Dead Until Dark: Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mystery #1

When I first downloaded this book I did not think I would like it, but was willing to take a chance on it. Lo and Behold, I found this book most excellent.
The characters are beguiling and mysterious and you soon learn about them in a most intimate manner.
There is lots of romance along with plenty of suspense. You would think those two would not match as well as they did. But not only does this book keep you on the edge of your seat, but it keeps you giggling like a young girl as she watches a love story unfold in front of her eyes.
This was an excellent listen and I would suggest anybody to give it a go.

I wouldn't leave a review until I finished all 9 books. And I am happy to say I loved every one of them, I couldn't wait to download the next. If you have started watching the True Blood series on HBO this is not the same. This is much better. Hands down the most entertaining series I've listened to in a long time.

I bought this book because it was on sale, and I have to say of all the gazillion audio books I've listened to, this recording is simply the best.

The supernatural romance/vampire kinda books aren't really my thing, but the actress, Johanna Parker,does an incredible job. She totally throws herself away and transforms into the protagonist, Sookie Stackhouse, and the result is that this novel is compelling, charming, heartrendingly romantic, suspenseful, and addicting. Experienced audio book listeners who think the supernatural romance genre is terrible should listen to this recording, simply because it is a tour de force.

After listening to this all in one day, I'm determined to listen to the rest of the series, and anything else performed by Johanna Parker.

Very enjoyable and worth the time, however, you may want to wait until Audible has the complete series available.
1 Dead until Dark
2 Living Dead in Dallas, unavailable
3 Club Dead, unavailable
4 Dead to the World, unavailable
5 Dead as a Doornail
6 Definitely Dead
7 All Together Dead
It is odd that only has Books 1, 5, 6, and 7 available as of 16 Jan 2008.
The southern vampire series is likely not suitable material for 16 and under and would rate somewhere between a PG-13 and R movie rating.

What a delight!!! This was one of the books Audio will say you may be interested in. The cover was a bit off-putting but I kept coming back to the description and after I read some of the reviews I purchased the book. From the beginning I was pulled in to this story. Written with wit and fun, a great story line, and imbued with enough of the "unknown" to lure the reader in--and I was hooked. Very entertaining and a wonderful approach to the life of Sookie Stackhouse and the world in which she lives. Each chapter unfolds like a gift. If the description of this book intrigues you, get it! It is always exciting finding an author you like--I usually end up getting every book by a newly discovered author -- I plan to read all the books about Sookie Stackhouse. As a plus, the narrator, Johanna Parker, is great!!

I saw a preview on HBO for a new series called True Blood, which is premiering on September 7th. The show is based on Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse mystery novels. I had never read any of her books before so I decided to download the first book from audible.com. I finished the audio book in one day, and went out and bought four more of the books in the series. They are so fun! I am a total fan. If you want something vampire, quirky, and fast-paced to read or listen to, I highly recommend all of the books in Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series!

Before I start, let me say that the first comment in this review list threw me off- all the titles are actually available now and that post is 3 years old.

As for the book, I think it is good, it just may not be able to live up to the hype. It has it's strengths and weaknesses but I was easily entertained. My mind tends to sort books in the "to be admired" and "to be enjoyed" and sometimes both. This would go into the "enjoyed" category. I had fun. I listed to the next three. I didn't judge. Because if i judged, it wouldn't get 4 stars for the entertainment it gave me.

I do have issues with characters being inconsistent or just inhuman. Coming from what most would consider a southern area, I know that if a girl got murdered and we mentioned it over breakfast, we would not react the way Sookie and her family did. It's like they were saying it was going to rain.

However, on the subject of Bill, I gotta say I like him. He's a vampire. He doesn't have to be nice. He can be vain. He's NOT Edward, because lets face it, if Edward were a 'real' vampire he'd have killed Bella by chapter 5. I get why Sookie likes him and I think people forget the absolute piece of mind he offers her, despite him being a jerk sometimes. Again, he's a vampire. They can't all be turned into Don Juans just because we want them to pamper the leading lady.

That said, I was able to enjoy this with vague images of True Blood popping up from years ago. I can see why this made a good tv show - the book is vague enough and leaves enough gaps for screenwriters to create and fill in the details. As for the sex scenes, if you knew it was HBO, it shouldn't be much of a surprise.

4 stars for an entertaining spin on bloodsuckers

This is my least favorite of the 50 or so audiobooks I have purchased, and that surprises me since I was really looking forward to it. I think the problem was more in my expectations of the book rather than in the book itself. I guess I thought it was going to be a suspenseful thriller or mystery, perhaps with a tinge of romance. Instead, it is mainly romance with a tinge of mystery. And, although I had read a review that commented on the sex scenes, I didn't expect them to be so prevalent. Scene after scene after scene of descriptions of sex of the type that you might find in amateur internet sex stories. Ugh! I wasn't offended or anything, but just had to roll my eyes at them all. Once or twice, okay, but they just went on and on. I was going to write some examples of the painful descriptions, but thought they wouldn't be appropriate for posting on this open forum. Again, had I been expecting a Harlequin romance-type book, I might not feel so disappointed by it now.

I also had a very hard time liking nearly all of the characters--particularly Bill. Bill has none of the qualities that allow a reader (or listener) to connect with him on any kind of emotional level or to empathize with him. In the book Twilight, I found I could connect with the vampire Edward, partly since he genuinely seemed to put Bella first. Not so with Bill, who seems fundamentally self-centered. I couldn't buy into his feelings for Sookie. In fact, I spent the whole book rooting for another character to end up with Sookie. That's a huge problem for a book that is centered around the romance of Bill and Sookie.

Bottom line: There are interesting elements to this book, and I can see why other people are fans. It was well narrated, although I thought the southern accents were a bit overdone. But, it just wasn't my cup of tea. I was expecting more suspense, less romance/sex, and more depth of character. I don't think that I will buy the other books in the series.

I was pleasantly suprised to listen to this. I really enjoyed it. It was funny and it moved fast. I read a review of someone who didn't like it because they didn't like Bill and wanted Sookie to be with someone else. I totally get that, I was rooting for Sookie and Sam the whole way through, but I didn't not like Bill. He just really came across as flat in this book. Hopefully that will change in the books to come.

The narration got on my nerves a bit. Her male voices were rediculous, but I'll still continue with listening anyway.

I never knew Dead Until Dark existed until I saw the series True Blood on HBO. I love True Blood, but must say that Dead Until Dark is better. Dead Until Dark is the story of Sookie Stackhouse; a waitress (who happens to be able read minds), her boyfriend Bill (who happens to be a vampire) and many other interesting characters who live in a small town in Louisiana. The story of Dead Until Dark is told from the perspective of Sookie who lives in a world where vampires have, "come out of the coffin." It is a good vampire story with down home southern flair.

The story is read by Johanna Parker who does a wonderful job telling the story from Sookie's prospective.