• Deadlocked

  • A Sookie Stackhouse Novel, Book 12
  • By: Charlaine Harris
  • Narrated by: Johanna Parker
  • Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (6,105 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Deadlocked  By  cover art

Deadlocked

By: Charlaine Harris
Narrated by: Johanna Parker
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

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

Featured Article: The 25 Best Vampire Audiobooks to Suck You In


Vampire stories have fascinated people across cultures for generations. From gothic Transylvania to early-aughts Washington, it seems like vampires have taken every form in every culture and every country around the world. From all of these options, we’ve selected 25 of the best audiobooks from the pack—those with the most captivating characters, creepiest settings, and, perhaps most importantly, the best vocal performances available.

What listeners say about Deadlocked

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3,470
  • 4 Stars
    1,643
  • 3 Stars
    746
  • 2 Stars
    163
  • 1 Stars
    83
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3,937
  • 4 Stars
    1,064
  • 3 Stars
    339
  • 2 Stars
    55
  • 1 Stars
    38
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,995
  • 4 Stars
    1,368
  • 3 Stars
    774
  • 2 Stars
    188
  • 1 Stars
    110

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Return to Good Old Sookie

For me, this installment was a return to the kind of story Charlaine Harris provided earlier in the series. While it's true that we got some moments in Sookie's life that weren't particularly relevant to the story, that has always been true and a part of spending time in Sookie's world. This time the story provided several highlights of a more common nature--such as the birth of twins--and a number of the kinds of events poor Sookie is so often involved in--deaths, ambush, betrayal, and more deaths. This book felt more like the Sookie stories I fell in love with rather than the disjointed events we endured in some of the later books. Several times I wondered if this was actually the last book rather than the penultimate one as we'd been told because so many loose ends got tied up. Then, the ending came suddenly and some huge loose ends still dangle. Still, I found the various elements were exciting and interesting enough to keep me listening straight through to the end and eager for more.

Johanna Parker does her usual fantastic job of being Sookie and giving voice to all of our favorite characters. Her performance is really spot on and she has maintained consistency of character voices from one book to the next.

This is a satisfying return to what I've always most enjoyed in the Sookieverse.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

42 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Underwhelmed

Somehow I thought there would be more story to the story. There was only the one major focus for the entire book and then, as a side plot, Sookie and Eric. I have to agree with others that a lot of this book seemed like filler fluff. Sookie runs errands. Sookie visits friends. Sookie has lunch. Sookie daydreams about this and that. But, again, little story. And the story that was the focus did nothing to further this book series. I guess that since the book series is supposed to be completed within another book or two, this wraps up some of the characters, but it just didn't further any of the major characters stories. It just took some of the smaller characters out of the picture. It was like a book designed to tidy up some loose ends and get them out of the way for the big finale. Hopefully the big finale is more satisfying than this was. The end was really just like someone quit typing at the end of their sentence without bothering to finish a paragraph.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

What a disappointment!

Well...that was not the book I had hoped for. I love this series and have been a fan from the beginning. This one just didn't hold up. About 90% of the book is Sookie going over and over and over things in her head. Just when you think she's really in some action/adventure... nope all alone and back in her head.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Who, What, and Why

First, I have been a huge fan of this series since the first book. Charlaine Harris and Johanna Parker are both brilliant! That said, this was not the most interesting book of the series.

Who: There were plenty of characters, both old and new. A few were simply cameo appearances or memories with no other plot purpose than nostalgia. I could not figure out the significance of Quinn's brief appearance.

What: There was a significant shortage of Sookie/Eric alone time. There was a lot of activity with Sookie running around taking care of her life and friends, but a lot of the ???action??? was uninteresting and unnecessary for the story. We already know that Sookie is just a regular gal with trips to the library and grocery store. The daily activities do provide time for her to think about what's happening around her, but not much was going on for large chunks of this book. Johanna Parker's narration saved all the seemingly pointless errands and introspection from being boring. There were some fights and chase scenes, so I was not completely wanting.

Why: Motivation was never clear to me. Long-held assumptions were turned upside down with hardly any explanation. Friends and foes acted in ways that were never explained to my satisfaction. The end came much too soon, not because I was hanging on every word and hoping for more, but because Harris ended the book before resolving important issues. I admit that I like more story resolution, even in a series.

Overall I did like this book (I am still a fan), but I wanted more. Hopefully the next book will deliver.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

I want that 9 hours back....

So disappointing. I’ve started listening to these books in about October last year, and have now listened to all of them several times. I was so looking forward to this one, but what a letdown! Nothing happened - it felt shallow and as though it was actually a teaser for the real story. Lots of things were alluded to, but none of them actually happened.

It was almost as though Charlaine made a few vague story plot ideas and then got someone else to write it; ‘Yeah, Tara’s babies need to come; include some stuff about Eric and Bill; hey maybe Quinn should pop up again; and don’t forget to remind them about Hunter, that lawyer, Jason, Dawn and the famous chocolate cake; the fae and anyone else we’ve forgotten. Just check the character list…’

As for narration; I love Johanna Parker, and cannot imagine Sookie any other way, but it really, really annoyed me when she started trying to have Bill say 'Sookie' in the way he does on True Blood. We get that it's becoming a bit of a catch-phrase, but I would guess that most fans of the books are like me - the TV series is very separate from the books. Once you get into it, they are hardly the same story, so it's just a cheap sell out to try and emulate the actor's voice (having said that, I suspect that it was under direction from someone else, not Johanna's idea). She didn’t maintain it anyway, so that in itself was distracting.

Right, what else can I listen to on Audible? Please give me some ideas!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Reliably entertaining

At this point, I'm as happy to read about Sookie making a casserole for her friend with a new baby as anything else. It's a lot like visiting an old friend. Some long-running story lines get wrapped up in fairly satisfying ways and there's the usual humor, which is so well handled by Johanna Parker. The Sookie-Eric relationship never seemed that tenable to me, so I'm happy to see that Harris is handling their problems realistically. And I like that Sookie is becoming more than "just a waitress" because she could use some more financial and career security.

While I can understand why some long-time listeners are bothered that there isn't more drama or action, I actually think this book is far more fulfilling on that level than the one before. It's not very steamy, though, if that's an issue for you. To me, this is the ultimate comfort listen, and with the exception of the opening scene in a ladies-night strip club (tacky), I found it really pleasing no matter what was going on.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

I had hoped with this series wrapping in one more book that the tendency to meander and just be really disorganized plot wise would be better. It was not, it was worse. It's really time for Sookie to grow up, get out of her head, stop feeling sorry for herself and get a life. I rarely regret my credits but I do this one.

On the bright side, Johanna Parker does her usual competent job.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

WHY DID YOU DO IT??? WHY NO HINT AT THE END??

If you could sum up Deadlocked in three words, what would they be?

SO VERY GOOD!

What other book might you compare Deadlocked to and why?

just the others in the series, I have not read many vampire books so I dont have much to compare them with.

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

well... Eric of course! What is not to like about a huge strong blonde Viking, vampire???? I love his accent and the deep voice she uses, I can't fail to mention Sookie also, I grew up in Shreveport so I love the correct accent she uses, some might think that it is a cajun accent, but WAY up north LA it is just a good southern accent and she knew that and used it. I am always amazed at how well she does every voice, I can always tell who is speaking based on the voice and the accent, She really has an amazing tallent in this area!

Who was the most memorable character of Deadlocked and why?

of EVERY book it is Eric, I want one!!

Any additional comments?

WHY did you leave the end the way you did? It is not fair that I should have to wait years maybe to find out what happened. Do you want me to die early due to lack of sleep? You could have given a hint!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful