Detective Books

This book was better than some, but Sookie is becoming annoying. I had to struggle to get through the book.

So first off the only reason I'm even wasting my time with these books is because I am totally hooked on the HBO series and I don't want to wait years to find out what happens (even though the show is really nothing like the books)...SPOILER ALERT!!! The smartest thing Sookie has done thus far is when she "rescinded" (took back) the invitation into her house from Bill and Eric, which by the way I have never read a vampire book where that is even possible. I keep hoping one of these books will actually be a good read, but holy cow I'm having a hard time justifying the waste of time!

I liked this almost as much as my favorite so far in this series, (book 4 - Dead to the World).

Sookie's boyfriend, Vampire Bill goes out of town on business and turns up missing. Sookie agrees to help find him and works with Eric (Bill's Vampire Boss) and several others, including a werewolf named Alcide.

Finding out the circumstances why Bill left in the first place (from Eric) leaves Sookie upset and somewhat heatbroken, but Sookie's a good person and wants to do the right thing.

Sookie heads to "Club Dead" to listen in on the minds of others to see if she can learn anything about Bill's disappearance. Of course Sookie gets herself in many dangerous and deadly situations during her hunt for Bill, but makes more friends (and a couple enemies) in the supernatural world along the way.

In this series, you're drawn into the supernatural world, learning much more about the Vampire heirarchy, politics and culture. This installment is smart, sexy, humorous, fun and gripping ---as are all the others in this series.

OK - I'm officially hooked on the Sookie Stackhouse series. "Club Dead" did not disappoint. I know some readers were disappointed with Bill, but you have to admit it's pretty funny that even a dead guy will cheat - come on, you're alive for eternity but can't stay faithful for a lousy couple of months!!!! Snappy dialogue, great characters, total escape. I'd be reading book 4 right now but this series has become so popular with HBO's Trueblood that the book stores in my neck of the woods have sold out! I'll be stalking my mailman until it hits my mailbox.

When I started reading the book, I had already read some reviews and knew that Bill and Sookie were facing a tough time. I didn't want to read it, because I thought they shouldn't change in their relationship at all.
Boy was I wrong: Introducing Alcide and more of Eric, it makes for better scenes and also helps Sookie's development and growing up. She seemed sulky at times and stubborn when she couldn't get Bill to do what she wanted - but this book explains more about the nature of the *beast* and how they are trying to fit into the mortal world. I can't wait to read the other books, but if you were hesitant about picking up another Sookie Stackhouse volume after book 2 - give it another go with Club Dead!

Interesting update of the vampire story, set in the new South. Plot moves quickly and holds your interest.

I started reading it after the first episode of the TV series, the actors don't reflect exactly the character appearance but I like better the actors..
This is a great, awesome, thriller, not so scifi, sexy romance book series, you have everything in it.

I love the show True Blood, so I thought I would love the book. The show is much better.

HBO is showing a new series this year titled "True Blood." The TV show is based on Charlaine Harris's book Dead Until Dark.

Based on is perhaps not true. The series follows the book almost exactly. I suspect that the first season is the first book in Ms. Harris's Southern Vampire Mysteries staring Sookie Stackhouse and the second season, I do hope there will be one, will be the second book.

The modern Ms. Stackhouse finds love with a Civil War veteran, Bill Compton, some 170 years her senior. Talk about a June-December relationship! Of course her friends, neighbors and some family members don't approve of the relationship. Not because of the age difference, rather because Mr. Compton is a vampire.

The Japanese have developed a synthetic blood allowing vampires to come out of the coffin and mainstream in normal Louisiana society. Gory murders galore happen and the vampires are, of course, accused. Sookie uses her ability to read minds to help solve the crimes.

Sookie is also called on by the vampires to assist in solving crimes within their community of true blood suckers, hangers-on called fang bangers and employees just trying to earn a living among the dead.

The Southern Vampire Mysteries are a mix of science fiction, horror and crime novels, a mixture I have not been previously exposed to. I am glad I have been. They are a great read. The one problem reading the books, I've bought all of them and am reading them in order, is that I know what is going to happen on HBO.

