Nightshift (Midnight Texas #3) by Charlaine Harris

People are committing suicide at the Midnight crossroads. Once is tragic, twice unlikely and three times definitely more than a coincidence

There’s a dark presence under the crossroads. It’s been there for centuries - but it’s waking up. The inhabitants only clue to what it is and what it wants is in a book that none of them can read. They’re running out of time and the dark voice Fiji hears is growing louder

Meanwhile Olivia’s family may have finally caught up with her - with lethal repercussions and increased suspicion about the true motives of her neighbours

I really do like the concept of Midnight - a small town in rural Texas where the supernatural gathers, where people with secrets gather to build their new life. Over the last few books this has developed further as the members of the community have grown closer together. And this is something Charlaine Harris has always been very very good at: building a community, building all those little social interactions, those visits and family histories and little gossips that gives a real sense of community

This does, in some cases, slow the pacing as various characters discuss their issues with each other, then discuss those issues with other characters and all pry into each other’s business - especially since we have a lot of characters all with their own back stories and issues (which I, again, really like). But it works here because the overall story of this small town is the community that has been built here. So I don’t mind that we spend what appears to be a truly unnecessary amount of time discussing Lemuel’s human life even though it adds absolutely nothing to the plot. Or that we have Manfred’s old cronies from Las Vegas living nearby. Or the time spent gossiping around tables discussing what Chuy and Joe are (which is not known for most of this book and these are somewhat peripheral characters - which is a little weird given what they’re facing). It works because that’s what these books are.

I do think Olivia’s story is a little…. Weirdly convoluted. But hey, it’s not completely out there so I can run with it.

At times it seems the characters are somewhat distracted from the main plot, largely waiting for Lemuel to translate a convenient book he’s found - convenient in that it has all the answers and plot convenient in that it’s written in a convoluted ancient language for no good reason (and, honestly it makes little sense and really is just a method of drawing out the main plot so they can focus on the smaller side plots and relations. But it works).

The plot itself does have those convenience issues and does sort of circle slowly towards the ending rather than run for it - and it has some weird road bumps with Olivia’s story kind of running mundanely across the main supernatural - there’s something dark and evil under the crossroads plot line.

Midnight Texas, Season One, Episode Seven: Angel Heart

The first season has essentially been about the residents of Midnight dealing with their secrets, past or whatever is haunting them. So far, Olivia, Manfred, Bobo and Creek have all had issues that the community in some form or other have helped them  deal with. This week, it's Joe's turn.

From pretty much the first episode, I've been complaining about the limited role that Chuy has been given.  In order to save Creek in Blinded by the Light, Joe revealed to the community that he is an angel.  This revelation as it turns out is not without consequences.  Joe is a fallen angel and it turns out that his mentor Bowie, isn't pleased with Joe's relationship. 

Bowie swaggers into town with a red leather trench coat (gotta say I love this look) and begins her search for Joe. The first person she meets is the reverend and when he won't answer her questions, she is quick to knock him unconscious. Joe is at loss as to what to do because Bowie is far older than he is and consequently much stronger.  It's Chuy who suggests that they need to turn to the friends that they've made in Midnight and ask for help.

Manfred is on his way to the meet up when he sees Bowie walking towards him and so he quickly turns around and heads into the van to get help from Xylda. It turns out that not only is Bowie a kick ass angel, she can read minds. In order to stop Bowie from being able to read where Joe is hiding from his brain, Manfred has Xylda enter his body. It's creepy and funny at the same time. Does anyone really want to share their body with a relative?

Manfred finally makes it to Olivia's and meets up with the gang.  It's now time for Joe to finally tell everyone the whole truth about who he is and his past. Joe reveals that he is an angel and that Bowie was his mentor.  Joe says that Bowie wasn't pleased that he fell in love with Chuy. It's Creek who wonders whether the is issue is that both Joe and Chuy are men.  It turns out that the issue is that Chuy is half a demon. It seems that Chuy's demon father raped his mother and his mother taught him to suppress his demon side.  Joe and Chuy met when Chuy was given a beat down by a group of men who stole everything from him. Joe was impressed that Chuy didn't fight back because he believed that if they stole from it was probably based in need.  Chuy and Joe have actually been a couple for quite some time. The crew is shocked to learn about Chuy and not impressed that though Joe and Chuy have lived in Midnight for quite some time, this is the first time they are finding out who Joe and Chuy actually are.  Creek in particular is not impressed and wonders if everyone is keeping dark secrets. 

