Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse, #12)

by Charlaine Harris

In the penultimate novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series—the inspiration for the HBO® original series True Blood—Sookie Stackhouse must work with her first love to clear her current undead flame of murder...

Felipe de Castro, the vampire King of Louisiana (and Arkansas and Nevada), is in town. It’s the worst possible time for a human body to show up in Eric Northman’s front yard—especially the body of a woman whose blood he just drank. Now it’s up to Sookie and Bill Compton, the official Area Five investigator, to solve the murder. Sookie thinks that, at least this time, the dead girl’s fate has nothing to do with her. But she is wrong. She has an enemy, one far more devious than she would ever suspect, who has set out to make Sookie’s world come crashing down.

• ISBN10: 0425256383
• ISBN13: 9780425256381
• Publish Date: 26 March 2013 (first published 1 May 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin USA
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780425256381

Reviews

[inlibrisveritas]

I stopped reading Sookie Stackhouse years ago and totally forgot that I even had this one still on the shelf until I was doing a bit of purging. I didn’t want to get rid of the series without at least trying to read it, so I sat down and gave it a shot. I’m thankful the books move so quickly because I had a ton of problems with this one.

Book eleven, Dead Reckoning, gave me a lot of problems and just fell flat…so I expected much of the same from Deadlocked, and I was right. You can tell that Harris never intended the series to last this long, because the stories have become sort of tired feeling. Sookie even sort of shrugs off somethings that would have truly bothered her before, because at this point in the game she’s really use to people dying and weird crap happening. She’s also become incredibly moody, and a lot of the problems she has with other people doesn’t really present itself outside of her own thoughts until about half way through. In fact other than the standard murder mystery that sort of causes problems for the werewolf and vampire community nothing really happens. We get some introduction to the problems Eric is having with the current ruler of Louisiana, which I thought would take more of a precedent given the events of the previous book…but that’s not the case, we get to see them talk about it but much is left in the air as the characters test each other and heir loyalties.

Sookie’s relationship with Eric was one of my favorite things about the last book, granted it wasn’t spectacular but I really like him and he had his crap together enough that I didn’t see him being an out right issue in her life. But that’s changed, and for some reason they are becoming distant with each other and we don’t find out why really until about half way through.The whole faerie thing has run it’s course and gotten old, and even Sookie is completely tired of it. And by the end of the book things have been completely tided up. It’s like the whole plot was basically a giant broom and it pushed all the problems everyone was having right under the rug, so that we’re basically starting with one singular problem for book thirteen.

I’ll probably read the last book, since it is the last one, but I am in no hurry whatsoever. Harris’ writing style is still one of my favorites and it has that comfortable feel to it, but the story itself is really ready to be done with by this point and I can see why so many people started to fall off the bandwagon with these last two books. I just don’t see what could possibly happen in the next book, there just doesn’t seem to be much left to do.

[celinenyx]

We are nearing the end. Deadlocked is the 12th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. In the 11th book, Dead Reckoning, I had already noticed that all of the character lost their lustre. In Deadlocked this downward spiral is continued.

Who even knows what this book is about? The main plot is distracted from so often that it can barely called a conflict. Most page time is dedicated to reconnect with characters from past books. It's like watching a puppet show, where every five minutes a new puppet is pulled out of a hat, forced to dance around with Sookie-puppet for three minutes, and then return to where they came from.

Sookie has become a caricature of herself. Sure, she has never been the smartest bulb in the bunch. But she knew how to take care of herself, and she had a certain amount of wisdom. Sookie's interior monologue has become ridiculous at this point in the series. I've written down a list of quotes with the header "Sookie being an idiot", and I can tell you, it's quite a long list. I'll add some quotes once I find my copy of the book.

Writing, in the current society, is never a purely artistic endeavour. In order to get published a certain business sense is required. It's not shameful to write within a certain genre because a certain genre sells - as long as the story the author is telling is an authentic one. Writers who truly love their characters, can pass that feeling along to their readers. Even though books, in their essence, are only words on paper, writers can convey a feeling of worth through its medium. Reading Deadlocked, the only feeling I got was that Harris was bloody sick of Sookie, and wanted to be done with this series so her publisher would be satisfied and she would never have to write her ever again.

[zooloo1983]

So I had to reflect on this and the series as a whole before I wrote a review.

If it wasn't for the fact I was listening to these on audio book as I was driving and I enjoyed the woman who read them and all her accents I'm not sure I would be here now about to read the last book.

The book seems to bound along but to nothing.

So we a murder that Eric is accused of, so you feel this will be quite prominent in the book but we bounce around and around with a lot of other sub plots which some how all link together but Sookie can never see it.

I was with everyone else rooting for Sookie and Eric to work through the arranged marriage but it looks bleak. And when Eric couldn't understand why she saved Sam well that was a big no no. (I'm also rooting for Sam!)

The big let down for me was in a very few pages we find out it was Claude all along who set Eric up...remember the murder which then you forget about,it was just too rushed. Why put Sookie in that position if you "love" her. And then all the fairies disappear. There were too many loop holes and too many unanswered questions.

I am glad that I'm now on. The last book. I loved the TV show and as much as I would have loved to seen some characters to have come to life on TV I do think I am in preference to that. But I'm also sad to think all the time I'm invested into everyone it will be sad to say bye. Just hope the last book as a bit of umph in it!!!

[Rinn]

Going to write a post on my thoughts about the series, including perhaps a mini review of this, soon.

[ibeforem]

This book was pretty much on par with the other recent Sookie novels. Okay, but not great, or even particularly good. On the plus side, at least one major plotline (about the fae) in the series has been wrapped up, and none too soon, in my opinion. In a series already full of vampire and were- politics, did we really need fae politics on top of it all?

