THE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE BOOKS.

Having read all the nine books in the Sookie Stackhouse series I thought I'd review them as one rather than separately and in order to do this decided on a different format to my usual book reviews using some of the questions posed by family and friends. I hope you enjoy it.

THE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE SERIES OF BOOKS by CHARLAINE HARRIS.

Q. Haven't I heard the name Sookie Stackhouse somewhere before?

A. Yes, she is the heroine of the tv series TRUE BLOOD.

Q. What exactly are the books about?

A. Sookie Stackhouse (pictured to the right with Bill as they are portrayed in the tv series) is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of 'disability'. She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill: he's tall, dark and handsome - and Sookie can't 'hear' a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life.

But Bill has a disability of his own: he's a vampire. Worse than that, he hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, with a reputation for trouble - of the murderous kind ....

..... From the outer back cover of Dead until Dark, the first book in the series.

Q. So it's about vampires, right?

A. Yes, the books contain vampires. After the invention of an artificial blood product, True Blood, the vampires have revealed themselves to the world at large and now have the right to legally exist.

Q. Whoa, you said nine books. What are they called?

A. There's DEAD UNTIL DARK, LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS, CLUB DEAD, DEAD TO THE WORLD, DEAD AS A DOORNAIL, DEFINITELY DEAD, ALL TOGETHER DEAD, FROM DEAD TO WORSE and lastly DEAD AND GONE.

Q. Can they be read independently?

A. You could do as each one brings you pretty much up to speed about what happened in the previous novel(s) but I think you'll get more out of them by reading them in order.

Q. OK, so which was your favourite?

A. That's a hard one but probably the last book, Dead And Gone, as it has it all - romance and adventure AND it's sad as well as funny.

Q. But what's it about?

A. I don't want to give too much away but .......

What Sookie doesn't realise is that there is a far greater danger than this killer threatening Bon Temps (The small town she lives in): a race of unhuman beings, older, more powerful and far more secretive than the vampires or the werewolves, is preparing for war. And Sookie is an all-too-human pawn in their ages-old battle......

.... An extract from the inner front cover of Dead And Gone, the 9th book in the series.

Q. So there are other out of this world characters as well as vampires?

A. Yeah, we got to meet shapeshifters and not just werewolves but other were-animals. Then there was a goblin, witches, fairies, a demon, and, oh yes, a britlingen .

Q. Which character was your favourite?

A. Well there was fairy, Claudine - a truly modern 'kick-ass' heroine. I also got to really like Eric who, for want of a better word, was the head vampire in the area. Then there was the cat, Bob, who wasn't what he at first seemed. But most of all, there was Bubba - I just loved the idea of a huge rock legend coming back as a vampire though not a very good one.

Q. TV series or books?

A. Most definitely the books. They are full of so much more humour and a lot less sex.

Q. Better than the TWILIGHT books?

A. Better by far. The vampires are much more traditional, the stories are so much more grown up and are extremely humorous in places - altogether more cleverly written.

Q. You'd recommend them then?

A. Most definitely.

All nine books were purchased through the BOOK PEOPLE catalogue.