The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

by Charlaine Harris

When the shifters announce the Great Reveal on TV, Sam and Tray Dawson shift at the same time in Merlotte’s. Across the world shifters are revealing themselves, including Sam’s mother, who is shot by her second husband when she shifts in front of him. Sam rushes to her side, leaving Sookie to manage the bar in his absence. While he is gone, Crystal is found crucified in the parking lot. Like many people, Sam wonders whether she was killed because she was a shifter or because of her actions. He returns as quickly as possible to take over from Sookie and finds out that she has unwittingly married Eric. He reacts badly. His overall concern for her grows as her new involvement with the fae leads to her kidnapping and torture.

  The wedding of Sam’s brother, Craig, has been postponed as Craig’s fiancée’s family struggles with the shifter aspect of their future son-in-law’s family, and Sam continues to hope for a new date to be set. Having asked Sookie if she would accompany him months before, he confirms that she will attend with him even after he begins dating Jannalynn Hopper. Sam fears that Were Jannalynn is too intense for his family. When the wedding finally takes place, the families are faced with protests but wind up surrounded by shifters who have come from all around to offer support and protection. Jannalynn shows up unannounced, hurt and angry that Sam didn’t think she was appropriate to bring to a family function, and the two agree to discuss their relationship when they both get home. They do and decide to continue dating.

  Sam is already worried about the future of his bar when a firebomb is thrown through the front window. Damages and injuries are minimal, and he is quickly able to reopen, but business continues to slide as customers are drawn to Vic’s Redneck Roadhouse, a new bar that Victor Madden has opened nearby. Sam’s problems increase when four thugs high on vampire blood enter Merlotte’s, intent on causing trouble and taking Sookie. Sam, Jannalynn, an off-duty Andy Bellefleur, and the suspiciously well-placed and well-timed private detectives Jack and Lily Leeds subdue the men. The motive behind both attacks is eventually revealed when a wild-eyed Sandra Pelt shows up at Merlotte’s, publicly admitting that she has been attempting to kill Sookie. With Sam’s help, Terry Bellefleur manages to disable Sandra, and she is taken first to the hospital and then to jail, but she manages to escape. Struggling with the bar’s mounting costs and lack of business, Sam reluctantly accepts a sizable loan from Sookie to tide the bar over. He and Jannalynn are spending the afternoon together at his trailer when they are accosted by Sandra and held at gunpoint. She forces Sam to call Sookie to lure her to his trailer, but sensing something is wrong, Sookie has Sam drive out to her house instead. When the trio arrives, Jannalynn takes advantage of a distraction and viciously attacks Sandra while Sam and Sookie stay on the fringes, trying to help. Sam’s nose is broken when he grabs Sandra’s hair and she punches him, but Jannalynn ultimately gets the upper hand and breaks Sandra’s neck, then crushes her skull to finish the job. Worried about the ramifications of reporting the death, Sam and Sookie decide to dispose of the body instead and, followed by a wounded Jannalynn, carry Sandra into the woods to the fairy portal and shove her through. After returning to the house, Jannalynn sets Sam’s broken nose before the pair leave for his trailer, disposing of Sandra’s rifle along the way.

  When Tara and JB du Rone decide to renovate their bungalow to make a room for their new twins, Sam agrees to help and then gets some tips from Terry Bellefleur. As he is tearing down a wall, Sam finds the hammer used to murder Isaiah Wechsler in the 1930s. The handling of the hammer disturbs the murderer’s spirit, and both the adults and the babies react to the negative energy in the house. JB and Tara’s nanny, Quiana Wong, is a psychic who is able to channel the spirit and realizes that his bones must be buried nearby. Sam shifts to a bloodhound to scent the area and is able to locate the remains in the yard. Sookie and Quiana work together to identify the killer as the youngest son of the Summerlins, the family that lived in the house at the time. He was secretly buried in the yard by his parents after committing suicide. After the bones are uncovered and reinterred in Sookie’s family plot, the spirit finally rests, and Sam and JB make plans to continue the renovations. (DUD, LDID, CD, DTTW, FD, DN, DAAD, DD, ATD, FDTW, DAG, DITF, STW, DR, IIHAH; mentioned L, GW)

  Merlotte’s Bar and Grill: Shifter Sam Merlotte bought a failing bar with an inheritance from his father, renamed it, renovated it, and turned it around. Carved out of the woods that still surround the parking lot, Merlotte’s attracts a wide range of clientele of both the human and supernatural kind. The bar is open till midnight on weekdays and one a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, serving light meals as well as drinks, including synthetic blood. Sam is still undecided about being open on Sundays and periodically gives it a try. He lives in a double-wide trailer placed at a right angle behind his bar.

