Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, Book 10)

So, this is another review where my thoughts were so scattered in the wake of reading that I had to use sub-headings. The following review is pretty spoiler-free if you haven't yet read 'Dead in the Family' - but there are **SPOILERS** if you haven't read books 1 - 9.*****Sookie VS. Fan Expectation*****I love Charlaine Harris, and I especially love her `Southern Vampire; Sookie Stackhouse' series. I discovered these books around the same time that I read the first `Twilight'. After reading `Dead Until Dark', the `Sookie' series became one of my all-time favourites and I have remained a loyal fan for five years now.I do love these books, but I wasn't overly impressed with book #8 `From Dead to Worse' or book #9 `Dead and Gone'. My lack-lustre response wasn't to do with Ms. Harris's writing so much as my own expectations. It's an unfortunate by-product of fan-bases that when so many people love your work, those people think they have the right to predict and dictate the trajectory of that work.Charlaine Harris commented on such fall-out when `Dead and Gone' came out last year - when she realized that a lot of fan criticism of her ninth book was less to do with the story, and more to do with unmet expectations.I completely agree with Charlaine Harris that her work is her own and fans can certainly state their opinions, but to feel that they are `entitled' to certain outcomes is outlandish and insulting. But I am one of those fans who go into the `Sookie' books with a sort of `wish-list' and can't help but be somewhat miffed when my anticipations aren't met.But I really tried to reverse that logic when I started `Dead in the Family'. I firmly believe my dislike of `Dead and Gone' was my own fault, so I went into this tenth book with no expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised.*****Eric/Sookie*****I was a really big Sookie/Eric fan, pretty much from Eric's first appearance in `Dead Until Dark'. My obsession reached fever pitch in `Dead to the World' (and *that* shower scene) but 10 books in my love affair with their love affair is cooling... and I have a few theories why.Sookie and Eric have always had great chemistry and sexual tension out the wazoo. But since cementing their relationship in `Dead and Gone' and now playing vampiric husband and wife in `Dead in the Family'... its become obvious to me that part of the reason they worked so well was that tension, the `chase', so to speak. Sookie always tried so hard to deny her feelings for Eric. Meanwhile, Eric worked hard to get into Sookie's pants while trying to decipher his unprecedented interest in her. The `will they or won't they' aspect leant a lot of heat to their romance. And I find myself missing that in `Dead in the Family'.But I'm a bit shame-faced because I griped and grumbled about the lack of Sookie/Eric goodness in `Dead and Gone'. Now I'm griping and grumbling about the Sookie/Eric goodness in `Dead in the Family'. My bad - I'm a fickle fan.I firmly believe that while Sookie and Eric are the fan favourite couple, Eric is not who Sookie will ultimately end up with. Call them the Dawson & Joey of Bon Temps (though I was always more of a Pacey fan myself). I found Sookie and Eric's relationship to be quite odd in `Dead in the Family'. There's a lot of emphasis on both Sookie and Eric saying `I love you' to each other - and Sookie admits that she doesn't say it to Eric very often, but she can't quite figure out why. Eric, for his part, says those three little words but without really knowing what they mean. He clarifies by saying that he loves having sex with Sookie, and he thinks about her all the time etc, etc - but his inhumanity bars him from really, truly grasping the concept. For me, Sookie and Eric feel a little hollow. But that's not to say I didn't enjoy their loved up scenes;Right now it just feels like Eric is Sookie's `transitional' man. Eric seems to be the one before `the one', so to speak. And while there's a big fan-girl part of me that relishes their scenes together, there's another part that is anxious to see who Sookie's HEA will be...*****Sookie's soulmate?*****For a while now I've had an inkling that Sam is going to be Sookie's HEA.With that in my mind, I was kind of sad to read that Sam has a girlfriend in `Dead in the Family'. And his girlfriend is annoying - young and annoying. As despondent as I was to read of a new woman in Sam's life, I was secretly chuffed when Sookie took an avid interest in comparing her physical appearance to that of Sam's new honey... maybe it's because I've come to like the idea of Sookie/Sam, but I read a lot into Sookie's comparative studies and I interpreted jealous undertones where maybe there weren't any?I do like Sam for Sookie. As the series progresses and the violence in her life heightens, Sookie has become a lot more introspective and she's recently started to question what she wants out of life. Realistically, Sookie doesn't want to be a vampire - yet both her ex-boyfriends, Eric and Bill, will remain youthful and unchanged while she grows arthritic and sagging. In `Dead in the Family' two of Sookie's close girl friends are pregnant - which gives Sookie pause for thought about the theoretical family she'll never have if she stays in relationships with dead men. I love Sookie, above all else in this series. She's a wonderful heroine and readers have been on a real journey with her. At this point, 10 books deep, I'm starting to hope that Sookie will get all that she wants out of life... and I think that's Sam.I do wish Sam had a bigger role in `Dead in the Family'. In this book Sookie and Sam are really just touching base with each other, as opposed to having full-blown scenes.