But be warned: this is not a new book, it's a short story collection. It's got five stories and rather enlarged print.
In "Fairy Dust," Sookie is already in a bad mood when fairy Claudine arrives at Merlotte's, seeking her psychic brand of help -- she and her brother Claude want to find the murderer of their sister from a local strip club. They have three suspects tied up at their house, and they want Sookie to do her mind-reading thing to discern who murdered Claudia.
"One Word Answer" has Sookie receiving an unexpected legacy when her wild cousin Hadley meets with an "Unfortunate Incident" ("My cousin Hadley, the cheerleader, had become a vampire lesbian
voodooienne. Who knew?"). But she suspects that she isn't getting the whole story from a slick lawyer and weird vampire. And "Dracula Night" comes up when Sookie is invited to celebrate the birthday of Dracula -- and like Linus, Eric is sure that Dracula himself will appear. Of course, nothing goes that smoothly.
Then Sookie gets "Lucky" when Greg Aubert reveals that he thinks his insurance agency is being sabotaged, and Sookie soon discovers a supernatural "in" using one of his family members. But the answer might be something a bit more bizarre... and it might have to do with his flourishing business. And Christmas in Bon Temps inevitably leads to "Gift Wrap" -- a lonely Sookie goes for a walk, and stumbles across a strange, naked young man, who gives her a Christmas to remember... and not just in the way you think.
The stories in "A Touch of Dead" have all been published elsewhere, just never before in one big Charlaine-Harris-exclusive volume. These stories are relatively lightweight compared to the full-length Sookie Stackhouse novels, but they are really entertaining and well-written -- and though each story has Harris' pleasant, down-to-earth Southern charm, they also have a good range of emotion -- from bittersweet to creepy, hilarious to mysterious.
And Harris infuses the prose of each story with gentle humor, from vampiric holidays to Sookie having to read the minds of an average suburban family. Her prose has plenty of lovably tongue-in-cheek moments ("I wouldn't have thought northern Louisiana was very hospitable toward beings of the fairy persuasion, anyway"), and Sookie has plenty of fun little moments with witty humor ("I hate it when fairies come into the bar. They don't tip you worth a toot").
Sookie herself is the same as always -- a sensible, matter-of-fact woman with a wee ruthless streak, and a tendency to find herself in the middle of the supernatural action. Sometimes it comes to her, and sometimes she goes to it. And assorted other favorites appear in the story: the cool and calm Vampire Bill, an unusually fanboyish Eric, the fairy Claudine (plus her hot stripper brother), the adorable Bubba, and the ever-awesome Pam.
"A Touch of Death" is a little buffet of previously published Sookie Stackhouse stories, but it's nice to have all these little nuggets of light urban fantasy fun in one volume. At the very least, it might tide you over until the next novel.
Credit Nailane Sanchez
In "Fairy Dust," Sookie is already in a bad mood when fairy Claudine arrives at Merlotte's, seeking her psychic brand of help -- she and her brother Claude want to find the murderer of their sister from a local strip club. They have three suspects tied up at their house, and they want Sookie to do her mind-reading thing to discern who murdered Claudia.
"One Word Answer" has Sookie receiving an unexpected legacy when her wild cousin Hadley meets with an "Unfortunate Incident" ("My cousin Hadley, the cheerleader, had become a vampire lesbian
voodooienne. Who knew?"). But she suspects that she isn't getting the whole story from a slick lawyer and weird vampire. And "Dracula Night" comes up when Sookie is invited to celebrate the birthday of Dracula -- and like Linus, Eric is sure that Dracula himself will appear. Of course, nothing goes that smoothly.
Then Sookie gets "Lucky" when Greg Aubert reveals that he thinks his insurance agency is being sabotaged, and Sookie soon discovers a supernatural "in" using one of his family members. But the answer might be something a bit more bizarre... and it might have to do with his flourishing business. And Christmas in Bon Temps inevitably leads to "Gift Wrap" -- a lonely Sookie goes for a walk, and stumbles across a strange, naked young man, who gives her a Christmas to remember... and not just in the way you think.
The stories in "A Touch of Dead" have all been published elsewhere, just never before in one big Charlaine-Harris-exclusive volume. These stories are relatively lightweight compared to the full-length Sookie Stackhouse novels, but they are really entertaining and well-written -- and though each story has Harris' pleasant, down-to-earth Southern charm, they also have a good range of emotion -- from bittersweet to creepy, hilarious to mysterious.
And Harris infuses the prose of each story with gentle humor, from vampiric holidays to Sookie having to read the minds of an average suburban family. Her prose has plenty of lovably tongue-in-cheek moments ("I wouldn't have thought northern Louisiana was very hospitable toward beings of the fairy persuasion, anyway"), and Sookie has plenty of fun little moments with witty humor ("I hate it when fairies come into the bar. They don't tip you worth a toot").
Sookie herself is the same as always -- a sensible, matter-of-fact woman with a wee ruthless streak, and a tendency to find herself in the middle of the supernatural action. Sometimes it comes to her, and sometimes she goes to it. And assorted other favorites appear in the story: the cool and calm Vampire Bill, an unusually fanboyish Eric, the fairy Claudine (plus her hot stripper brother), the adorable Bubba, and the ever-awesome Pam.
"A Touch of Death" is a little buffet of previously published Sookie Stackhouse stories, but it's nice to have all these little nuggets of light urban fantasy fun in one volume. At the very least, it might tide you over until the next novel.
Credit Nailane Sanchez
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