Wow! Poor Sookie! She doesn’t seem to be able to catch a break! This book is that jammed pack full of action I’m surprised she has time to use the bathroom! The fifth book of the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dead as a Doornail, authored by Charlaine Harris, begins with Sookie concerned about her brother since it’s the first full moon since Jason had been bitten several times by a were-panther. Luckily for her Calvin Norris from Hotshot offered to take care of him whilst in his “state”, but unluckily for Calvin he is a victim of a shooting and only one of a number of shootings which have targeted shifters in the Louisiana area recently. Sam is even shot in the leg outside Merlotte’s and had to hire a new cook – Sweetie (since Lafayette died in book 4) and “borrows” a bartender, named “Charles Twining” from Eric Northman to work at Merlottles.
Meanwhile the leader of the werewolf pack in Sheverport, is hit by a car and Alcide goes to Sookie for help to achieve pack leader status for his father. Unfortunately Alcide is sneaky and manipulative in the ways he gets Sookie to help, and this causes friction between the two. Not to mention the anger and frustration they feel once the werewolves begin choosing their new leader. Sookie leaves Alcide angry and not wanting to see him again any time soon. Although she really wouldn’t mind running into the were-tiger Quin (the referee at the werewolf event), sometime in the near future!
She seems to have so much going on in her life that everything is spinning out of control at a rapid rate. Since the shooter assumes Sookie is as bad if not even worse than being an actual shifter, even she gets shot when going to the library! This is enough to send her into action to deal with the case, with the help of Sam (her boss) and even Andy Bellefluer (a local police officer).
To top it all off, there has to be some kind of Vampire complication running through the book somewhere! It turns out Charles is not the gentleman Vampire she first believed. In fact he turns out to be an assassin, who was sent by Long Shadow’s “maker” (the Vampire who was staked because of what Sookie had read using her gift) to take revenge. Sookie is nearly strangled by Charles when the men in the bar intervene, and stake Charles in the back area of Merlotte’s, right before Pam and Eric arrive.
Sookie also enlists Eric’s help to save her friend Tara Thornton from a particularly nasty Vampire, who had been keeping her for his amusement, food and general satisfaction. Eric makes a deal with Sookie and he fixes the issue with Tara and she tells him about their life together while he was under the witches spell. She also tells him about how he had taken a bullet that was meant for her and she had shot Debbie Pelt in the head and then let him take her body somewhere and hide it.
With a doubt, Charlaine Harris has a grand ability to weave a story of fiction that keeps the reader unable to stop reading. I can’t believe the imagination and creativity one must have to deliver such incredible story lines. I am immensely enjoying this series so far. I give Dead as a Doornail a 8/10 rating.
Eaving Shores 