A Book Obsession..: Charlaine Harris

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Kirsten Reviews: Night Shift by Charlaine Harris

, by KT

Night Shift by Charlaine Harris

Midnight, Texas #3

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels—“the Mark Twain of things that live under your bed”*—comes a new novel of Midnight, Texas, the town where some secrets will never see the light of day...
At Midnight’s local pawnshop, weapons are flying off the shelves—only to be used in sudden and dramatic suicides right at the main crossroads in town.

Who better to figure out why blood is being spilled than the vampire Lemuel, who, while translating mysterious texts, discovers what makes Midnight the town it is. There’s a reason why witches and werewolves, killers and psychics, have been drawn to this place.

And now they must come together to stop the bloodshed in the heart of Midnight. For if all hell breaks loose—which just might happen—it will put the secretive town on the map, where no one wants it to be...

Night Shift, third book in Charlaine Harris' Midnight Texas series is an “everybody comes together” sort of story, more so than the other books as the different characters are truly coming into their abilities, or have mostly sorted out who they are.

There is something underneath Midnight’s crossroads. It’s alive, and is compelling people to come to Midnight and then committed suicide at the crossroads. With so many deaths comes attention, the sort of thing that is definitely unwelcome in Midnight, and everyone one of its residents are uneasy. As it happens, everyone in Midnight has secrets, and although only a few of them are human, this is a town that looks after one another.

Lemuel is hard at work translating an ancient text which may have the answers to prevent the coming disaster, but it’s slow work. There are a few new faces in town, something that it’s always viewed with curiosity and a bit of wariness by the residents, and the suicides continue happening.

Fiji too is key to what’s happening, as the thing at the crossroads is speaking to her, and it’s hungry for more death and discord.

The rest of the humans and other creatures living in Midnight are heavily involved in what’s going on, but it’s Fiji in particular whose journey as a witch and a woman is essential to the plot.

Midnight may seem like a sleepy town on the surface, but the truth is that there’s much more beneath the surface, and some things are neither resting easy nor particularly friendly.

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
The Paranormal Paladin
Gizmo's Reviews
Herding Cats & Burning Soup

Previous Books:
1. Midnight Crossing
2. Day Shift

Dead Reckoning

, by KT

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

Sookie Stackhouse #11

With her knack for being in trouble's way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte's, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. But Sookie suspects otherwise and she and Sam work together to uncover the culprit - and the twisted motive for the attack. But her attention is divided. Though she can't 'read' vampires, Sookie knows her lover Eric Northman and his 'child' Pam well - and she realises that they are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, she is drawn into the plot -which is much more complicated than she knows. Caught up in the politics of the vampire world, Sookie will learn that she is as much of a pawn as any ordinary human - and that there is a new Queen on the board . . .

Sookie seems to be a magnet for trouble, and in Dead Reckoning, she more than proves this. The bar gets torched by a nasty fire bomb while she is working, and Sookie isn't sure who the culprit is. She and Sam must get to the bottom of things quickly as business is already bad, and they cannot afford to lose anymore customers. Meanwhile Pam and Eric seem to have something up their sleeve when it comes to their master's demise. Sookie joins them in their sentiment, but doesn't really want to be drawn into the actual plot. Of course she doesn't get that wish and quickly finds out there are many more who would seek to use her, as well as a potential betrayal that could change everything.

While Dead Reckoning was better than the previous book, I still couldn't help but be disappointed. I prefer a book to be centered on one major issue with perhaps a few subplots to supplement. With supplement being the key word. This book just seemed to have threats coming from so many different directions as well as plenty of sideline happenings that it just seemed to muddle things. I just find it harder to get engrossed in a book when my attention keeps getting diverted due to this character's unknown plans for Sookie, or Pam's attempt to warn her of something to do with Eric. The list could go on and on. At times I really felt like I had a bad case of ADD as my attention kept wandering to previous statements and apparent machinations rather than what was currently happening.

I'm finding the relationship between Eric and Sookie to feel almost wooden at this point. I really feel like they are doomed to fall apart at this point. Even if they don't, it's going to take a whole lot to get me really believing in them again. They hide so much from each other, and neither one seems to be the other's top priority. This has me scratching my head considering just how much time and effort has been put into their relationship in the first place. With only two books left how could Sookie find her HEA if she has to deal with the heartbreak of splitting apart with Eric during them. I really hope she doesn't end up with Bill, I just wouldn't find it believable, nor would I believe her falling head over heels for someone new anyway. So basically I'm really wary of the direction things seem to be heading, and while I hope I'm proven wrong, I just don't have much faith in a believable HEA for Sookie.

I'll be honest and say that I am very glad this series will be ending with only two more books coming. Typically I am the person who gets devastated at a series ending, so my feelings about the Sookie series are a little surprising to me. I love the characters, and all the complex relationships between them, but for some time now the books have been lacking that special something that drew me to the series in the first place. I feel like so many things have been drawn out far longer than necessary while others have merely been glossed over. I fully intend to stick things out and finish Sookie's journey with her, but with the way things are looking now I have a feeling my reaction will be more of a sigh of relief that things are finally over, rather than any real satisfaction.

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