Bowie is getting frustrated in her search for Joe and so she heads to the diner where of course Creek is working.  Bowie fixates on Creek when she recognises Creek from what she was able to pick up in Manfred's mind.  The people in the diner are naturally defensive of Creek, given what she has gone through recently but Bowie has absolutely zero empathy.  It seems that just like Joe, Bowie is now fallen.  Bowie uses what she has learned about Creek's family to hurt her terribly. Bowie uses Creek's phone to call Manfred and demand that Joe turn himself in.

The truth coming out about Joe and Chuy gives rise to a conversation between Lemuel and Olivia.  Lemuel and Olivia see themselves as a mixed couple, not because of race but because he is a vampire and she is human. It's clear that Lemuel always assumed that when the time came, he would just turn Olivia but she has other plans. Olivia knows that their relationship has an expiration date because she will continue to age while Lemuel stays the same and she will only be able to work for so long.  When the time comes, Olivia plans on leaving Midnight and Lemuel behind her because she doesn't want to be turned. Olivia wants them to enjoy what they have now for as long as they can.  Lemuel nods his head in agreement but is clearly not pleased with Olivia's assertion.

Midnight Texas, Season One, Episode Five: Unearthed

I'm just going to admit it, Midnight Texas has really started to grow on me, despite my reservations due to the fact that it's based on a series by Charlaine Harris.  Midnight Texas knows that it's cheese but still tries to infuse each episode with some drama.  It alternates between the serious and the camp quite well. So far, each episode has been about delving into backstories as a form of characterisation. In Unearthed, Bobo and Manfred are forced to deal with their pasts.

It begins for Manfred when a rock is thrown at his door. Manfred steps on his front porch to find a Manfred in box, containing a note to be at a certain location at a specific time. That's right, after all of his running, Hightower has finally found him. Xylda's advice is that Manfred simply skip the meeting. Running is what Manfred has always done but that was before he entered into a relationship with Creek. Manfred suggests to Creek that the two of them run and hide but Creek isn't about to leave her father and her brother.  Unwilling to leave Creek behind, Manfred decides that it's time to face Hightower at last.  Creek encourages Manfred to seek out the help of his neighbours but Manfred is determined to go it alone.  Creek heads to the pawnshop and sells a bunch of antiques to Bobo for 15K to pay off his debt.  Bobo picks up on the fact that Manfred is in trouble and suggests that Manfred take a gun with him. 

Bobo doesn't offer to help Manfred because he has his own problems to deal with. Earlier in the day, the biker gang drove through town and set his pawn shop on fire.  Fortunately, the town acted quickly to save the building, in the process saving Olivia and Lem's life.  It turns out however that the fire was simply a distraction so that the biker gang could kidnap Fiji.  It's Mr. Snuggles who delivers the bad news.  Fiji is taken to a building site, drugged and hidden underground. Bobo quickly gets together the ransom to free Fiji but before he can deliver it, Lem arrives at the pawnshop wanting to know what the hell is going on.  Bobo is a little resistant but when Lem points out that whatever the problem is almost got he and Olivia killed, Bobo decides to reveal his past. 

It turns out that Bobo is the son of well to do white supremacists.  When he was 17, his father took him along for a ride and he sat in the car while his father set a church on fire.  From that night on, Bobo decided that he wanted nothing to do with his family and so he stole their cache of guns, gold, and cash and left.  He's been hiding in Midnight ever since and has become something of an urban legend. Bobo figures out that the leaders of the Sons of Satan must have figured out who he really is.  Given the danger, Lemuel decides to tag along, despite Bobo being told that he has to go alone.

Manfred arrives at the location Hightower picked at the appointed time and runs into Olivia.  While Manfred was busy selling his family treasures to Bobo, Creek enlisted Olivia's help. Manfred's so incompetent that he still has the safety on his gun.  Manfred tries to send Olivia away but Olivia feels that she owes him for saving Lem from vampires. When Manfred and Olivia meet up with Hightower, he uses telekinesis to take Olivia and Manfred's guns away, forcing them to take cover. Once the guns are empty, Manfred tries to confront Hightower but it seems that Hightower is in no mood to make peace because he figures that Manfred owes him a lot more than money. It turns out that Manfred agreed to marry Hightower's daughter Violent in return for 100K but and Xyla stole the money and left Violet alone at the alter. A few days later, Violet committed suicide. Hightower wants vengeance  for the loss of his daughter which he blames on Manfred and he uses his powers to toss broken glass at Olivia and Manfred, forcing them both to flea.

