Bea Reviews The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories by Charlaine Harris

Series: Sookie Stackhouse
Publisher: Ace Books
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: November 21st, 2017
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

For the first time together in one volume, the complete short story collection starring Sookie Stackhouse--with a new introduction from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the series, Charlaine Harris.

For the first time together in one volume, here is the complete short story collection starring Louisiana's favorite telepathic waitress, Sookie Stackhouse--from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris. New fans can fill in the gaps in their Sookie lore while old friends can revisit some of their favorite moments and characters. From investigating the murder of a local fairy to learning that her cousin was a vampire, from remodeling her best friend's house to attending a wedding with her shapeshifting boss, Sam, Sookie navigates the perils and pitfalls of the paranormal world.

Belly up to the bar at Bon Temps's favorite watering hole and hear stories that will make you wish Sookie never left, including...

"Fairy Dust"
"One Word Answer"
"Dracula Night"
"Lucky"
"Gift Wrap"
"Two Blondes"
"If I Had a Hammer"
"Small-Town Wedding"
"Playing Possum"
"In the Blue Hereafter"

This definitive collection is the perfect binge read for people who like their stories with bite!

Growing the TBR Pile - November Books We're Anticipating

 

Growing the TBR pile is a new monthly feature where we share upcoming releases that we're excited about.

Bea Reviews Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris

Series: Midnight, Texas, #1
Publisher: Ace Books
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: July 4th, 2017
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Get ready for the new drama Midnight, Texas on NBC with the first book in Charlaine Harris' paranormal mystery series about a small town where only outsiders fit in...

Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and the Davy highway. It's a pretty standard dried-up western town.

There's a pawnshop with three residents. One is seen only at night. There's a diner, but people stopping there tend not to linger. There's a newcomer, Manfred Bernardo, who just wants to work hard and blend in. But Manfred has secrets of his own.

Bea Reviews All the Little Liars by Charlaine Harris

Series: Aurora Teagarden #9
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 4th, 2016
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

#1 New York Times bestseller Charlaine Harris returns to her Aurora Teagarden mystery series with a fabulous new book featuring the small-town Southern librarian.

Aurora Teagarden is basking in the news of her pregnancy when disaster strikes her small Georgia town: four kids vanish from the school soccer field in an afternoon. Aurora’s 15-year-old brother Phillip is one of them. Also gone are two of his friends, and an 11-year-old girl who was just hoping to get a ride home from soccer practice. And then there’s an even worse discovery—at the kids’ last known destination, a dead body.

While the local police and sheriff’s department comb the county for the missing kids and interview everyone even remotely involved, Aurora and her new husband, true crime writer Robin Crusoe, begin their own investigation. Could the death and kidnappings have anything to do with a group of bullies at the middle school? Is Phillip’s disappearance related to Aurora’s father’s gambling debts? Or is Phillip himself, new to town and an unknown quantity, responsible for taking the other children? But regardless of the reason, as the days go by, the most important questions remain. Are the kids still alive? Who could be concealing them? Where could they be?

With Christmas approaching, Aurora is determined to find her brother…if he’s still alive.

After more than a decade, #1 New York Times bestseller Charlaine Harris finally returns to her fan-favorite Aurora Teagarden series with All the Little Liars, a fabulously fun new mystery. 

Review of Grave Sight Book One by Charlaine Harris & William Harms, art by Dennis Medri

Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment

Release Date: June 14, 2011

Series: #1 of Grave Sight Graphic Novel Adaptation

More Info:  Amazon   The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

Acclaimed New York Times Bestselling author Charlaine Harris, the writer of the Sookie Stackhouse series, has joined the Dynamite Entertainment family with the first book of her hit Harper Connelly series, Grave Sight. 

For the past five years, readers have been thrilled by the Harper Connelly series which follows a woman who has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. She can sense the final location of a person who's passed, and share their very last moment. The way Harper sees it, she's providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living - but she's used to most people treating her like a blood-sucking leech. Traveling with her step-brother, Tolliver, as manager and sometime-bodyguard, she's become an expert at getting in, getting paid, and getting out fast. Because for the living it's always urgent - even if the dead can wait forever.

