(pb; 2010, 2011, 2013: nonfiction/memoir)
From the back cover:
"With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187-424 - one of the millions of people who disappear 'down the rabbit hole' of the American penal system. From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman's story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison - why it is we lock so many away and what happens to them when they're there."
Review:
Good, interesting, waste-no-words and sometimes surprising - in pleasant ways - book. There's plenty of heart and humor in this down-to-earth, non-flashy read. Check it out.
#
Orange debuted as a Netflix series on July 11, 2013. The show, which is scheduled for a second season in 2014, was created by Jenji Kohan (who also created the Showtime/cable show Weeds).
Taylor Schilling plays Piper Chapman (fictional stand-in for author Piper Kerman). Laura Prepon plays Alex Vause. Jason Biggs plays Larry Bloom. Natasha Lyonne, who co-starred with Biggs in the original American Pie trilogy, plays Nicky Nichols.
Danielle Brooks plays Tasha 'Taystee' Jefferson. Kate Mulgrew plays Galina 'Red' Reznkov. Taryn Manning plays Tiffany 'Pennastucky' Doggett. Michelle Hurst plays Miss Claudette Pelage.
Michael Harney plays Sam Healy. Pablo Schreiber plays George 'Pornstache' Mendez.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
The Wilde Passions of Dorian Gray, by Mitzi Szereto
(pb; 2013: erotic/supernatural novel)
From the back cover:
"Inspired by Oscar Wilde's classic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Mitzi Szereto continues where Wilde left off in her Faustian tale of a man with eternal youth and great physical beauty who lives a life of corruption, decadence and hedonism. The story begins in the bordellos of Jazz-Age Paris, moving to the opium dens of Marrakesh and the alluring anonymity of South America. Will love be Dorian's redemption or his final curse?"
Review:
Wilde is a focused burn-through-it read. Szereto masterfully balances memorable characterization, supernatural (often horrific) elements, and a visually and exquisitely realized eroticism, bringing them together in a gripping book that actually had me rooting for Gray's underlying quest for redemption, despite his (emotionally) grotesque debaucheries and eras. This is one of the best erotic-supernatural themed novels that I've read in a long while - and one of the few that may be worth re-reading, not only for pleasure but for pointers on how to write a character-rich, era-seamless tale that not only builds on a classic work but matches Wilde's Gray in its excellence.
Worth owning, this.
Friday, November 08, 2013
W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton
From the inside flap:
"The first [corpse] was a local PI of suspect reputation. He'd been gunned down near the beach at Santa Teresa. It looked like a robbery gone bad. The other was found on the beach six weeks later. He'd been sleeping rough. Probably homeless. No identification. A slip of paper with Kinsey Millhone's name and number was in his pants pocket. The coroner asked her to come down to the morgue to see if she could ID him.
"Two seemingly unrelated deaths, one a murder, the other apparently from natural causes.
"But as Kinsey digs deeper into the mystery of the John Doe, some very strange links begin to emerge. Before long, at least one problem is solved when Kinsey literally finds the key to the John Doe's identity.
" 'And just like that,' she says, 'the lid to Pandora's box flew open. It would take me another day before I understood how many imps had been freed, but for the moment, I was inordinately pleased with myself.'
"In this multilayered tale, the surface seems clear-cut, but beneath them is a fault line of betrayals, misunderstandings, age-old resentments, unnerving complications, and outright murderous fraud. And Kinsey, through no fault of her own, finds herself thoroughly compromised."
Review:
W is for Wasted is another engaging PI-suspense novel from Grafton. She once again imbues her work with a palpable sense of anything-goes danger, and its white-knuckle climax and equally satisfying wrap-up left me impatient for the next Kinsey novel.
That said, I can see why readers who prefer Grafton's leaner, earlier writing might be put out by the last few books in the Kinsey series - yes, they're more chatty at times; yes, they cut between multiple POVs* (in W it's limited to two). These flaws - minor (for me) - didn't prevent me from enjoying W.
If you fall into the "Kinsey's gone to crap" camp, don't bother reading W or anything Grafton writes in the future. Move on, find other authors who make you happy - life, especially in this age of don't-think-just-immediately-respond technology, is negative enough without seeking/creating more unnecessary unpleasantness. . . Or, if you feel you must (try to) read W, check it out from the library. Then that way, you won't have directly spent money on it.
Followed by X.