Dead Until Dark is the first in the "Sookie Stackhouse" series of books by Charlaine Harris. I had decided to buy the first book after watching the series, True Blood, on HBO which is based on the book. I was hopeful that the book would be well-written and I was rewarded. I couldn't put it down, and finished it the day after I received it (standard shipping and it was at my door in 2 days, nice work Amazon!). I've since ordered books 2 and 3 in the series.

The writing is solid, and the story is told from Sookie's point of view. Vampires have "come out" to the world after a synthetic blood was created for them in place of human blood. There are tensions between the recently outed vampires and human beings, but Sookie Stackhouse wants to meet one. A psychic waitress who has trouble relating to people herself, Sookie is ecstatic when Bill the vampire sits down in her section of the bar she works in. Due to her mind reading ability, she is constantly focusing on keeping peoples' thoughts out of her head. Imagine her excitement when she realizes she can't hear Bill's thoughts! Throw in a promiscuous brother, a bar owner in love with Sookie, a vampire bar, a feisty grandmother and a few unsolved murders and you have a book that never lets up. It's no great literature, and I would actually give the book 4.5 stars (I rounded up) but the writing is solid and the book is entertaining, which is all it's claiming to be. You'll burn right through it and want to get to the next one. :]

This series started going downhill a couple of books ago. This book is better than others in the series. This series is a fluff, romance teaser, with supernatural creatures. In this book the reader will meet alot of new creatures and even a vampire Queen. I hope the TV show does not turn out as bad as the books.

I am surprised that this series just gets better and better as you read it. This book makes a shift to focus more on werewolfes and shapeshifters and of course, most of them accept her. We also see a little more from the fairies.

The book picks up on the storyline that was laid in book 4. Eric has his memory back, but doesn't remember. Jason has been bitten by a werepanther and is waiting for the first full moon.

Someone is trying to kill werewolfs and shifters, the search for Debbie Pelt continues and there are attempts made on Sookie's life. While I would have liked to have seen more with the vampires in this book, we got to see enough of them and the storyline with Eric and Sookie is further developed. (love that) Lots of great and well developed plot in this book.

Definetly a page turner and a worthwhile read in this series. Looking forward to book 9.

descent. I was way disapointed in the first four books in the series. I am hooked on "True Blood" (the HBO series thats based on the books), and I've been giving two stars, but this one deserves a slightly higher rating. Sookie is growing up and not whining as much and I have to say that I love, love, love Eric, he's what keeps me reading!

Charlaine Harris has created some of the most interesting characters you'll ever hope to meet in her Southern Vampire series starring Sookie Stackhouse and a supporting cast as varied as any you could imagine. I was hooked after the first one and eagerly await each installment. You'll laugh out loud on one page and cringe on the next. I recommend this series without hesitation. Entertaining & fun.

I love this series, and I can not wait until the next book is release.

While I've loved all of the Sookie Stackhouse novels up to this one, DEFINITELY, DEAD might be the best of the bunch. It isn't just that the novel tells a great story; it contains several game changing elements. Of those in a second. Before I move forward let me issue a

SPOILER WARNING!! Many major spoilers will arise in the following review.

