Many Bloody Returns (Sookie Stackhouse) (Hardcover)

by Charlaine Harris (Editor), Toni L. P. Kelner (Editor) "I found the invitation in the mailbox at the end of my driveway..." (more)
Key Phrases: Frère Lèon, vampire hours, rebirth day, Jane Doe, Miss Saeger, Julie Martin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This patchwork anthology of 13 new vampire stories proves that heavyweight contributors can give some substance to a relatively slight theme. Harris (the Sookie Stackhouse novels), Kelner (the Laura Fleming mysteries) and 11 other writers with serious vamp credentials craft stories around the concept of birthdays for bloodsuckers. Most of the tales only blow out candles in passing, as with P.N. Elrod's Grave-Robbed, which mixes pathos and comedy as vampire PI Jack Fleming busts a phony medium mid-séance, and Tanya Huff's Blood Wrapped, in which Henry Fitzroy's search for the ideal gift for a vampire's 40th mixes with his pursuit of a human kidnapper. Christopher Golden takes birthdays to heart in his poignant coming-of-age story, The Mournful Cry of Owls, while Kelley Armstrong proposes in Twilight that a vampire's real birthday is the date of transformation from mortal to immortal. Fans of the many series vampires on parade here will be undeterred by the variable quality of their adventures. (Sept.)
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From Booklist
Experienced genre hands ensure the high quality of 13 stories about birthdays and vampires. The opening story uses Charlaine Harris' series star Sookie Stackhouse, who, as the only nonvampire at a Dracula's birthday ball, finds herself on the menu. Dropping by a role-playing party with his brother's present, Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden must deal with deadly party crashers. A pair of vampires tracks down a serial killer in Toni L. P. Kelner's "How Stella Got Her Grave Back." More chillingly, a vampire knows she must kill to live another year but is strangely reluctant in Kelly Armstrong's "Twilight," and in Elaine Viets' humorous "Vampire Hours," a woman deliberately chooses damnation. Murray, Frieda

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ace Hardcover; First Edition first Printing edition (September 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441015220
• ISBN-13: 978-0441015221
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,159 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Superstars Shine...mostly, September 6, 2007

By	R. A. MCDANIEL (Honolulu, HI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This anthology features some of the superstars of the paranormal genre writing about their most popular characters - Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse), Jim Butcher (Harry Dresden), Kelley Armstrong (Cassandra du Charme from the women of the Otherworld universe), PN Elrod (Jack Fleming), Tanya Huff (Tony and Henry Fitzroy), and Rachel Caine (Eve Rosser from the Morganville Vampires books) - along with some other fairly recognizable authors such as Christopher Golden and Jeanne Stein. It was the superstars who made this anthology worth buying. Their stories were, with the exception of Ms. Harris' contribution (which seemed quickly thrown together and unsatisfying), well crafted and engrossing, providing deeper insight into the characters which will make reading future installments of their series even more enjoyable. Some of the other stories left me cold (such as The Mournful Cry of Owls) and others, like Jeanne Stein's "The Witch and the Wicked" were so interesting and original I will definitely be looking at the author's other works.

All anthologies have their weak moments but this one has less than usual due to the high caliber of the contributors, with a good 2/3 of the stories being excellent or better. It's a must read for devoted fans of any of the series included.

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vampires, Witches and Birthday Wishes, October 14, 2007

By	Cherise Everhard (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is an anthology of 13 stories, each containing some sort of supernatural element and birthday theme.

Dracula Night by Charlaine Harris
The Mournful Cry of Owls by Christopher Golden
I Was a Teenage Vampire by Bill Crider
Twilight by Kelley Armstrong
It's My Birthday, Too by Jim Butcher
Grave-Robbed by P.N. Elrod
The First Day of the Rest of Your Life by Rachel Caine
The Witch and the Wicked by Jeanne C. Stein
Blood Wrapped by Tanya Huff
The Wish by Carolyn Haines
Fire and Ice and Linguini for Two by Tate Hallaway
Vampire Hours by Elaine Viets
How Stella got her Grave Back by Toni L.P. Kelner

I bought this collection of short stories for the tales told by Charlaine Harris and Tate Hallaway as each is part of a their series I read religiously. I had never heard of or read anything by the other 11 authors, but after reading these short stories I will be checking out many of their other books. None of the stories were horrible; in fact almost all were magnificent, leaving only one or two that were just OK. This past week I really didn't have time to read a 'normal' book; this was the perfect book to pick up when I had a few minutes. I found this book wonderfully imaginative and very enjoyable.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice set of short stories, November 10, 2007

By	N "N" (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews

I bought this simply because of the Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher and Tanya Huff stories that were in it. However, I ended up enjoying almost every other story in it. It caused me to go out and purchase Tate Hallaway's books as well. The Jim Butcher tale was awesome. The Tanya Huff story was cute. It also gave me a new appreciation for Kelley Armstrong, whom I'd previously read but disliked. In general, I don't tend to like short stories, but I absolutely loved this collection and would recommend it to anyone who likes Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Tate Hallway or Tanya Huff.