Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse, #11)

by Charlaine Harris

[inlibrisveritas]

Well Sookie is back and...well she's lost a bit of momentum. It has the same comfortable pace and nearly the same flow as the past novels...but it just doesn't feel the same anymore.

The plot has the same aspects as all of the others. Some thing happens that pulls Sookie back into the danger that she wishes would go away, and then you spend the whole novel trying to figure out the who, the what, and the how. It's all very standard Sookie. I think the thing that brings this novel down is that there isn't much that goes on and there are a lot of recaps for some reason. I think the recaps are for those who don't want to read previous novels or perhaps majority of the people who read these have terrible memories and need to be reminded of the same thing every 4 chapters. I found it really irritating to be told that Dermot looks like Jason but isn't actually Jason every time the guy shows up. As for the action, it starts off strong but it just kind of dwindles down as the story goes on. It does pick up a few times but it quickly levels out after a couple of pages. I did find out some things that I've been wondering about for a few books now, so that's great...but it also opened up some more questions.

Sookie actually got on my nerves this time around, and I had to take breaks whenever she said something stupid. It wasn't often but you would think after ten books of this stuff she would be kind of on par with things. She's great when it comes to the paranormal and weird, but the simple things just seems to throw her for a loop at times. Eric and Pam are still an awesome duo and I still enjoyed their parts of the story, in fact I wish there had been more of them in this one. Dermot and Claude provide a bit of cloudiness to the plot because it's rather obvious they are keeping secrets but for the most part they are also absent. I almost hate the fact that some characters are only brought into the story to add unnecessary conflict, like Alcide and Amelia. It's just distracting and irritating, and I kept asking myself "who would do that?" because it wasn't all that thought out. It's an obvious plot device and just kind of makes everything a bit weird.

At any rate, it's a good continuation but it's not great. I think after eleven books I'm just kind of ready to put Sookie on the shelf and remember the good times, but since there are only two more books there isn't that much of a reason not to finish. I do want to find out what is going on with the Fae and I want to see the outcome of Eric's predicament with the Queen of Oklahoma, so there is a bit of desire for the next ones. I think if you are wondering if you want to continue the series I can't say I recommend this one, it's very middle of the road and only serves as a filler book.