Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Shes quiet, keeps to herself, and doesnt get out much - not because shes not pretty - shes a very cute bubbly blonde - or not interested in a social life. She really is . . . but Sookies got a bit of a disability. She can read minds. And that doesnt make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill: hes tall, hes dark and hes handsome - and Sookie cant hear a word hes thinking. Hes exactly the type of guy shes been waiting all her life for. But Bill has a disability of his own: hes fussy about his food, he doesnt like suntans and hes never around during the day . . . Yep, Bills a vampire. Worse than that, he hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, with a reputation for trouble - of the murderous kind. And then one of Sookies colleagues at the bar is killed, and its beginning to look like Sookie might be the next victim . . .