All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris: Audio Book Review

All Together Dead by Charlaine HarrisTitle: All Together Dead
Author: Charlaine Harris (Reader: Johanna Parker)
Publisher: Recorded Books (Print: Ace Books)
Publication Date: May 2007
Length: 10 hr 21 min unabridged (323 pages)
Series: Sookie Stackhouse (#7)
Audio or Book: Audio
Reason for Discovery: True Blood










From GoodReads:

Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has her hands full dealing with every sort of undead and paranormal creature imaginable. And after being betrayed by her longtime vampire love, Sookie must not only deal with a new man in her life—the shapeshifter Quinn—but also contend with the long-planned vampire summit.

The summit is a tense situation. The vampire queen of Louisiana is in a precarious position, her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started. Soon, Sookie must decide what side she'll stand with. And her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe.

In this latest Sookie Stackhouse novel, Sookie has found herself a gig working for the Queen of Louisiana at a vampire summit. At first, Sookie enjoys the perks of hanging out at the vampire convention and learning more about vampire culture. She is even very excited to see old friends at the event. Unfortunately, Sookie soon discovers that not all of the vampires have her best interests in mind. Things take an even worse turn when Sookie discovers some nefarious plans.

I really enjoyed All Together Dead. Like the previous book, there was a bit of setting things up for later books; however, once we got through those formalities, All Together Dead was a great Sookie mystery. A few parts of the mystery were fairly obvious, but the big reveal surprised me, so I found myself amused throughout the book. I should note that I rarely guess what is going to happen in a book. Twists typically surprise me. The last few books had mysteries, but this mystery harkened back to the earlier mysteries like Living Dead in Dallas. This book's mystery was really the central core of the book and was much stronger than the most recent Sookie Stackhouse books. Someone who is not familiar with the Sookie Stackhouse series could pick this book up and enjoy it; however, solving the mystery does depend on your knowledge of the series thus far.

Up until this book, I had mixed feelings about Sookie hanging out with all of the supernatural beings. Several supernatural folks like Sookie and treat her well; however, lots of folks don't like her. In this book, there is a particular scene in which Sookie discovers that a lot of supernatural creatures view her as an object that they can possess. Up until this point in the series, everyone for the most part has given Sookie the illusion of choice. In this book, Sookie gets the reality check that unless she has a powerful ally, her life will not be her own. I really feel for Sookie in this book. The series has really shifted for me from a fun and light urban fantasy series to a slightly darker urban fantasy series. I'm sure that Harris will try to keep the series light and fun, but Sookie has finally looked into the mirror and saw her employers for what they really are: immortal killers, not sparkly emo teenagers.

Audio: I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that I continue to love the audio in this series. Parker is my Sookie, and I'm ruined forever. I don't think I can read these books. I need to hear Parker read me these books. 

I give this book a 4 out of 5. 
Very Good
 

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