Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris

Midnight Crossroad (A Novel of Midnight, Texas)

I hoped that a new series was what Charlaine Harris needed to get her author mojo back.  Spin-off series is probably more accurate, as Manfred from the Harper Connelly series  is the major character here.  

Nope.  First, there is such a thing as too descriptive.  The first 5% or so (the prologue, not even chapter one)  nearly bored me so much that I was ready to return it to the library without making it to the first chapter.  But that wouldn’t be fair, the story hadn’t begun.  Everything was all this building looks like this, this person lives here, this store has a candy dish on the counter, etc.  I skimmed and couldn’t possibly remember where everything was two minutes later because I simply didn’t care. 

Also, maybe it’s just me, but it feels like race is handled awkwardly:

“Perhaps her ancestors were from Somalia, because she is tall, there is a reddish cast to her brown skin, and her nose is thin and high bridged” <— that sounds more like an author plotting a character sheet (It doesn’t seem natural in the story.  How often do you look at someone and say “Well she’s got a thin nose and some red in her skin, I bet she’s got some Somalians in her family tree").

And

“Like Chuy, he’s of Hispanic origin, but otherwise the two men are nothing alike.” <- after this it goes on to explain the physical differences.  Like it had to prepare us for hey this guy is Hispanic too but sometimes people who are Hispanic look different from one another!

The gay couple is dealt with equally awkwardly: "After five minutes, Manfred forgot that Joe and Chuy were men who had sex with each other." That came right after being shocked that men could arrange a home nicely but before the phew they can cook.  Oh, also Manfred had already known and spent time with the couple, it wasn’t as though they had just sprung that they are gay on him at that dinner.

Still I pushed through that and still, nope.  There's a cast of characters with names like "Bobo", "Fiji", "Creek", and "Teacher".  There's the paranormal aspect (witches, psychics, and vampires).  And that is all there is.  Well, okay, there’s an unsolved murder mystery and a bunch of extremists.  But that is all handled so awkwardly.  None of it seems possible, but if it were possible, the dialog and the way that it is pushed to the side in such a small town, well… it just doesn’t work.

There is a very unique cat, with personality, even it couldn’t save this story.  No character development beyond this one is young, this one is gay, this one is a witch.  BORING.   There’s supposed to be some romantic interests but none of that feels natural.   

I loved Charlaine Harris during the early Southern Vampire books and through Harper Connelly, but I think it’s time we went our separate ways.  Shame, she used to tell a decent story.

Dead Ever After

Dead Ever After: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood) by Charlaine Harris

It's a slightly better ending than I expected, but I expected 1-1.5 stars. There are apparently a lot of, ahem, issues between Miss Harris and her fans (enemies?). I've avoided seeing it until now (yes, I live in a cave to avoid spoilers). Everything from things she did with characters to just the overall quality to things fans have said to things she has said to threats from said fanemies (hey, if frienemies is a word now...). I must admit, I have been disappointed -- greatly so -- in the last several books, but this is just out of hand. Threatening harm to yourself or others if something doesn't go your way is just OMFG crazy. Have those people not read / watched the news lately? I, personally, had two recent shootings hit too close to home - a family member in a mall minutes before a shooting and another happening minutes from my home, the shooter living seconds from my last apartment. Crazy threats that would make someone afraid to leave their home = not cool. If you're one of those people, the ones that devoted to a book series that you'd go the threat route? Time to put down the book or e-reader and do some yoga or something. Chill. That said, I do think fans should not be afraid to admit when their favorites have fallen.

When Charlaine Harris does what she does well, she does it very well. She makes you want more more more. Likewise when she drops the ball, she does it so well that he ball deflates - pops even. There is no saving it. That is what happened with this series. I cannot even remember exactly when that happened but it did. I spent a fortune on her work. When I started to get disappointed I learned my lesson - stop pre-ordering and wait for reviews. This time around I was already so burnt out that I didn't even bother, I waited for my library to get a copy. I made the right choice, Dead Ever After simply wasn't worth getting all worked up over.

It felt like it was an attempt to squeeze in everyone that hated, loved, lusted after, felt neutral about Sookie for one last hurrah (at least the last one we'll see - I will not spoil the ending but I think it is at least safe to say that the world did not end).

For some people the biggest question, before reading this book, is: Eric, Bill, Sam, other? While not everyone will be happy with the answer, the answer did arrive. Sort of. This is Sookie, nothing is ever permanent in her love life.

Will she become a vampire? If I am not mistaken, Miss Harris did state early on whether or not this would happen, maybe? Either way, this was answered.

What happened to _____? There's a good chance you at least learned something about anyone you were curious about, if they were still alive. As I stated already, basically everyone connected to Sookie showed up in one way or another.

How about the sex and violence and action? It's here, it's just rather forgettable compared to earlier books.

More backstories before we leave everyone? Not so much.

The only other Charlaine Harris books I read were from her Harper Connelly series. I loved those. I also felt that she didn't know how to end that series. Maybe her problem simply comes with saying goodbye to her characters. As the time to end it gets near, she loses her groove, or something. Maybe this one just went on way too long. Whatever the problem is, there is a problem. For people curious about the series, I would actually recommend it - I loved it enough to buy the first five books or so in print, then when I switched to Kindle I had donated those to the library and re-purchased the set that was out at the time (I think through book eight). Then my sister wanted to read it so I also bought another hard copy to send to her. When I did the libration donation, I gave them the Harper Connelly series and decided to re-buy that too. I really do like CH books when done well. If this genre is your thing, you won't be disappointed - at first. I'd just recommend that you stop at about book eight or nine and let your imagination fill in the rest. Or, if like me, you have some sick need to finish up once hooked, at least just finish up with library copies or copies borrowed from friends.

Dead Reckoning

Dead Reckoning: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood) by Charlaine Harris

Why do series writers not know when to stop? Stop! Stop! Stop! While we still like you enough to buy future books unrelated to the series you've killed. Please stop taking advantage of my devotion. I may never read you again if you keep this up. Oh and yes, I get it-- he's just like Jason, but not. how many words must you waste to say that? Filler, filler, filler. Yes I realize the author won't read this, just venting.