Before getting to the spoilers, I'd like to point out something about the nature of the ongoing narrative of the Sookie Stackhouse books. I have a strong suspicion that the Southern Vampire Mysteries or the Sookie Stackhouse Books as they are alternately known are the first novel series influenced more by television series than by other books. I can't prove this, but with one major exception I cannot think of any other books that have the overall narrative structure that these books do. On the other hand, I can think of several TV series that do. The one series of novels is one that is unlikely to have much influence here, Patrick O'Brian's magnificent Jack Aubrey/Maturin novels, detailing the adventures of a Royal Navy officer and his friend Maturin, who is a physician and spy. (I give these books, by the way, the highest possible recommendation.) Each novel begins shortly after the end of the previous novel. Some begin immediately after the events of the previous one, essentially forming a chapter in a staggeringly huge master narrative. The Sookie Stackhouse novels are very much in this vein. Some of the books recommence only a couple of weeks after the close of the previous one. In this way the books resemble TV series like BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (unquestionably a major influence on the books). Each season of BUFFY picked up only a few months after the end of the previous season (the passage of time being that of summer). ANGEL, a spin off of BUFFY, is another likely influence. Other series in the early part of the decade that pursued an ongoing, unbroken narrative would include THE GILMORE GIRLS, DARK ANGEL, ALIAS, FELICITY, and SMALLVILLE. I don't know how many of these series Charlaine Harris might have watched (BUFFY and ANGEL are definites -- there are overt reference to the books and Sookie not only owns tapes of both shows, she shows them to Eric during his period of amnesia). Whether or not these shows had the kind of narrative influence that I imagine, there is no doubt that Harris undertakes a narrative strategy not common in long series. Each novel picks up only a few weeks after its predecessor. There will be exceptions -- although DEFINITELY, DEAD was set in New Orleans and appeared in print just after the catastrophe of Katrina, the subsequent novel, ALL TOGETHER DEAD, would move the plot several months ahead to a few weeks after Katrina in order to make it clear that the earlier novel was pre-Katrina. DEFINITELY, DEAD, however, takes place only a few weeks after the end of DEAD AS A DOORNAIL.

DEFINITELY, DEAD sees Sookie going to New Orleans to settle the estate of her deceased cousin Hadley, who had been a vampire for a short period of time, and the beloved of the Queen of Louisiana. This part of the novel is laced with political intrigue and is crisscrossed with two B-plots, the ongoing investigation of the death of their daughter Debbie Pelt (Sookie had shot her with a shotgun in self-defense in an earlier novel) and the blossoming romance with the renowned weretiger Quinn. (Side note: I absolutely detest Quinn. Though he seems a nice enough soul, he has a habit of calling Sookie "babe," a crime for which he should be imprisoned. OK, just a personal whim, but whenever Quinn talks I get nauseous.)

During the course of the novel's events Sookie learns two things that are what are certainly game changers. I mean, everything you thought you knew about earlier books is turned on its head. First, Sookie learns that Bill originally came to Bon Temps on the orders of the Queen. She had learned through Hadley of Sookie's telepath abilities and Bill was sent to seduce her so that she could be recruited to do service for the Queen. Learning this almost destroys Sookie's world. A great deal of her self-esteem had been constructed on having been loved by Bill Compton, even if he did betray her later. Obviously this betrayal will feature prominently in the story to come. Although Bill tried his best to explain to Sookie that he had fallen utterly, truly in love with her, Sookie is determined to "abjure" him just as Alcide had Debbie Pelt in an earlier book. The second huge game changer was Sookie learning that she is not purely human. We had earlier in the novel learned that it wasn't an accident that Sookie's fairy godmother Claudine (who we learn is aspiring to become an angel) had been directed to be Sookie's guardian. She indicates that there is a reason, but she is unable or unwilling to explain what that is. So it is no surprise later in the book when the Queen's companion and friend Andre informs Sookie that she has some fairy blood in her. Sookie speculates that one of her grandparents, perhaps, had been either a fairy or part fairy. More, obviously, to follow.

One other important addition to the cast of characters in DEFINITELY, DEAD, besides the Queen and Andre, is the New Orleans witch Amelia, who for reasons I won't go into returns at the end of the novel to Bon Temps to live for a while away from New Orleans. In the next novel she the term of her residence in Bon Temps is unclear because of Katrina, but for a while at least seems certain to be renting the upstairs part of Sookie's house.

What has increasingly delighted me in reading these books has been the way that Harris has kept the series fresh by injecting new characters and new twists of the plot, while keeping everything in control with a deft touch. To contrast it with the Anita Blake stories, the latter started off more promising than good, but then got sillier and sillier as new elements were added. Eventually the novels because nothing more than sex books. The work with the police that Anita did for the police that was so important early on in the series becomes increasingly peripheral. I started thinking about ceasing to read the books only a few books into the series, continuing because I kept hoping that it would return to its initial promise and become something interesting again. The Sookie Stackhouse books, on the other hand, have stayed fresh and original and fun.

