From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

ISBN-13: 9780441015894

I have to admit I found this addition to the Sookie Stackhouse series less than stellar. The writing is solid, of course, and Harris is excellent at creating real-feeling character as usual. But there wasn’t any overlapping plot, instead there were a series of wrap ups of ongoing plots, like a checklist, one after the other.

First, Sookie discovers a long lost relative who approaches her through Eric. Then on the way home someone tries to kill her, revealing a full scale assassination attempt not just against her, but against everyone linked to the warring local werewolf packs. By 140 pages in the whole packs-at-war situation is mostly resolved, thanks to Sookie, but the vampire situation flares up. This conflict too, not only ends far before the actual end of the book, but there’s a closed-eye approach to the adventure and fight scenes that renders them weak.

The book isn’t bad, as far as furthering the adventures of Sookie, and reflecting the massive changes that she and the people around her are going through while trying to recover from Katrina. But it’s not necessarily interesting to people who aren’t already emotionally invested in Sookie and her crew.

Perhaps From Dead to Worse is a cleansing book, clearing away the slate of old loose ends and making way for dramatic new adventures. But it just feels like the progress is minimized and halting rather than being an exciting new volume of a typically bardic tale.