Dead to the World

Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mystery #4

By: Charlaine Harris

Narrated by: Johanna Parker

Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris thrills listeners with the fourth book of her spectacular Sookie Stackhouse series.

Driving home from work, barmaid and telepath Sookie Stackhouse discovers vampire and area sheriff Eric on the side of the road missing his shirt, his shoes and his memories. Featuring vampires, werewolves and magic galore, Dead to the World will satisfy any listener's craving for the supernatural.

©2004 Charlaine Harris Schulz (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC

Another great Dokie and "friends" story

As enjoyable as the True Blood series! Ms. Parker's southern charm is spot-on. A very enjoyable experience

Best one!

Really enjoyed this installment of the story! While, I loved the TV series-the books are even better. They better illustrate the relationships, that Sookie has.

Supernatural bombardment

You never know how you will react when friends and loved ones are endangered. Our heroine faces both with some hilarity and some melancholy. Her plans continue to go astray. Though she can't remember where grandma took that phrase from. Amnesia runs rampant. Witches and weres abound. A culmative battle ensues. In the end there is a bit of thought as to just how much has been forgotten. This was the book I stayed up nights listening to. Enjoy

Another great Sookie Book

This is the 15 words to submit a review. Six more words to go. Done

Good narration

As a southerner, it's easy to want to nitpick the accents, but there are varying degrees of southern accents. Overall, I enjoy these narrations, and I love these books.

A paradigm shift for Sookie & Eric!

I was a fan of these books as they came out, long before True Blood. They should be listened to in order. Sookie Stackhouse is as down to earth as a telepath involved with faieries, vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters can be! This is my favorite book in the series, as I am a big fan of Eric. Sookie and Eric both have big changes in this one, and it starts a ball rolling that comes back again and again through the rest of the series (so far). The reader is very good. These are cute, campy, and fun. Sookie is the Stephanie Plum of the paranormal world, always finding herself in some sort of trouble!

I love, love, love this book!!

I've read all the Sookie Stackhouse books in print and then started listening to the audio version. This is by far my FAVORITE one. Johanna Parker is wonderful and does an excellent job of bringing Sookie to life. I LOVED THIS BOOK!

A good installation to series

consistent of a franchise book. the author deliveries a plot with not much character development but it is filled with action.

Getting better

So far this is my favorite Sookie novel. It will be interesting to see how the new story seeds continue.

Vampire Eric goes missing after witch casts spell

Sookie Stackhouse is getting to know every type of supernatural being in the tiny town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. The “Supes” know Sookie is telepathic. Sookie considers reading minds a disability. It’s been difficult to find boyfriends when she always knows what they’re thinking. When vampires were proclaimed legal citizens three years ago, Sookie found vampire Bill Compton whose mind she could not read. She was a virgin until she met Bill, and oh my, what he taught her about sex.

In Sookie’s job as waitress at Merlotte’s Bar and Grill, she is mostly able to shield her mind from the cacophony of thoughts that swirl around her. However, this New Year’s Eve is different. Her ex-boyfriend Bill Compton is off to Peru to continue compiling a directory of vampires. Sookie is driving home following New Year’s celebrations, when she sees a partially naked man running for his life. When she stops to help him, she realizes that it is Eric, Bill’s boss in the hierarchy of vampires. Sookie has a love/hate relationship with Eric, but he doesn’t know who she is, or who he is for that matter.

Sookie calms Eric and takes him to her home where she calls Fangtasia, the vampire bar that Eric owns, to speak to Pam, his second in command. When Pam arrives at Sookie’s home the next day after dark, Pam tells her of an evil coven of witches who approached Eric and demanded money to not destroy his world. Hallow, the head witch, took a shine to Eric and offered a deal: rather than a portion of the bar’s worth, Eric could spend several nights with her. Eric refused. When others tried to remove Hallow, Eric suddenly disappeared. Until this coven is found and the spell undone, all involved decide that the safest place for Eric is to remain with Sookie, especially since the witches have posted “wanted” posters to find Eric all over town.

The next day Sookie’s brother Jason doesn’t show up for work. With no other family than Jason, Sookie is lost for whom to turn to. She visits a fellow waitress who is a Wiccan who tells her Hallow called all the local witches together recently. She visits Jason’s last date, who is a shifter from Hotshot, and whose father takes a shine to Sookie. She visits Alcide, a werewolf she helped with a problem a short while back. She turns to the police. Even Sam, Sookie’s boss, a shifter himself, joins the various beings searching for Jason, protecting Eric, and finding and hopefully eradicating Hallow’s coven. Then the powers of the were-witches who drank vampire blood were revealed. Just when I felt a bit overwhelmed by all the supernatural beings, we learn about a fairy that saves Sookie’s life. The vampires lust after the fairy; the werewolves don’t really care for vampires, and Sookie is just dead tired and worried.

In the end, all’s well that ends well, but the ride there was twisted beyond my imagination. Sookie is the character that holds the entire story together with her very humanity among the witches, vampires, werewolves, shifters, and even the fairy. Her morality keeps the story centered and real so that it doesn’t whirl off into an incredulous fantasy. Narrator Johanna Parker has skillfully brought us this far, but what will happen when the next full moon rises?