The supernatural community in Bon Temps, Louisiana, is reeling from two hard blows - the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the man-made horror of the explosion at the vampire summit the month before in the up-north city of Rhodes. Sookie Stackhouse is safe but dazed, yearning for things to get back to normal. But that's just not happening.

Too many vampires - some friends, some not -- were killed or injured, and her weretiger boyfriend, Quinn, is among the missing. It's clear that things are changing, whether the Weres and vamps of her corner of Louisiana like it or not. And Sookie -- friend of the pack and blood-bonded to Eric Northman, the leader of the local vampire community -- is caught up in the changes. In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death... and, once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood flowing, her world will be forever altered...