Book Review: Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse #11) by Charlaine Harris

Book reviews

3 June

Charlaine Harris- Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse #11) Format- Paperback Source- Review copy Publisher- Hachette Publication date- 2011 Synopsis- With her knack for being in trouble's way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte's, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover Eric Northman and his "child" Pam are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, Sookie is drawn into the plot-which is much more complicated than she knows... Review- It’s been a year since I picked up a Sookie Stackhouse book, the last book being Dead in the Family (#10- see my review) which left me feeling quite underwhelmed. In Dead Reckoning there’s a bit more action and Sookie seemed to be a little more herself after the faery war in the last book. She’s living with her fae kin, Claude and Dermot and is trying to figure out whether they have an underlying motive for wanting to be near her. When she comes across an ancient cluvial dor, a magical fae stone left to her by her grandmother which will grant her one wish- she very wisely keeps this discovery to herself.When there’s a firebomb at Sam’s bar, initially he thinks he is the target, but they soon realise that Sookie has another enemy, someone who wants her dead. There’s some trouble in paradise with Eric who she’s convinced is hiding something from her and we see a softer side to Pam who wants to turn her girlfriend into a vampire to save her from a terminal illness.Amelia, Bill and Alcide make a brief appearance. Am I being too unrealistic to hope that perhaps Alcide and Sookie have a chance? I used to love Eric, but now he’s too controlling, overprotective and treats Sookie like a child. And she’s become quite dependent on him too so I was secretly happy when she broke her blood bond with him so she would have a little more independence. There are some sub-plots that are left open-ended, so I was happy to pick up the next book, Deadlocked (#12) right away and pick up where it left off.I still love the Sookie series, she’s a great protagonist and I’m bound to have a laugh at her candidness in any of the books I pick up in the series. Although Dead Reckoning isn’t one of my favourites it was definitely an improvement on Dead in the Family which gives me hope for the rest of the series.