*****FBI storyline*****Ever since book #7, `All Together Dead', I've been wondering about a certain FBI storyline Ms. Harris has not revisited.... In book #7 Sookie showed off her telepathic prowess in front of police and rescue workers, inadvertently drawing the attention of the FBI. Charlaine Harris did touch on this topic in recent books, (`Dead and Gone'? From memory?) so for a while now I've been hoping that this storyline would grow and expand. I think it could be interesting if Sookie was headhunted by the US Government. Clearly that plot arc would take the series in a completely new direction... but I at least wanted Ms. Harris to plausibly wrap up such an arc, or give some finality to it. In `Dead in the Family' she kind of does that - but with plenty of room to manoeuvre. She gets the FBI off Sookie's back for the mean time, but she also has Sookie discovering that she has been monitored by the Feds for some time now...I'm quite happy about this - it's like Ms. Harris is tucking this plot line away for a rainy day. On the surface it seems like the issues are resolved, but there are still plenty of loose ends and I for one would love it if the series skewed with this plotline.*****Hunter storyline*****In `From Dead to Worse' Sookie came face-to-face with her second cousin, Hunter. Hunter is Hadley's son and telepathic. This storyline was all but forgotten in `Dead and Gone', but Ms. Harris devotes a few chapters to it in `Dead in the Family'. I loved the scenes with Hunter - mostly because his presence made Sookie once again examine all that she wants out of life (family). But also because I think Charlaine Harris is gearing up for a big story-arc concerning Hunter. In `Dead in the Family' she's really only laying the foundation for future books... but she definitely whet my appetite for a more Hunter-focused storyline. Bring it on!*****BLAST FROM THE PAST: Bill & Alcide*****These are two characters who have been relegated to the sidelines since Sookie made it clear she had no romantic inclinations towards them. Bill had a big character arc in `Dead and Gone', but his role is minimal in `Dead in the Family'. Still, I appreciated that Ms. Harris went back to the series' roots and gave us some Bill scenes. Same goes for Alcide. I loved the werewolf packmaster in `Club Dead'... but over the course of the series Alcide has become a bit of a douche-bag and his character had deflated a bit for me.I still don't like Alcide, but I always love the werewolf storyline and was happy to read about the pack in `Dead in the Family'.****Damn fairies!*****I really hated the fae story-arc of recent books. I didn't like Claudine. Niall was creepy. Sookie's family tree was confusing and nothing fae-related worked for me. I was so pleased that Ms. Harris all but put that arc to rest in `Dead and Gone'. In `Dead in the Family' Sookie's fae cousin, Claude, becomes her roommate. There are also two mysterious fairies hanging around the Stackhouse property. Claude's scenes are small, and the fairy plot is a sideline. Phew. I think Harris is officially putting this story to rest and not intending to make it the focus. Yay!*****`TRUE BLOOD' influence*****But in `Dead in the Family', Harris also discounts a few of the `True Blood' creative license storylines.For one thing, Harris gives us the *real* back-story to Bill & Lorena, and it's nothing like the HBO show depicted... It's actually a lot more tragic than anything Alan Ball could come up with.Then there's Eric's maker. `True Blood' had Godric as Eric's `father' but in `Dead in the Family' we meet Eric's master for the first time - and he's deliciously creepy. His name is Appius Livius Ocella and he brings a brother for Eric to meet. I loved this storyline - mostly because Charlaine Harris throws in a juicy bit of history that I'm actually quite familiar with. I won't spoil, but it has to do with the Russian Revolution... I never thought all my history studies would pay off so much! I loved the twisted-history of one particular character, and the bizarre way their vampire history made sense in the Sookie-universe. Very clever, very creepy. I loved it!*****END*****I loved this book. Sookie has really changed so much from book #1 - never more so than in the wake of her torture in `Dead and Gone'. I think that `Dead in the Family' is quite a transitional Sookie book - and I have a feeling she will undergo even more life changes in book #11.Charlaine Harris managed to juggle quite a few loose-end storylines and whet reader's appetites for future books. These future plots are more like `sneak peeks' and `what if's?' at this point, but there's so much potential and juiciness you just know that when Harris decides to write them, it'll be a doozy!

