Dead Until Dark

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris, 2001 Ace Books

     Sookie Stackhouse has always been interested in Vampires, especially after they've just come out into the open with other supernatural creatures. She's a pretty little thing, living in the backwoods of Louisiana, working as a waitress in the local bar. And she's never seen a vampire until one walks into the bar and nearly gets himself killed.
     After Bill appears in her life, Sookie is fascinated by the man who is like nothing she's ever seen before. She has a problem of her own: Sookie can hear the thoughts of people around her. Bill is a blank slate, silent. The vampire fascinates her, especially with his silence and his aversion to taking human blood.
     When murder strikes their small Louisiana town Bill and his crowd are accused of murder, and all sorts of paranormal creatures begin to come out of the woodwork. As it all comes to light Sookie discovers even she isn't was she seems.
      Harris's stories bring vampires into the modern world--rather than fairytales for children her stories are an adult take on the paranormal.