Living Dead in Dallas * Charlaine Harris * Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood #2

When the brutal murder of a close friend rocks her small Louisiana town, a telepathic cocktail waitress is forced by the local vampire hierarchy to travel to Dallas to solve a missing-persons case, plunging her straight into a dangerous showdown with a radical anti-vampire cult.

The Story: Written by prominent urban fantasy pioneer Charlaine Harris, this globally celebrated 2002 volume marks the brilliant second installment in the blockbuster series that inspired HBO's True Blood. The narrative completely steps away from the dark, brooding templates of traditional gothic horror. Instead, Harris establishes a light, fast-paced, and highly entertaining storyline that pairs a supernatural whodunit with sharp Southern wit, small-town charm, and a realistic look at political friction between humans and newly mainstreamed vampires.

The plot follows Sookie Stackhouse, a mind-reading waitress working at Merlotte's bar in Bon Temps, Louisiana. Her life takes a sharp turn when the body of a local cook is discovered in the bar's parking lot, covered in mysterious puncture wounds. Before Sookie can investigate the local suspects, the local vampire sheriff, Eric Northman, demands she pay back a favor. Sookie is packed off to Dallas, Texas, to use her unique telepathic skills to hunt down a missing vampire companion who has vanished into thin air, turning the unfamiliar city into a high-stakes arena of hidden threats.

Rather than a routine missing-persons case, the assignment pulls Sookie straight into the path of the Fellowship of the Sun, a wealthy, media-savvy religious cult dedicated to systematically eradicating the undead. Partnering with a handsome shape-shifter and a telepathic hotel employee, Sookie must infiltrate the cult's heavily guarded compound. As the narrative builds toward a chaotic countdown, she discovers that deep-seated prejudices and human fanaticism are far deadlier than the monsters she left behind in Louisiana. Published as an essential mass-market paperback by Ace Books, this chart-topping page-turner keeps the tension and humor at an absolute boil.

Perfect For: Devotees of fast-reading urban fantasy, supernatural mysteries, and paranormal romance fiction; fans of sassy protagonists and witty ensemble casts like the works of Laurell K. Hamilton, Patricia Briggs, or Kim Harrison; and anyone who loves addictive, multi-book fantasy series.

Lord Ruthven Award for Fiction (2003).

First Published 2002. This Edition 2002 by Ace Books.

Fiction / Horror / Urban Fantasy / Supernatural Mysteries / Vampire Sagas / Southern Gothic Humorous Fiction / Paranormal Romances