Bobo drives to the meet with the Sons of Satan and Lemuel is hiding under the vehicle. Bobo hands over the cache of weapons and cash and is beaten for his trouble. Now that Lowry finally has his hands on Bobo, he's not about to let Bobo go. What's interesting is that Lowry repeatedly accuses Bobo of killing his wife, even though Bobo denies having anything to do with it.  Bobo is taken to see Fiji and Lowry delights in talking about Bobo's white supremacist past and his part in the church bombing, before leaving Bobo and Fiji locked together.

Midnight Texas, Season One, Episode Four: Sexy Beast

This week's monster is a man eating succubus. We've been warned that the end might be nigh by the resident angel Joe and proof of that is the fact that more than ever, supernatural creatures are being drawn to the area. So, there the succubus is sitting by the side of the road when she's picked up by Ted, a dudebro who might as well have asshole tattoos on his forehead.  We're conditioned not to have any sympathy for dudebro because it seems that he's stolen and sold his father's Rolex. Predictably, when the dudbro is coerced into pulling over, he becomes snack food for the succubus. 

Creek and Manfred are getting all domestic though Creek is still very much adamant that their relationship needs to stay on the downlow because her father is certain that Manfred will break her heart. I'm getting kind of tired of the policing of Creek's sexuality at this point and it seems that it won't end anytime soon.  Manfred says that he's not a bad guy and that he might be entitled to catch a break after saving them all from vampires.  Yeah, I'm team Manfred on this one. When Creek leaves, Manfred checks his phone only to find some ominous messages from Hightower. Yes, Manfred is on the run but only because he's being held responsible for his grandmother's debt. At any rate, Hightower reaching out to Manfred is enough for Manfred to decide that he needs to make some cash.

Ted's sister Patsy shows up to hire Manfred, to see if she can find out where Ted is and if Ted has the Rolex.  Manfred starts to turn Patsy down but when she offers 5K, Manfred takes the job. Manfred does his thing and he sees Ted's spirit, who talks about being snacked on "like a taco" by a hot blonde woman.   Manfred decides to investigate and when he finds the succubus, she is cleaning up in a truckstop bathroom after killing yet another man. When the succubus makes her play for Manfred, he's quick to take his leave, declaring that he's just not into her.

Back in Midnight, Fiji is getting ready for a dinner date that she's planned with Bobo.  Fiji asks Olivia to join her but Olivia declines because she has a job to do. Olivia points out that this is the perfect opportunity for Fiji to get with Bobo and recommends that Fiji step away from the peasant gear for the night. Later, as Fiji is setting the stage for her romantic dinner, she gets a call from Bobo saying that he'll be over as soon as he changes out of work gear. Of course, Bobo isn't getting ready for a hot date but trying to meet up with bikers now that he knows that they've killed the sheriff. 

Olivia's job is to kill a man who has robbed people of their 401Ks. The mark tries to plead that it was only money but he doesn't get any sympathy from Olivia on this. Olivia points out that families can be ruined by having their life savings stolen.  Olivia does the deed and leaves the building but pauses when she notices a man who was watching her when she was in the building is now sitting outside in his car.  For Olivia, this is too much of a coincidence and so she drugs him and carts him back to Midnight for a little casual waterboarding. It doesn't take long for the man to admit that he was hired by her father who supposedly just wants to keep track of Olivia and ensure that she's okay. Olivia becomes emotional and asks Lemuel to feed from her.  Lemuel is happy to oblige but he's concerned that Olivia is so upset.  After Lemuel feeds, Olivia is back to her normal self and doesn't want to discuss it.

Mr. Snuggly (oh how I love that talking cat) is facing reality faster than Fiji.  Mr.Snuggly makes his bid to have Fiji feed him some Sheppard's pie because it's become clear that Bobo isn't going to show up. Fiji holds onto hope until Joe calls and finally cancels. 

It's time for a meeting of the Midnight supernatural club.  Manfred describes what the succubus looks like to Joe, who does a sketch.  They're able to identify the succubus and Joe claims that succubi are attracted to men who've harmed women. So you know damn well that this gets Creek's attention because all the men in her family are suspicious of Manfred. At any rate, this is when Creek's little brother Connor shows up. It seems that Connor has been following Manfred all over town to see what he's up to.  Yeah, that's creepy as all get out and I don't care that Connor is only 17.  Creek is quick to send Connor on his way. 

Midnight Texas, Season One, Episode One: Pilot

This series is based on the Charlaine Harris novels by the same name.  Given that this story originates with Harris, I'm going to admit that I went into it with a certain set of doubts, despite her success with True Blood. Let's be honest, Charlaine Harris is no lover of women and doesn't write marginalised characters very well at all. 

