Ack: a Sookie Stackhouse books that’s not only depressing, but even tragic!

Note: To avoid spoilers, skip to Evaluation and Rating, at the end of the review.

Sookie agrees to join the Louisiana vampires to attend a Summit in Rhodes in the Midwest. They want help from her telepathic abilities. The weretiger she is currently dating, Quinn, will be there also, since he produces special events for supernaturals for a living.

Before she goes, however, she attends the quickie wedding of her brother Jason, who is marrying the werepanther Crystal.

Also before the Summit, Pam, Eric’s underling, comes to visit Sookie at Merlotte’s, the bar where Sookie works as a waitress/barmaid. Pam suggests that the powerful vampire Eric is not himself, because of unresolved feelings for Sookie. He and Pam will both be at the Summit. Pam wants Sookie to help Eric get over his malaise.

Claudine, Sookie’s fairy godmother, warns her not to go to the Summit, because there will be trouble, but Sookie insists. And trouble there is, from members of The Fellowship of the Sun, the ultra right-wing anti-vampire movement. The ranks of this organization “were riddled with those who believed all vampires were intrinsically evil and should be eliminated, by violent means.”

The hotel where the vampires stay in Rhodes is especially designed for vampires, so they can sleep securely during the day. But the Fellowship manages to infiltrate the staff. Disaster follows. During the bright daylight, bombs are set off throughout the hotel. (Vampires ordinarily would not waken, and just be killed by the blast. If they did waken, they would be burned by the sun.) Many are killed. Sookie helps save Eric, Pam, and Bill, but Bill especially is badly burned. The Vampire Queen of Louisiana loses both her legs, and her consort Andre is killed. (Actually, Quinn – even with two broken legs - took advantage of the chaos to stake Andre for forcing Sookie into another blood exchange with Eric.)

At the end of this book (or “episode,” as I like to think of it), Sookie has escaped back to Bon Temps, and we don’t know the fate of most of the vampires in her life. We do know that if they live, they are in for a very long time of healing, if they heal at all. Sookie doesn’t know how she can live with the savagery and violence she has seen, and the loss of many people she has come to love. She resolves:

"If I just stay away from the vampires for a while… If I pray every night, and hang around with humans, and leave the Weres alone, I’ll be okay…”

Evaluation: This book is so sad! But also essential if you are following the saga of Sookie, Bill, Eric, and the other characters – both human and otherwise – in this addictive world created by Charlaine Harris. The sadness is part of why I like these books: not everything is always perfect, and there are tears, and loss, and tragedies, just like in real life. Also, Harris is definitely trying to inculcate lessons about the injustice and irrationality of prejudice and I love that too. ( )

Summary: The time for the vampire summit of all of the Kings and Queens of the southern and midwestern states has arrived, and telepathic waitress will be attending as an aide to the vampire Queen of Louisiana. However, it's not just going to be a business meeting - the Queen is on trial for the murder of her husband, the King of Arkansas, and her position has been vastly weakened by the damage from Hurricane Katrina. Sookie knows that being one of the only humans amidst a sea of power-hungry vampire politics isn't going to be easy, or safe, but she didn't count on quite how dangerous it was really going to be.

Review: I know I've complained that past books in this series have had too much of Sookie and her tangled personal life, and not enough else happening. However, I think this book tipped a little too far in the other direction: too much mystery, not enough romance. Or, more to the point, too much vampire politics, not enough Quinn. (Although before I read this book I was talking to a friend about how no matter what Quinn's supposed to be wearing, I always picture him as a genie - it's the shaved head and olive skin - and then in this book he goes and shows up in an actual genie outfit. I couldn't breathe from laughing so hard.) The plot is certainly interesting, and I appreciate that Harris keeps trying to widen Sookie's world and build in new details. However, I just don't find the Queen a particularly compelling character, and the parts I enjoyed most were the scenes that had the least to do with the plot proper. Added to that was certainly the fact that the "mystery" was not particularly mysterious, to the point where I was almost yelling at Sookie for being so incredibly blind. Still, it was a very fast and enjoyable read, which is really all I ask for from this series. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Not the best this series has been, but still totally worth reading, plus there are some interesting developments that make me very excited for the next book. ( )

JUST FOLLOWING THE STORYLINE... AND CAN'T WAIT TILL THE NEXT BOOK ( )

A Sookie Stackhouse book, focusing on Sookie's adventures at a Vampire Summit. This book had a lot of things going on to keep the pages turning, including betrayal, deceit, the continuing story of Barry the Bellboy, and what happens when you throw a coffin out the 15th storey window of a hotel. ( )