[*points of view]
Monday, November 04, 2013
Doomed by Chuck Palahniuk
From the back cover:
"The bestselling Damned chronicled Madison Spencer's journey across the unspeakable (and really gross) landscape of the afterlife to confront the Devil himself. But her story isn't over yet. In a series of electronic dispatches from the Great Beyond, Doomed describes the ultimate showdown between Good and Evil.
"After a Halloween ritual gone awry, Madison finds herself trapped in Purgatory - or, as mortals like you and I know it, Earth. She can see and hear every detail of the world she left behind, yet she's invisible to everyone who's still alive. Not only do people look right through her, they walk through her as well. The upside is that, no longer subject to physical limitations, she can pass through doors and walls. Her first stop is her parents' luxurious apartment, where she encounters the ghost of her long-deceased grandmother. For Madison, the encounter triggers memories of the awful summer she spent upstate with Nana Minnie and her grandfather, Papadaddy. As she revisits the painful truth of what transpired over those months (including a disturbing and finally fatal meeting in a fetid men's room, in which. . . well, never mind), her saga of eternal damnation takes on a new and sinister meaning. Satan has had Madison in his sights from the very beginning: through her and her narcissistic celebrity parents, he plans to engineer an era of eternal damnation. For everyone."
Review:
As darkly satirical, snarky, conspiracy-minded and voice-true as its predecessor novel, Doomed is a solid follow-up that expands on its source work. I found myself semi-regularly cringing and laughing out loud at this zing-laden and otherwise fun read, which may put off some fans who prefer Palahniuk's earlier, edgier and considerably darker work.
It's not Palahniuk's best novel, but like Damned, it's notably different than the rest of his books, and still worth checking out - perhaps from a library, for readers who prefer the aforementioned edgier, earlier work. (Be forewarned that the ending of Doomed leaves little doubt that there's a second Madison-based sequel forthcoming.)
Lady Lack, by Misty Rampart
(pb; 2012: erotic poetry mini-anthology)
Overall review:
Lady Lack is a fifteen-page, excellent raunch-and-romance verse anthology, from its tell-don't-show pieces (e.g., "Puritanical Theories") to its visually-better pieces (see below) and its multipart mini-epics ("Fairy Tales"). Rampart, with engaging ease, pulled me into her thought-provoking work, whether she was blurring and challenging the lines of what (inherently) constitutes kink, how gender roles and carnal history really "mark" us as individuals, etc.
I didn't love every poem in this super-short collection, but every poem had some element - a line, a notion, a tone, whatever - that drew me in, sometimes challenged my outlook, and - more importantly - stuck with me, as a reader.
Superb verse anthology, this - one of my all-time favorites, as of this writing.
Standout poems:
1.) "Hallulejah Roughrider": Good visuals in this one. This intense, effective poem contrasts the truth of a woman's sexual identity and desires versus her lover-perceived self and history.
2.) "It": One of my favorite poems in this mini-anthology. Swinging takes a toll on a couple - the last line caps the poem up with a stunning visual.
3.) "Scar Tissue": Sad-hued, semi-emotive revealing of a kink-minded and troubled sexual relationship. Was immediately immersed in this one.
4.) "Heart on a Chain": A woman's erotic devotion to her man - and vice-versa - conjures deeper, (possibly) ambivalent wonderings. Striking end-line to this.
5.) "Over the rainbow": Excellent poem about romance and raunchy familiarity with a lover. This is also one of my favorite poems in this collection, with some especially standout lines ("You are meat muscle magic without the / music. / You are a throbbing holiday, / a celebration.")
6.) "China Doll": Headrush-style write, merging rough sex and art.
7.) "The King Arises": Shakespeare-referencing take on the (possible) cause and effect of lust and death.
8.) "Pink Litter": Lust takes an especially dark and line-scattered turn.
9.) "The way of the world": The thrill of the new, and relative monogamy - enjoyable or not - are tested and reinforced. Incisive, effective.
Overall review:
Lady Lack is a fifteen-page, excellent raunch-and-romance verse anthology, from its tell-don't-show pieces (e.g., "Puritanical Theories") to its visually-better pieces (see below) and its multipart mini-epics ("Fairy Tales"). Rampart, with engaging ease, pulled me into her thought-provoking work, whether she was blurring and challenging the lines of what (inherently) constitutes kink, how gender roles and carnal history really "mark" us as individuals, etc.
I didn't love every poem in this super-short collection, but every poem had some element - a line, a notion, a tone, whatever - that drew me in, sometimes challenged my outlook, and - more importantly - stuck with me, as a reader.
Superb verse anthology, this - one of my all-time favorites, as of this writing.
