Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris, the latest Sookie Stackhouse novel, immediately jumped to No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list upon its release. The public passion for vampire/werewolf stories is evident by the number of authors using this subject matter.

For those of you not familiar with Sookie, she herself has enough fairy blood to be able to read the thoughts and emotions of those in close proximaty. Her roommate, Amelia, is a witch. Sookie has had relationships with were-animals and vampires, but because of a strange ritual is now bound to super-hunk-vampire Eric. Sookie works as a barmaid at Merlotte's, a hangout for many of the mystical creatures.

Because of rumblings in the fairy world, Sookie's life is in danger. Eric and other friends do their best to protect her, but those after her can be very devious.

Sookie's brother Jason's ex-wife is found horribly murdered, crucified on a crude cross. Anti-werecreature activists are suspected in this terrible deed, but Sookie is determined to solve the crime herself.

This book is action-packed and fast moving. However the writing seems a bit amateurish, and the number of creatures and their strange proclavities is a bit hard to keep straight. Expect plenty of violence and sexual entanglements of a non-human, mystical sort. Many readers are intrigued by tales of these potentially dangerous mythical beings and their interaction with the human world. The rest of the literary world would probably prefer something more closely resembling reality. On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate it a 3.