Dead Until Dark

Publisher's Summary

Vampires have officially "come out of the coffin", and Miss Sookie can't wait for one to come her way.

Anthony Award-winner Charlaine Harris' New York Times and USA Today best-selling Sookie Stackhouse novels entice countless fans with an irresistible mixture of vampire romance, beguiling mystery, and old-fashioned Southern charm.

Listen to more titles in the Sookie Stackhouse series.

©2007 Charlaine Harris (P)2007 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic Reviews

"An author of rare talents." ( Publishers Weekly)

That Vampire Said ....

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.

67 of 69 people found this review helpful

Sookie Stackhouse

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.

66 of 68 people found this review helpful

Excellent recording

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.

46 of 48 people found this review helpful

Not what I expected

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.

131 of 146 people found this review helpful

Be careful

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.

79 of 88 people found this review helpful

Nice, Easy Listen

STORY - Dead Until Dark is a fairly light romantic vampire whodunnit. It starts slowly but pleasantly, then has an exciting ending. It is the perfect type of book to listen to when you don't want to concentrate too hard or have your guts wrenched. Sookie's mind-reading capability provides a unique, interesting twist to this book, and I look forward to that portion of her future escapades!

On the negative side, I think the character development of Sookie's romantic interest, Bill, was somewhat lacking. I just didn't ever care for him and therefore didn't enjoy the romantic portions of the book (which was a large part). Maybe I was just missing something...

NARRATOR - At first I didn't like the narrator's attempt at a Southern accent, but it started to grow on me. It falls short of sounding authentic, but it's a nice change from the accents in most audio books. Otherwise, she did a good job, and I came to enjoy the slower Southern pace.

OVERALL - I enjoyed this book as a relaxing break between more intense books, and I plan to move on to Book 2.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Better Than True Blood

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.

20 of 22 people found this review helpful

True Blood books are 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!

19 of 22 people found this review helpful

I Have Found a New Addiction

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!!

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

Fun and addictive

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.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful