A Touch of Dead (Sookie Stackhouse: The Complete Stories)

someone previously owned this, pages yellowed w age but loved the stories, most of which had been previously published but new to me. Holding a real book instead of kindle was quite satisfying and the illustrations were a nice touch.

If you've read all the Sookie Stackhouse novels, every once in a while a book will start and you'll think "What?" Often this is because author Charlaine Harris has written a short story that covers some important event(s) that happens between the books. These shorts were originally published in short story collections by a variety of authors, and appear here in chronological order."Fairy Dust" takes place after the novel Dead To The World (Sookie Stackhouse #4), and occurs when Claudine and Claude ask Sookie to help them figure out who killed their sister, Claudette. In "Dracula Night", which takes place before Dead As A Doornail (Sookie Stackhouse #5), Eric is hoping that the original modern vampire will show up to his annual Dracula birthday party. (Pam hilariously likens it to 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'). In "One Word Answer" Sookie finds out that her cousin Hadley has died and named her the executor of her will. The events in this story lead directly to happenings in Definitely Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #6). "Lucky" takes place after All Together Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #7), and is a fun excursion for Sookie and her witch friend, Amelia, as they try to figure out who has broken into Sookie's insurance agent's office. The last story, "Gift Wrap", takes place before Dead And Gone (Sookie Stackhouse #9), when she is pretty bummed about her Christmas alone -- the second since her grandmother died. But of course it can't be that uneventful! Instead she hears moaning in the woods and decides to go check it out, which leads her to an altogether different Christmas than she'd expected.This is a fun collection and adds to one's enjoyment of the books. I wish I'd known about it sooner!So here's the chronology (so far):Book 1 Dead Until DarkBook 2 Living Dead in DallasBook 3 Club DeadBook 4 Dead to the WorldSS #1 "Fairy Dust"SS #2 "Dracula Night"Book 5 Dead as a DoornailSS #3 "One Word Answer"Book 6 Definitely DeadBook 7 All Together DeadSS #4 "Lucky"Book 8 From Dead to WorseSS #5 "Gift Wrap"Book 9 Dead and GoneBook 10 Dead in the FamilyBook 11 Dead ReckoningBook 12 Deadlocked

This book is an excellent addition to the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series. The author Charlaine Harris had published these short stories, but in different anthology books, and this book was the best (and cheapest) way to read them all in one item.The book starts with an introduction by Harris, who tells us about the stories. "A Touch of Dead" includes five of them: Fairy Dust, Dracula Night, One Word Answer, Lucky, and Gift Wrap. The connection of time frame of these short stories range from post-book 4 (Dead to the World) to post-book 9 (From Dead to Worst). Most of the stories are not directly tied to the Sookie series, except "One Word Answer," which is essential to new readers of the books. This is a key story that occurs right before book 6, "Definitely Dead." Just to be clear, "A Touch of Dead" does not include any other of Harris' short stories.Each short story has an illustration, which I love. All of them were made by Lisa Desimini, who had been doing this since the first Sookie book, "Dead until Dark." They are all brand new, since the short stories did not have any drawings when previously published.This is not a new Sookie Stackhouse serial book (the tenth one will be out in May 2010), but if you want a new item for your Sookie collection, this is a must!

Eek. I'll admit that I was terrified before I picked it up to read it, having seen so many 1 star reviews. Not a good sign. But I love the Sookie series, surely this book cannot be THAT bad. And it wasn't.The negative -The title is horrible. The complete stories? Yes, I agree with the complaints. Especially for people setting out to discover the world of Sookie, this could be misleading.It's short. Five short stories to be exact.They've all been published before, in anthologies. Many fans seem to have read some or all of them before.The positive -Despite the title, the description is accurate. If you look beyond the title, you'll know just what you're getting.So it's just five short stories. They're all Sookie. The reason I've never read any of them before now? I had no interest in buying the anthologies that they appeared in until now. I own one anthology that has a Charlaine Harris story in it (not a Sookie story). I've found anthologies hit and miss, so I don't tend to buy them. But this is all of the Sookie short stories, in one place. Just what I wanted.I'd always felt as though I were missing out on the story of Sookie's cousin. I knew there was a short story out there somewhere. Now I have it. We'd been filled in on this story in the novels, so it's not something we had to read. Still, it was nice to read the actual text where the events originally took place anyway.Charlaine Harris herself starts the book out by telling us how daunting a task it is to take such a complicated series of characters and be asked to write short stories featuring them. Of the five stories, were some better than others? Of course. But the same can be said of the novel length stories. None were so horrible that I'd give them 1 star. They were all definitely true to Sookie. Still, this is only for the true fan, who has read the other books, and who wants a little filler while waiting for the next novel. If you're new to the Sookie/Southern Vampire/True Blood books, don't start here.

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Chegou bem rápido e é lindo!Ainda não li mas a edição mas gostei muito da edição capa dura, gliter e ilustrações. Valeu super a pena

Absolutely over the moon with my purchase. I have all the Sookie novels and was somehow missing this. Ordered it as ‘perfect condition, like new’. It looked like it had never been opened and there was a sticker on the front stating ‘signed by the author’. A lovely surprise and an absolute bargain. Highly recommend this seller.

I really loved the book. I don't get tired of hearing any sookie stackhouse stories. This book is like the missing chapters in the series. I liked the story with Quinn the best, simply because it finally wraps things up between Sookie and Quinn.My only complaint is that I wish there were more stories!The vender I bought this book from shipped in great time and was an excellent price. Softcover to boot (that wasn't available here yet)Great read for Sookie Stackhouse fans!

Ein schönes Buch, das man auch leider schnell wieder ausgelesen hat. Endlich gibt es alle Kurzgeschichten über Sookie in einem Band - aber eben nur auf Englisch. Die Geschichten spielen zu verschiedenen Zeiten und oftmals merkt man an den Charakteren, zwischen welchen Büchern diese Geschichte chronologisch rein passt.FAIRY DUST:Sookie wird von ihrer Freundin Claudine um Hilfe gebeten. Sie soll herausfinden, wer ihre (Drillings)Schwester Claudette umgebracht hat. Im Haus von Claudine und ihrem Zwilling/Drilling Claude werden drei Verdächtige festgehalten und Sookie soll den Geschwistern helfen..DRACULA NIGHT:Sookie erhält eine Einladung von Eric ins Fangtasia zu einem besonderen Anlass: Es ist der Geburtstag von Dracula und DER Feiertage für Vampiren. Eric hofft, dass der echte Graf an seinem Ehrentag bei ihm vorbeischaut und ist dementsprechend aufgeregt bei den Vorbereitungen. Der Legende nach taucht wohl der Graf jedes Jahr an seinem Geburtstag auf einer anderen Feier auf..ONE WORD ANSWER:Sookie bekommt zu nächtlicher Stunde Besuch aus New Orleans mit der traurigen Botschaft, dass ihre Cousine Hadley gestorben ist. Die Überbringer sind reichlich sonderbar und auch ein Überraschungsgast ist darunter. Das Gespräch nimmt überraschende Wendungen..LUCKY:Sookie und ihre Mitbewohnerin, die Hexe Amelia bekommen Besuch von einer männlichen Hexe, die im Versicherungsgeschäft tätig ist und Sookie um einen Gefallen bittet. Seltsame Vorkommnisse ereignen sich in seinem Büro und Sookie und Amelia nehmen gemeinsam die Ermittlungen auf..GIFT WRAP:Am Heiligen Abend findet Sookie bei einer Wanderung durch den Wald einen verletzen, jungen (und gutaussehenden) Fremden und nimmt ihn mit nach Hause um ihm zu helfen. Er scheint ein Werwolf zu sein auf der Flucht vor seinem und einem fremden Rudel und Sookie hilft. Auch hier nimmt die Geschichte eine überraschende Wende mit einem interessanten und sehr netten Ende..Mir haben diese Geschichten sehr gut gefallen. Ich habe schon länger versucht einige der Bücher zu bekommen in denen die Geschichten erschienen waren. Daher hab ich mich sehr gefreut, als diese kleine Sammlung veröffentlicht wurde. Es sind nicht allzu viele Seiten aber ich fühlte mich damit gut unterhalten und freue mich jetzt umso mehr auf das neue Buch der Sookie Serie.