Grace and Jack are newlyweds and the perfect couple. They are never apart, ever. This is a fast, frantic tale of a fairytale courtship and rapid marriage and a man who hides his real psychological identity. It is the tale of naïve, trusting, somewhat dim wife who has to be hyper-vigilant not to upset her husband. This was good but seriously Jack constantly boasts of his brilliance, has everyone on his side and has created deniable terms so if Grace tries to reveal she is a prisoner, she will be dismissed as mentally ill.

Nobody notices any of this and nobody thinks Grace’s distanciation is odd or that Jack’s exacting standards of happiness and creepy basement is a sign of something being very wrong? This was good if wildly implausible. Grace does try to ask for help only to be ignored and dismissed as a lunatic and nobody questions this? This non-affirmative relationship can only end one way but which way will it go?

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This 2007 ‘Southern Vampire’ novel sees Sookie susceptible to more men, dealing with weres and having emotional gaps in this dull read that is not written with implacable eloquence. This was not viciously funny and Sookie always seems inwardly angry and has a loss of clear purpose. This was not dark and complex and Sookie is not irrepressibly sardonic.

Sookie deals with witches, her dead cousin and idees fixes. This is not an allegory about the constrained existence of those who are neglected, stigmatised or unwelcome. It’s all about Sookie and her fragile ego and how she isn’t a critical thinker just obstreperous. Plots are ripped off from Dumas and this bored and it was dogged by failure to meet expectations and was hollow and oxymoronic.

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