Light and fluffy and fun, fun, fun! This is the first book in a series that you will enjoy every minute of, unless you just can't deal with your mysteries being tinged with the supernatural.

Charlaine Harris introduces a great cast of characters. As the series progresses, many of the characters introduced here are expanded on. Sookie is a natural detective, with her rare ability to read minds. She is drawn into the newly exposed community of supernaturals. After all, if vampires exist, then it is likely there are werewolves and fairies, and dryads, and all manner of things that go bump in the night.

The books blend the genres. This is a mystery, fantasy, romance, and comedy. The characters are really the stars of the show.

If you like this series, you should read the other Harris books. Also, the "rompiness" of these books is similar to the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. Another good series in this vein are the Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher. I understand that many of the other vampire series out there are quite different than these light-hearted novels, so if you like the Hamilton series, this might not be your cup of tea.

I love paranormal books and was excited when I sat down to read this new series. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it through the 1st chapter or two. I didn't like the style in which it was written because everything was told from Sookie's point of view, characters didn't seem to exist unless they were interacting with her. I'm very disappointed...especially because I know it has such a huge fan base and has actually been turned into a tv-series. I know I'm missing out.

Update: I recently watched the whole season one of "True Blood" and loved it. If it is true to the book, I was right about it being an awesome story. Oh well guess that's just how it goes sometimes.

Dead Until Dark is a great story! In it, Sookie Stackhouse, a young and eligible barmaid finds herself in the middle of a crime spree. On top of that, Sookie is attracted to unusual men. Her best friend is a wary confidant, and the men in her community are taking more and more interest in her.
Sookie lives with her doting grandmother, and constantly worries about her difficult brother who seems to be tangled in one mess after another. Then Bill shows up. Bill is a vampire. And Sookie's already confusing world becomes more and more complicated in a flash. Before long, Sookie finds herself in danger and not even Bill the vampire can properly protect her.
Charlaine Harris is an amazing author. She crafts familiar characters which are both endearing and a touch surprising. Though the book is primarily a mystery, Harris weaves enough steamy sex and rich romance to entertain lovesick readers. Events unfold quickly and details are vivid and strtong making this a quick and exciting read.
Though I can't recommend it to my students (because of mature content) Charlaine Harris is a fantastic writer and will appeal to so many readers. Dead Until Dark is just the first in a series of books that promises adventure, excitement, mystery, and romance. I can't wait to pick up another.

After reading Twilight, I felt the need to purchase this boxed set. Sookie Stackhouse is a likeable character who can read minds and falls for a vampire. I do feel some of the events in her life are taken lightly (i.e. deaths, threats, etc.). Also, it was strange to see that being a vampire within the community was recognized and accomodated in this book. This was definately a quickly paced, fast read and i DO look forward to reading the rest of the series, however I do hope it takes on a less "frilly" feel as it progresses.

I got about 1/2 through and could not finish. The storyline seemed interesting enough but the main character was boring and the story being told in first person just threw me off.

This is the first book in a series, and a wonderful introduction to several fascinating characters. I can't wait to get further into the series.

Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in a small town in Louisiana. She has a "disability" in that she can read people's minds. She keeps this a secret, and most of the people in town think she is just crazy. One day, she meets a vampire named Bill. She is intrigued by him because she cannot read his mind. She falls in love with Bill, which causes all kinds of problems. There have been several murders around town and all the clues point to a vampire doing the killing. Sookie doesn't know if she is falling in love with a murderer. I enjoyed the pretend world of vampires mixed in with the murder mystery - and the mystery part of the book kept me guessing up until the very end.

Yet another story about the supernatural juxtaposed with real life -- vampires hanging out with the living. But this is loads of fun -- give it a try.

The first in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I think this is one of the better Vampire series around.

This is fluff, ladies.

Read this vampire tale if you're looking to escape into a juvenille world of non-stop necrophilliac fornication between flat, boring characters who can leap over plot holes in a single chapter, if you want a protagonist with a junior high school mentality to describe in boring detail what everyone is wearing (blue, scooped-neck tee with jeans and sneakers), and if you don't mind a story blotched with carbunclular cliches.

"Pleased as punch," "lickety-split," "throwing caution to the wind," Harris's writing is awfully stale. Through ditzy Sookie, Harris tells you everything and shows you virtually nothing. One unfortunate example of how Harris disappoints: Sookie tells you what people are thinking instead of demonstrating their thoughts in italics. Only in one instance does Harris show what a character (Bud Dearborn) is thinking and what a pleasant difference it made. Too bad the author didn't continue this writing technique.

I thought I might push on to book two, but the first sentence in that book is yet another cliched similie: "Andy Bellefleur was as drunk as a skunk." Enough!

In a nod to Harris's penchant for using natty, old metaphors, similies and puns: I am moving on to something worth "sinking my teeth into."

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Lots of fun to read.

This is very intertaining. Not for the teen/young reader because it inculdes sexual encounters. Also, it is not like the "Twilight" series, a different type of vampire.

I read these before I saw the tv show. I love the books so much more. I can not wait to read more of this series. Charlaine Harris has written a great series of books that are intersting and hard to put down.

I picked this book up expecting a more elaborate version of the television series, but what I got was the exact oppisite. To be fair, if I had been expecting the light-hearted, simple read this was, I may have enjoyed it a lot more. It's exclusively told from Sookie's point of view, so any interesting sub-plots involving Jason, Sam, Tara, or Lafeyette are non-existant--Tara isn't even mentioned, which I found disappointing, and Lafeyette is just a filler character that hardly comes up at all. The only plus here, in fact, was Bill and Sookie no longer have that pathetic, trendy, throwing-yourself-at-innocient-emo-vampire edge: Bill is a lot more dark and frank about his nature, and Sookie, for the most part, is a lot less needy.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you pick up this book, don't do it as a fan of the tv series: forget what you all ready know about Bon Temps, and just approach it as Sookie telling the story.

I couldn't put the book down. I'm excited to start the 2nd!

I'm a fan of the True Blood Series of HBO and enjoyed the book. It's an imaginative, fun read and I got through it in just a couple days. Now on to book 2...

I absolutely loved this book. I read it in about a day and a half. Its an easy read. I cant wait to read the rest of the Sookie Stackhouse books.

OK, but not as good as I thought. I hope the next book is better.

This was a good book to start the series but left me feeling a bit lacking. I hope the nwext book is better.

This book was so, so. I read it because of all the hype around the HBO series "True Blood." It was a slow start, but once I got into it,it went fast. I read it in about two days. I'm hoping that after I read the second in the series I will connect to the characters.

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