**The Barnes & Noble Review** *Dead to the World,* the fourth novel in Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire saga ( *Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas,* and *Club Dead* ), begins with everyone’s favorite telepathic waitress, Sookie Stackhouse, making a New Year’s to not get beaten up by supernatural beings. Yeah, right! Sookie’s life is at a crossroads. Her former boyfriend Bill, a strikingly handsome 137-year old vampire who has arguably been the source of most of her problems, has left for the country on a fact-finding mission for the vampire Queen of Louisiana. For the first time in a long time, Sookie has control of her own life. She duly resolves to stay out of trouble with supernatural beings, but on the way home from work, she sees a naked blond man running down the road. Being the kind-hearted soul that she is, Sookie stops to help. The man turns out to be Eric, a powerful vampire who not only owns Fangtasia, a popular tourist bar in Shreveport, but is also one of the most influential vampires in the region. After taking him home, Sookie quickly realizes that the blond vampire has amnesia. She calls Eric’s trusted subordinates and is stunned by what she hears — the area has been invaded by a coven of shape-shifting witches bent on controlling all supernatural groups! To complicate matters, Sookie’s only brother, Jason, is missing. Can Sookie keep Eric safe and find her brother without breaking her New Year’s resolution? Of course not! Overflowing with vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, and witches, *Dead to the World* epitomizes escapist literature — a little bit of fantasy, a little bit of mystery, and a whole lot of fun. *Paul Goat Allen*