From Dead to Worse
Charlaine Harris
Ace, May 2008, $24.95
ISBN: 9780441015894

The bomb explosion at the vampire summit in Rhodes, Louisiana scared, Sookie Stackhouse, telepathic extraordinaire and waitress at a diner owned by a shapeshifter., She prays she will have a respite from problems in the supernatural world. She does not expect any because so many vampires and other species died or are missing including her were-tiger boyfriend Quinn.

Unfortunately the last thing Sookie knows is that a crisis begets a worse crisis. During the were contest for Packmaster, Alcide ' s father was killed and Furnan consolidated his reign. Now people loyal to Alcide are dying and he thinks Furnan is responsible. When Furnan ' s wife is kidnapped, he blames Alcide. Sookie tries to arbitrate a peace.

The New Orleans vampire queen Sophie is in desperate straits as Katrina destroyed much of her power base in New Orleans, the bomb destroyed the vestige of her support and she is helpless while she is regenerating new legs. The city is ripe for a takeover from the king of Las Vegas but not everyone is happy with the new power structure. It is up to Sookie and her blood bonded vampire Eric Northman the vampire to prevent more deaths including the new ruler.

The heroine prefers to keep to herself but tries to help the supernatural community while the humans reject her due to her telepathy prowess. She will do anything to save those she cares about while her animosity towards Bill the vampire who betrayed her remains strong. Action-packed yet character driven, FROM DEAD TO WORSE is Charlaine Harris at her world-building best with this entertaining original story.

Harriet Klausner