Southern Vampires get True Blood

Last night HBO premiered its new series TRUE BLOOD. This is an awesome turn of events. The new show is based on a series of pop fiction novels written by Charlaine Harris called “The Southern Vampire Series”. Most of the time I dislike it when a book is converted to the screen no matter the screen size but HBO has pulled it off. (Two years ago SHOWTIME did it with the “Dexter” series to great success but Dexter is a topic for another installment). Back to Sookie: “The Southern Vampire Series revolves around a telepathic waitress named Sookie Stackhouse and her interactions with, the recently out of the coffin, Vampires.

Cool,huh!
With a delicious mix of humor, paranormal creatures and just the right amount of sexy Ms. Harris has created a world where Vampires are our next door neighbors. Some people welcome the Vampires into the community and other view them with suspicion, fear and even envy. Sookie finds them very comforting and attractive. Being telepathic she has spent a life time trying to avoid being in other people’s heads. She can’t hear the Vampires’ thoughts and that is rare indeed for her. She finds it oh so peaceful and intriguing. She finds Vampire Bill most intriguing and attractive. She rescues him from a pair of drainers. He will in turn rescue her and make her fall in love with him. (Note: Drainers are people who attack vampires and drain them of their blood to sell it on the black market. Vampire blood works on humans like an ecstasy, steroid cocktail. It is the ultimate addictive drug).

TRUE BLOOD starts at the beginning of the story in a little town just outside of Shreveport, LA. Bon Temps has been a quiet little town but that is all about to change. The opening scene when the Jason and his current girl go into the convenience store where they notice a sign selling True Blood. True Blood is a synthetic blood drink that the newly outed Vamps use for food instean of chomping down on the innocent and tasy humans. The guy behind the counter is all done up in Goth clothes, with black nail polish and skeleton rings on his fingers He scares crud out of them pretending to be a vamp. Jason and he have a great laugh when he reveals he was only kidding. All the while another guy who looks like a fat ol’ redneck watching scene takes offense at the slurs and ridicule coming from the little group and says so. Jason threatens him to stay out of their conversation when the redneck turns out to be an actual vampire, sharp fangs and all. It was GREAT! Isn’t that so true?! Danger is most often wrapped in the most unassuming packages. The storyline follows along the first book with the only deviation of the time. Her first books take place before Katrina hit Louisiana and TRUE BLOOD takes place after. The hour long premier moves swiftly introducing the main characters: Sookie, her brother Jason, her best friend Tara, her boss Sam (wait until you find out about the secret he is hiding), her love interest Vampire Bill, her grandma and the town of Bon Temps. The story line is set when Sookie rescues Bill. Jason is arrested for murder. The credits begin rolling as Sookie finds herself at the mercy of the drainers she just saved Bill from. The end leaves me wanting more, especially Eric. Don’t worry, you will meet him soon but you won’t soon forget him. Vamps Rule!

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The complete list of Southern Vampire Series:
Dead until Dark Living Dead in Dallas Club Dead
Dead to the World Dead as a Doornail Definitely Dead
All together Dead From Dead to Worse
Check out Charlaine Harris’ other great series heroines: Aurora Teagarden, the Librarian Sleuth; Lily Bard, the crime attracting cleaning lady; and Harper Connelly, she makes a living talking to dead people. All her books are widely available online, at the local bookstore or library.