Thursday, May 17, 2012

Book Review - Deadlocked


Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
May 2012
Hardback auto shipped from Amazon

Why?  Deadlocked is the 12th installment of the Sookie Stackhouse series, and I've read all of the others.  I wasn't thrilled with the last book, Dead Reckoning, the emergence of so much fairy stuff, and Sookie's relationship with Eric instead of Bill.  But, how could I not read this? 

What Now?  I thought that Deadlocked was the last of the series, but I found out just this week that the 13th book is the last and it won't be released until next June.  I'm still in.

Golden Lines

Her rich brown eyes narrowed.  Clearly Freyda was having second thoughts about something.  I hoped those thoughts weren't about whether to let me live, but I was pretty sure she was considering how much of a threat I represented.  If she did me in right now, she would have the luxury of apologizing to Eric after the fact.  Warning bells were clanging too loudly for me to ignore.
I slept between three and six, I think, and woke up to a summer day that mocked me by being beautiful.  The downpour had washed everything, cooled the air, and renewed the green of the grass and the trees.  The delicate pink of the old crepe myrtle was unfurling.  The cannas would be open soon.
I felt like Hell hungover.

It seemed that all the separate parts of my life were finally colliding.  My personal highway was jammed with fairies, werewolves, vampires, and humans. 


"After that, you tell me that [...] you want to be mine forever, and that to share my life you will permit me to make you a vampire like me."
The silence was now thick, and the fun had drained out of the fantasy.
Then [he] added, "You know what I'd say when you told me this? I'd tell you I would never do such a thing.  Because I love you."

Summary

King Felipe is in town, looking for answers about the disappearance/murder of his regent Victor.  Even though Felipe is not really upset about the loss, vampire law requires that someone accept responsibility and be punished.  All eyes are on Eric, and even Sookie begins to question him after walking into his home and finding him feeding on another woman, the same woman who is later found dead on Eric's front lawn. 

Queen Freyda of Oklahoma wants Eric as her own...by marrying her, Eric will gain great power and presige in the vampire world and will be protected from punishment if indeed he is proven guilty of killing Victor.  As Eric's "human wife,"  Sookie is also protected from harm, but that same title creates an obstacle for Freyda...an obstacle she must somehow remove if she is to get what she wants.  And, she wants Eric. 

Sookie's great uncle Dermot (half fairy/half human) and cousin Claude (full fairy) are living in Sookie's attic after being left behind in the human world when Sookie's great grandfather Niall closed the opening to the fae world.  A population of fairies besides Sookie's two relatives was also left behind, some blending in with humans better than others.  They all feel the presence of the cluvial door, a gift given to Sookie's grandmother Adele by her lover and Sookie's biological grandfather Fintan (full fairy).  The cluvial door can grant one wish on behalf of its owner to someone the owner loves.  The fae  hope that the cluvial door can help them get back home.  They also know that it can provide a dangerous weapon in the hands of the wrong person. 
Sookie's grandmother left Sookie the cluvial door, and she must decide how to use it before someone finds it and steals it from her.

Should Sookie use the cluvial door to free Eric?  Should she use it to help her human friends and family who are all at turning points in their lives?  Should she use it to help her fae friends and family return to the homeland they desperately love and miss?  Should she use it to help her Were friends who are struggling to strengthen the pack while battling rogue Weres and adjusting to Alcide's new leadership?

Sookie has to dig deep inside herself to make the right choices before Deadlocked comes to a close.

What I Liked

The end.  When I first started reading, and, in fact, at least half of the book, I was just about outdone with all the fae relatives and the seemingly disjointed plot.  Where was Harris going?
 However, right about the time I had decided I wasn't going to like Deadlocked, the winds began to change.  Connections were made, and the real Sookie began to show herself.  As the rest of her loved ones lives begin to come together, she begins to closely and realistically examine hers.  Although she loves Eric, she seriously begins questioning whether or not they belong together...for the long term, will their relationship be able to stand the test of time?  Are they compatible enough to have the kind of relationship Sookie has always known she was meant to have?  Does Eric even want that kind of relationship?
I can't tell you what happens in the end, of course, but I can tell you, I closed this one and felt good about it.   We don't have the answers yet, but I didn't feel like throwing it against the wall like I did Dead Reckoning.  I think Harris is going to bring us full circle in the last installment.  The original Sookie that I fell in love with at the beginning of this series is back, and she will make all the right decisions for herself.

What I Didn't Like
While some authors repeat too much background, Charlaine Harris doesn't provide enough.  One of my biggest complaints once all the faeries came on the scene in the last book was that I couldn't keep up with who was who.  There are just too many of them, with too many loose connections...It's as if Harris spends the first 10 books getting us close to the main characters of Bon Tempe, and then in Books 10-11 throws in all these other characters at once. 