I was disappointed in this installment of the Southern Vampire series, a very unusal occurance for me as I have really loved them all. I didn't seem to have the flair, humor and excitement that the others did.

Lots of vampire politics in this book, which is very intersting, but not as many intesting plot twists as in the previous books. Also, I really missed Bill and Eric, two strong characters that have helped make this series what it is. They really took a back seat in this one and I found I missed them. They made a somewhat brief appearances, though each appearance does bring some degree of drama. Their appearances brought the most interest to the book as we have really come to know them well.

There's a lot going on in this story line. Sookie has a new love interest, a weretiger named Quinn. Sookie learns of her just passed cousin and makes some royal connections along the way. There's a major twist on Bill, and also we find out more on Sookie's background. I still liked the story, but I don't see myself reading this one multiple times like I have the others in this series.

If you love this series, it's definetly worth your time, but it's not as enjoyable as the other 7 (so far). I got this book from the library and have most of them in audio and print, but the only reason why I may consider buying it is to complete my collection. I doubt I will go back and read it again.

better?...For the life of me I can't figure out why these books are so popular. I started watching the show "True Blood" on HBO and thought holy cow I have to read the books because I can't possibly wait to see what happens. After borrowing the entire series from a friend I started reading and was dumbfounded! The writing and story flow is/was awkward. I have to admit after book four they have gotten better, but I still can't bring myself to rate this series above a three star. I will finish the series only because I am crazy about Eric. I am a avid reader (not a book a week like some "avid" readers claim, but a true a book a day or every other day reader). There was a part in this book that just absolutely blew my mind, which doesn't happen often because I've seen it all. Sookie finally gets face to face with Debbie Pelts parents and explained to them why and how she killed their daughter, and all they say is "That sounds like her". What the ****? I have never seen a story line that has been the highlight of two novels dropped and was over with so fast. Am I the only person on the planet who just doesn't get it?

Definitely Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 6)
Charlaine Harris really knows how to write a book, if you like your vampire series with a bit of humor you will like these books, if you like your mysteries with a bit of what we call "Woo Woo" (in other words weird stuff)
then you'll like Ms.Harris's Southern Vampire series and if you find you like it find the rest Sookie Stackhouse is a kick and coming in September 2008 on HBO, the series based on this books called "True Blood".

I started watching the show and wanted to read the books. As much as I love to read, I wish I would not have started this series. It is going downhill fast. The books are feeling rushed and Sookie's love life is now the main focus of the series. It is now a mass market series with little or no plot and Sookie is more annoying and weak minded as ever.

This is a good though curious book. On the micro level it is quite excellent; on the macro level it raises several interesting questions. First and foremost, I wonder how large the audience is for a work such as this. The ideal reader would be both someone with a solid background in cultural studies and someone intimately acquainted with the music of Dusty Springfield, and most likely anyone intimately acquainted with her music would be a self-identified fan. I would qualify as someone fairly familiar with cultural studies, but while I enjoy many of the songs of Dusty Springfield, I would hardly be identified either by myself or by anyone else as a fan. I acknowledge that she is one of the great pop singers that Great Britain has produced, but her music does not speak to me in an especially powerful way and I identify with her very little or not at all. I recognize her importance and even brilliance, but her music does not have a deep emotional resonance for me as it does for many of her fans. On the other hand, of her passionate fans, how many are equipped to work their way through a book that is sometimes quite accessible to nonacademics, while at other times would be, I suspect, quite challenging for someone not in the academy. I suspect that many turning to it for a popular account of the music of Dusty Springfield will be disappointed.

