The major focus of this volume in the series is a summit of all the Kings and Queens of the vampire world. Sookie has committed to go as a consultant to the Queen of Louisiana to use her telepathy to read the minds of the human assistants in order to help tell if the vampires are telling the Queen the truth. This is very important as the Queen's financial base has been devastated by Hurricane Katrina and she is being challenged over the death of her husband. Even with Sookie's ability she still finds herself in dangerous circumstances and being betrayed by those she thought were on her side. Lots of drama and action. Another good story. ( )

I loved it when the scene from the cover art happened! ( )

I actually put down a book of substance because I had to know what happens next. Is there an AA group for these books? ( )

Took a while to get through it, mostly because I know this series can't last forever and I desperately want it to!!! I'm trying to make reading the last few take longer than normal, but each of these books draw you in, they are addictive, you can't get enough Sookie :-) or at least I can't!!! ( )

this is probably my favourite so far perhaps because the show covered none of it and it was cool and exciting not knowing how it ends. Pam is so delightful I felt genuinely scared for her. also crazy how sookie and eric haven't fucked for like 3 books now but their bond just got way more delicious. they're STILL thinking about it. god!!!!!!

All Together Dead
4 Stars

Sookie accompanies Sophie Ann, the Queen of Louisiana, and her entourage to the Vampire Summit in Illinois. There she must contend not only with the political machinations of the various vampire factions, and the murder of the Arkansas contingent, but also a possible terror attack that may wipe out everyone she knows.

The mystery in this installment is one of the more predictable and could have been resolved more easily if Sookie didn't have the terrible tendency toward forgetting important details that later come back to haunt her. How can someone be so willfully blind?

Sookie's problems with the men in her life continue: Jason makes a commitment that may have disastrous consequences for his sister. Circumstances lead Eric to forge an even tighter bond with Sookie than before, and Quinn's actions force her to rethink their relationship. At least Bill's betrayal has put the kibosh on that romance, and Calvin and Alcide have apparently realized their unsuitability.

Aside from all this, there are some compelling developments. In a surprising heart-to-heart, Pam reveals her past with Eric and it is a doozy! The vampire world is shaken to the core with the unforeseen deaths of several characters and Sookie rethinks her future with the supernaturals in her life.

All in all, an action packed addition to the series, and the twists and turns should make for interesting reading in the future.
( )

Strangely resonates with 2020 political situation. ( )

These are one-time-read books, but I am definitely enjoying them. ( )

Decent Fluff. ( )

I loved the action in this book-especially towards the end! ( )

This is the seventh book in the Sookie series, it's getting kind of old but there is still some fun in reading the books. It would help to read the previous books before starting this one as it has to deal with other issues that started in previous books. ( )

these books read more and more like laurell hamilton's anita blake series with every new addition. and while yes, i've read all of hamilton's books, i don't really mean this as a compliment. ( )

Least fav ( )

Least fav ( )

I dislike Quinn. He' s smarmy, had purple eyes, and (in this book), a tragic past. Ugh.

Sookie is still annoying, but I have to finish the silly series because i have to know what comes next, damn it.

Also: Barry the bellboy. ( )

The vampire summit was very intriguing because we got to learn about the inner workings of the vampire government. That was the most interesting thing about this book. There was way too much foreshadowing of the bombing and it was obvious when they mentioned the suitcase that didn't belong to anyone. It's all I could think about while I was reading this book because it was so obvious what was going to happen. And then Harris tries to throw you off with the pop can, but that didn't fool anyone. I feel like Harris really wanted this book to be a WOW moment, but it wasn't because of the excessive/blunt foreshadowing.

I think that Quinn is alright for Sookie, but I was annoyed with all of the hinting at his "terrible" past because it wasn't actually horrible. I don't really understand why you would keep it a secret from your girlfriend who knows all about weres and vampires. Sookie can handle it.

The blood bond is interesting and I look forward to seeing how this changes their relationship in the long run ( I really want to see more of them and for their relationship to deepen even further than it already has).

Finally, I am slightly annoyed that Harris thought parts of this story were believable. For example, why would anyone believe that you could scare a kick-ass vampire queen into marriage? Harris didn't give us any reason to believe that the Queen was worried about being overthrown or targeted directly, so why on earth would she be scared of a random attack (that didn't result in any injuries). Just seems a bit of a stretch for me. ( )

[Insert big sigh here.] I can't do it anymore. Wellllll. I say that, but then I think about what a glutton for punishment I am, and the fact that I can't leave something unfinished, and I resign myself to the fact that if my local library has the rest of the series, I'll probably check them out. I won't pay for them, because I couldn't fathom spending anything over a buck for them, but I guess my morbid curiosity lures me on to find out what happens next. This must be how soap operas stay on air. You don't really enjoy them, but they are just enough of a train wreck that you keep watching anyway. Morbid. Curiosity. Its my version of Constant Vigilance.