Sookie in Deadlocked is not the same Sookie as Dead until Dark.  While she shouldn't be of course, and I would have had a problem with that if it had been the case, she almost seems too brash, too accepting, too casual, especially during the first half of Deadlocked

Eric - Eric is nothing but a cavemanesque neanderthal in Deadlocked...oh, wait, that's how he's always been :p  Seriously, I'm biased against Eric...I don't like he and Sookie together, never have, except for the time that Eric had lost his memory and wasn't himself.  He's back in full form with memory in tact in Deadlocked unfortunately though.
Overall Recommendations

Sookie fans should push through the first part of Deadlocked to get to the real story, the good stuff, in the 2nd half.  I have high hopes for the last installment of this series.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Death Du Jour - Audiobook Review



Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs

Format - Audiobook, Downloaded by Audible

Narrator, Bonnie Hurren

Why? 2nd in a new series I'm reading 

What Now? on to #3 but not in audiobook format...and here's another plug for Audible (no I don't work for them)...I downloaded #3 Deadly Decisions to my Iphone and was shocked when the download  was complete so quickly.  I realized then that I had downloaded the abridged version...not the unabridged...I almost had a conniption fit.  I emailed Audible explaining what I had done but didn't really expect them to be able to do anything about it.  Within 24 hours I had a credit to my account for the price of the download and a very polite email apologizing for any inconvenience I had been caused.
Now that's customer service :) 
Unfortunately though, I have yet to find the unabridged version of Deadly Decisions so I may have to go back to the old fashioned way of reading again...on my Nook ;)

Summary

While working on a historic case, to establish the sainthood of long dead Elizabet Nicolae, Temperence is called in to investigate a housefire where adults as well as children have been killed in what turns out to be a cult murder.  The cult connections run deep, and once Temperence gets the Canadian officials to get over their macho selves, they begin to put the far flung pieces together in this "better stay sharp or you'll miss a clue" novel.
In the process of Death du Jour, Temperence finds that a cult following is similar to a cancer that spreads wide and within even the smallest niches, only to be discovered after irreversable damage is done.

What I Liked

Detective Ryan - He's not Booth (from the t.v. show)...and that was almost a dealbreaker for me when I was trying to decide which next series to try...but this Temperence is not the Temperence on t.v. either...once I got to know both these characters in the book, the details worked out much better than I thought.  I like their partnership; I think it's inevitable that they'll end up a couple of some sort, but I think they'll also remain professional...that's my hope anyway...if Reichs goes all lovey dovey on me, she'll lose me.  

Reichs got me again...I had absolutely no clue who the villain was...until Reichs decided to unveil it...I was stunned.  Walking around with my earphones in, I actually stopped and said the person's name.  My oldest daughter said, "Huh?"

The movement from Montreal and Quebec to Charlotte, Virginia...Murtrey Island - the island of the monkeys...the movement of the story is one of the many reasons you have to stay alert while reading Reichs.  I think she does that on purpose, and I appreciate it!

Daisy Ginot - the McGill University professor with deep, dark secrets...I can't say much here, but she gave me chills from the first time Temperence met her. 

Elizabet - the bones that begin the mystery...end the mystery...a very comforting and effective closure...possibly one of the best I've read. 

While the storyline is wide, it all connects in the end and sets up just enough lose ends for continuation later in the series...Temperence's daughter Katy connects with an anthropologist mentor, Sam Rayburn of Temperence's on the grounds of the island on which he studies monkey behavior.  Katy is struggling with decisions in her life right now so the connection here brings out some of her characteristics like her mom.  Of course the most direct connection is that 2 dead bodies show up on the secluded island, which is quarantined due to risk of infection for the animals.

Cults are the focus of this novel...and while the novel follows a distinct storyline, the reader also "accidentally" gains a great amount of information about the subject matter...all of the info pertinent to being able to figure out the puzzle.

Temperence's brain doesn't stop when she sleeps...especially when she's working or anxious...at one time in her life, alcohol numbed that anxiety.  A recovering alcoholic, Temperence works, runs, reads, travels, etc. in order to keep her sanity and stay sober.  Even during the times that she would like a drink, she works through the desire logically...deliberately thinking about how the relief is always temporary and that the consequences, physical as well as emotional, are not worth a drink.  Temperence drinks Diet Coke instead of alcohol, doesn't whine or moan about her status, and doesn't share her story with just anyone.  I think I like this part of Temperence's personality bc it shows how even the toughest, smartest, most together women can and do have weaknesses/challenges over which they climb every. single. day.
The older I get the more I am convinced that the brightest people are at risk of addictive behavior as well as mental challenges.

What I Didn't Like

The use of dogs as part of the villainous torture...I'm biased here, but 
dogs, knives and scalding liquid as forms of torture are gruesome.  I'm also one of those dog owners who doesn't encourage my dog to "get" anything, nor do I reinforce any of her aggressive traits.  The world has enough images of dog viciousness already...hence breed specific legislation, which I am totally against.  

The science and the language - it's not that I don't like these aspects...bc I felt more connected with this 2nd book than I did with the 1st, but it's still challenging for me to keep up at times.  Kathy Reichs' isn't a brainless writer so her books are anything but brainless.

Temperence's sister Harry...accent snob as I am, the narrator's voice wasn't my problem.  Harry's "voice" is high-pitched and whiny...makes me shiver just typing that line.  I don't have a lot of patience for characters who just bumble around aggravating the crap out of everybody else and never learning from their mistakes.  Harry is the complete opposite of Temperence.

Narrator

Since I liked the first narrator so much, I was immediately taken aback when I realized the narrator this time was different.  Her voice was different with nuances I wasn't sure I would be able to be ok with.  I thought a lot about how difficult I am to please with narrators.  I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it although I did finally get over the differences enough to still enjoy the story.  

Overall Recommendation

"Bones" viewers and mystery, detective novel readers who are also interested in the science and social aspects behind cults, their organization, characteristics of followers as well as leaders, will enjoy this edition of Temperence Brennan.