The first person we meet is Manfred, who is a psychic.  One of his sessions goes a little bit further than he planned and a ghost ends up taking over his body. Fortunately, Manfred is able to fight off the ghost but it still leaves his client freaked the hell out.  Proving that a bad day can get even worse, Manfred gets a call from a man who is threatening him. Fortunately for Manfred, because he sees ghosts, he is able to take the advise of his dead grandmother which is to move to Midnight Texas because he will be safe there. 

On the outside, Midnight Texas looks to be a sleepy small town where nothing ever happens, except that it is filled with supernatural beings. This means that Manfred blends in quite well. Midnight Texas has angels, werewolves, witches, an ill tempered talking cat and vampires; together these creatures have formed a community of sorts.  The supernatural beings are actually a lot more welcoming than the local motorcycle gang the Sons of Lucifer. 

Manfred moved to Midnight with the hope of leading an unremarkable life and not attracting any notice but that all changes when Aubrey's body washes up dead, ruining a local fall gathering. While the town is filled with supernatural creatures, Manfred is the only one who can see an interact with Aubrey and so she reaches out to him, bloated body and all.  Having recently had a bad interaction with a ghost, Manfred decides to take some precautions before agreeing to help Aubrey and this includes making a circle and gathering up some holy water.  Using a ouija board, Manfred communicates with Aubrey and she gives him a location. The conversation however is cut short when Manfred realises that by opening the door to Aubrey, he also allowed several other spirits to make themselves known, including something red and ominous underneath his floor.  

Manfred's weird behaviour brings him to the attention of the police and so to stop them from looking into him, Manfred reveals the location that Aubrey gave him. The cops are suspect of Manfred's tip but when they drag the lake and pull up the gun which killed Aubrey, they decide that he is now necessary to the investigation and cannot leave town.  Unfortunately, the retrieval of the gun leads to BoBo, Manfred's landlord, owner of the local antique/pawnshop, and Aubrey's ex boyfriend. 

Day Shift (Midnight #2) by Charlaine Harris

Mannfred thought he was attending a normal appointment with his client – until she died in the middle of his reading

Now he is accused of theft and who knows what else – legal problems which are all the more problematic with the media attention to this secretive, small town.

Attention they especially don’t need when they have a new guest staying with the Rev – a small child who is growing up at an incredible rate and definitely does not to be caught on camera

To add to the strangeness of new people to town – the old hotel has opened and something fishy is definitely going on

I like the subtlety of this world that is slowly growing as more and more members of this small town are shown to be supernaturally different in some ways. After the last book with a lot of subtle hints, this book doubles up on the hints but is also being less coy with some being more overtly labelled. I like how this is paced and working – there’s still a lot of mystery there but it’s natural mystery. There’s no attempt to drag it out, there’s no attempt to pretend we don’t know things when clearly we do and no attempt to hint around things we already know or should already know.

This aspect of the world building really works and creates this wonderful little town full of secrets and it’s really balanced thematically. We get this really strong sense of community, everyone knows everyone else, everyone looks out for each other, everyone cares for each other they often eat together and are very neighbourly. But at the same time, everyone also respects each other’s privacy; yes everyone knows they have secrets and everyone is equally determined not to pry into anyone else’s business. This manages to make the town both very close community and also more than a little creepy. The underlying secrecy and the things they’re not talking about underpins the whole book.

Dead but Not Forgotten

Nobody's Business by Rachel Caine
Tyger, Tyger by Christopher Golden
The Real Santa Claus by Leigh Perry
Taproot by Jeffrey J. Mariotte
Knit a Sweater Out of Sky by Seanan McGuire
Love Story by Jeanne C. Stein
The Million-Dollar Hunt by Jonathan Maberry 
Borderline Dead by Nicole Peeler
Extreme Makeover Vamp Edition by Leigh Evans
Don't Be Cruel by Bill Crider
What a Dream I Had by Nancy Holder
Another Dead Fairy by Miranda James
The Bat-Signal by Suzanne McLeod
The Sun, The Moon, and The Stars by Dana Cameron
Widower's Walk by MaryJanice Davidson

The whole concept of this anthology is an unusual one – this is a book of short stories set in Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse World written by other authors – a kind of licensed fanfiction. I have to say I was very very sceptical about the concept after the debacle of After Dead and I feared another cynical, exploitative money grab aimed at squeezing every last drop out of this series and its fans.

