Abu-Jaber writes about my native hometown of Syracuse, New York in this spellbinding mystery. Lena Dawson, a quiet fingerprint examiner, finds herself enmeshed in a slew of cases involving babies that had been presumed to be SIDS victims. Lena’s intuition tells her that these cases share too many commonalities to be unrelated or accidental. As she investigates, she finds herself embroiled deep into a complex mystery and must explore her own past to find the answer in this chilling case.
Fans of forensic or court dramas should enjoy this quick page-turner.
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In the latest installment of the Dexter series, we start pondering the bigger questions. Always comfortable with the idea that he was what he was, Dexter never had reason to question where his Dark Passenger had come from, and what, it anything, that might mean. But when a new case leaves him feeling cold, off, and worst of all, alone, suddenly questions are all Dexter has.
Nothing about the burnt corpses with their ceramic bull heads is really all that much worse than any other case. In fact it all seems pretty much run-of-the-mill, except for the feeling that something about it is all wrong. And since Dexter doesn’t feel…well, you can see how he’d be a little upset.
Lost without his inner companion, Dexter divides his time between searching in vain for answers, attempting to go along with plans for his wedding, and mentoring Cody and Astor, whose impatience nearly lands them in a world of trouble.
Some fans may find this installment irritating. Dexter, without half of himself, is not himself. I know of one reader who found him annoying and just wanted it to be over with. Myself, while he certainly is a changed Dexter, I found his questioning and insecurity to be perfectly understandable, and his search for answers is fairly compelling. And the Astor and Cody story line certainly keeps things interesting.
Not necessarily my favorite of the three, but definitely a good read. I’m very interested to see where this will go next.
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I find Dexter to be a really likable guy, despite his serial killer nature. I’m interested to see where the TV show has gone in its second chapter, as it didn’t stick with the books. After reading the story, I can see how it might be extremely traumatic if translated to television, though with the amount of violence people watch today, I’m not sure it really would have mattered.
This installment centers around relationships, and a mystery killer who enjoys mutilating and dicing his victims, leaving them alive but witless with terror. For those who are squeamish, this might not be the best read, since there is a fair amount of detail to the distressing murders throughout.
On the flip side is the fun of seeing Deb in a relationship, and not only as a macho cop, and Dexter getting himself unwittingly engaged. Really.
I’m not sure I liked this as much as the first, but I did like it better than the most recent installment to the series.
Anyone who likes a great mystery, or the irony of a good serial killer, or a loveable bad guy, will enjoy Dearly Devoted Dexter for sure.
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I was first introduced to Dexter in a trailer for the series coming to Showtime. Sadly, that is not a channel included in my cable lineup, and I had to wait until I could Netflix it to check it out. But it was well worth the wait. It may be one of my all-time favorites ever. And the idea of a lovable Sociopathic Serial-Murder….well who could not be intrigued by that?
Knowing the Dexter, Season 1 was based on Darkly Dreaming Dexter, I was very curious to check out the book and see how it might vary. I love the show Bones, for example, but have never read Kathy Reichs. My mother has read all the books, and hated the show, because they apparently changed just about everything. So I was pleased to work my way through Darkly Dreaming Dexter and find not so many changes. Or changes that at least held true to the stories and characters, making it easy for the show fans to love the books, and vice versa.
With Dexter already set in my head as Michael C. Hall, there were a few times where I felt as if the book version wasn’t holding up. But only a few moments. And they may just stem from the fact that every first book comes with a few of those moments. Every book period may come with them.
But he was still the same darkly twisted good bad guy. Silently ridding the world of evil men at set intervals. Always carefully. Except for that once.
The character development was not as much as in the TV show, but had I not seen it I wouldn’t know that, so it couldn’t have bothered me. And since I have seen it, and did know, it didn’t bother me.
It’s very hard to do Dexter real justice, as he’s very much something you have to experience. Yeah, there’s some gore, but even the squeamish will likely take to him. Because even Dexter doesn’t really like gore.
Any mystery fan should definitely enjoy this series, and I think any great story fan will as well.
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This is not the book to read if you’re looking for a happy story. Which isn’t to say that it doesn’t end well, but it’s not going to leave you feeling uplifted and light.
Set in small town Minnesota, this is the story of a family. A mother who never quite wanted to be, a father who can’t quite get it right, and isn’t happy enough with what he has, a son who gets lost inside himself, and a daughter just trying to keep up. The story is told from ever side, each looking a little different.
Claire speaks to trying to cope first with a drunk, depressed husband, and then to life without him. Esau speaks to his time in the hospital, and to trying to cope with life outside of it. Kate speaks to all of it. Her missing brother, her lost father, her mother, lost in a different way. Trying to fit the pieces together.
The book is beautifully written, and seeing the story unfold through three sets of very separate eyes is…for sudden lack of a better term, eye-opening, to say the least. Fans of Hornbacher’s memoir will likely enjoy her foray into ficiton, as will anyone who appreciates a good book.