  Customers park on the black-topped front lot while employees park behind the building on the gravel, using the rear door to enter the bar, passing by Sam’s office and the kitchen on their way through to the main room. Merlotte’s has been through many cooks, including a vampire and a shifter, and many waitresses. Several come to tragic ends: waitress Dawn Green is killed by Rene Lenier, cook Lafayette Reynold is murdered by Mike Spencer and the Hardaways, and cook Sweetie Des Arts is a sniper who is killed by Detective Andy Bellefleur. Sam normally handles most of the bartending himself, but when he borrows bartender Charles Twining from Fangtasia after being shot in the leg (by Charles, as it turns out), the vampire attacks Sookie in retaliation for her involvement in another vampire’s death. Charles asks to be staked rather than turned over to the police, and the patrons oblige. Sam has recently hired Kennedy Keyes, a former beauty queen who has done time for manslaughter, as a regular bartender, with Terry Bellefleur still taking a shift here and there as necessary. Overall, work hours for all employees are flexible and balanced.

  The bar takes a double hit when first Vic’s Redneck Roadhouse, a bar full of gimmicks and contests, opens nearby, and then Merlotte’s is firebombed by Sandra Pelt in an attempt to kill Sookie. Suffering financially, Sam struggles to keep his bar going and is both grudging and grateful when Sookie offers part of her inheritance to keep it afloat.

  The moment Bill Compton walks in the door, Merlotte’s seemingly becomes the eye of the storm for supernatural events in Bon Temps. Whether it’s vampires as fellow customers, Sam and Tray Dawson shifting in the bar as the shifters announce themselves on TV, or even the crucifixion of Crystal in the parking lot, the regulars at Merlotte’s watch, wonder, and then order another round, apparently taking it all in stride. (DUD, LDID, CD, DTTW, FD, DN, DAAD, DD, ATD, L, FDTW, DAG, DITF, DR; mentioned OWA, GW, TB, STW)

  Michael (vampire): No last name given. Michael, an Illinois vampire, abducts and tortures the sister of Wisconsin vamp Jodi’s employee despite repeated warnings to stay away from the girl. In retaliation, Jodi breaks off one of his canines with a pair of pliers while he sleeps, so Michael brings suit against her. His behavior is deemed detrimental to vampires in general, and Jodi is allowed to stake him. (Dies ATD)

  Michael (vampire): No last name given. Owner of the gentlemen’s club Blonde in Mississippi, devious Michael pretends to want to ally himself with the Nevada vamps as they attempt to take pieces of Mississippi from Russell, but he is actually playing his own game for financial gain. Unfortunately for him, so is his employee Mohawk, who takes advantage of the situation when Pam literally takes pieces of Michael, leaving him vulnerable and in agony. (Dies TB)

  Mickey (vampire): No last name given. Mickey begins a relationship with an unwilling Tara, who has been passed to him as payment of a debt owed by her previous lover, Franklin Mott. Sookie calls in a favor from Eric for help for her friend, and he contacts Mickey’s maker, Salome. She orders Mickey to her side. Angered by Sookie’s interference, Mickey savagely abuses Tara and drags her with him to the duplex Sookie has made her temporary home. He first disables Eric with a rock to the head and then forces Sookie to invite him in. He attempts to attack her, but she is able to rescind his invitation in time and
he is forced to retreat, unwillingly leaving Tara behind. Mickey clearly hears his maker’s call but tries to resist, fleeing into the night. Eric is confident that Salome will find and punish her child. (DAAD)

  Minas: Minas was the yard slave of Jonas Stackhouse, Mitchell’s great-great-great-great-grandfather. (Deceased; mentioned DUD)

  Mitchell, Susanne: Susanne is one of the few longtime barmaids at Merlotte’s. (Mentioned DUD)

  Mohawk (vampire): No last name given. An employee at Blonde, a gentlemen’s club run by Michael in Mississippi, Mohawk—as Sookie refers to him—has his own agenda and happily seizes the opportunity to take over the club by finishing off Michael and his half-elf companion Rudy when they are incapacitated. (TB)

  Mott, Franklin (vampire): Born in Sicily in 1756, urbane Franklin dates Tara, treating her as his mistress with Tara’s tacit consent. Owing a debt to fellow vampire Mickey, Franklin pays by passing Tara along to Mickey to be used both sexually and for blood. (CD; mentioned DTTW, DAAD)

  Murray, Debi: Clarice nurse Debi has seen Claude strip at Hooligans. (FDTW)