Do I think this was another cynical money grab? Honestly, yes – but despite that, there are some quality authors here who managed to pull out some interesting elements and tell some decent stories despite that which made it a far better book than the preceding debacle.

The stories I liked where ones that took regularly occurring characters who were present enough in the series to be identifiable characters and whose little vignette added more to them or the world. So I really liked Nobody’s Business by Rachel Caine which followed Kenya and Kevin, the two under-used police officers who grew to love each other as they pursue crime as normal humans in a supernatural haunted world. It was cute, impressive and fun with Kevin’s admiration and respect for Kenya really shining through even while also conveying the prejudice against interracial couples that overshadow them. Equally I liked The Bat Signal by Suzanne McLeod for taking Luna, an interesting werebat we met only briefly, and expanding her role in trying to be more involved in helping her fellow shapeshifters even if they don’t respect what a bat can do for them, instead favouring the larger predators

Similarly, I liked Tyger Tyger by Christopher Golden which followed weretiger Quinn and touched on a lot of issues with wereanimals being revealed and why it was more shocking than vampires (blood drinking night walkers are inherently separate from humanity – while shapeshifters could, by definition, be absolutely anyone making them a more immediate threat) as well as touching on inevitable military exploitation of wereanimals and issues like senility and elder care for a secretive community like weretigers. It covered a lot in a short space and was a very satisfying story when it ended.

I quite liked The Real Santa Clause by Leigh Perry and Knit a Sweater Out of Sky by Seanan McGuire not because I was especially interested in Amelia or Diantha (or in Sookie’s domestic bliss) but because it did a lot to flesh out the concept of witches and magic which I think the series always left so very neglected. Magic was there, occasionally it got used when it was useful but we didn’t get as much into the full effects of it – like how devastatingly it could be used against a business, or the mindset of witches that was so well displayed from Amelia’s point of view.

True Blood, Season Seven, Episode Five: Return to Oz

Well it's cleanup time in Fangtasia now that the infected vampires have been vanquished.  Eric is still set on revenge but it seems that Nora has absolutely no interest in playing his game.  Pam makes it clear that Nora must obey because Eric is her maker but Nora argues back that Eric abandoned her and it was Tara who taught her how to control her impulses and how to feed. Pam succinctly reduces the issue to Nora having mommy and daddy issues when Nora points out that Pam abandoned Tara.  Finally, to end the conversation, Eric concedes that Nora has a point and reveals that the big plan is to kill the great embracer of religion, Sarah Newlin. Nora agrees to share the information she has only if Eric agrees to release her and surprisingly, he does just that. For her part, Nora reveals that Sarah has a vampire sister named Amber in Dallas, and Eric immediately starts making plans for a trip.

Ginger immediately gets upset realizing that if Eric leaves, due to his illness, she won't ever see him again.  Ginger demands to travel with Eric and Pam and is most soundly rejected.  In a fit, Ginger argues that she has been Eric's sex slave for fifteen years but since the relationship has never actually been consummated, she has actually been Eric's slave. Ginger demands that Eric either have sex with her, or allow her to travel with them. When Eric points out that he is diseased, Ginger is not deterred and claims to be diseased as well. Finally, we see the coffins being loaded with Ginger clinging desperately to them, only to be dumped unceremoniously to the ground.  I actually felt for Ginger in that moment.

Sookie returns home and gets teary eyed when she spies Alcide's iconic leather jacket hanging over the chair. Not to worry though, Lafayette and James are there to play clean up.  Heaven's knows that if Sookie is upset, everything must stop so that she can be comforted.  Lafayette, in full blown Mammy mode tucks poor Sookie into bed and even promises to be there when she wakes because he couldn't possibly have anything better to do, like mourn for the cousin he just lost.

When Sookie wakes, she find the house lit by candles and a big spread of food on the table. Sookie greats Jackson, who agrees that when Sookie is ready, they will go through Alcide's things. A laughing Jenny, James and Lafayette enter the room with even more food for the already overburdened table. Sookie declares that their efforts have been sweet but points out that she cannot eat all of the food which has been amassed. It seems that the big plan is to throw a party.  Jenny tries to suggest that death doesn't have to be sad but because that is not what Sookie believes, Sookie calls a stop to the party and  starts to take her angsty self upstairs. How dare people think that they can mourn any damn way they want to when Sookie is standing right there to be their example.  Besides, if they have a party, how can they spend their time doting on her? Lafayette stops her and suggests that they are celebrating life and that of course, Alcide wouldn't want her to be alone.

A knock on the door announces the arrival of Bill.  Of course, Sookie is still sulking that people dared to make plans without consulting her.