If you are going to get everything out of this book that you can, you need a better collection of Dusty Springfield's music than I possess. I have three Dusty Springfield anthologies and one regular album -- The Hits Collection, The Best of Dusty Springfield, Goin' Back: The Very Best of Dustry Springfield, and Dusty in Memphis -- and I had only a healthy fraction of the songs that were discussed in the book. So, I was at a huge disadvantage in that I couldn't hear many of the songs discussed. I am not a big enough fan to lay out the money for the box set, Simply . . . Dusty, but I'm not certain that even that would give someone all the songs that they would need. I suspect that truly to appreciate this book, you would need very close to the entire discography. And if you are not familiar with Dusty Springfield as a visual performer, as I was not, Youtube is invaluable. There are luckily a huge number of her performances uploaded there. Many of them are unfortunately from TV shows where she lipsynched, but on many of them she actually sings.

Still, I learned a great deal about Dusty Springfield by reading this. It is not a biography, but it contains a comprehensive discussion of the nature of Dusty's music and vocal art. If you were only a casual fan before, as I was, you will come away from the book having a very solid understanding of precisely what it is that her staunchest fans value about her. I also benefitted by listening to her music more intently than I ever had before. Previously I had listened to each of my Dusty Springfield alubms several times each, but this was the first time that I had listened this intently to her. For nearly a week about the only thing I listened to on my iPod was Dusty Springfield songs. My lone complaint with the book's discussion of Dusty's vocal art is that it doesn't acknowledge some of her weaknesses. Though the author is very frank that the years were not kind to her voice due to the heavy use of drugs and alcohol, I don't think there is sufficient bluntness about the fact that by the late seventies her voice was not the amazing instrument that it was in the sixties. When you listen to her recordings from the sixties, you are astonished at what a versatile and astonishing voice that she had, a voice that was seemingly capable of anything. But the recordings from the late seventies on, however, seem strategies in compensating for things that she could no longer do vocally. Also, the recordings from the seventies, eighties, and nineties are really pretty awful. Granted, I only have songs from those decades that were included on my anthologies, but these songs are very bad. It leaves you to ponder how bad the other songs on those albums were. Additionally, while the author mentions that Dusty sang in a vast range of musical genres, there is no hint that she sang some of them rather poorly. I've never heard a country song that Dustry Springfield sang without a cringe. I grew up on country and folk and blue grass, and my idea of an authentic country voice is grounded in Earl and Scruggs, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, the Stanley Brothers, Loretta Lynn, and artists of that ilk. When I hear Dusty Springfield sing country, it puts me in mind of the absolutely horrible version of the Louvain Brothers' "The Christian Life" that the Byrds did on SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO with Roger McGuinn on lead vocal. It sounds like a parody of a country song. If you listen to the version with Gram Parsons's singing lead on the bonus cuts of that CD you'll hear country the way it ought to be sung. I know the Springfields were beloved and all, but the difference between Dusty Springfield singing "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" and Linda Ronstadt's singing it is similar to the difference between McGuinn and Parsons on "The Christian Life."

I loved most of the detailed discussions contained in the book. I really enjoyed the discussion of the pop aria (many of Randall's comments about the songs that Dusty sang in that vein could be applied equally to those of Roy Orbison, a singer who has many parallels to Dusty Springfield) and about the role of camp in her music. I also enjoyed the close attention to Dusty's recording techniques, especially as these were at the root of many of the tensions in her Stax recording sessions. (Randall is not a big fan of DUSTY IN MEMPHIS, and I will confess that I find that album somewhat overrated, though I will add that "Son of a Preacher Man" is one of the most transcendentally glorious singles in the history of rock, and she certainly excepts that song from the other criticisms she has of the album.) The one real problem I have with the book is that while the individual topics are discussed with great insight, I was never quite clear on what the point of the book as a whole was. It does, in fact, feel more like four separate essays that have been loosely connected than a real book. Because they are all about Dusty Springfield, the essays are unified by subject matter, but even so they are distinct from one another.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed both reading this book and listening to the music that it drove me to. Dusty Springfield is still not a major figure in my own life as a listener of music, but I have a much deeper appreciation of and knowledge of her music than I did before. I still am uncertain as to who will be best equipped to read the book, academics with the requisite intellectual background or fans with the requisite knowledge of and passion for the music of Dusty Springfrield. But maybe are more of each than I imagine.

