Dead to the World

4.5/5

I'm pretty sure Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris is my favorite of the Sookie Stackhouse series so far. It's New Year's Day (technically) and Sookie is on her way home from the bar where she sees Eric running along the road. She stops and gets him in the car and home where she calls Pam. Pam and Chow show up and give Sookie the run down on what's going on: it turns out that a witch is in town that wants to make all the vampires pay her to stay out of their business, like a mob boss. Chow attacks one of her people, but there was a failsafe built in that took all of Eric's memories. He keeps all his basic understanding of how to function in the world, but not any information about who people are and what they mean to him. 

"If my sister does this," Jason said, disregarding me completely, "she deserves to get paid for it." There was what you call a pregnant silence. I gaped at him. Simultaneously, Pam and Chow nodded. "At least as much as an informer would get if he called the phone number on the poster," Jason said, his bright blue eyes going from one pale face to another. "Fifty thousand." "Jason!" I finally found my voice, and I clamped my hands down even tighter over Eric's ears. I was embarrassed and humiliated, without being able to figure out exactly why. For one thing, my brother was arranging my business as though it were his. "Ten," Chow said. "Forty-five," Jason countered. "Twenty." "Thirty-five." "Done." "Sookie I'll bring you my shotgun," Jason said. (16%) That was probably one of the best parts of the book. I cackled so much.

While Eric is staying with Sookie for safekeeping, Jason goes missing and Sookie goes out of her mind to find him. Then on top of that, the witches are making a mess of things trying to get supporters and alliances. They kill a werewolf which aligns them with the vampires as a first. Sookie has a lot on her plate in this book and it's so fun to read about. The final battle was really nicely written and had me curious on who would survive and who wouldn't. 

I love the relationship that Sookie and Eric develop throughout this book. He's very old fashioned with his way of thinking without his memory. And when his memory does come back, he's still adorable trying to figure out what all went on. Him referring to Sookie as "Lover" once they have sex is pretty adorable. I will definitely be reading this book again and buying the series for it. 

Favorite Quotes:

"I wondered if I could get some witch to cast a truth spell on Debbie Pelt, whom I despised because she had been cruel to Alcide, insulted me grievously, burned a hole in my favorite wrap and - oh - tried to kill me by proxy. Also, she had stupid hair. (33%)

There was a blur of movement, and then there was blood at the corner of her mouth. Calvin's hand was back dangling between his legs before I even realized he'd moved. "You be polite. Don't show your worst face to this woman," he said, and his voice was so serious I made up my mind I'd be extra polite, too, just to  be safe. (42%) I really liked this version of hotshot. It had a lot more pack feel than crazy vibe. It still had a lot of incest, but Calvin was a lot less of a douche. 

"You're a woman without protection now," he said. "Your brother's gone. I hope he comes back, but you don't have no one to stand up for you while he's missing." (43%) 

I’ll tell you why I didn’t dismiss this with a snort: He wasn’t being superior about it. According to his mores, he was being as nice as he could be, extending a shield to me if I should need it. Of course he expected to “be my man” in every way, along with protecting me; but he wasn’t being lascivious in his manner, or offensively explicit. Calvin Norris was offering to incur injury for my sake. He meant it. That’s not something to get all snitty about. (43%)

“I know that.” He nodded in acknowledgment of my delicacy. “Actually, that makes you more . . . The thing is, here in Hotshot, we’ve inbred too much. You heard Crystal. She can only change at the moon, and frankly, even then she’s not full-powered.” He pointed at his own face. “My eyes can hardly pass for human. We need an infusion of new blood, new genes. You’re not two-natured, but you’re not exactly an ordinary woman. Ordinary women don’t last long here.”  (43%)

“I think you would like the people here, and you would be a good breeder. I can tell by looking.” (44%)

"You are beautiful." No one had ever looked me in the eyes and said that. I found I had to lower my head. "You are smart, and you are loyal," he said relentlessly, though I waved a hand to ask him to quit. "You have a sense of fun and adventure." (58%)

"When this witch is defeated, I would bring you to my side. I will share everything I have with you. Ever vampire who owes me fealty will honor you." (58%)

"More than one kind of shifter," Eric said in the near-dark of my room. "What have you been doing, my lover?" He didn't exactly sound angry, but he didn't sound happy, either. Vampires. They wrote the book on possessive. (64%)

"Because you want to have sex with me." "That, of course. But also because I find I really do . . . " He paused, as if he were about to say something outrageous. "I find I have feelings for you." (64%)

“We could go back,” he said. In the dome light of the car, his face looked hard as stone. “We could go back to your house. I can stay with you always. We can know each other’s bodies in every way, night after night. I could love you.” His nostrils flared, and he looked suddenly proud. “I could work. You would not be poor. I would help you.” “Sounds like a marriage,” I said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. But my voice was too shaky. “Yes,” he said.  (65%)

“I abjure you,” Alcide said. Colonel Flood winced, and young Sid, Amanda, and Culpepper looked both astonished and impressed, as if this were a ceremony they’d never thought to witness. “I see you no longer. I hunt with you no longer. I share flesh with you no longer.” This was obviously a ritual of great significance among the two-natured. Debbie stared at Alcide, aghast at his pronouncement. The witches murmured to one another, but otherwise the room remained silent. Even Bubba was wide-eyed, and most things went right over his shiny head. “No,” Debbie said in a strangled voice, waving a hand in front of her, as if she could erase what had passed. “No, Alcide!” (67%)

When you have to clean the blood out of the kitchen, it's family you want. (78%)

“I was never a Christian,” Eric said. Now, that didn’t surprise me. “But I can’t imagine a belief system that would tell you to sit still and get slaughtered.” I blinked, wondering if that wasn’t exactly what Christianity taught. But I am no theologian or Bible scholar, and I would have to leave the judgment on my action to God, who was also no theologian. (78%)

My Gran had always told me, that a woman - any woman worth her salt - could do whatever she had to. (79%)

I think there are some things you're not telling me, Sookie, my dear," he said. His voice was gentler, though. (86%)

“You’re going?” I said, unable to keep from sounding startled and relieved. “Yes, you said you had to get to work,” he said blandly. “I do.” “I suggest you wear that jacket, the one that’s too light for the weather,” he said. “Since your coat is still in bad shape.” I’d run it through the washer on cold water wash, but I guess I hadn’t checked it well enough to be sure everything had come off. That’s where he’d been, searching for my coat. He’d found it on its hanger on the back porch, and examined it. “In fact,” Eric said, as he went to the front door, “I’d throw it away entirely. Maybe burn it.” He left, closing the door behind him very quietly. I knew, as sure as I knew my name, that tomorrow he would send me another coat, in a big fancy box, with a big bow on it. It would be the right size, it would be a top brand, and it would be warm. (87%)

It was cranberry red, with a removable liner, a detachable hood, and tortoiseshell buttons. (88%)