Standout poems:
1.) "Hallulejah Roughrider": Good visuals in this one. This intense, effective poem contrasts the truth of a woman's sexual identity and desires versus her lover-perceived self and history.
2.) "It": One of my favorite poems in this mini-anthology. Swinging takes a toll on a couple - the last line caps the poem up with a stunning visual.
3.) "Scar Tissue": Sad-hued, semi-emotive revealing of a kink-minded and troubled sexual relationship. Was immediately immersed in this one.
4.) "Heart on a Chain": A woman's erotic devotion to her man - and vice-versa - conjures deeper, (possibly) ambivalent wonderings. Striking end-line to this.
5.) "Over the rainbow": Excellent poem about romance and raunchy familiarity with a lover. This is also one of my favorite poems in this collection, with some especially standout lines ("You are meat muscle magic without the / music. / You are a throbbing holiday, / a celebration.")
6.) "China Doll": Headrush-style write, merging rough sex and art.
7.) "The King Arises": Shakespeare-referencing take on the (possible) cause and effect of lust and death.
8.) "Pink Litter": Lust takes an especially dark and line-scattered turn.
9.) "The way of the world": The thrill of the new, and relative monogamy - enjoyable or not - are tested and reinforced. Incisive, effective.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and The Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell
(hb; 2013: nonfiction)
From the inside flap:
"Three thousand years ago on a battlefield in ancient Palenstine, a shepherd boy felled a mighty warrior with nothing more than a stone and a sling, and ever since then, the names David and Goliath have stood for battles between underdogs and giants. David's victory was improbable and miraculous. He shouldn't have won.
"Or should he have?
"In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks.
"Gladwell begins with the real story of what happened between the giant and the shepherd boy those many years ago. From there, David and Goliath examines Northern Ireland's Troubles, the minds of cancer researchers and civil rights leaders, murder and the high cost of revenge, and the dynamics of successful and unsuccessful classrooms - all to demonstrate how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity."
Review:
Good, informative and layman-friendly book that's as breeze-through and engaging as any of Gladwell's other books. While David and Goliath is light-weight offering, more a furtherance - a reminder - of themes he's tackled in previous books, it still held my interest with its solid writing and a few surprising and makes-sense facts.
Check it out.
From the inside flap:
"Three thousand years ago on a battlefield in ancient Palenstine, a shepherd boy felled a mighty warrior with nothing more than a stone and a sling, and ever since then, the names David and Goliath have stood for battles between underdogs and giants. David's victory was improbable and miraculous. He shouldn't have won.
"Or should he have?
"In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks.
"Gladwell begins with the real story of what happened between the giant and the shepherd boy those many years ago. From there, David and Goliath examines Northern Ireland's Troubles, the minds of cancer researchers and civil rights leaders, murder and the high cost of revenge, and the dynamics of successful and unsuccessful classrooms - all to demonstrate how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity."
Review:
Good, informative and layman-friendly book that's as breeze-through and engaging as any of Gladwell's other books. While David and Goliath is light-weight offering, more a furtherance - a reminder - of themes he's tackled in previous books, it still held my interest with its solid writing and a few surprising and makes-sense facts.
Check it out.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Let the Old Dreams Die, by John Ajvide Lindqvist
(hb; 2013: fiction/horror anthology. Translated from the Swedish by Ebba Segerberg)
Overall review:
Dreams is a solid anthology - I liked six of the twelve stories a lot, enjoyed bits of four of the other ones, and disliked two, because of their odd writing ("To Put My Arms Around You, to Music" and "Paper Walls"). The stories that I was "meh" about sometimes ran too long ("Tindalos" and "Majken"), or were solid but forgettable trifles from a writer who regularly transcends this sort of tale-telling.
That said, Lindqvist does a solid job of indirectly linking the stories via mood, cultural references (e.g., The Smiths song "Shoplifters of the World Unite"; Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Idiot; etc.) and mining his familiar themes of life and death, in their variable forms.
Worth owning, if you're a die-hard fan of Lindqvist, or if you buy it for a reduced price. Or do what I did, and check it out from the library (if you're lucky enough to have one nearby).
Standout stories:
1.) "The Border" - An inspections agent (Tina) discovers a major source of her emotional disconnection from her everyday life, as well as her sense of being "different". Good, mood-effective read.
2.) "Itsy Bitsy" - Effective fever dream about a photographer, his subjects and a Twilight Zone-esque mystery. Interesting, excellent.
3.) "The Substitute" - A middle-aged man's former classmate from thirty years prior shows up - just as strange he was back then - and unsettles the man anew. Good, pop culture-referencing read.