This is the best book of the series. Sookie is stronger and the rest of the characters are more developed. The plot and writing are weak, but not as bad as in previous books.

This book was jammed packed full of action and we learn some new things about the vampires (like about Pam's past, Eric's present feelings etc.

A good portion of the book takes place at the Vampire Summit and we are introduced to a whole new group of vampires, including the "royals" and get to see some old friends. We also learn more about the vampire politics and get to hear how the aftermath of Katrina affected that community.

Sookie's love interst is Quinn, the well-respected, tough weretiger who is there to coordinate the event and that heats up a bit. Meanwhile, her tie to Eric is strengthened. The only other telpath that Sookie knows, Barry, is also there and it's fun to see them interact in their heads. We also see a "were" turned vamp named Jake. That's an intersting storyline.

Lots of action in this one. Vampires against other vamps and we also hear from the Fellowship of the Sun again. The cover of the book is so appropriate and it's a fun journey to see you take there. Other than book 4 in this series (which is hands down my favorite), it's hard to pick which ones I like best, but I certainly enjoyed this one ALOT.

Now that I've read the whole series, this one is my favorite in the series. You get to see Sookie's personality develop, as well as alot of other characters including Quinn. The tempo of the book is different then the other books because most of it isn't set in Bon Temps. Most of it takes place at a vampire confrance, with lost of vampire politics, and "supes" interaction. It never stops! You're either learning about the supernatural community, or Sookie's life is in danger, either way, I was engrossed.
If you like this series, this book won't disappoint. If you haven't read the first 6 books Ms Harris does a really good job or "recapping" what you need to know about the first books without making it boring for those that have.

This book is action packed, and I highly recommend. It has to be paired with the next book in this series, the eighth book. I would consider books 7 & 8 together, to get the complete story. The 7th book is just a launching pad to the 8th book. So, as you finish book 7, have the next book on hand, ready to go!

Now, in book 7, we are introduced to Vin Diesel, oh, sorry, I mean the wer-tiger Quinn. He's great, but in comparison to the Vamps, his character just doesn't hold up. By book 8, he is gone.

Other sideline love interests get wrapped up as well, pretty much leaving things up to Bill and Eric.

Eric's character develops quite a bit in these two books, and he becomes much more likable and relatable. Sookie becomes more attached to him, for both physical and emotional reasons. He is a contender for Sookie's heart.

Bill, Bill, Bill. What can I say? He is a lout, and more of his mistakes become known. He mopes around quite a bit. Still, I think we all know that Sookie and Bill ultimately belong together. Hopefully, in the future, Bill will actively try to win Sookie's forgiveness, rather than passively watching from the shadows.

After all the action in books 7 and 8, Sookie's character grows up a bit, and she realizes that she is capable of doing things she never thought she would. In view of her own compromised morals, her anger towards Bill softens by the end of book 8. And, Bill finally seems to be ready to fight for Sookie's love. I have to say, Bill's moping around was getting a little old!

Hopefully, Ms. Harris will write the next book SOON. 2009? Please? The 8th book kinda wraps things up, leaving the reader at a comfortable place.

A new Vampire regime is in place, along with a reorganized wer-pack, and the horizon is wide open for all sorts of new Sookie adventures.

Fearless Fourteen is every bit as funny as the last book. It's brilliant over the top fun and the love triangle with Morelli and Ranger is now nearing breaking point. When will Stephanie make up her mind for good?
There's lots more fun in here for fans of the rest of the series and I'm now looking forward to reading the next one.
Good fun.

OK, I won't beat the plot to death, although I have to admit I don't think "14" will be my favorite. My complaint is with the LOUSY packaging of my UNabridged CDs.

Am I the only one that listens to books in the dark? If not, these are all but impossible to use, and I wouldn't suggest you try to change CDs while driving or whatever. Some of the "pages" in the cardboard book have 2 slots, and the slots are loose enough that 2 CDs can easily fit into them. This makes a mess trying to change CDs without turning on the light, and I frequently gave up and did so. If I turn the "book" upside down--52 card (or 7 disk) pick up. Turn it sideways, 7 disk pick up again. Maybe my "book" missed a trip through the glue machine, but gimme a break!! I got so sick and tired of picking up the scattered disks that I usually listened to the same one again (or turned on the light). This has NEVER been a problem before, not even with the 2 "book" sets with a boatload of CDs, like Harry Potter; I have developed ways of dealing with them, if the CDs will stay in place and are given their own pages. Especially with only 7 CDs, I fail to see the need to scrimp on space to such a degree.

