Southern Vampire Mysteries
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Club Dead
03-Club-Dead
Author Charlaine Harris
Publisher Ace Books
Publication date May 2003
Pages 392 (Hardcover)
291 (Paperback)
ISBN ISBN 0-441-01051-2
Previous book Living Dead in Dallas
Next book Dead to the World

Club Dead is the third book in the "The Southern Vampire Mysteries" series, a series of novels by New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris.

 
—First Line
 

Synopsis[]

When telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse's vampire boyfriend Bill Compton is kidnapped on a secret project for the vampire queen of Louisiana, Sookie sets out to investigate, with the help of handsome Shreveport werewolf Alcide Herveaux. Sookie soon discovers that Bill is being tortured by his vampire mistress for information on his secret project. With the help of Alcide, Viking vampire Eric Northman, and the vampire Bubba, Sookie saves him, only to be shocked by the revelation of his infidelity with Lorena.

Plot[]

Club Dead takes place at the beginning of December. Bill is working on a computer program and tells Sookie that he will have to travel to Seattle, alone. Days later, a werewolf attacks Sookie at Merlotte’s, but Bubba, who has been sent by Eric to protect Sookie, stops and kills the attacker. Later that night, Eric, Pam and Chow inform Sookie that Bill has actually been in Mississippi because Lorena, Bill's maker, had summoned him.Eric tells Sookie that Bill had called saying he was coming back to Bon Temps earlier without telling Sookie so he could arrange her future care before he saw her again. Eric also tells Sookie that the queen does not know about Bill’s disappearance and that Eric needs to produce Bill’s project by its due date without compromising his life and his job. Eric thinks Bill is still alive in Mississippi and believes that Lorena has betrayed and kidnapped Bill. Eric cannot interrogate humans and vampires that are under the protection of the vampire king of Mississippi, Russell Edgington, without starting a war. He asks Sookie if she is willing to go to Jackson and “pick the brains” among the king’s human employees and Sookie agrees to go. Alcide Herveaux, a werewolf (Were) from Shreveport, is sent by Eric the following day to take Sookie to Jackson and to help her circulate among the supernatural community. In Jackson, Sookie not only has to deal with the vampires of Mississippi, but she is implicated with a bounty hunting werewolves pack. In Sookie’s first visit to a vampire bar called Josephine’s (also known as Club Dead within the shapeshifting community) she learns that Bill has been captured and that Russell Edgington might be involved. She personally meets Russell when a bar patron and bounty hunter werewolf Jerry Falcon mangles her when Sookie does not agree to join him.In this same night, Sookie also meets Debbie Pelt, Alcide’s ex-girlfriend and a shapeshifter who is mean spirited and unhappy to see Alcide with another woman. The next day, Sookie and Alcide find the dead body of Jerry Falcon stuffed in the closet. It is later discovered that Bubba had caught Jerry entering Alcide’s home and killed him.During the following night, Sookie, back at Club Dead, gets badly injured when Steve Newlin and another fanatic of The Fellowship of the Sun (the vampire-hating organization, introduced in Living Dead in Dallas) are present in the club ready to stake Betty Joe, Edgington’s second in command. Sookie gets staked instead and she is quickly rushed to Edgington’s mansion. Eric, in disguise, is there to help her as Alcide turned into a wolf to pursue Steve Newlin who was able to escape.After her wounds have been tended by a vampire, Eric gives Sookie his blood, to help her heal quicker and they share a tender moment. Bubba, who has been following Sookie from Bon Temps, informs them that Bill has been tortured in a nearby house within Edgington’s compound. In daylight, Sookie is fortunate to find that most vampires are sleeping and that the guards, who are wereanimals, are tired and resting from the previous full moon night. Sookie rescues Bill and kills Lorena in the process.Back in Alcide’s parking garage, with Bill in the trunk of her car, Sookie is pushed into the trunk by Debbie Pelt. At dusk, Bill, who has been deprived of blood and sleep for several weeks, wakes up and unconsciously feeds on Sookie, mangling her neck and then rapes her. After such a long day, Sookie asks Eric to drive her home, but her night is not over as they are not only attacked at the gas station they had stopped, but she severely gets hurt when she finds werewolves waiting for her in her own home. Eric and Bill kill them all. The novel ends with Sookie rescinding her invitation to both Eric and Bill.

