I dove right into Dead to the World (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 4) after finishing the previous book, Club Dead. In Dead to the World, Eric gets cursed with amnesia, witches appear, and more were-animal stuff happens. It’s good that Charlaine Harris paced the introduction of all the supernatural characters separately. Readers would be overwhelmed if the book all of a sudden threw werewolves, vampires and witches at them at the same time.

This is the book that endeared me to Eric even more. Now, I’m rooting for Eric + Sookie rather than Eric + Bill. The amnesia bit is tired a cliched, but it does lend to some steamy scenes. The ending big fight (without giving too much away) seemed a little far-fetched with the way how no one other than the ones involved noticed it happening, but I guess it requires a lot of suspension of belief. ( )

We get to see a side of Eric that we haven't seen before. Sookie is up to her eyeballs in missing persons. And a war between the Vamps, Were, and Witches is brewing. (All pun intended). Alcide is back and what a great guy he is. He is one person i would love to meet and just talk with, and see with his shirt off. There are lots of naked Were's running around this book and a few really steamy sex scenes. Again still tasteful.

And we finally meet one of my favorite characters Claudine. She is just so full of smiles I just cant help laughing every time she says something. She's great.

I haven't been able to read the short story that she features in with her brother but i'm hoping it gives some good information about them.

All in all a good and thrilling mystery romp. ( )

Sookie's world takes a new twist in this one. I enjoyed the changes in the many relationships, but am waiting for her to make up her mind as to where she plans to go with her love life. I can't wait to see what happens with Jason in the next book. Charlaine builds such a wonderful character, you immediately fall for or dislike them upon meeting them - and then there are those who you just can't wait to read more about because you can't decide. Wonderfully written story. ( )

The blonde vampire on the cover (rather than our usual tall, dark and pale one) is a big clue before opening this book that things are changing in Sookie's romantic life. This, the fourth book, opens on New Year's with the fact that she and Bill are no longer together, and since his work is taking him to Peru, that leaves Sookie single... which is when she comes upon Eric on a dark night, apparently with no memory of who he is. His mind has been wiped by a strong coven of witches that have moved into the area, demanding a piece of the vampire's businesses, and as if that wasn't enough, Sookie's brother Jason has gone missing. Her worry, however, is not so overwhelming that she can't appreciate the kinder, gentler (but not too gentle, lest we forget one of the steamier scenes in this series that occurs in this book) Eric that's staying hidden in her house while the witches look for him everywhere.
In addition to witches, we get more shifters in this book, and a few that we already knew about are back on the scene. (Unsurprisingly, Sookie acquires YET ANOTHER supernatural admirer.) There's almost too many supernaturals around for my taste -- I kind of like watching the uncomfortable reactions of the normal townfolk to the other beings in their midst. So it's not even that important to note that we're staying put in Bon Temps, rather than run around other southern states, because we get so few interactions with the locals.
And yes, this would make four books in four days. But here begins my self-imposed breather from the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Let's see how well I keep to that. ( )

Book 4 of the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. This may be my favorite so far, which happens every time, but I truly loved this adventure.

Sookie comes across a half-naked Eric running down the street on her way home and comes to find his memory has been erased and he has no idea who he is, let alone Sookie.

Of course, having read the past three books, it was inevitable that Harris would search for a way to pair Sookie and Eric without the issues faced in previous books, and I found it very enjoyable. After book 2, I started to drift to being more of an Eric fan, than Bill, and this book was exactly what I needed. Now if only it could stay that way forever.

I'm anxiously looking forward to book 5, Dead as a Doornail, but I have other pressing reading but it keeps staring. There is a good chance I will be starting it before the week is over, just in time to get sucked into Season 2 of True Blood. ( )