Eric and Pam show up at Amber's door to find that she is also infected.  After a quick search, Pam says that Sarah is not there, as Amber begins to relate how difficult it was to be the black sheep of the family, while Sarah played the role of little Ms. Perfect. Because Sarah was heavily involved in The Fellowship of the Sun, it seems that she paid Amber to stay away. It's worth noting that True Blood used the phrase, "stay in the coffin," which is yet another instance of them comparing the story they are attempting to tell, to the lives of GLBT people. When Eric reveals that the big plan is to kill Sarah, Amber quickly agrees to participate. It seems that Amber blames herself for the things that Sarah has done. Amber suggests that Sarah is going to rush straight to her parents for protection and since her parents are going to be at a gala for Ted Cruz at the Bush library, that is where they will find Sarah.  Of course, Eric plans to crash the gala.

Lettie Mae argues with her husband to have the right to go to the party which is being organized at Sookie's. Lettie Mae suggests that this will be her only chance to say goodbye Tara and points out that there isn't even enough for her to bury but the Reverend Daniels is adamant that because there are going to be vampires there that Lettie Mae should not attend. Instead the Reverend Daniels suggests that he wants to take care of Lettie Mae tonight.  Under the guise of getting more seasoning for the food, Lettie Mae heads to the cupboard but instead of grabbing cumin, grabs the Benadryl.

The party is in full swing at Sookie's and even Bill is starting to get his groove on a little bit. Jane declares that she is finally going to get her shit together after everything she has been through and promptly takes a drink. Suddenly Bill gets a far off look and it's time for another flashback.

Midnight Crossroad (Midnight #1) by Charlaine Harris

Midnight is a quiet town like no other, in the middle of rural Texas, with few people passing through. It’s a quiet place, an insular place, a place where the few inhabitants have each other’s back – but keep their secrets to themselves.

Manfred is a new inhabitant to the town and quickly finds the secrets run deep and there is far more than he imagined. Some of these secrets become exposed when a body is found…

This book shows Charlaine Harris’s main strength from the very beginning. Charlaine Harris has a great talent for truly describing a place, really getting a sense of what the town of Midnight is like. But it’s not just the place, Charlaine is extremely good at describing a community and how they all relate to each other. Even really small or background characters are fit into the overall community and the characters that make up the location.

This especially works with this series because it is such a small community as well as the very nature of the community. It’s interesting to see how close and supportive everyone is of each other, while at the same time following Mightnight’s unwritten rules – complete acceptance and not asking any questions. It’s a town for the misfits and people who can’t find somewhere to fit in anywhere else and this is really well presented – not with everyone having to be freaky or weird or odd to stand out – but just this really subtle way everyone’s secrecy has been woven into the community to create a set of unwritten rules that no-one ever has to overtly say though they’re always clearly understood.

There is a problem with pacing. This is the first book in the series and there’s a lot of introduction and description including a lot that probably isn’t necessary. A lot of the earlier part of the book is taken up setting the scene with rather more excessive detail than is necessary that clogs things a little. Especially since it seems to be a while before anyone actually gets involved in any murder investigation (though I did like the moment when Manfred questioned why they’re investigating at all since none of them are police). This slows down the general mystery as well for some time – which is a minor element of dissatisfaction along with a completely unpredictable ending.

One thing the book has is a separatist, white supremist, racist, misogynist, homophobic group. The depiction is pretty good – they’re not soft peddled or excused, they’re a repulsive as you’d expect. But they’re repulsive without the need to turn them into outright cartoonish caricatures, some of them are very very human and even nice (so long as the person they’re being nice to is a nice White Woman) but the hatred is clear. A nasty bigot doesn’t have to be frothing, they can be surprisingly pleasant people – but they’re still repellent bigots.  It also brings in some nicely weird things happening like the whole Sovereignty Movement and the bizarre actual belief that people can set up personal and pseudo states basically by claiming they have. It was pretty well done managing to revile, mock and depict these people as the danger they are. But also make it clear they are not the only sources of bigotry and people shunned the POC or gay people without being part of the hate groups.

After Dead (Sookie Stackhouse 13.5) by Charlaine Harris

When I got this book I was surprised by its length, I expected a short story not about 200 pages

Then I started reading

Most of those pages have a paragraph on them. A short paragraph. Sometimes just a sentence. None more than 2 or 3 paragraphs

Each page tells us about the future of various characters that have appeared in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Allegedly

I say allegedly because some of these characters I don’t remember. Some were utterly obscure and so many of them were just so damn minor I cannot imagine even the most obsessive, die-hard fan giving a damn about them.

