deaduntildarkTitle: Dead Until Dark
Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Paranormal Romance, Mystery
Publisher: Penguin Group USA

Summary:
Small-town girl Sookie Stackhouse spends her days doing her very best to lead a normal life. Problem is she’s the furthest thing from normal a woman can be. You see, she has a special ability; one that she’s tried her very best to keep secret. Unfortunately, Bon Temps Louisiana is not a place where secrets are best kept. As a result most everyone in town knows she can hear their unspoken thoughts. Everyone, that is, except Bill Compton.

Funny thing is, Bill has a not-so-secret secret too. He’s a vampire.

A series of events have transpired in the world allowing vampires to co-exist publicly and freely among humans. The same restrictions (no daylight, no silver, yada yada yada) hold true to form but in the evening hours the immortal walk amongst humans as if there were no differences between the two.

As one would expect Bill and Sookie have a natural “we’re both outsiders with supernatural powers” pull to each other and spend a good portion of the book doing a romantic tango. One that causes both conflict and acceptance within her family, outlines the history of Bill’s family and their presence in Bon Temps, showcases how love can be built between two beings from very different ends of the spectrum and most importantly provides the framework for the mystery that is threaded throughout.

Opinion:
Sookie is a great, albeit whiny, character. The partnering of she and Bill was natural, at least as realistic as telepathy and vampirism allows, and interesting to watch evolve. The mostly understated nature of both characters made it particularly interesting for the reader when they stepped outside the norm and got fiery with each other and others.

One of the pitfalls of this book was that, at times, I felt there was just too much going on. Jason, Lafayette, Andy, the uncle that popped out of nowhere — at times it felt like the reader could get whiplash going from one part of the story to another. While it was infused together with a purpose it still could have been scaled back a bit and the same results achieved.

The mystery of the book is mostly well done, one of the advantages of the aforementioned excessive goings on is the masking of the true nature of things. The instant the reader thinks they know what is going on and who the perpetrator is they are quickly brought to another place where they are then led to believe something entirely different to be true.

All in all this was a quick fun read. One that most who enjoy the supernatural, paranormal romance and elements of mystery will likely enjoy.