“Deadlocked,” by Charlaine Harris

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 9
2. Prose 10
3. Plot 9
4. Characters 10
5. Overall 9

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

This is book 12 of a truly wonderful series, but no staleness has set in as yet! Our heroine, Sookie Stackhouse, is as charismatic as ever, and the supporting cast is stunningly impressive. This story lacks some of the dynamic situational tension that some of the other books contain, but the twist at the end has a devastatingly emotional impact. The interplay between the different “supes” – vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, fairies, elves, and so forth is brilliantly conceived and executed. Charlaine Harris has mastered this genre like no other. And first-person narrative just can’t be done any better than this. I still have it as a goal to read everything this author writes and has written, including the various short stories found in many collections.