Eric tells Sookie that Bill had called saying he was coming back to Bon Temps earlier without telling Sookie so he could arrange her future care before he saw her again. Eric also tells Sookie that the queen does not know about Bill’s disappearance and that Eric needs to produce Bill’s project by its due date without compromising his life and his job. Eric thinks Bill is still alive in Mississippi and believes that Lorena has betrayed and kidnapped Bill. Eric cannot interrogate humans and vampires that are under the protection of the vampire king of Mississippi, Russell Edgington, without starting a war. He asks Sookie if she is willing to go to Jackson and “pick the brains” among the king’s human employees and Sookie agrees to go.

Alcide Herveaux, a werewolf (Were) from Shreveport, is sent by Eric the following day to take Sookie to Jackson and to help her circulate among the supernatural community. In Jackson, Sookie not only has to deal with the vampires of Mississippi, but she is implicated with a bounty hunting werewolves pack. In Sookie’s first visit to a vampire bar called Josephine’s (also known as Club Dead within the shapeshifting community) she learns that Bill has been captured and that Russell Edgington might be involved. She personally meets Russell when a bar patron and bounty hunter werewolf Jerry Falcon mangles her when Sookie does not agree to join him.

In this same night, Sookie also meets Debbie Pelt, Alcide’s ex-girlfriend and a shapeshifter who is mean spirited and unhappy to see Alcide with another woman. The next day, Sookie and Alcide find the dead body of Jerry Falcon stuffed in the closet. It is later discovered that Bubba had caught Jerry entering Alcide’s home and killed him.

During the following night, Sookie, back at Club Dead, gets badly injured when Steve Newlin and another fanatic of The Fellowship of the Sun (the vampire-hating organization, introduced in Living Dead in Dallas) are present in the club ready to stake Betty Joe, Edgington’s second in command. Sookie gets staked instead and she is quickly rushed to Edgington’s mansion. Eric, in disguise, is there to help her as Alcide turned into a wolf to pursue Steve Newlin who was able to escape.

After her wounds have been tended by a vampire, Eric gives Sookie his blood, to help her heal quicker and they share a tender moment. Bubba, who has been following Sookie from Bon Temps, informs them that Bill has been tortured in a nearby house within Edgington’s compound. In daylight, Sookie is fortunate to find that most vampires are sleeping and that the guards, who are wereanimals, are tired and resting from the previous full moon night. Sookie rescues Bill and kills Lorena in the process.

Back in Alcide’s parking garage, with Bill in the trunk of her car, Sookie is pushed into the trunk by Debbie Pelt. At dusk, Bill, who has been deprived of blood and sleep for several weeks, wakes up and unconsciously feeds on Sookie, mangling her neck and then rapes her. After such a long day, Sookie asks Eric to drive her home, but her night is not over as they are not only attacked at the gas station they had stopped, but she severely gets hurt when she finds werewolves waiting for her in her own home. Eric and Bill kill them all. The novel ends with Sookie rescinding her invitation to both Eric and Bill.

Characters in Club Dead[]

Characters[]

  • Sookie Stackhouse is the main heroine/protagonist of the Southern Vampire Mysteries and is often getting into numerous thickets of trouble and her only known companions–sexually–have been of the undead and the supernatural. She is telepathic
  • Bill Compton is a damn-near 200 year old vampire who was in a romantic relationship with Sookie before he was kidnapped by his maker Lorena. He is portrayed by Stephen Moyer in the HBO original, number one series, True Bloode has the ability to fly, and is unbelievably powerful, answering to very few in the new world. He is portrayed by Alexander Skarsgård in the HBO series True Blood

Characters[]

  • Alcide Herveaux: A Were who takes Sookie to Jackson, MS to find out who has kidnapped Bill. He is portrayed by Joe Manganiello in TrueBlood.
  • Bubba: Vampire, and errand boy. Helps protect Sookie in several dangerous occasions.
  • Debbie Pelt: Shapeshifter and jealous ex-girlfiend of Alcide and has a grudge against Sookie, on the count of she tried to kill her. Sookie kills her out of self-defense in the fourth book Dead to the World
  • Pam Ravenscroft: Vampire and Eric's second in command.
  • Russell Edgington: Vampire king of Mississippi.
  • Tara Thornton: Human and Sookie's friend. She was at Club Dead with Franklin Mott. She is portrayed much differently in the novels than in the show. She is portrayed by Rutina Wesley in True Blood.
  • Eric Northman is an 1100 year old Viking Vampire who is in every book of Charlaine Harris's Dead Until Dark synopsis and previously had a romantic relationship with Sookie, but that was when he was amnesic. H

Differences between the TV show and the book[]

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