Can anyone honestly tell me they’re even vaguely interest in the future of Alcide’s dead dad’s former secretary? Anyone?

What about Christian Baruch? Who? I have no damn clue. He’s a hotelier, apparently. Is there a reason I’m supposed to care?

The insurance agent in Bon Temps? Anyone care about him and his family? Noooo…?

Seriously we have pages and pages and pages or really obscure pointless characters, each with a little line denoting their future that we have zero reason to care about. It’s an entire book of padding

And of the characters we actually care about, no-one actually has an even vaguely interesting future. Bill, Sam, Pam, Sookie, Eric, Jason? Just say “and they all lived happily ever after” it would have saved people buying this dreadful money grab of a book.

Oh, except the odd character who clear has “potential new series” written all over him – right Barry the Bellhop?

I literally have a full page of notes (I always take notes as I review) that says nothing but “who cares?” and “who is this person?”

Fangs for the Fantasy Episode 122

This week we discuss the season finale of Once Upon a Time and our generally low opinion of the season. We also discussed Game of Thrones, the extreme homophobic straight washing of Da Vinici’s Demons and the awfulness that is Elena in the Vampire Diaries

Our book of the week was Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

6th May - 13th May: Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

13th May - 20th May: Tempting Danger by Eileen Wilks

20th May - 27th May: The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

27th May - 3rd June: Shapeshifted by Cassie Alexander 

3rd June - 10th June: Binding the Shadows by Jenn Bennet

10^th June - 17^th June: The Fury by L.J. Smith

 

Dead Ever After (Sookie Stackhouse #13) by Charlaine Harris

Sookie is back. And people want to kill her. For reasons (don’t ask what they are, I barely know, the book certainly doesn’t know. But then again they may have met her for 10 minutes, that could be motive enough)

Which means every character this 13 book series has ever had since the very beginning decides to pop in to wave and say hi, most of them leaving again, others staying for breakfast. Sookie whines and complains and whines and complains and whines some more with an extra side order of how awful all woman are except the Sookzilla are.

And then badness happens, convoluted rescue and Sookie ends up shagging someone half of fandom hates.

What you wanted a real recap? Seriously, there’s nothing to recap. Some random guys decide they hate Sookie and try to destroy her in a fashion that makes your average Scooby Doo villain look direct and simple. Arlene is sprung out of prison is evil and bad, dies and Sookie is framed – inelegantly – for her murder that would never have stuck anyway. Everyone rallies round the wonderful Sookie. Sookie is her usual nasty self and whines about her love life while doing nothing.

Let me preface this review with a point: I know a lot of fans are giving this book low ratings because they are absolutely horrified, shocked and appalled that Sookie didn’t end up with their lover of choice. So upset, in fact, that some of them have lost their ever loving minds.

So let me be clear, I do not care who Sookie ends up with. No, no, I do, but only in a sense of wanting to know which man to pity, which man is forced to bite the bullet, and which men manage to flee from the Sookzilla and escape her clutches.

That said, her relationship is frankly the least reason I dislike this book – what with the writing, the broken plot, the ridiculous characterisations and, of course, Sookie herself.

Firstly, since this is the last book in the series, every character there has ever been showed up to wave and say hi. These characters fit into two categories – men who turned up to remind us how awful all the other women in their lives were compared to the precious Sookie (Sam runs down his lovers – the Maenad, Jannalyn, both worse than Sookie. Quinn reflects on the mother of his child – who won’t let him nearby – and the sister Sookie disapproves of. Alcide has 1 out of three lovers Sookie found tolerable – and she’s dead). They all consider their past relationships – in some cases it’s the only reason they actually show up at all – just to remind us how wonderful and perfect Sookie is next to every other woman in the world ever.

Of course, some women return to the fold as well – and there begins the grand apology genuflections for being women who have inevitably failed the perfect Sookzilla. Tara is there to apologise for how she failed her Sookieness and later Amelia shows up to do her own penitence at the altar of Sookie perfection. It’s pretty glaring when you compare the men returning to Sookie’s service and the women – the men reflect on how bad their women were, the women are penitent about what bad people they are, because no woman can ever match the Sookzilla, no woman is allowed to be her peer, they always have to be beneath her or lesser than her because she is Sookie, the special woman. And, of course, there’s the evil evil betraying Arlene who finally gets hers! And absolutely no-one is sorry about the death of a single mother because of what she did to Sookie, she knows because she read the bar’s minds and they’re all Team!Sookie.

