Dead Until Dark

Dead Until Dark
Cover of Dead Until Dark
Author(s)	Charlaine Harris
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	The Southern Vampire Mysteries
Genre(s)	Fantasy, Mystery, Gothic, Romance
Publisher	Ace Books
Publication date	May 1, 2001
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback) e-Book (Kindle) Audio Book (CD)
Pages	292(Hardcover)
ISBN	ISBN 0-441-00853-4
OCLC Number	46875089
LC Classification	CPB Box no. 1850 vol. 12
Followed by	Living Dead in Dallas

Dead Until Dark is the first book in Charlaine Harris's series The Southern Vampire Mysteries novels.

Setting

Dead Until Dark, like the rest of the series to which it belongs, is narrated by Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress from the small fictional Louisiana town of Bon Temps, which is described as being located not far from the non-fictional town of Shreveport. It is set at approximately the same time as the book's publication, however, in the world of the novel, vampires (and other supernatural creatures) are a reality.

At some point in the recent past, Sookie tells us, the invention of synthetic blood (the most popular mass-marketed brand of which is "TruBlood") has made it unnecessary for vampires to feed on humans for sustenance, allowing the world's previously underground vampire community to reveal its existence to humans. This "Great Revelation" was an internationally televised event in which vampires expressed the desire for peaceful coexistence with humans. Also relevant to plot development is the fact that vampire blood is an addictive and illegal drug which, amongst other effects, accelerates healing.

Plot summary

Sookie lives with her grandmother, Adele, and has an older brother, Jason. Early in the book, Sookie falls in love with a vampire, a Civil War veteran named Bill Compton. After first meeting Bill, Sookie saves him from some "drainers", people who steal blood from vampires. Bill returns the favor the next day when the drainers attack Sookie.

Several murders occur in Bon Temps, and Bill becomes a suspect because many of the bodies have fang marks. Sookie's brother Jason is romantically linked to two of the victims, prompting the Bon Temps police to arrest him. Wanting to help her brother, Sookie asks Bill to take her to a vampire bar called Fangtasia, which is owned by Eric Northman, a vampire sheriff much older and more powerful than Bill.

Eric realizes that Sookie's telepathy can be useful and commands Bill to direct Sookie to use her ability to determine the identity of the one embezzling from Fangtasia. Once Sookie identifies Long Shadow, who is Eric's partner and also a vampire, a confrontation ensues that nearly kills Sookie. Eric saves Sookie's life by staking Long Shadow when he attacks her. Meanwhile in Bon Temps, Adele is murdered within the family kitchen.

Bill, concerned with Eric's power over him and Sookie, decides to improve his own position within the vampire hierarchy. He asks Bubba, a dim-witted vampire, to protect Sookie while he is gone. Sookie discovers that her boss, Sam, is a shape-shifter when she lets a stray dog sleep on her bed and finds a naked Sam in the morning.

While Bill is gone, Sookie discovers that the murderer is her brother's friend Rene Lenier. He almost kills her, but she fights back. Badly injured, Sookie wakes up in the hospital and finds Bill by her side. Bill tells Sookie that he has become his area's investigator, working under Eric.

Body Count

Total Deaths: 19

• Human Deaths: 12
• Vampire Deaths: 5
• Cat Deaths: 2

Human:

• Denise and Mack Rattray
  • Both were killed by Bill and an Unknown Male after they had attacked, and nearly killed, Sookie Stackhouse. Official cause of death is Death by Tornado.
• Jerry
  • Presumably killed by Liam, Malcolm, and Diane after Sookie told them that he had Sino-Aids and was trying to kill them.
• Bartlett Hale
  • Bill had him killed after he learned what he did to Sookie as a child. Official cause of death is a burglar broke into his house, broke his neck, and dropped him down the stairs.
• Maudette Pickens
  • The first death in Bon Temps by Rene Lenier. Official cause of death is strangulation in her apartment.
• Dawn Green
  • The second death in Bon Temps by Rene Lenier. Official cause of death is strangulation after being beaten in her apartment.
• Adele Hale Stackhouse
  • The third death in Bon Temps by Rene Lenier. She was beaten, cut, and then strangled to death, and her body was found by Sookie in their kitchen. Sookie was supposed to die instead of Adele.
• Amy Burley
  • The fourth death in Bon Temps by Rene Lenier. Strangled to death, but no word if she was beaten as well.
• Cindy Lenier
  • The first victim of Rene Lenier. She was strangled with her own work outfit before Rene decided that if she would be with a vampire, she wouldn't mind being with her own bother. Afterwards he buried her body.
• Unknown Woman
  • Died along with Malcolm, Liam and Diane when the house burned down
• Two Unsolved Cases
  • Found in Shreveport, same MO as the deaths by Rene.

Vampire:

• Malcolm, Liam and Diane
  • Died when a mob from Bon Temps, enticed by Rene Lenier, burned down their house just after dawn.
• Harlen Ives
  • Died along with Malcolm, Liam and Diane, but was only visiting for the night.
• Long Shadow
  • Was staked by Eric Northman after he had attacked Sookie when she was about to tell Eric that he was the one that had embezzled $60,000 from Fangtasia.

Cat:

• Tina
  • Sookie's cat that was strangled by Rene and thrown at her door one night.
• Random Cat
  • Killed by Bubba, and was used as a delivery system by Rene to put the vampire out of commission while he went on to try to kill Sookie.

See also

Novels portal

• Characters of The Southern Vampire Mysteries
• Characters of True Blood
• True Blood

References