Fang Banger

I must admit, I have been pleasantly surprised by the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series-- Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris. I am really not into the whole vampire craze that has swept the world in the last couple of years. I tried to read/ listen to the Twilight books. WOOF! I found them some of the most poorly written stories I had tried to read. OK, maybe that was too harsh... they were OVERwritten. The author takes three paragraphs to describe something that could have been done justice with one, maybe two sentences. By the time I have finished with the description, I forgot what she was describing to start with.

 

Anyway...

 

I also have tried to watch the True Blood tv show... OK, I tried to watch it ONCE... but I just couldn't get into it at all. So I was very skeptical about the books-- even though I have had numerous people tell me they are "SO much better than the TV show..." (Aren't they always?) Well, I finally broke down and gave book 1 a chance. Since I have trouble finding time, and the ability to stay awake, to read right now, I downloaded it from Audible.com. Part of what REALLY annoyed me with the tv show was the main character's accent-- I worried this would be a problem with the audiobook as well-- however, the reader does a much more believeable Louisiana accent.

 

As I have listened to the story though, I can't help but notice MANY similarities between it and the Twilight story. I looked to see which was published first-- though I had a pretty good idea. I mean, I realize there are some topics about vampires that are universal-- stake through the heart, repulsion of garlic, only up at night, burnt by silver, etc... But there are several similarities that are not so common-- so if I was Charlaine Harris, I would be asking Stephanie Meyer where she got some of her plot/ character ideas...

Both stories feature

• a main female character that is kind of a loner, misunderstood, and somewhat socially awkward
• a love triangle between the awkward female, the main vampire, and a male character that transforms into a wolf/ dog
• a gang of vampires (2 males, 1 female) that wreak havoc in the small community
• a dominant vampire that fixates on the awkward female character
• mindreading-- though in Twilight it is the Vamp that can read minds... but in both stories there is one person who's mind cannot be read

I think there are probably more- but that is all I can recall at the moment...

I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of this story. Usually I can figure out who the murderer is long before the end of the book-- but this story kept me curious & guessing until the end. Sookie was somewhat annoying in her naivety and dimwitedness-- but not enough to completely turn me off. I definitely plan to check out book 2.