  Murry (fairy): No last name given. A close friend of Breandan, Murry sneaks up on Sookie while she is weeding her flower beds. He arrogantly announces that he’ll enjoy killing Sookie, which proves to be a fatal mistake. Sookie lunges up at him, metal garden trowel in hand, and stabs him in the stomach. The cold steel does its job and Murry dies, pale blue eyes wide with surprise. (Dies DAG)

  Myers, Cal (wolf): Shreveport detective Cal Myers stands as Patrick Furnan’s second during the packmaster challenge between Furnan and Jackson Herveaux, cheating by using gloves laced with a desensitizing drug to handle a silver bar during the second part of the contest so that Furnan can hold the bar longer. Cal’s own thoughts betray him, and Sookie reveals their treachery. Although Furnan remains in the contest and does triumph, Cal is eventually punished by having his head shaved. Cal appears in the ectoplasmic reconstruction performed by Amelia and Octavia to determine who murdered Maria-Star Cooper. He is seen repeatedly stabbing the defenseless woman as another Were holds her down after breaking into her apartment. He is exposed as working with Priscilla Hebert, his half sister, against the Shreveport pack and is no doubt at least partially responsible for the deaths of Libby Furnan and Christine Larrabee as well. He is the first victim in the Were war, eviscerated by Furnan while simultaneously being partially beheaded by Alcide. (DAAD, DD; dies FDTW)

  N:

  Neave (fairy): No last name given. Lochlan’s sister and lover, Neave helps kidnap Sookie on Breandan’s orders in an attempt to force Niall to step down as Prince of Faery. Neave and Lochlan also gleefully murdered Sookie’s grandfather, Fintan Brigant, as well as her pregnant sister-in-law, Crystal Stackhouse. The siblings are true sadists and take joy in torturing Sookie. When Bill and Niall come to Sookie’s rescue, Bill dispatches Neave, but not before she seriously wounds him with her silver knife and silver-capped teeth. (Dies DAG; mentioned DITF)

  Nella Jean: No last name given. Claude’s secretary Nella Jean does her job for Hooligans but stays out of supernatural business. (DR)

  Nergal (demon): No last name given. A demon, Nergal is Mr. Cataliades’s half brother and the father of Diantha and Gladiola (by different mothers, of course). (Mentioned DD)

  Newlin, G. Steve: G. Steve Newlin and his wife, Sarah, head the Fellowship of the Sun church in Dallas. After the revelation that they were planning to immolate a vampire and a human victim, and their involvement in the ensuing Dallas Midnight Massacre, they go underground. Steve surfaces briefly to encourage a devout follower on a suicide mission in Josephine’s as he plans to stake Betty Joe Pickard—Mississippi vampire King Russell Edgington’s second-in-command—but he flees when the attack is thwarted by Sookie and disappears once again. (LDID, CD; mentioned DAAD, DD, STW)

  Newlin, Sarah: Sarah and her husband, Steve, go underground when their Fellowship of the Sun ministry in Dallas is raided, but they remain active in their hate campaign toward supes. After making contact with Jim Collins online, Sarah comes to Wright, Texas, incognito to protest Craig Merlotte’s wedding but is recognized by Luna and Sookie.

  After the reception at the church, the shifters gather at Bernie’s, and Sarah visits Jim Collins next door to find out why he didn’t attend the protest. Jim suggests that he and Sarah go next door and start shooting, but she rejects being a martyr, believing that she has more work to do against the shifters. Jim gets angry and shoots her, and Sarah, wounded, shoots back, killing him. Injured enough that she cannot flee the scene, Sarah is discovered by Luna and Sookie, who gleefully call the police. She is arrested for murder before being taken for treatment. (LDID, STW; mentioned DAAD, DD)

  Norris, Calvin (panther): Calvin Norris is a steady man. He works hard as a crew leader at Norcross, the lumber-processing plant, and at leading his extended family of werepanthers in the strange little community of Hotshot. He briefly courts Sookie, helping her look for her missing brother, Jason, and then helps Jason adjust to his new life as a bitten werepanther. Shot by a sniper targeting shifters, a badly wounded Calvin promises Sookie that Jason, who is a suspect because of his forced transformation to panther, will not be punished until all of the facts are known and his guilt is certain. His concern for Sookie when she is shot leads him to send Tray Dawson to watch over her, and during the confrontation with sniper Sweetie Des Arts, Tray’s presence distracts her, allowing Andy Bellefleur to shoot first.

