Sookie 12 has landed! (A sneak peek inside Deadlocked)

I can also tell you: if you think you know where this series is going, you’ve not seen anything yet! Hold on to your hats, because this ending totally blew me away . . .

. . . but I promise not to give it away for you. So no spoilers here today!

But what can I tell you? Well I was thrilled that the focus in Deadlocked is, fair and square, on Sookie. I love this character but we’ve been with her through so many huge trials and tribulations that it was a real treat to come back to the things that matter to Sookie. Not vampire kings, not warring shifter packs (although, of course, all of those elements have their moment in the sun!) . . . but her family, her love life and most importantly, her choices.

For me, that was the magic of this novel. There are epic changes happening in Sookie’s world, her boyfriend Eric is implicated in a murder – bringing with it one of the murder mystery stories that Charlaine Harris does so, so very well – and she is once again caught up in events that are utterly beyond her control. There are gorgeous parties, there’s devilish backstabbing, and there is some wonderful, tense interplay between the characters . . . all set against the sunny, claustrophobic, Bon Temps background. But more: Sookie’s future is in her own hands, and her heart is, sometimes painfully, on her sleeve. Whatever decision she chooses to make someone will be hurt (to be honest, I think Sookie will be hurt), but I was with her every step of the way.

So I’m really looking forward to publication day – 1st of May, for your diaries please! – because it’s the day when everyone else can read it too, and when I finally have the chance to talk about all of the juicy details with friends – and maybe try to guess where the final novel will take us!

Deadlocked has all the joy I look for in a Sookie Stackhouse novel, in particular the delight of sitting down with a great friend and catching up with everything they’ve been doing. All the thrills, spills, parties, problems and love life trauma. This book had it all, and I loved it!