Book Review – All Together Dead

Author: Charlaine Harris
Publisher: Penguin
Binding: Hardcover
Publication Date: 2007

All Together Dead is the seventh book in the Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris. The series’ main character, Sookie Stackhouse, is not a vampire herself but associates with them on occasion. Sookie is a telepath and in this capacity has worked for the vampires in the past. This time she is to attend a vampire convention along with Louisiana’s reigning vampire queen, Sophie-Anne Leclerq. Sophie-Anne needs her as a protective element since Sophie-Anne herself has been weakened physically and in reputation due to recent events. Murders, anti-vampire terrorism, vampire justice trials, dancing and romance all ensue.

Sookie is contracted to work for the Louisiana vampires for the convention. Since her most current lover is a were-tiger who works in special events, he’ll conveniently be at the convention as well. Also attending will be two of her former lovers, both vampires. At home she leaves a witch named Katie, her temporary housemate and Katie’s boyfriend whom she has turned into a cat. At the convention, Sookie is to provide telepathic protection and support during murder trial Sophie-Anne as well as the rest of the convention. When the Louisiana group happens upon a double murder at the convention hotel, things get more complicated. Even worse, there may be an anti-vampire plot brewing at the convention.

Since this is the 7th book in the series, Sookie is reintroduced relatively well to the readers, especially those who may not be reading the books in order or have picked this one up on its own. However, past events from previous books are mentioned often and repeatedly and a reader not having read the first six may be scrambling to understand what those scenes’ relevance are to the current story. The combination of relevant gaps in her history and a thorough description of her current surroundings gave me an unbalanced feeling with regards to Sookie. I couldn’t decide if I liked her or if I did not, but quite often I knew that I did not understand her.

There are two reasons that I’ve given All Together Dead a relatively poor score in this review. The first is that Charlaine Harris did not clear the improbability hurdles. As a fantasy reader, I generally expect to be presented with a world that is not like mine but that could conceivably be mine. What I mean is that I must be able to believe in the premise for it to become real enough for me to enjoy. The improbable must be explained away and manipulated so that it becomes probable. I found the vampire convention to be both kooky, unreasonable and downright uninteresting. Conventions are boring things where large groups of like-minded individuals get together and talk about the things they have in common. Definitely not a thrill ride. Vampires have a feel to them. There are hundreds of books out there about these undead creatures, from Ann Rice to Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and many in between, and while they all differ, they also give the sense that no self-respecting vampire of any sort would be caught undead buying fake fangs at a convention.

The second reason for the lowered score was the odd combination of a fairly lighthearted romp about vampires and a sexually promiscuous telepath and a graphically gory debate on whether vampires should be allowed to exist and what should be done to eradicate them if they should not. This jarring combination, which was at its worst at the end of the book, really took me out of the story which is one of the fastest ways to ruin a reader’s enjoyment of a story.

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