The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell

The sky seemed close; the stars shone brightly that night. I can see the surface, she thought. There is a connection, thin threads intertwining with one another. But what lay behind it all? What was the motive for killing nineteen people in the north of Sweden, and also putting an end to a family in the Nevada desert? Probably no more than the usual: revenge, greed, jealousy. But what injustice could require such drastic revenge? Who could gain financially by murdering a number of pensioners in a northern hamlet who were already well on their way to death? Who could possibly be jealous of them?

-The Man from Beijing

Whew. I started The Man from Beijing quite awhile ago and, under normal circumstances, I would have finished awhile ago as well. However, I broke my leg two weeks ago, and in the early days of my recovery, I found the novel didn't suit my mood at all. I almost put it down entirely, as I was in the middle of a grim and seemingly interminable flashback section. But I persevered, and here we are.

In The Man from Beijing, Henning Mankell grabs the reader with an intriguing (if grisly) premise: 19 savage murders, killing almost the entire population of a little Swedish village in one fell swoop. We're drawn into the police investigation, but our true protagonist emerges a bit later. Her name is Birgitta Roslin, and she's a judge with no professional connection to the case. She discovers, though, that she has a personal one, and before she knows it, Birgitta has developed her own independent line of inquiry.

The police are dismissive, but Birgitta keeps investigating, ensnaring herself in a situation that is far more dangerous that she could have imagined. The story she eventually pieces together spans four continents and relies on events that transpired more than 150 years ago. Despite this, I wouldn't call The Man from Beijing overly complicated, though Mankell does get bogged down in history at some points. Nevertheless, by the end of the novel he kicks things into high gear in a manner that should leave fans of suspense happy.

Overall, I didn't find The Man from Beijing quite as absorbing as I would have hoped. I found Birgitta to be a likable protagonist, and I appreciated that she was an amateur detective, which is fairly unusual in mysteries nowadays. I was less interested, though, when Mankell veered away from her story and delved into geopolitical concerns. My disinterest might have also stemmed from my mood, of course, as I really wanted something much lighter in tone* (Sookie Stackhouse, where art thou?). Still, I think international thrillers just aren't my cup of tea. I'd be much more excited to read another of Mankell's Wallander stories as opposed to another stand-alone novel.

Up next: Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan

*I've been simultaneously rereading Naked by David Sedaris, which was really the type of book I needed. I find that Sedaris is pretty much indispensable during any trying times.

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

I couldn't decide if I was surprised or angry. "Why are you being so mean, Jason? I don't need you arguing with me or saying bad things about Niall. You don't know him. You don't...Hey, you're part fairy, remember!" I had an awful feeling that some of what he'd said was absolutely true, but it sure wasn't the time to have this discussion.

Jason looked grim, every plane of his face tense. "I'm not claiming kin to any fairy," he said. "He don't want me; I don't want him. And if I see that crazy half-and-half again, I'll kill the son of a bitch."

-Dead and Gone

I have reached the end of my Sookie Stackhouse reading extravaganza—not to be confused with my Sookie Stackhouse tv extravaganza, which I hope to begin later this month. I wouldn't call this my favorite of the three books I've read recently, but I certainly could not have asked for a more eventful story.

Dead and Gone is also the most suspenseful of the recent books in Charlaine Harris's series. The level of danger has definitely been ratcheted up a notch. A long-simmering feud between fairies has finally reached a breaking point, leaving our Sookie in peril. Sookie, whose great-grandfather Niall is a fairy prince, is a prime target for the fairies who oppose him. Also, the were community has finally made itself known to the world at large; perhaps unsurprisingly, reactions from the general population have been decidedly mixed. A body shows up in the parking lot of Merlotte's: a werepanther. She was crucified.

With that whodunnit at the beginning of the story, Dead and Gone reminded me of an older Sookie Stackhouse story like Living Dead in Dallas, if in the latter story Sookie had seemed more invested in solving the murder. This death is much better integrated into the story as a whole, perhaps because the various supernatural elements of Sookie's world have become so intertwined with the rest of her life.

Probably because I'm gearing up for True Blood, I noticed a couple of scenes in Dead and Gone that struck me as particularly vivid and easily adaptable to Sookie's televised universe. One was the first conversation Sookie and her brother Jason have had in months, ever since she had to stand in for him in a werepanther ritual. It was just so easy to picture the Sookie leaving her house on a cool, sunny day to meet the unusually somber Jason, bedecked in dark sunglasses and sitting on her chaise longue.

I also really liked a scene toward the end of the book, which I'll take care not to spoil, in which a vulnerable Bill steps up to protect Sookie. Hugely dramatic moment, and it really sealed my growing affection for Bill - whom I liked initially, for sure, but it took a long time for him to win me back after Living Dead in Dallas and Club Dead. I really do love his courtliness, though, and I love that he truly loves Sookie.