Sookie’s love life is still a mess, and at this point I’m not sure where I want her to end up. She is feeling a little lost, and so is this book.

One big problem Harris continues to have is the constant need to either repeat things that the reader should already know (especially this far into a series) or to go on and on and on about the day-to-day drivel of Sookie’s life. I get that she wants to insert some normalcy into her life, but I really don’t need to read about everything Sookie does to get ready to go visit her lawyer.

Overall, I enjoyed it enough, but the series doesn’t excite me as much as it used to. I listened to it on audio, and I probably would have been more bored with it in print.

[ellieroth]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! qué final!!!!

[MurderByDeath]

A great read, although I really didn't care for the ending - it was a good ending, just not the ending I wanted ;) - which is the only reason it got 4 stars instead of 5. Ms. Harris gets back a bit to basics with a murder mystery driving all the startling revelations Sookie must endure in this book. Quite a bit of resolution takes place as well, although more than enough is left hanging to make early readers like myself curse the year we'll have to wait for the next book.

[Linda]

3.5 stars
I rather liked this instalment of the Southern Vampire series :) A whole lot of stuff happened, of course, and Sookie had to fight both physically and mentally on all fronts.

What I didn't like was that there was so little Eric in the whole story, and I was disappointed with the lack of actual communication between Sookie and Eric. I also didn't like that Sookie was left to fend for herself, with nobody to really look out for her for a while.

I loved some of the visits she got, and I was very happy with how some of her problems were solved as well.

The writing was very fast paced, but I do agree with some of my Goodreads friends that the voice has changed a little since Trueblood started. At the same time, Sookie has grown, and has been through a lot of things, so that might also be partly what has changed, not the fact that there is a TV show losely based on the books.

[e_rodz_leb]

Well *sigh in relief* that wasn’t so bad. After being sorely disappointed with the last two books in the series, I have to say that Deadlocked was an improvement. Not to say that I’m completely happy as to where the story is going, but overall it was a much better book.

This is book 12 in a long series (this is the next to last book) and I will try my best not to spoil it for you, but I have to mention things that happened in the previous books, so please be warned that there will be spoilers from other books in the series.

Sookie is as always a delightful character. She is charming, beautiful, with good manners, personable, loyal and brave. She had had a really hard time in the past and is trying to cope with all the supernatural things that happen all around her. Trouble is always following Sookie around and it is part of what makes me keep reading the series. She had to make some really tough choices this time around and I am proud of her for what she did.

Eric… hmm. Eric is much more himself in this installment, but he hardly makes an appearance since he is busy with the body found in his front yard, Felipe de Castro’s visit and the visit of his intended. I wish things were different between them and I don’t know what to think anymore. Bill makes a longer appearance in Deadlocked, which was refreshing. I’ve always have a soft spot for Bill and his undying love and support for Sookie, I am glad they remained friends.

There is no lack of characters in Deadlocked, we get to visit with Warren, Alicide, Niall, Claude, Dermott, Pam, Bubba, Tara, Kennedy, Sam and much more. I know that sometimes all the re-capping that happens in sequels can be boring, but I was glad of it in this case, otherwise I would have been hopelessly confused.

The plot was better that the last two books, although I wish certain things related to Eric, the fairies and the werewolves didn’t happen (sorry for being so cryptic, but WHY, OH WHY!?). Don’t worry; I’m saving all my spoilery comments for the review of the last book :) The writing as great, I really like Charlaine Harris’ style and character building. After so many years, I honestly don’t know how she keeps all the characters straight in her head!

And not it begins the excruciating wait to the last book, *sigh again* next year.

About the cover: These are always beautiful covers. Here we see Sookie, with the Cluviel Dorr (probably spelled it wrong, sorry!), wolves looking at her and an envelope in her hand.

[lizarodz]

Well *sigh in relief* that wasn’t so bad. After being sorely disappointed with the last two books in the series, I have to say that Deadlocked was an improvement. Not to say that I’m completely happy as to where the story is going, but overall it was a much better book.

This is book 12 in a long series (this is the next to last book) and I will try my best not to spoil it for you, but I have to mention things that happened in the previous books, so please be warned that there will be spoilers from other books in the series.

Sookie is as always a delightful character. She is charming, beautiful, with good manners, personable, loyal and brave. She had had a really hard time in the past and is trying to cope with all the supernatural things that happen all around her. Trouble is always following Sookie around and it is part of what makes me keep reading the series. She had to make some really tough choices this time around and I am proud of her for what she did.

Eric… hmm. Eric is much more himself in this installment, but he hardly makes an appearance since he is busy with the body found in his front yard, Felipe de Castro’s visit and the visit of his intended. I wish things were different between them and I don’t know what to think anymore. Bill makes a longer appearance in Deadlocked, which was refreshing. I’ve always have a soft spot for Bill and his undying love and support for Sookie, I am glad they remained friends.

There is no lack of characters in Deadlocked, we get to visit with Warren, Alicide, Niall, Claude, Dermott, Pam, Bubba, Tara, Kennedy, Sam and much more. I know that sometimes all the re-capping that happens in sequels can be boring, but I was glad of it in this case, otherwise I would have been hopelessly confused.

The plot was better that the last two books, although I wish certain things related to Eric, the fairies and the werewolves didn’t happen (sorry for being so cryptic, but WHY, OH WHY!?). Don’t worry; I’m saving all my spoilery comments for the review of the last book :) The writing as great, I really like Charlaine Harris’ style and character building. After so many years, I honestly don’t know how she keeps all the characters straight in her head!

And not it begins the excruciating wait to the last book, *sigh again* next year.

About the cover: These are always beautiful covers. Here we see Sookie, with the Cluviel Dorr (probably spelled it wrong, sorry!), wolves looking at her and an envelope in her hand.