How about a better package for "15," huh??!!

This is more of the same--our fearless protaganist haplessly makes her way through life with sexy guys on standby.
If you liked it before, you'll like it now; it's a nice "twinkie" story (light on substance but fun to eat...I mean, read).

This series is my absolute favorite "relax and read". Such great characters and always makes me laugh- perhaps after 14 there are just so many high expectations that fans get overly critical. Every person I recommend this just adores Stephanie Plum. Keep em coming Evanovich- but hey can you throw us a bone and get Stephanie to pick Ranger?

Excellent book. It was nice to learn about Joe's family. It was nice that Ranger took a back seat in this book. Sometimes the conflict over the 2 men gets long. She needs to pick Joe and move on.

I grew up in Salem, and I was very excited when I heard about this book. Sadly, the best thing I can say about it is that it mentioned lots of familiar places. I found the story to be disjointed and garbled. The story is written from the points of view of two of the characters. One of them is written in the first person and the other in the third person which I found odd. Also, there were a lot of questions left unanswered when I finished the book. On the whole, I found this book more frustrating than entertaining.

This story has a little bit of everything from romance to mystery. It delves into personal tragedy with a "sixth sense" climax. I loved it and would recommend to many.

I was only going to give this book 3 stars, but the ending was really good, if a bit melodramatic. I agree with another reviewer who said it was slow going in parts but filled in the gaps well in the end. The ending really did it for me. It was powerful and really highlighted the authors skill of bringing together all the little bits and pieces that were left out there for us to wonder about. There is a bit much of the water imagery throughout the book though.

Brunonia Barry's THE LACE READER grabs the reader's attention from the first page, and never disappoints. It's well-written, well-edited, and tells quite a "tall tale" that seems real. I read it almost nonstop and immediately sent it to my best friend, who quickly emailed "Read one page and I'm hooked." It's clear why this book has gotten the attention that it has. I can only hope that the author will write more.

THE LACE READER (Novel/Susp-Towner Whitney-Mass-Cont) - VG
Barry, Brunonia - 1st book
Wm. Morrow, 2008, ARC - ISBN: 9780061688584

First Sentence: My name is Towner Whitney.

Towner Whitney grew up in Salem, Massachusetts, a town known for the witch trials in the 1600s and where, in the present, witches have become a major economic asset; except to Cal and his group of "Calvinist" religious fanatics. Tower descends from a family of women who read the future using lace as the medium.

Having lived in California for the past 10-years and recovering from surgery, she returns to Salem after being notified that her Aunt Eva, who principally raised her, is missing. Coming back to Salem is memories and relationships, including Cal, whom she believes is responsible for Eva's disappearance.

The story begins with our being told that everything Towner tells us is a lie and everything told by the narrator is true. It is important to keep that distinction in mind. But rather than it being a lie, it's about memory and a distorted perception of what is true. This changes as the story unfolds.

There is a theme of circles throughout the story; the circle of women whether they be the lace makers, the witches or the Red Hat Ladies, and the circle of past and present. For Towner, it's her life, memories and the relationships with those around her.

Towner is a fascinating protagonist and certainly unusual. She is a seer and a lace reader, but you never quite know where things stand with her. When young, she and her sister broke into a house and cleaned it. "The kind of thing only a girl would do."

It's not the easiest book to follow But it is a compelling story with a wonderful sense of place, wry humor, a paranormal element that I very much enjoyed, and some very good suspense that kept me turning the pages wanting to know how it would end.

It's not a perfect book. There were some threads begun and left hanging. But I was reading the ARC and can hope those were corrected in the final version. I may just be curious enough to buy the final to find out.