This book is, I suppose, one of the better ones in the series, plainly just because there isn't as much set up as in the beginning. We know a lot of the characters, we know the atmosphere they live in, and we expect all of their actions.

Things I wasn't a fan of:

The dimension hoppers. Entertaining as characters, but I didn't like the function they served, even if I fully understood it. Things are crazy enough in just the one dimension, without bringing in others.

The description of the attack on the hotel. Maybe its just the time of year that I was reading the book, but it seemed like a bad, small scale rip off of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks. The descriptions of aftermath, and the people buried and all of that. Understandably that's what it's like when a building goes down unplanned, but there wasn't enough detail in what was going on for me to feel like there was anything worthwhile in it. I don't understand how it furthers the plot, other that taking a few characters out of commission in one foul swoop. I dunno. I just have problems with it.

I also have problems with what could be called "the big death" of the climax and how, in the next book we're supposed to know all about what happened, without being given enough of a hint about it. If that makes any sense. It's mentioned in the next book, about who died, who killed them, and why, and all of that was apparently in sentence in this book, but not in a way were it was possible to guess at the info revealed in the next book.

Two stars: It was boring up front, and the climax was cliche. ( )

I have been trying to get caught up on this series, and I think I am getting a little tired of Sookie's world. The vampire summit meeting was interesting, and learning more about vampire justice was interesting too. But the secondary story about people sabotaging the meeting was a little too easy to figure out. I new right from the beginning what the "big plan" was for infiltrating the hotel. And I was bothered that none of the characters figured it out fast enough.

Sookie develops more of a relationship with Quinn, and we learn his dark secret past. There are more developments with Eric. Bill is left out of most of the action this time around.

This is still a fun series to read, and I plan on reading #8 soon. ( )

I hadn't expected this one to come off my hold list so quickly. I'd listened to the last few on audiobook, but was curious as to how Sookie's story was going. It's still going, and should continue - as the story sets her up for more trouble in the future after Harris updates the narrative to include the effects of Katrina on Louisiana and vampire politics. (June 09, 2007) ( )

I thought it was well done - things are getting more and more complicated for Sookie Stackhouse as she's gotten into the middle of various plots - vampires against vampires, humans against vampires - as well as having a were-tiger, a couple of vampires and a telepath interested in her. Lots to juggle in this one. ( )

I think I'm starting to lose patience with these books. This is probably partially because I'm reading them all in such a short time, but I just feel like Harris's 'verse has so much potential and sometimes the plot ends up more boring than I'd anticipated. This one has a much better premise, in my opinion, but there weren't any new characters which were that interesting (Barry could've been so awesome, for instance).

Of course, my favourite thing was the blood bond, but increasingly I'm bored with anything not involving Sookie, Eric, Pam, or Amelia. I'd hoped the Queen and Andre would continue to be sympathetic characters, but that didn't happen. I wish she'd delve deeper into her characters instead of focusing on mundane Mary Sue-ish things like shopping and outfits. The books could definitely use more insight.

An irrelevant aside: did anybody else notice that Harris has a thing for guys coming in their pants? Quinn did once, and Eric has twice now. This is not a complaint on my part.

At this point I'm just wanting to finish what's been written so far, in anticipation of upcoming Eric/Sookie scenes. Maybe the fandom for these books will grow substantially enough for there to be fanfiction which surpasses the quality of the canon (like Harry Potter, for instance). I know there are smart women with more sense than Charlaine Harris out there reading these things. ( )

Reread 2019. Changed my rating from 5 stars to 3.5-4. I think this book is quite entertaining. Lots of stuff happening and in a different setting. But not as good as I originally felt it was. There was very little Bill though, so that's good. ( )

In this book we learn more about Vampire politics and how things are run. Sookie is hired by the Queen of LA to be at her side durning a vampire summit. I love the story telling in this book and how I could picture the hotel the sumit was being held. I thought the characters were enjoyable and I really liked the action in this book. ( )

Sookie and her witty butt is at it again. The sex scenes in this one, some were hard to read lol. A little over the top. Quinn is a fun new one to deal with. Sexy as can be. But I miss Eric, he is my ultimate book boyfriend. The Vampire Convention is a really awesome concept the follow through in this book had a few loop holes. Just seemed like the security in reality would’ve been a lot better considering most vamps are full of money. ( )

I absolutely loved this book and this series! I got involved with this series before True Blood became a show and I couldn't quit reading. I ended up getting all caught up and then had to wait each year for the next to come out until Harris finally reached the end of the series (I was devastated and wanted more Sookie Stackhouse in my life). It's been nearly 10 years since I read the first one and probably getting close to time for a re-read! ( )