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All Together Dead
Sookie Stackhouse Series, Book 7
Southern Vampire Mysteries

by Charlaine Harris

      All Together Dead is the seventh foray into the Sookie Stackhouse world of vampires, supes (Supernatural beings, or people with supernatural talents) and the dark side. Sookie is a cocktail waitress, whose life has gotten tangled up with vampires since they "came out of the closet" due to the discovery and marketing of artificial blood. Combining humor, modern happenings (Hurricane Katrina damage in New Orleans is pivotal to the plot in this book) and the old world traditions of centuries-old vampires, Sookie manages to keep her head, and most of her blood, while solving complex mysteries and trying to maintain a normal life. Whatever "normal" is for this unusual protagonist!

In All Together Dead the vampire Queen of Louisiana has called a summit of the undead from all over the central States. Sookie’s impressive telepathic skills are in great demand, to be sure that the humans that are involved are not trying to put anything over on the beleaguered vamps. A character briefly introduced in an earlier book, bellboy Barry, becomes a backup telepath for Sookie when murder and confusion threatens to ruin the conference, which is taking place on the shores of Lake Michigan. In addition to the battling sides of the vampire equation, Sookie has to contend with Bill, her past lover, and Quinn, her current amour, a were-tiger. The Fellowship of the Sun continues to wreak havoc on vampire lives, as their cult of right-wing anti-vampire humans calls for vampires to embrace the sun, and thus end their vampiric lives. Charlaine Harris’s long-suffering and occasionally frazzled heroine once again proves that her personal life, although tangled with people and creatures that definitely are NOT commonplace, is a fascinating one.

The characters are drawn with great skill, and the books in the series, including this newest title, are addicting. The extraordinary is the ordinary in Sookie‘s world, and Ms. Harris crafts each vampire, human and supe with cleverness and well-thought out dialogue. Despite the supernatural, fantasy aspect of the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire mysteries, the individuals are not only credible, but it is easy to get swept up in the story. It is amazingly easy to believe that we can walk down to Sam’s bar tonight, and Sookie will wait on us, while at the neighboring table, a group of vampires enjoys True Blood by the bottle! An excellent read, although a stormy night may conjure up more than the reader expected.

The Sookie books have been chosen by HBO for a series, scheduled to begin in the Fall of 2007. Casting has begun, including Anna Paquin as Sookie. In addition, the reviewer was fortunate enough to be able to exchange emails with Ms. Harris and conduct an informal interview, which is included below.

Reviews of other titles in this series

Dead Until Dark, Book 1    [review]
Dead to the World, Book 4    [review]
All Together Dead, Book 7    [review]
From Dead to Worse, Book 8   [review]
Dead and Gone, Book 9   [review]
Deadlocked, Book 12    [review]

Interview with Charlaine Harris, March, 2007

1. Agatha Christie once said, and I am paraphrasing, " If I had known Poirot and Miss Marple were going to be so popular and last so long, I would have made them considerably younger when I started!" In the light of that thought, are there changes you would make in this series, now that you have written seven of them? Character changes or other revisions that hindsight makes you wish you had done differently?
There are some false leads I wouldn't have started in the Sookie Stackhouse series. They were avenues I thought I might enjoy exploring in the future, but as it turned out, they were unnecessary. The Sino-virus, for example; I can't remember what I was thinking when I introduced the virus that could kill vampires, but I haven't done a thing with it since. Maybe further down the line.

2. You have four series going: Southern Vampire Mysteries, the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, the Lily Bard Mysteries, and the new Harper Connelly Mysteries. What was the impetus that drove you to create each key character? Were there "ah-ha!" moments that helped you create four such different characters?
Actually, the Lily Bard and Aurora Teagarden books are on hiatus. I'm just writing Sookie and Harper now. My protagonists are not "Ah-ha!" moments, but the result of long and careful thought. I feel silly just saying that, but it's true. I had a main characteristic for each of them, and I had to build their characters around that characteristic to get where I wanted to go and say what I wanted to say.

3. All of your "sleuths" are women. Is that important to you as a writer, to write about women?
Yes, it is.

4. Sookie Stackhouse almost defies categorizing. She is a Southern woman with lovers, past and present, that are supes (supernaturals) in one form or another. And of course she is a supe as well, as we are learning. And yet she is highly believable, and readers can relate to her. How do you move around in Sookie's world and make it so realistic?
That's a hard question to answer. While I'm writing, I pretty much AM Sookie, and I see the world through her eyes. I'm not so sure Sookie is supernatural, as she is extranatural. That is, she's a normal woman with unusual abilities. And of course, she does have a little bit of fairy blood.

5. Did the public interest in vampires motivate you at all in choosing to write about vampires?
I'd always wanted to write about vampires. Of course, since "Blood Ties" just began and I've been writing the Sookie books for six years, that had no bearing. I'd read "Dracula," of course, and Anne Rice, and many other vampire books, and I felt ready not only to enjoy, but to poke fun at, the fictional vampire world.

6. Do you personally identify your life with one of your characters more than others? Do you use composites of people you know to develop the personalities of your characters? If so, could you hint a bit about how that works for you without causing family and friends to rise up against you?
Yes, there are elements of me in all my characters, I suppose, the good and the bad. Yes, I do use the physical characteristics and the characters of people I know, on occasion. No one ever, ever recognizes him- or herself.

7. To me, you epitomize the attributes of the genre sometimes known as "cozies." Do you feel categorized as a cozy writer, and does being put in such a "slot" bother you as a writer?
No, because I don't fit. I'm either a very left-wing cozy writer, or a very right-wing noir writer. My books have too much explicit sex and violence to be cozies, and yet they're too light-hearted in spots to be noir.

8."True Blood" a series based on the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire mysteries, is in the works. How involved are you in the writing, production and casting of this series?
I'm not involved in any way. Alan (Ball) is kind enough to keep me posted from time to time on what's happening.

9. Any insider looks you'd like to give on future Sookie books, or the new series on HBO?
No, because I have no idea what's going to happen.

10. I noticed in one book in the Sookie series that had Lily Bard in it - if I am not mistaken. Do you do that often - bleed over stories and characters from one book to another?
I've only done it the once, but I really enjoyed it. I'd like to do it again if it's natural.

11. Who are your own personal favorites in writers? What do you read when you have time to do so?
I do read, constantly. My favorites? Do you want dead writers or live writers? There are so many I enjoy! I won't miss a book by: Lee Child, Sarah Monette, Barry Eisler, Laurell K. Hamilton, William Kent Krueger, Andrew Vachss, Charlie Huston . . . I could go on and on. On the conventional mystery list, I like Denise Swanson and Susan McBride, Elaine Viets, Dana Cameron . . . I love to read.

12. Any web sites, links, or other information you'd like to have me add to my interview, and/or the review of "All Together Dead?"

My web site is: CharlaineHarris.com

The Book

Ace Books
May 2007
Hardback
978-0-441-01494-1
Mystery, Fantasy
More at Amazon.com

The Reviewer

Laura Strathman Hulka
Reviewed 2007
© 2006 MyShelf.com