Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse must not only deal with a new man in her life - the shapeshifter Quinn - but also contend with the long-planned vampire summit. The summit is a tense situation. The vampire queen of Louisiana is in a precarious position, her power base weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started.

After Hurricane Katrina and the manmade explosion at the vampire summit in New Orleans, Sookie Stackhouse faces danger, death, and, once again, betrayal by someone she loves.