  Realizing that Sookie cannot adjust to his life and duties as packmaster, including his four children by different mothers, Calvin settles for being her friend and stands for his niece Crystal while Sookie stands for Jason at their wedding, even though they both have their doubts about the union. After a time he begins dating Tanya Grissom, and when Sookie tells him that Tanya has been bespelled by Sandra Pelt, he asks Amelia and Octavia to rid her of Sandra’s influence rather than having them cast a simpler spell that would force Tanya to leave.

  A pregnant Crystal breaks her wedding vows, and as her punishment will be taken by Calvin, Jason selfishly decides that Sookie will take his place in administering the penalty. Calvin comforts Sookie even as she is forced to break his fingers, symbolic of his panther claws. Calvin is shattered when Crystal’s crucified body is found in Merlotte’s parking lot and is comforted by his now live-in companion Tanya. In keeping with the traditions of Hotshot, he, Jason, Crystal’s sister Dawn, and her cousin Jacky deal with Crystal’s killer themselves.

  Calvin and Tanya decide to go to Arkansas to get married without fanfare but enjoy a Hotshot celebration when they get home. No word on who stands for Calvin or Tanya. (DTTW, DAAD, DD, ATD, FDTW, DAG; mentioned DITF, DR)

  Norris, Carlton (panther): Carlton is Calvin Norris’s oldest brother. When Carlton is accused of statutory rape by the stepfather of a willing and experienced, albeit underage, girl, Bon Temps sheriff John Dowdy rides out to Hotshot to arrest him. Sheriff Dowdy’s car is found halfway between Bon Temps and Hotshot without a trace of either man in it, and neither is ever seen again. Carlton’s current whereabouts are unknown, although he is presumed dead. (DTTW)

  Norris, Dawn (panther): Crystal’s younger sister, Dawn, has a son named Matthew. When first seen by Sookie, she is obviously pregnant, apparently doing her part to maintain the Hotshot panther pack. When Crystal is murdered and Mel Hart is suspected, Dawn joins her uncle Calvin, brother-in-law Jason, and young cousin Jacky to dispense the Hotshot version of justice. (DTTW, DAG)

  Norris, Felton (panther): Obsessed with Crystal, Felton kidnaps Jason and repeatedly bites him to turn him into a panther in a twisted attempt to decrease Crystal’s interest in him. After Jason’s rescue from Felton’s shed, Calvin and the panthers of Hotshot kill Felton so that Sookie and Jason will not go to the police. (Dies DTTW)

  Norris, Marvin (panther): Calvin’s uncle Marvin is the pastor of the Tabernacle Holiness Church, where the funerals of Hotshot residents are held. (Mentioned DAG)

  Norris, Maryelizabeth (panther): The m
other of Calvin’s daughter Terry, Maryelizabeth warmly welcomes Sookie into Calvin’s home and introduces her around when Sookie visits while he is recovering after being shot. As Calvin stands in to take pregnant Crystal’s punishment after her infidelity is revealed, Maryelizabeth leads the ceremony and tells Sookie, standing in for Jason, what she must do as punishment, even handing her the brick with which to do it. (DAAD, FDTW; mentioned DD, ATD)

  Norris, Matthew (panther): Dawn Norris’s son is just a toddler when his aunt Crystal becomes involved with Jason. (DTTW)

  Norris, Mitch (panther): As a member of the Bon Temps police department, Mitch helps remove Crystal’s body from the cross in Merlotte’s parking lot. (DAG)

  Norris, Sterling: Mayor of Bon Temps, Sterling Norris is not one of the Hotshot Norrises. (DUD)

  Norris, Tanya Grissom (fox): Cousin by birth to Debbie Pelt, werefox Tanya is sent to Bon Temps to spy on Sookie by the Pelts, desperate for information about their missing daughter. She gets a job subbing at Merlotte’s and attempts to befriend Sookie but is rebuffed by the suspicious telepath. After the Pelts find out the truth of Debbie’s death, Tanya decides to stay on in Bon Temps and pursue her interest in Sam. When that interest doesn’t pan out, she eventually connects with the panthers in Hotshot, attending the Bellefleur-Vick wedding with Calvin Norris. Tanya begins spending an inordinate amount of time with Crystal Stackhouse, encouraging her to spend liberally during frequent trips to the mall in Monroe. Sookie realizes that Tanya is deliberately causing friction between Jason and Crystal as a result of a spell by Sandra Pelt. At Calvin’s request, Amelia and Octavia break Sandra’s hold on Tanya. She proves her steadfast affection for Calvin as she supports him when Crystal is murdered. She and Calvin drive over the state line to Arkansas and get married in a simple courthouse ceremony. When they get home, they enjoy a fun reception out at Hotshot. (DD, FDTW, DAG, DITF; mentioned DR)