I've been wondering all the previous books what Eric/Sookie relationship would be like and I got more then I bargained for. I just finished the book, so I'd like to mention the strange ending - I can just see Eric's perception if he walks into Sookie's bedroom to find her sleeping on the bed with two male full blown fairies. That's a little weird, and has some interesting sexual connotations if you ask me. I don't think the whole "cousin" "grandfather" thing really means as much to fairies as it does to humans.Reading about Eric's life from Sookies' perspective is a little like watching a UN summit in NY. Machinations, everyone claims their loyalty to one cause, everyone is only interested in their self-interest and they will lie, cheat, steal, invade and murder to get it. Eric's life is so political, and I was very curious how Sookie was going to handle the challenge of that life. Eric seems to, unlike Bill..., want her to be a part of that life, wants her as part of it, to play a role in it. He insists that to him she is his wife, with everything that it means to him. I hope that she realizes the gravity of that, and the consequences of breaking the wows of that, especially when we look at the Rhodes summit. Even a Queen can be accused.I love how she embraces that political and treacherous life, how she becomes an asset in Eric's family of 2 (I don't count his maker and Alexei, they are more like long distance relatives) she protects, she plots with them, she rationalizes where the loyalties and gaps in loyalties lie, and she develops the ruthless streak that is necessary to survive in that environment. I find a savage gratification in watching her kill one of her two attackers with a dagger that Pam gives her, and even more when she says that she wants Victor's death, then plots to use Alexei as the impetus for that, its a transformation that is necessary if she is to join their life. Is that part of having so much vampire blood? Or a remnant of her savage fairy heritage? Perhaps she is naturally suited for it? She has truly become so much colder and scheming then the first book, and everyone notices this. She has become as cold and plotting as the men she has loved, Bill and Eric. Her connection with Pam is further evidence that the family of two, Eric and Pam, is accepting her into its ranks. It seems that Pam and Eric, Pam more so, are trying, instead of sheltering and protecting her, give her her own ammunition against the elements that surround her. Instead of protecting her, they are giving her a sword of her own, and she is getting very good at using it.There is something very interesting in the end of the book, and I don't know if anyone else noticed this or what they think of it, but there is a strange balance between this growing "fairy family" and the "vampire family." One of the fairies notices this, when he tells her that dead things love her. But she is the opposite of dead, she loves the sun, and the sky, and warmth. The only way that she can be pulled away from her vampire family is by another call of her blood, the call of the new fairy energy that surrounds her. They pull to her, Claudine, Claude - and they create a dynamic that is very opposite of the dark and ruthless vampire politics. There is so much more savagery in her. From a woman who is saving a vampire from being drained - not even killed (she could have let them drain him and then freed him before the sun came up, but she chose to defend him instead) to a woman who willingly plots to kill a powerful vampire official, who shoots a woman point blank with a shotgun. If Sookie will not turn vamp, it will be because of the pull of her fairy family. But other then that, in all ways except the actual dying and coming back to life, she is now a vampire herself. She follows their rules, she is a part of a coven, she is married to one, she works for them, she schemes with them, she hates and murders her enemies, she fits into their world, and she carries a large amount of their blood in her.Eric and Sookie... Just because they are not having sex as supernatural enemies are attacking their house does not mean that the heat isn't in their relationship. From what I gather, sex with Eric is amazing, not just because of some graphic descriptions, but because she is constantly craving him. But its not an affair anymore, they are in a relationship. They share parts of their lives together, they talk about their worries and concerns, and they developed a bond that is very different from her blood bond and much more powerful in my view. Concerning how vamp to vamp relationships are usually short lived and don't last - how long is exactly short lived when you are immortal? The books, say that its usually longer then a human life span. All of you married people - do you think that if you were immortal and almost omnipotent, do you think you wouldn't break up with your husbands after about 300 years, spend a few 100 years sowing your oats, then get back together again, and so forth? Add the fact that you don't have children or any other family members to tie you together, and you can see where that can lead. Human marriages are meant to last 60, 70 years the most, not a 1,000.I agree, Bill should have died. I read someone's post that he was meant to die but the publisher talked the writer out of it, or something like