Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris, a Southern Vampire series book

Denver Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club

DEAD UNTIL DARK
by
CHARLAINE HARRIS

Dead Unitl Dark (2001)
A Sookie Stackhouse mystery
Southern Vampire book one

Ace paperback
cover art by Lisa Desimini
292 pages (left)

Orbit UK paperback
336 pages (right)

From the back cover of the US paperback:
       Sookie Stackhouse 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, 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 with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of -- big surprise -- murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next....

From the inside flap of the hardcover edition:
       Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in Bon Temps, 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 datable. Then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, 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 with a bad reputation. But he is an interesting addition to the town, and Sookie can't help but listen to what everyone else thinks about Bill...especially since she's starting to fall for the buff bloodsucker. But when a string of murders hits town -- along with a gang of truly nasty vampires looking for Bill -- Sookie wonders if having an undead boyfriend is such a bright idea.
       And when one of her coworkers is killed, Sookie realizes that Bill and his friends may have some special plans for a woman who can read minds...

Read for group discussion on April 25, 2007

RATINGS:
How we each rated this book

Dan	-	Amy	7	10 Wow! Don't miss it 8-9 Highly recommended 7 Recommended 5-6 Mild recommendation 3-4 Take your chances 1-2 Below average; skip it 0 Get out the flamethrower! U Unfinishable or unreadable - Skipped or no rating given
Cheri	5	Barb	-
Aaron	-	Cynthia	-
Jackie	7.5	Ron	-
Christine	5.5	Stephanie	8
Patty	-

Bibliography:
Charlaine Harris (1951- ) is a US writer of mysteries.

Awards:
2001 Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery for Dead Until Dark

Sookie Stackhouse or Southern Vampire series:
-- Dead Until Dark (2001)
-- Living Dead in Dallas (2002)
-- Club Dead (2003)
-- Dead to the World (2004)
-- Dead as a Doornail (2005)
-- Definitely Dead (2006)
-- All Together Dead (2007)
-- From Dead to Worse (2008)
-- Dead and Gone (2009)
-- A Touch of Dead (2009), collection of short stories
-- Dead in the Family (forthcoming 2010)

Aurora Teagarden series:
-- Real Murders (1990)
-- A Bone to Pick (1992)
-- Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (1994)
-- The Julius House (1995)
-- Dead Over Heels (1996)
-- A Fool and His Honey (1999)
-- Last Scene Alive (2002)
-- Poppy Done to Death (2003)

Lily Bard "Shakespeare" series:
-- Shakespeare's Landlord (1996)
-- Shakespeare's Champion (1997)
-- Shakespeare's Christmas (1998)
-- Shakespeare's Trollop (2000)
-- Shakespeare's Counselor (2001)

Harper Connelly series:
-- Grave Sight (2005)
-- Grave Surprise (2006)
-- An Ice Cold Grave (2007)
-- Grave Secret (2009)

Other books:
-- Sweet and Deadly (1981)
-- A Secret Rage (1984)

Links:
Charlaine Harris official website
Charlaine Harris - Wikipedia
The SF Site: A Conversation With Charlaine Harris - April 2004

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This page was last updated April 17, 2010