I started watching Showtime’s True Blood last year and really liked the first season, so I was curious to read the books the show is based on. A few people had recommended it to me. The first book, Dead Until Dark, is loosely what the first season of the show was based on.

It was regretful that I already knew most of the story before beginning the book because it’d be more suspenseful if I came to it with no knowledge at all. Despite that, I still enjoyed Dead Until Dark because it’s different enough from the show that it didn’t feel like I was just reading a synopsis. A few of the main characters have different personalities from their TV version and while the main plot of the book is reflected in the show, a few things go differently.

The books are like Pringles; once you start reading, it’s hard to stop. I downloaded the first book as an ebook because I wasn’t sure if I’d like the rest enough to buy the boxed set. I couldn’t stop reading. I read in the car. I read while walking to the car. I read while I was supposed to be playing video games. If I had found a way to read while running, I would have done that too. I finished the first book on Wednesday and immediately got the second and dove in.

Dead Until Dark isn’t high-brow literature by any means, but it’s a fun romp into the urban fantasy genre with a good mystery thrown in.  It’s every bit as graphic as the show is in the violence department, and maybe a notch steamier in the hot vampire sex department.  It’s a good read for anyone who’s a fan of the show or just urban fantasy in general.