Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, Book 10)

 Most Charlaine Harris fans will agree that the only thing better than a big ole glass of real Southern sweet tea is a new Sookie Stackhouse novel.  Everyone has been patiently waiting, and the wait is now over. Dead in the Family, the tenth in the saga, has finally arrived; and it does not disappoint its loyal fans or new readers. Action, eternal love, blood . . . it is Sookie to the core. When we last left Sookie Stackhouse, she was wounded from the Fae War in which she has lost so many of her dear friends and even some relatives. She has survived the torture physically inflicted upon her by two sadistic fairies who opposed her grandfather, the Prince, but will she ever get over the emotional realities of what the war has wrought? The Fairy World has been shut off from the mortal one, and Sookie has been sealed off from a member of her family whom she had just begun to know and love. To add insult to injury, she’s got another grandparent to mourn while struggling to get through each day where she waits tables at a bar owned by a Shapeshifter and shares her bed with one of the most powerful vampires in her world—all while knowing what every single human being around her thinks. It’s hard a life, but it has its perks. Of course new issues arise in other quarters as Sookie tries to recover. Not all the fairies have returned to their world, and two in particular seem to be tracking her. The Werewolves continue to need her help in their struggle to survive coming out to society.  Toss in a dead body in the back woods, new vampire political intrigues, and questions regarding someone’s recovery from silver poisoning, and you have yourself quite a read.  But let’s not forget Eric: beautiful, immortal, blood bound Eric.   Charlaine Harris is a puppeteer who has created characters that jump off the page despite their being supernatural. In Dead in the Family she continues to excite and collect readers through her imaginative orchestration of Sookie’s life.  Her creativity and ability to surprise continue in this latest volume.  Readers will simply suck it up until it’s dry—and wait impatiently for more. Reviewer Courtney Webb is a former librarian and reviewer for Charlotte Mecklenburg County Public Library Reader’s Club.