Dead and Gone is the 9th book of Charlaine Harris series of books which are aptly named the Southern Vampire Mysteries, or as many would prefer ” Sookie Stackhouse series. This particular book along with the previous one (From Dead to Worse) has been adapted into an HBO TV series called True Blood, the former currently being shown as Season 2.

For those of you who do not know, Dead and Gone is set in a quiet town in Louisiana named Bon Temps. I say quiet but all is not what it would seem. Mmm maybe quiet is not the right word but it will suffice.

The Were people, who are humans that can change into animals, finally expose themselves as to who and what they really are. However, even though initially this secret is accepted relatively well in Bon Temp society, Sookies brother Jasons estranged wife (a Were-panther), is found murdered, mutilated and nailed on a cross (yuck!).

So Sookie our heroine has her plate filled, but then this is what weve come to expect, and we know she will deal with it all with ease and take things in her stride, or do we?

Many Sookie fans have been anxiously waiting to find out if Sookie will commit herself to Eric and the truth of it comes out in this book. Romance is in the air again, after the 8th book in the series ” From Dead to Worse - seemed to shy away from it and kept fans clinging on for more ” rather more than perhaps they were to get.

Sookie is though being stand-offish as is her normal way. Oops I let that snippet out of the bag. No more though. You will either have to guess, or get the book.

Where the last book was long and detailed this book is short and to the point. Well, we cant have it all ways all the time, can we? Further to this though, in some regards when compared to previous books, it seems a bit disjointed. One die-hard fan named the book Dead and Thrown Together. Funny, huh? Or maybe a little sad.

So it has to be said (by me anyhow) that this book would have left me more fulfilled if there had been more detail and we had been able to explore the nuances ” the ins and outs and ups and downs of the relationships in Bon Temps. At times I was left wondering, and that should not be I dont think.

In its favor the book is fast paced, moving from one incident to the next with no time to spare! There is happiness in that we meet some new characters and there is sadness in that some of the older characters depart. And Sookie is, well, Sookie, which is why we love her and care about her just as much as we all do!

So in all, it would seem to me that Charlaine Harris has written this book in a bit of a hurry and finished it rather too abruptly for comfort, albeit with some wonderful touches throughout. Thats a pity really but once again I am admittedly left waiting with much anticipation for the next book in the series to come out ” A Touch of Dead - which is due out in October 2009, to see if we can get back to the former glories of the Southern Vampire Mysteries that we once knew!

So with this point in mind, I have to say that although I did not feel entirely fulfilled with the goings on in Dead and Gone, on the other hand Im still craving for more. Has to be said that Charlaine has therefore done her job well enough, without substantially over-performing.

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