that. It makes sense. I once read that if love can't show itself in satisfaction, it must show itself in self-sacrifice. Its a quote out of a fiction novel where two men loved the same woman. One ended up with her, while the other gave his life to save them both. If Bill would have died from silver poisoning, it would have been a morbid validation of the Eric/Sookie relationship.Finally, love that the plot is not so intense and slow moving in this book. This book accomplished what I truly wanted, which is to allow the Sookie/Eric relationship to develop in comfortable conditions, without the involvement of constant extreme circumstances. Because it dealt mostly with inconveniences of family problems and politics of the supernatural world, it was about Sookie getting sucked into this world and finding her place in it, not about her fighting off attackers with some loose associations from friendly creatures. She has a position now; she is a subject of Area 5, she is part of Eric and Pam family, she is under the protection of the Nevada king and is his subject, she is the consort and wife of the sheriff of Area 5, and she has a close alliance with the Shreveport Werewolf pack. These are all specific titles, these all define her positions. She is struggling with this, for example when she calls Eric her boyfriend, but as far as the supernatural community and the vampire leadership are concerned, she is his wife - a political position, very different from girlfriend. I can't wait for the next book, as I am sure it will bring even more brutality to her personality. The pile of dead bodies in the books doesn't even phase her anymore. I know the writer said that she will not be turned and will live out her life as a human, but that would require some extreme changes, and I hope that her vampire family will survive them, although it doesn't seem likely. That is the only reason why I could see her drifting away from the "dead" world. I'm actually imagining her joining the vampire and werewolf representatives in washington and petitioning for their cause.Thank you, Mrs. Harris, this was truly delicious and finally satisfied my Eric itch the way their steamy scenes just couldn't! Please, not Sam/Sookie. I know he dates some pretty volatile, powerful women, but when it comes to Sookie, he is like wilted lettuce.

Eric tricks Sookie into marrying him, and that has its good and bad points.Sookie also has fairy family moving into her house left and right then popping out of pretty much everywhere. Family is great but they sure can be a nuisance.So, Bill has silver poisoning, and Sookie being Sookie, finds out that the only way to save him is someone else in his bloodline. Guess what? Bill’s maker made another, so Sookie reached out to that vampire to save his life.This being a book all about family, doesn’t Eric’s maker pop up out of nowhere with his most recent child, which happens to be a Romanoff. What’s a vampire wife to do?

Claude is now living with Sookie. Is he there to protect her or to take revenge for his sisters death?Eric's maker has returned with his new protege. Is the protege ill or is he a psychopath?The Weres have a traitor in their midst. Will Sookie be able to find him before it's too late?Another great addition to the Sookie Stackhouse series.

I have had a very up and down relationship with this series and it's on a down again with this book. It's a shame that a series with such promise and which still has real potential for exciting books, is slowly running out of steam.Sookie and Eric are pretty loved up and both getting used to the idea that they are married in vampire style and that they feel each other so strongly through the blood bond. Sookie has some problems; Claude has decided to move in, there are 2 dead bodies on her property and an unknown member of the fae has been scented nearby. Eric is having some difficulties too with the aftermath of Sophie-Anne's death and the arrival of his maker.The good stuff:* all the Eric and Sookie scenes are highlights. Their relationship is well-written and easy to engage in.* Charlaine Harris has stopped describing everyone's clothing in lengthy detail- hurrah!* Hunter is back and the part of the book where he features is good fun although it adds nothing to the plot.* Claude finds his human side- good times :)* Octavia and Amelia are gone. Phew!The problems with this book:* Nothing, and I mean nothing, of any interest happens until exactly half-way through the book. Then it really picks up enough to hold your interest.* The impending threat of the mysterious fairy out to get Sookie doesn't seem very threatening and she doesn't seem very scared.* Sookie is getting more and more snarky and mean as the books go on. What has happened to her? She's becoming difficult to like.I think part of the problem is True Blood. Alan Ball is doing such a good job of beefing up the characters and the storylines that the books are starting to be a let down now. The True Blood version of Eric's maker, Godric, was far more interesting than what Charlaine Harris has done with Appius in this book for one example.So- I would say that if you have read all the others, pick this one up too. Just don't expect to be wowed and thrilled by it, because it doesn't have much going on and it's not very exciting.NB//The Kindle edition has a few errors but nothing major.

