Dead In The Family
MARCH
THE FIRST WEEK
“I feel bad that I’m leaving you like this,” Amelia said. Her eyes were puffy and red. They’d been that way, off and on, ever since Tray Dawson’s funeral.
“You have to do what you have to do,” I said, giving her a very bright smile. I could read the guilt and shame and ever-present grief roiling around Amelia’s mind in a ball of darkness. “I’m lots better,” I reassured her. I could hear myself babbling cheerfully along, but I couldn’t seem to stop. “I’m walking okay, and the holes are all filled in.
See how much better?” I pulled down my jeans waistband to show her a spot that had been bitten out. The teeth marks were hardly perceptible, though the skin wasn’t quite smooth and was visibly paler the surrounding flesh. If I hadn’t had a huge dose of vampire blood, the scar would’ve looked like a shark had bitten me.
Amelia glanced down and hastily away, as if she couldn’t bear to see the evidence of the attack. “It’s just that Octavia keeps e-mailing me and telling me I need to come home and accept my judgment from the witches’ council, or what’s left of it,” she said in a rush. “And I need to check all the repairs to my house. And since there are a few tourists again, and people returning and rebuilding, the magic store’s reopened. I can work there part-time. Plus, as much as I love you and love living here, since Tray died . . .”
“Believe me, I understand.” We’d gone over this a few times.
“It’s not that I blame you,” Amelia said, trying to catch my eyes.
She really didn’t blame me. Since I could read her mind, I knew she was telling me the truth.
Even I didn’t totally blame myself, somewhat to my surprise.
It was true that Tray Dawson, Amelia’s lover and a Were, had been killed while he’d been acting as my bodyguard. It was true that I’d requested a bodyguard from the Were pack nearest me because they owed me a favor and my life needed guarding. However, I’d been present at the death of Tray Dawson at the hands of a sword-wielding fairy, and I knew who was responsible.
So I didn’t feel guilty, exactly. But I felt heartsick about losing Tray, on top of all the other horrors. My cousin Claudine, a full-blooded fairy, had also died in the Fae War, and since she’d been my real, true fairy godmother, I missed her in a lot of ways. And she’d been pregnant. I had a lot of pain and regret of all kinds, physical and mental. While Amelia carried an armful of clothes downstairs, I stood in her bedroom, gathering myself. Then I braced my shoulders and lifted a box of bathroom odds and ends. I descended the stairs carefully and slowly, and I made my way out to her car. She turned from depositing the clothes across the boxes already stowed in her trunk. “You shouldn’t be doing that!” she said, all anxious concern. “You’re not healed yet.”
From: DEAD IN THE FAMILY by Charlaine Harris, copyright © 2010 by the author and reprinted by permission of Berkley.
Dead in the Family
Since Dead in Dixie—our omnibus edition of the first three Sookie Stackhouse novels—members have been among the first to be drawn under the psychic waitress’ spell. Now Charlaine Harris quenches our thirst for a brand new adventure with Dead in the Family.
Even with the blood of two vampires in her system, Sookie is having trouble healing from the torture she endured during the brief but deadly Faery War. Even worse are the emotional wounds—the loss of several friends and the near-death of Bill Compton, her first love. The only bright spot in her life is her relationship with Eric Northman, which seems to be going well. She thinks she loves him, though she worries that her emotions might be a result of their having shared blood.
All Sookie wants is peace and quiet and the chance to heal, but peace and quiet are hard to come by. Because of their relationship, Eric is under scrutiny by the new Vampire King. The political ramifications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, and her connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side—and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry….
Hardcover Book : 320 pages
Publisher: Ace Sci Fi & Fantasy/Mbr Penguin Putnam ( May 01, 2010 )
Item #: 13-121760
ISBN: 9780441018642
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 inches
Product Weight: 12.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Great book 
June 06, 2011
this book is a great read I have not been diappointed with any in this series so far!!
Reviewer: Kristi
good read
December 17, 2010
I love this series! I had read most of the books before TRUE BLOOD ever hit the TV. Ms. Harris is a great writer ! I agree with others life is not always turmoil ! This book gave us a lot of vital history about Eric and his maker, more fai lines,and wrapped up a lot of loose ends. This is a springboard for the next plot line! I can't wait for the next book.Come on people where is your loyalty! Sookie needed a little down time LOL,but this was still a very exciting read!
Reviewer: cheryl g
Write On Charlaine Harris!
September 14, 2010
After all that happened in the Fae Wars that preceded when Niall, Sookie?s fairy great-grandfather, closed the door to Fairy, the ninth installment of the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mystery series starts with a very depressing feel to it. Eric?s position as sheriff of Area 5 is threatened by Victor, Felipe de Castro?s vampire in Louisiana, and shocking to both me and Eric, Sook wishes him dead. However throughout the book, she?ll go on about how murder is morally wrong no matter the reason. This is something that Sookie will soon have to face.
The morning after a full moon night hunting on Sookie?s property, one of Alcide?s pack members tells her that there are traces of two fairies having been on her land very recently, and a dead body is buried that seems to have been there a while. Reminding Sookie to ask Eric what he did with Debbie Pelt?s body, and wondering if Dermot could still on this side of the closed door to Fairy.
Claude asks to stay with Sookie. Claudine, Sookie?s cousin and fairy godmother, was pregnant and killed in the Fae Wars. It?s very sad that Claude is the last of the triplets alive. To his credit, he is a whole lot less of a jerk, and he makes an honest effort while he is staying in the Stackhouse house.
When a vampire tracker finds a second corpse on Sookie?s land, the mystery starts. Who corpse could it be, and who put it there? To complicate matters, Eric?s maker shows up in Sookie?s bedroom window, thankfully after they you know what. His timing is terrible with the delicate position Eric is in with Victor. What is it that Eric?s master wants after all these years?
The government is pushing to force the two-natured to register, and that is not settling well with everyone. The church members are protesting, and the two-natured who are and have been serving the country are mad at being treated as illegal aliens.
The depressing feel of this book soon fades, and the excitement is back that gave me goose bumps...
Reviewer: Jimmy W
Enjoyable
August 15, 2010
I just finished the entire series in two weeks. I thought Dead in the Family was a great continuation. Dead in Gone was SO action packed she had to take a step back. There were three different crazy storylines in Dead in Gone and one of them involved extreme torture. If you compare those directly I can see how someone might feel as though it is boring but really, I don't think Sookie should be hurt in every book. So, read this book realizing that it is kind of filler, I think Sookie is being allowed to recover.
Reviewer: Jasmine G
Disappointing
August 12, 2010
I was so excited to get this book only to be let down. I'm glad she got closer to her fairy family...but who cares. At the end I literally said "Is that it?" Very disappointing.
Reviewer: Angel
Copyright © Bookspan. Rhapsody® is a registered trademark used under license. Unauthorized use prohibited. All rights reserved.
51407201305ADFL
