Living Dead in Dallas

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Synopsis

Psychic cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is have a rough time. First she discovers her co-worker, Lafayette, dead in the backseat of the local sheriff's detective's car, and although she knows he's likely not responsible, he seems to be the prime suspect. Then she's attacked by a maenad who leaves her with painful poisonous lashes that nearly kill her. It's only with the help of vampires Bill, Eric, and Pam sucking out her poisoned blood that she's able to survive, so when Eric asks her to accompany Bill to Dallas to search for a missing vampire, she feels like she owes him. The Dallas vampires want Sookie to use her telepathic skills to interview humans who were there the night their friend disappeared. The investigation takes her into the heart of a vampire-hating cult and into the orbit of a vampire with a death wish, both of which could be lethal to her. And when that's all over, Sookie still has to return to Bon Temps and start seeking justice for Lafayette since no one else seems to care.

Review

Living Dead in Dallas is the second book in Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series. In this one, Sookie, our favorite psychic waitress, is having a rough go of it. First she finds her co-worker, Lafayette, dead in the backseat of detective Andy Bellefleur's car. Then not long after, she's attacked and poisoned by a maenad while she and Bill are on their way to see Eric in Shreveport. Dying, she must trust vampires Bill, Eric, and Pam to suck out all her poisoned blood to save her life. Once she's recovered, Eric has an assignment for her and Bill. Sookie has been hired by the Dallas vamps to use her psychic talents to try to find one of their own who's gone missing. After she gleans some information from a human waitress from the vampire bar where he disappeared, Sookie goes to the headquarters of the Fellowship of the Sun during the day, in the company of another human who is important to one of the Dallas vamps. Together, they try to infiltrate this vampire-hating cult and figure out if they're the ones who kidnapped the missing vampire, but in the process, they're caught. The cult members are eagerly awaiting the following morning, when they plan to have a vampire "meet the dawn," and they also want to fry Sookie and her companion as humans who consort with vamps. Even if they can escape their predicament, it might not stop the Fellowship from hunting them down, and once back in Bon Temps, there's still the matter of Sookie wanting to find justice for her murdered friend.

As a psychically gifted individual and Bill's girlfriend, Sookie has entered into an arrangement with Eric to help out when her talents are needed. That's why he sends her and Bill to Dallas to try to get information buried deep in the minds of humans who were there that night when one of the Dallas vamps went missing. Sookie isn't thrilled about her mission, but she does what she was hired to do, although it puts her life in danger more than once. She has to get into the minds and good graces of vampire-hating cult members, which isn't an easy thing, and doesn't entirely go her way. Sookie may be sweet and kind, but she's also a pretty tough cookie to go through everything she did while in Dallas, and that, of course, was after finding her friend murdered and nearly being killed by the maenad. I like that she wanted to get justice for Lafayette, too, even though it takes her into yet another place that makes her extremely uncomfortable, both mentally and psychically, as well as placing her in danger.

The supporting characters are headed up by Bill with whom Sookie is still in a relationship. However, they do hit a couple of rough patches during the course of the story. As a vampire, Bill doesn't always do what Sookie thinks is right, but he tries his best to protect her and keep her safe. We see more of Eric in this one, as he also travels to Dallas under an assumed identity. He shamelessly flirts with Sookie and kisses her on more than one occasion. When Bill must return to Dallas alone, Eric accompanies Sookie on her mission to find Lafayette's killer. We learn a little more about Sam as well. He makes it clear that he harbors feelings for Sookie, too, but seeks out the maenad while Sookie is away. We're introduced to Sookie's friend, Tara, and her fiance, Eggs, who as it turns out are unintentionlly mixed up with the murderers. Because Lafayette's body was found in Andy's car, he becomes the prime suspect, so his sister, Portia, does what she must to try to clear his name. In Dallas, we meet the vampires there, as well as the Newlins who lead the Fellowship of the Sun cult, and they aren't nice people at all.

Given that I watched the True Blood television series first (a rarity for me), I remembered many of the events as I read along, so not a lot came as a surprise for me. There were definitely some differences, though, and I've heard the show's plot points diverge even further as the stories go along. From what I recall of the show, though, it seemed to hit most of the main points from the book. One of the more glaring differences was the character of Godfrey (Godric in the show), who, in the book, was an ancient vampire who preyed upon children, whereas in the show, he was said to be Eric's maker and was much more likable, although in both cases, he'd made a choice to "meet the dawn" to end his overlong existence. Overall, I enjoyed the book. It has two mysteries, one of which is who killed Lafayette (which was another big convergence in the show, because there he lived and became a much-loved character). The other was who kidnapped Farrell, the vampire from the Dallas nest. Sookie does a respectable job of solving both, even though she finds herself in very uncomfortable circumstances in each instance. Lafayette's murder story line ties into the maenad attack on Sookie as well. There's still just enough romance in this one for me to be comfortable classifying it as one, although I was a little disappointed with the fact that Sookie is kissed by both Sam and Eric and enjoys it, which kind of makes her romance with Bill a little shakier in my estimation. They'd worked through their difficulties, and she was still with him at the end, though, so all's well that ends well I suppose. However, I'm bracing myself for this to possibly change as I make my way though the remaining books of the series, which I'm very interested in continuing.

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Charlaine Harris