Blood. In this 13th and final book, a murder rocks the town of Bon Temps and Sookie is arrested for the crime. After making bail, she sets out to clear her name - but her investigation only leads to more deaths.

©2013 Charlaine Harris, Inc. (P)2013 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"The Sookie Stackhouse series seamlessly mixes sensuality, violence, and humor." ( Boulder Weekly)

"Harris’s creation offers a magical and mysterious twist on traditional vampire stories." ( Houston Chronicle)

"What sucked me in? Definitely the books’ oddly charming, often funny mix of the mundane and the absurd. And the chills and thrills in boudoirs and various locales around the South aren’t too bad either." ( The Seattle Times)

The vampires are not the only thing that is dead

Would you try another book from Charlaine Harris and/or Johanna Parker?

I loved Johanna Parker, but am on the fence about trying any other of Ms. Harris's books.

What was most disappointing about Charlaine Harris’s story?

She gave up on this series several books back. She is just phoning it in at this point. The only reason this is worth reading is to get closure with the series. You can tell she lost her passion or at least interest in the series ages ago.

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

I have not heard any of her other performances but based on the great job she did here I wouldn't mind.

Could you see Dead Ever After being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Pretty much already has. ;)

Any additional comments?

The series starts strong but limps to a finish. It's kind of a shame as I really enjoyed the earlier books.

Tied up all the loss ends...

Where does Dead Ever After rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I say this novel is in my top ten.

What did you like best about this story?

The story leaves the reader satisfied that the story is over -- no cliff hangers. All the questions about Sookie's relationships are answered.

Which character – as performed by Johanna Parker – was your favorite?

No other performer suites the voice of Sookie better than Johanna Parker.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

The series is so intense that I needed closure. I was compelled to listen to this book all in one sitting because I wanted closure. Now that I have finished the story, I wish wasn't.

Extremely Disappointed!

Maybe I just expect too much from a book that is to wrap up a wonderful and entertaining series. To say the least, I was extremely disappointed. The storyline was predictable, there was no mystery, no romance and very little interaction with the key characters that built the series. This quick listen just made me sad.

Departures

There are obvious differences in structure, but they weren't my main concern. Narration switches from Sookie's to other characters' perspectives, and we jump around in time a bit, neither of which I remember from other books. Still, when we were in Sookie's chapters the voice was definitely the Sookie I've come to love.

The real problems are plot and pacing.
There's a mystery or two around Sam that is resolved in the most rushed and ridiculous way. That plot just makes no sense, and I think it wouldn't have taken that much to close some of the holes in it.

Sookie's romantic situation also goes through certain changes without much import of romance or of loss, and that was disappointing. She's always had grace (Miranda Lambert take note) in painful situations, but here a lot of what must be painful and what must be happening in her heart is just not covered. Is she supposed to be numb? Aren't these basically romance novels? The denouement especially has a lot of shortcomings, and I stopped the book a couple of times in disbelief.

It might make more sense if I had the last novel fresh in my head. I remember liking it less than this, so I'm not about to go back, but if you haven't started this yet, maybe re-read the last book to get your head in the place Sookie's head is in before starting this.

Johanna Parker is fantastic as always. I look forward to listening to more books of hers. Despite the shortcomings in the middle, I listened to most of the book eagerly and am glad I revisited Bon Temps one last time.

Helter-Skelter

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not at all. This was the worst story of the entire series. It was very apparent that the Sookie character was dead to the author long before the book was written. There weren't any fun, tense, or surprising moments; just a lot of words that seemed to be a helter-skelter attempt to finish writing the book and end the series.

What could Charlaine Harris have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

She should have asked Janet Evanovich to finish it for her, rather than produce a book of such low quality as this one.

What about Johanna Parker’s performance did you like?

I always like Johanna's work. She does a great job of bringing the characters to life.

Was Dead Ever After worth the listening time?

No. Spoiler alert: Fifteen bucks to find out she ends up with the dog!!!

It is what it is.

A somewhat spoiler alert-
I have enjoyed Sookie's books immensely, I will admit the last few have been lagging and I believe that an end to the series is good thing. This book was good, but not Charlaine Harris's best. I will admit I'm a huge fan of Eric but I am not surprised in the way this book ended. Sookie has always wanted kids, and has professed to not wanting to be a vampire. At the end I was ready to strangle Eric, so not a huge disappointment from my end how that ended. Plus from the beginning there has been tension between Sam and Sookie, in fact in the first book I was rooting for Sam and not Bill (whom I have always disliked for his passive aggressiveness.) I miss having Bubba in the book. Of course there is always True Blood to look forward to, where the only thing sparkly is Lafayette.

Ending Makes Sense Once Story is Read.

Listen to the book first before judging it. I was hesitant about this book because of the reviews and revelations about the ending. That ending seemed to come out of nowhere before I listened to the book. After listening to it, I realized that it made a lot of sense. It doesn't necessarily mean that the previous books mean nothing regarding Sookie's story. All the supernatural boyfriends she's had served to make Sookie realize how special she really is. She wasn't some freak living in a small town. Instead she began to attribute a large part to its safety. She got to be around people who treasured her. Now she has grown into her gift and she can graduate to a life more suited for her rather than trying to adjust herself to that of her current boyfriend. I did believe this series should have stopped at book ten before this book. This ending just makes so much more sense.

Disappointing

What did you like best about Dead Ever After? What did you like least?

Well - I had always figured who Sookie might end up with but the way the story unfolded was disappointing. I was not happy with the end, it lacked lust (er)

Has Dead Ever After turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Did not like the lack of excitement. No romance - all drama and no climax

Gave it three stars out of respect for the series.

At one time, this series was one of my favorites, but somewhere along the line the train left the track. To be honest I had to go back and reread the synopsis of previous books because I felt lost and not sure where we were in the story. I realized, I remembered the first 2/3s of the series or so with no problem, the last few books, not so much. They just went on and on about stuff I didn't care about. The interaction between the characters I wanted to hear about was missing and the stories felt forced. While I am very sad to see the series finish, I think it is probably a good thing. In a way, I wish I wouldn't have read the last book, as I think I could have imagined a more self gratifying path to send Sookie and friend's along.

Last book about Sookie! Wahhhh . . .

If you could sum up Dead Ever After in three words, what would they be?

Really great book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dead Ever After?

The ending

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I wanted to cry when I learned it will be the last book in the series!