Our favourite telepathic waitress Sookie isn't getting to spend a lot of time with her boyfriend Eric; you see the country is divided into different vampiric territories, and each territory is further divided into numbered areas, and Eric is in charge of one of these areas, so he has to deal with any supernatural and political problems that may effect the vampires that fall under his jurisdiction. Plus he owns his own business as well, so as well as any work related worries of his own he may have, he also has a lot of responsibility to other people.There's another headache for him now, in the form of some powerful vampires that may be plotting to overthrow him from his position [read as plotting to kill him], so he now has another massive weight added to his shoulders. Naturally this is just the perfect time for his Roman sire to come and visit - Oh yeah, his sire also brings Eric's vampiric brother - that he didn't know about - to meet too...Sookie is jumpy and not too keen to be alone in these uncertain times, so when her cousin Claude - a fairy [really] - asks to move into her house for a little while because he is lonely with no other fairies around, and will feel better around family it seems like a perfect distraction for her. But, despite saying yes to him, she doesn't really trust Claude and she soon discovers that another fairy has been on her land and most of the few remaining fairies that she knows of don't like her and would be happy to see her dead. Has Claude got something to do with her fairy stalker?Meanwhile Sookie's vampiric neighbour [and ex] Bill has silver poisoning and isn't getting better, so Sookie somehow decides that it's her responsibility to find a cure for him - even though he's more or less told her not to.*****I said I wasn't going to read another True Blood book after finishing the previous entry in the series [Dead And Gone] and being extremely disappointed by it, but I was looking for a particular book on my bookcase this week when I came across DEAD IN THE FAMILY; I don't even remember buying it and it was dusty so it's been here a while. So since it's already in my hands I thought that I might as well give it a go. What's the worst that could happen?Lots, as it happens. Let's rewind a bit and remember that my main problem with the last book was with the number of characters that were killed off or abruptly decided to suddenly up and leave for very little reason. I knew this book was going to be a major let down when the very first chapter in this book begins with yet another recurring character getting up and leaving, for no real reason. And, sure enough, the author gets all kill happy again in DEAD IN THE FAMILY.Before this book became known as the True Blood series it was the Southern Vampire Mysteries series and this change shows where the problem with the series lies; there haven't been any engaging mysteries for the last few books; instead they read as a supernatural soap opera, as the author is far more concerned with trying to reverse the past ten years and with trying to bring the books and the TV programme into an uneasy balance. There is no exciting whodunit and engaging and exciting twists and turns to the plot have long since gone and I don't feel any suspense reading the books now. I used to sit up all night, unwilling to put the books down, but now I don't even remember buying it...DEAD IN THE FAMILY is the tenth book in the series and Charlaine Harris has also had many short stories featuring the True Blood cast published, which means that there is an enormous amount of characters and various events that are casually mentioned in the books, and remembering who is who and what relationships they have to the central cast is extremely difficult at this point. If someone who hadn't read all of the previous books and short stories picked up DEAD IN THE FAMILY they probably wouldn't have finished it, as everything is all jumbled and confusing.There isn't any one strong storyline, the 'plot' is just a few random threads unraveling at different speeds; she starts off with one plot-line, seems to forget about it and start another one and then abandon that course too. After forgetting what's going on she pads out the middle of the book with pointless scenes of babysitting, funerals and conversations with Tara [who was a previously minor character, who hadn't been friends with Sookie since their school days]. Finally the author remembers some of the dangling threads and quickly ties them up in the last few chapters in a few very anticlimactic showdowns [one of the 'reveals' is especially annoying], but there are still a few unanswered questions that have been left by the end - has the author simply forgotten about them [seems very plausable considering her sloppy writing], or are they fuel for the next book? Who cares any more?Simply put; it reads as though the author simply doesn't have any solid plans and is just fishing around her past books and grabbing onto any half remembered past conflict and running them to ground for the sake of having another money spinner in print.Another annoyance for me is with the way Sookie's personality has changed and it doesn't seem like a natural progression. In some ways I can't put my finger on how she's changed; I can just tell that there's something alien about her character in the last few books. One clear difference is how she is still unsure of which love interest she wants. I don't think that the Sookie of old would still be