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The residents of Clarence, Minnesota lead your normal sort of American life. Work, play, school, shop. The only thing amiss in Clarence, really, is the smell. The Psychopharmaceutical factory does nothing for the ambience. When the Emergency Alert siren sounds and residents are informed there’s been a fire at said factory, and that a chemical may have been released into the air, it does nothing for the nerves either.
After keeping everyone indoors and sending around some yellow-suited fellows, the Factory declares everything OK, though they do tell people it would be best to stay indoors for a couple of days. In the back of their minds, everyone knows something must be happening. You don’t send out people in yellow suits for nothing. But no one knows just what did/could happen. And so Clarence goes on with its life. Until it can’t.
Suddenly, kids are crying, adults are falling to pieces. Everywhere, people are remembering. Even the scientists and psychology students who feel they should know better feel themselves falling victim to this unknown. Deletrium. Used with drugs to help them act. On its own, no one really knows what its capable of.
We follow along with certain townspeople, as they remember their lives, and struggle not to become completely overwhelmed.
One of the more fascinating books I’ve read in awhile. Ursu is definitely one to watch.
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In another break from her Lydia Chin/Bill Smith mystery series, Rozan has chosen the last big parcel of NYC owned land as the focus of her latest mystery. Three Star is developing a Bronx project (Mott Haven) to prove it has the capacity to tackle the last city owned parcel in the Bronx. Garden Walls, a community organization comprised of black businessmen, bankers and clergy, wants the project thrown their way rather than be given to rich white men seeking to gentrify Harlem at the expense of its black residents.
A series of accidents, including the death of a black woman, at Mott Haven result in the Department of Investigations officer Ann Montgomery being assigned to the case. Montgomery’s partner (Joe Cole) had been convicted 3 years earlier of investigative fraud, is now out on parole and living upstate. Montgomery has a lifelong antipathy to devloper Walter Glybenthal, the only publicly known partner in Three Star.
The narrative travels back and forth between Harlem, Manhatten and upstate New York, following Ann in her investigation. Insurance fraud, murder, political corruption, rogue law enforcement are all elements of a plot that gathers steam as the layers of deceit unfold.
Montgomery suffers from the willfulness of most female investigators in pursuit of their prey, though I only once found myself wanting to shake her for going off on her own - disregarding the other players helping to trap her villain. Justice of a kind is done and the ending holds a surprise. Rozan writes a good story, and gardens provide a nice background for the good guys.
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A “literary” mystery involving Wordsworth, Fletcher Christian, a London council block and England’s lake district. Could “Pirate Peat” the body found in a lake district bog be tht of famed mutineer Fletcher Christian who reportedly dies on Pitcairn Island? Did he dictate his memoirs to boyhood friend William Wordsworth to become the subject matter of an unpublished epic? Wordsworth scholar Jane Gresham returns home to Fellhead to follow up on two letters she found alluding to this manuscript. As she traces members of a family with ties to the poet, the family elders start dying. An engaging premise, and enjoyable page turner.
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Having no prior knowledge of the myth of Angus, I didn’t have much footing going into this retelling. And I found the book so different from my usual fare that I’ve discovered it to be rather difficult to read about. In some ways it reminded me of Francesca Lia Block with the language.
Intertwined with the story of Angus, his birth to the tricked Boann, his being stolen from her by his father Dagda, his realization of who his true parents are (as he was raised by one of Dagda’s sons as his own), are stories of everyday people. A newlywed couple. A pair of brothers. An animal handler. A divorcee. All touched in some way by the mysterious hand of Angus.
Any myth-lover ought to enjoy the book. Along with any fan of dreams and love, or McCall Smith.
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This book took me a long time to get through. The style is very odd, and hard to follow if you start thinking about it. If you don’t think about it, it moves right along.
This is the story of a father and daughter, both caught up in the legend of Vlad/Dracula. Paul gets introduced via his advisor in Graduate school when they discuss a mysterious book he found with his things one night while studying. It turns out Professor Rossi, the advisor, has one too.
That night, after their talk, Professor Rossi disappears, which leads Paul feeling compelled to find out what’s happened to him. Using the papers Rossi left him, he sets off to the Library to find out anything else he can regarding Vlad Tepes. Much to his surprise and dismay, another student seems to be studying the very same topic. While she seems wholly unapproachable, Paul decides he has to talk to her.
After meeting at a diner and sharing stories it comes to pass that Paul and Helen take off together for Romania, where they hope to glean enough information to form some new leads. From there on out, their paths keep crossing those of just the right people to help them, with a few hurdles along the way of course. And with each new acquaintance, they’re drawn deeper.
Their travels take them from Romania to Hungary to Bulgaria and back. Their discoveries are passed down to us via word-of-mouth, postcards, and letters.
Any vampire fan or Dracula fan should find a lot to like in this book. So long as you’re ready to give it your full attention, it shouldn’t disappoint.
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