Even new women on the scene – like Ann and Sam’s mother – have to have their flaws paraded through Sookie’s mind to remind us how terribad wrong all other women are compared to the Sookzilla!

Review: Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris, Book 4 of the Sookie Stackhouse Series

Sookie has a new year’s resolution – no more violence, no more being beaten up, no more dangerous situations

Until she finds Eric, the ancient vampire Sheriff, running half naked down the road without his memories. This rapidly leads to her harbouring the ancient, but clueless vampire from the attentions of a vicious and lethal witch who not only has the vampires in her sights, but is also kidnapping the local witches and killing off the local werewolves as well.

As if keeping an ancient – and beautiful – vampire safe wasn’t enough, her brother has also gone missing. And it’s not like she can rely on any of the supernatural community to make finding Jason a priority at the best of times, let alone at the cusp of a war against invading vampire blood drinking werewolf witches. Which leaves it to her to investigate.

The story in this book is well done, paced and revealed. Starting from a basic standpoint – Eric being targeted and Sookie’s accommodating that was slowly expanded as we saw Hallow and her forces having a wider and more all-encompassing agenda. It wasn’t a story with twists – we had a clear enemy from the very beginning, a clear goal and the only thing that really changed was the scope of the enemy’s focus and the abilities she had in which to pursue her goals. But it wasn’t a story that needed twists, beyond a second parallel running alongside – it worked on its own back by expanding the world considerably with the witches and the werewolf pack. These new threads being drawn into the story to face off against Hallow added depth to the plot without the need for twists, turns and surprises.

I do also like a story that has multiple threads running through it, even if they act as red herrings. It makes it clear that just because something is the primary issue in Sookie’s life, doesn’t mean it’s going to be the all encompassing issue in everyone else’s and there can be several actors, with their own agendas, their own threads and their own drives. It’s good to see that not all issues are resolved with just one battle, one enemy defeated.

One thing that works well in this book and in the series in general is the community ties. I can really get a sense of Bon Temps as a real place. Everyone knows everyone else, Sookie can track relations and degrees of separations with everyone. She knows who is whose relatives, who is whose friend, their histories, their ties to everyone else in the town makes even the smallest characters into people.

The one downside to this is that, as I explain before, Sookie knows everyone and has nothing kind to say about them.

With the introduction of Claudine this world is expanded a little more – I think I’d like it a lot more if I didn’t know that it’s not going to be expanded much more on that. But the world still remains solid and interesting – the introduction of magic and witchcraft certainly adds new dimensions to the world.

We also have some excellent class commentary. Sookie, despite having advantages like a fully paid off home, is still not a rich woman. She lives on a waitress salary and she struggles. She loves her family home but dreams of a smaller, more modern house that is easier to heat and cool. She has to drive at night and the police lecture her for not having a cell phone – but she can’t afford it, nor can she afford to take the less-well paid and well tipped day shifts. Even buying basic clothing and blood for Eric are things she has to consider on her budget. In a genre where most protagonists just reach into their pockets for money without a second thought, Sookie’s totting up the pennies and worrying. It also adds a lot to her motivation. While we can often ask why urban fantasy protagonists don’t just leave or why they’re going through all this for a love interest, Sookie has that simple but essential monetary goal. Despite the very overtly labelled violence she faces, despite the risk, she can’t afford to turn down thousands of dollars.

But increasingly I’m finding it hard to like Sookie as a person. She’s so extremely judgemental and just plain nasty to everyone around her. I think she should be happy she’s the telepath and not everyone else because her inner commentary is toxic. She goes to ask Holly questions and randomly thinks about how stupid Holly’s husband’s cousin is. At Fangtasia, one of the waitresses is in agonising pain and Sookie’s mental commentary is full of mockery. She finds another dead and, again, comments on how stupid she was. Honestly you find a body and your thought is she was “dumb as a rock.” She hates Alcide’s secretary on sight and dubs her “Ms. Crispy” (and has to duck into her head to note she’s sleeping with Alcide’s father). Crystal Norris, Jason’s fling she considers to be “bitchy” and hates on sight. And she judges Jason for picking her up (and her for being picked up) never mind that she’s just had sex with Eric and justified it with “we’re adults, we’re not being disloyal to anyone, so why not?” This morality only applies to Sookie. When Andy gives her polite condolences about her brother being missing she thinks “liar” (gods forbid someone be polite!) She mentally attacks Portia, she even mentally attacks Claudine - she thinks of her as a “scrumptious slut” but when one of the were’s dares to call Sookie a “vamp hunter” Sookie starts crying and Eric attacks them.