lingering over her exes by this point; I always used to see her as polite, but strong willed and as someone who stood by her decisions in the earlier books. And she is pouty because Eric isn't giving her enough attention, even though she knows what kind of life-or-death trouble has just been added to his plate. This clingyness is very off-putting. She used to be very independent, but now she's kind of like me-me-me.Speaking of character changes; stop romanticizing Eric, I adore him because he is a 'real' vampire; 1000 years old, ruthless, blood drinking, murderous and who once admitted that whilst he really liked Sookie, he wouldn't risk his life for her. Now he is distracted from his work over her, declaring his love for her multiple times and Sookie spends a scene braiding his hair. I wish that the author wouldn't meddle with him, is she going after the Twilight fanbase now?Oh, and Jason? He read like a different character too. He was always a selfish womanizer, but now he's suddenly all grown up and responsible. I can't get too detailed without spoiling other books, but past events would surely make his past behaviour worse?I've read and enjoyed this book series since it was first published in the US, but the last few releases post True Blood have been severely disappointing and read as though they've been written by a different author. After reading the last two in particular I've been immediately moved to sit down and type rant filled reviews, not a good sign.After giving the series another chance I now swear not to bother reading any future books; I'd rather remember the good old days and re-read the earlier books. This series is Just About Dead to me now.

The 10th in the sookie Stackhouse novels and this series is rapidly becoming tired. I hate to say it because I loved this series to begin with but the last couple of books haven't been up to much and this one was the same unfortunately.Nothing happened.I read this book in a day and no not because it was amazing and exciting and gripping but because nothing happened.?.Im not sure if what i just read actually constitutes a book?We catch up with sookie in the aftermath of the fae war - a darker version of her former sunny self. She is with Eric which of course is good cos i don't like Bill but the relationship had no depth to it and was pretty flat. We meet Alcide and his pack again as they run on sookie's land and she does them another couple of favours. Eric's maker shows up with a new "child" in tow - Alexei Romanov. (I do love how harris uses historical figures in her books). There are also a couple of corpses and some unknown fairies roaming around which pose a threat to sookie. oh and claude moves in too.You would think that with all that to work with there would be a semi decent plot. You would be wrong. I gave this book 2 stars purely because I love this series and the characters and in all honesty the book wasn't dreadful...it just wasn't any good either. As some reviewers have put it Sookie gets a break in this book and she certainly does - it was all just fluff and any attempt at a plot just fizzled out and nothing connected.For those new to the Sookie novels don't start with this one or you will most likely be left bored, disappointed and confused to what all the fuss is about. (Im not kidding - NOTHING happens in this book).For fans of the sookie novels probably buy it just in case charlaine harris gets this series back on track. If she doesn't i won't be holding on to these books much longer - i only keep books i will re-read and this was nothing special. I have pre-ordered the next one - I live in hope.Oh and just to get really picky to wrap this up - what is with the cover art? Lafayette may be live and kicking on Trueblood but he died ages ago in the books and so certainly shouldn't be on the cover of this one! Oh and Jessica was a creation of the TV show and has never been in the books at all. love the logic with that one!

Book 10 in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Begins immediately after the fae war and sees everyone coming to terms with what happened, who died, whose recovering etc. Strangely starting with chapter titles One week after, Four weeks after etc a format which is just abandoned later so dont know why it needed to be there at all. Although Sookie is still with Eric the brief exchanges with Bill and this side story was very interesting keeping the whole ' who will she choose ' theme running. I was glad to see book 10 set in Bon Temps so we get to see all the regulars, Sam, Jason, Pam, Tara and with the fae door shut the silliness of book 9 can be left behind us. Of course this wouldnt be a Sookie Stackhouse book without seeing Sookie in peril and the odd dead body turning up.I dont think the 'weres' coming out has been good for the series. The secret world Sookie was part of was the appeal and I am finding the more public they go the more Sookie charactor is pushed away from the charactor we met in Book 1. This series may be moving towards the finale where she may be 'turned' but by whom remains the mystery !Watching the TV series alongside reading these books is confusing me a bit as Im forgeting details from earlier books ie when Eric maker turns up Id forgotton it wasnt Godric from the show. I also though that Bill was turned on his way back from the war but am I just remembering the show as this book recounts him being turned once back with his family ?Anyone reading this review please feel free to comment.