Well, I've finally just about caught up in this series! The newest book came out last month, so I reckon it will be a while before I get my hands on it. I think there's also a book of short stories out there. But for now, I think I'll take a bit of a break from Sookie. She really has become one of my very favorite heroines, though. Props to Charlaine Harris for creating a woman so spunky and resilient, but also so funny and so interested doing the right thing. After everything she's had to do to defend herself, Sookie worries a lot about the state of her soul in this book - I have to say, I think she's golden.

Up next: The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell

From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

"There is much you don't know about Sookie," Bill said. It was the first time he'd spoken since Madden had entered. "Know this: I will die for her. If you harm her, I'll kill you." Bill turned his dark eyes on Eric. "Can you say the same?"

Eric plainly wouldn't, which put him behind in the "Who Loves Sookie More?" stakes. At the moment, that wasn't so relevant.

-From Dead to Worse

Well, I've learned that one difficulty of reading Sookie Stackhouse books back to back is that it makes it a little trickier to keep the storylines straight when it comes time to write about one. Each flows so well into the next - and I'm currently in the middle of Dead and Gone, which follows From Dead to Worse - that it's getting a little harder to remember each individual story. Nevertheless, I'll press on.

Big things are happening in From Dead to Worse. Sookie is recovering from the tumult at the end of All Together Dead. The vampire community of Louisiana, already weakened after Katrina, is incredibly vulnerable after this latest blow, setting the stage for a possible coup. Meanwhile, local weres are grappling with the aftermath of the regime change from a couple books back, which seems to have led to a recent spate of were killings. Oh, and Sookie meets her great-grandfather: he just happens to be a fairy prince. It's a very eventful book, though slightly peculiar in that most of the climactic events are done when we're still 100 pages out, and then there's just a lot of smaller stories to tie up. All the same, I was utterly absorbed, which seems to be happening more and more with these books as the series progresses. Well played, Charlaine Harris.

One thing that I think works particularly well in the Sookie Stackhouse books is how complex her universe has gotten, and thus how many storylines are going at any particular point. Harris can move something aside for one novel, then weave it right back into the next. It's really no surprise this series has worked so well on television; there's just so much for the True Blood team to work with. Speaking of, I can't wait to start watching Season 2 (yes, I'm a season behind). I barely remember what happened that far back in the books at this point. Well, I suppose I can go back and check my blog post (handy!).

Up next: Dead and Gone

All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris

Here was the truth of it: I'd had so little chance of having the kind of life my classmates had achieved - the kind of life I'd grown up thinking was the ideal - that any other life I could shape for myself seemed interesting. If I couldn't have a husband and children, worry about what I was going to take to the church potluck and if our house needed another coat of paint, then I'd worry about what three-inch heels would do to my sense of balance when I was wearing several extra pounds in sequins.

-All Together Dead

Gosh, I love Charlaine Harris.

The story of All Together Dead begins at a difficult point in recent American history, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Our Sookie is not so directly affected, living in northern Louisiana, but in Harris's world the disaster had a dramatic impact on the supernatural community. It may seem silly to think about the ramifications a real-life event like Katrina would have in fantasy fiction, but Harris has made New Orleans so central to her vampire world that it would seem far weirder to ignore it. She handles it with appropriate gravitas and her approach never seems exploitative. It's simple and matter of fact: this happened, it was terrible, and here's how we're coping.

So, given that background, the political state of vampire Louisiana is pretty much a shambles when we pick up the story. The Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne Leclerq, who featured heavily in the previous book, is suddenly vulnerable in the wake of Katrina and her ill-fated marriage to the King of Alabama. The latter, you may remember, came to an inauspicious end with his sudden death in Definitely Dead. Sophie-Anne has hired our favorite barmaid to accompany her to a vampire summit in Rhodes, where she hopes to use Sookie's telepathic powers to her advantage.

The whole merry gang - Sookie, Queen Sophie-Anne, Eric, Bill, Pam, and assorted other hangers-on - treks to Rhodes via the vampire-friendly Anubis Airlines, hoping to reestablish some of Louisiana's former power. Of course, readers of this series learned long ago that Sookie can't go anywhere without troubles being close on her heels. Things in Rhodes quickly get very, very dangerous for our heroine and her vampire pals. In addition, Sookie has to cope with an interesting development in her relationship with Eric, which I loved. It definitely drew me in more than any part of her relationship with weretiger Quinn has.

I found All Together Dead to be, in terms of plot, one of the more complicated and interesting Sookie Stackhouse outings. Although Harris was a bit heavy handed in some of her foreshadowing, I remain impressed by her ability to create such a rich, exciting, and often just plain fun world. While on some occasions I have been perfectly happy to allow some time to pass between reading books in this series, in this instance I was very glad to have From Dead to Worse at my disposal.

Up next: From Dead to Worse, clearly.