Sookie Stackhouse countdown #8... From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

                                                          

Well, the action continues in the eighth installment of the world of Sookie Stackhouse.  This is the book where everyone seems to be at war.  After Hurricane Katrina there is a war with the vampires on who will gain control of  Louisiana.  And the Were's continue to battle for the very same reasons.  Sookie, of course is always caught in the middle just when it gets dangerous.  But, there is good news...  Sookie doesn't end up in the hospital, she doesn't get beat up and she doesn't have anyone new fall in love with her.  Considering the past...  this is a move in the right direction.  A small one, but hey...  we'll take what we can get.  We still have the on-going love triangles and we begin to see some of these love interests fall into their proper places...  Here is how everyone is stacking up in the order of their chances of winning Sookie's heart:

At the bottom of the list is our stalker vampire...  Bill Compton.  Bill floats in every now and then to tempt Sookie to come back to him.  But, Sookie has made it clear that it isn't going to happen.  But, still...  he tries.  Will he ever give up? 

Next in line is our hunky werewolf Alcide.  What a disappointment he turned out to be.  He only seems to call on Sookie when he needs something from her...  and even though she is supposed to be a friend of the pack it doesn't always seem so friendly.  Her involvement with the pack seems to bring her more danger than anything else.  Perhaps Sookie should consider ending the friendship as she did the possibility of a romance. 

And, unfortunately, our Were Tiger Quinn really botched things up in this book.  Sookie realizes that she will never be first in his life.  His family and their needs will always get in the way of their happiness.  So, Quinn got the boot...  sorry Quinn but a girls gotta' do what a girls gotta' do!

And then we have our adorable Viking...  Eric.  Congratulations Eric...  you finally re-gained your memory of your little romantic holiday with Sookie.  And, that mixed with their blood bond is making resisting his charms a little harder for Sookie.  There is no doubt at all that Eric is bursting with sex appeal but the question that will always hang over this relationship will be Eric's true intentions.  Does he love her?  Can he love her?  Will his desire to gain power always come before Sookie?  And the bigger question...  can he make her happy?

First in line in this particular installment of the series is...  Sam.
Why Sam??  Well, Sam is always there for Sookie.  He never makes demands...  he listens and he gives Sookie space when she needs it and he's always there for her.  They are best friends and he is probably the only guy in her life that she can truly count on and trust.  Not to mention...  Sam turned into a Lion in this book...  which is almost as good as a Tiger.  Just thought I'd throw that in there.  And, he puts his life on the line to save her not because he's ordered to or because he wants anything from her but just because he truly cares for her. 
Here is a short conversation between Sookie and Sam after the werewolf war that touched me:

"Sam, you went through all of this because of me.  I feel terrible about that.  I would've died if it wasn't for you.  I owe you big time.  And, I'm so sorry."
"Keeping you alive," Sam said, "is important to me." 

The one thing that stood out for me in this book was that Sam asks nothing from Sookie but gives her all of him and always when she needs it most.  This could be the foundation of a true and honest relationship.  He has no interest in power...  he's just good 'ole reliable Sam. 

But things seem to change constantly in Sookie's world so only time will tell if this continues to be true.  So, I guess I'll move on to the next installment to find out.  Book #9 in this series is titled...  Dead and Gone... 

K~

Click HERE to read my review of Dead and Gone...