Dead As A Doornail - Charlaine Harris- never trust a fangtasia barman!!! (Dead As A Doornail - Charlaine Harris)

Member Name: bookworm75

Product:	Dead As A Doornail - Charlaine Harris
Date:	17/09/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lots of werewolves and fast paced action

Disadvantages: little vampire action

Dead as a Doornail is the 5th installment in the Sookie Stackhouse series.

Main focus of the book:
Following on from the 4th book, Sookie's brother Jason is getting used to his new 'shifting' status after being bitten by a werepanther. He's still in trouble though as there is a sniper shooting the local shape-shifters and Jason is prime suspect; he can only partially shift because he was bitten and not a werepanther by birth and he's a little put out by this fact.

When Sam, Sookie's boss, is shot by the sniper, Sookie has to go to Eric for a temporary bar tender. He loans her Charles, a vampire [who by the way is a Pirate!]. Sookie is also in trouble herself and again seems to be targeted, as someone tries to burn down her house. We also meet Claude and Claudine the fairies and discover Claudine is Sookie's fairy godmother. Sookie is again drawn into trying to find out who is killing the shifters in Bon temps and keeping herself alive.
We also get to know the werewolf and werepanther social hierarchy when the local werewolf packleader dies and Alcide [a werewolf friend from the 4th book and still interested in Sookie] asks Sookie, as pack friend, to attend the funeral and unknowingly witness the competition that will select the new packleader [yuck]. We also briefly meet Quinn who features alot in the later books.

The vampires take a back seat in this book [especially Bill] with the focus kept mainly on the shifters and the sniper. This isn't a bad thing however, as I had a bit of Eric overdose in the previous book, but he is still trying to find out from Sookie what happened when he lost his memory and Bill is still trying to get back in Sookie's good books, with little success. Bill is almost a non-event since the 3rd book really, which is a shame, but understandable [I wouldn't want him around either!].

I enjoyed this book, as with all the sookie books, especially as it starts to explore the world of the supes, and the werepanthers in 'close' Hotshot and we are introduced to the fairies, which will feature largely in book 9. But I do still want more Eric, more Bill!

do check out charlaines website, she does a 'book and blog' page where she reviews books....I'm starting on rachel caine's weather warden series next which sounds brill.

http://www.charlaineharris.com/

Summary: sniper killing shifters, werewolves change leader, will sookie end up with eric?