At the age of 15, Harper Connelly was struck by lightning, an event that gave her the ability to find the dead and see how they died. Since then, Harper's scratched out a living selling her services to anyone with a checkbook. It's not the best life, but it beats the alternative - at least until Harper and her brother Tolliver roll into Sarne, Arkansas and find themselves embroiled in a murder mystery!

Paperback, 64 pages

My Thoughts:

I read the novel when it first came out but not since then. Despite that, the story came right back to me as I read the adaptation and so far, Harris and her co-writers have done an excellent job. The pace is good, the story flows and makes sense, and it stays true to the original in tone and substance while managing not to be cluttered up with extraneous details that fill out a text only book but clutter up a visual book. 

The story is not an easy one to adapt to a visual form, being primarily plot and character driven. There's not a lot of action, and much of the book's dialogue was kept. I didn't mind it but if you are used to action oriented graphic novels, you'll need to re-adjust your expectations.

Tolliver and Harper are step-siblings who live and work together, traveling around the country finding dead people for a living. Harper was hit by lightning as a teenager and ever since, she can find bodies and relive their last moments, seeing, feeling and hearing what they did as they died. It doesn’t bring her much comfort but since she’s drawn to dead bodies regardless of what she wants, she might as well put it to use. 

Understandably, people are distrustful or scared of her ability, even the ones who hire her.  We see her under attack, literally, by people who think she is evil or an agent of the devil; we also see her treated with suspicion and distrust by people who are sure she’s a con artist. Through it all, Harris balances showing us Harper’s reactions without manipulating our emotions. 

The story in Book One ends on a cliffhanger (unless you have read the original).I believe that there are two more installments planned.

The art is dark in tone and color but it perfectly suits the story and the lines are clean. I prefer a clean, non-cartoony style and I’m glad that the artists chose to use it. I think anything else would have undermined the story and detracted from it. Medri has a challenging job in showing us how Harper's ability works; it's not flashy or obvious. He opts for dream-style flashbacks; a few times the transition from present to "seeing" was not obvious but I imagine that might be true if such an ability actually existed.

You can easily read this if you have not read the original material and I recommend it. 

NOTE: There are at least two different covers for this edition. 

I received an e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Review and Giveaway: Real Murders by Charlaine Harris

Congratulations to Jennifer! According to Random.org,  you are the proud new owner of the Aurora Teagarden series.

Jax here. It's Mystery Month! Not a genre I read often. So I pulled out one of the few mystery series that I've read to share. I really enjoy Charlaine Harris' Aurora Teagarden Mystery Series, and I thought it would be fun to share it with one of you!  Leave a comment by midnight CST March 31st, and we'll draw a name to win all 8 books!

Here's a bit about the first book, Real Murders.

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Published: December 2007

Book Blurb:

THE "MURDER OF THE MONTH" SUDDENLY TOOK A VERY REAL, VERY VIOLENT TURN

Every month, Real Murders, a society of crime buffs in Lawrenceton, Georgia, met to discuss a favorite infamous murder. Its members were an eccentric lot: Gifford Doakes, the massacre specialist; Jane Engle, lover of Victorian horrors; Perry Allison, a Ted Bundy fan....

The night of the last meeting, town librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden discovered Mamie Wright's mutilated body in the clubhouse kitchen. She felt certain the killer was a fellow member, for the crime bore a chilling resemblance to the club's "murder of the month."

And as other brutal "copycat" killings followed, the only motive seemed a horrifyingly bizarre sense of fun....

My Thoughts: I'm not usually into mysteries, but this is a fun, quick read. I think one of Charlaine's greatest talents as a writer is her ability to create a realistic cast of people and places, a great balance to the improbable events that happen. Roe is a likeable main character, with a quick wit, funny foibles and an odd hobby. I love seeing the world through her eyes, everything from the way she notes the strengths and weaknesses of her friends, family, neighbors, and even herself to the her fondness and exasperation for the life she lives.

The story moves along nicely, with great details about real murder mysteries sprinkled throughout, and good reasons to suspect just about everyone you meet. There's even a bit of romance, because, really there's nothing like a good death to make you want to live to the fullest! With summer coming, this is a great beach book.

This book is owned by the reviewer.