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