4.) "Eternal/Love" - Intriguing tale about a couple who test the bonds of death - or its lack - and love. Excellent, dramatic read.
5.) "Final Processing" - Satisfactory and tone-consistent dénouement to Lindqvist's novel Handling the Undead, where a young man (Kalle Lilljewall) and his girlfriend (Flora) try to relieve the suffering of the government-kept undead. Good read that pushes all the right emotional buttons.
6.) "Let the Old Dreams Die" - This secondary character sequel to Let the Right One In (a.k.a. Let Me In) reveals the fate of Oskar Eriksson and his "kidnapper" Eli. Solid, well-written (if indirectly told) follow-up to a stellar novel.
Overall review:
Dreams is a solid anthology - I liked six of the twelve stories a lot, enjoyed bits of four of the other ones, and disliked two, because of their odd writing ("To Put My Arms Around You, to Music" and "Paper Walls"). The stories that I was "meh" about sometimes ran too long ("Tindalos" and "Majken"), or were solid but forgettable trifles from a writer who regularly transcends this sort of tale-telling.
That said, Lindqvist does a solid job of indirectly linking the stories via mood, cultural references (e.g., The Smiths song "Shoplifters of the World Unite"; Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Idiot; etc.) and mining his familiar themes of life and death, in their variable forms.
Worth owning, if you're a die-hard fan of Lindqvist, or if you buy it for a reduced price. Or do what I did, and check it out from the library (if you're lucky enough to have one nearby).
Standout stories:
1.) "The Border" - An inspections agent (Tina) discovers a major source of her emotional disconnection from her everyday life, as well as her sense of being "different". Good, mood-effective read.
2.) "Itsy Bitsy" - Effective fever dream about a photographer, his subjects and a Twilight Zone-esque mystery. Interesting, excellent.
3.) "The Substitute" - A middle-aged man's former classmate from thirty years prior shows up - just as strange he was back then - and unsettles the man anew. Good, pop culture-referencing read.
4.) "Eternal/Love" - Intriguing tale about a couple who test the bonds of death - or its lack - and love. Excellent, dramatic read.
5.) "Final Processing" - Satisfactory and tone-consistent dénouement to Lindqvist's novel Handling the Undead, where a young man (Kalle Lilljewall) and his girlfriend (Flora) try to relieve the suffering of the government-kept undead. Good read that pushes all the right emotional buttons.
6.) "Let the Old Dreams Die" - This secondary character sequel to Let the Right One In (a.k.a. Let Me In) reveals the fate of Oskar Eriksson and his "kidnapper" Eli. Solid, well-written (if indirectly told) follow-up to a stellar novel.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Under the Skin, by Michel Faber
(pb; 2004)
From the back cover:
" Isserley, a female driver, picks up hitchhikers with big muscles. She, herself, is tiny-like a kid peering up over the steering wheel.
"Scarred and awkward, yet strangely erotic and threatening, she listens to her hitchhikers as they open up to her, revealing clues about who might miss them if they should disappear. . ."
Review:
This melancholic, analytical, darkly funny and sometimes disturbing novel is underlined with class warfare, sexual tension and discontent, shifting social mores and other elements that made his outwardly dispassionate protagonist relatable, despite her alien, bizarre-to-humanity attributes. Faber propels the action with an appropriate, mounting sense of impending disaster, while maintaining Isserley's aforementioned melancholy and anger.
Skin is a good, distinctive read. Check it out.
#
The resulting film was released stateside on August 29, 2013.
Scarlett Johansson played Laura (cinematic stand-in for Isserley). Paul Brannigan played Andrew. Jessica Mance played [an] "Alien". Krystof Hadek played "The Swimmer". Michael Moreland played "The Quiet Man". An uncredited Michael J. Goodwin played "Tearoom Customer".
Jonathan Glazer, who co-scripted the film with Walter Campbell, directed the film.
From the back cover:
" Isserley, a female driver, picks up hitchhikers with big muscles. She, herself, is tiny-like a kid peering up over the steering wheel.
"Scarred and awkward, yet strangely erotic and threatening, she listens to her hitchhikers as they open up to her, revealing clues about who might miss them if they should disappear. . ."
Review:
This melancholic, analytical, darkly funny and sometimes disturbing novel is underlined with class warfare, sexual tension and discontent, shifting social mores and other elements that made his outwardly dispassionate protagonist relatable, despite her alien, bizarre-to-humanity attributes. Faber propels the action with an appropriate, mounting sense of impending disaster, while maintaining Isserley's aforementioned melancholy and anger.
Skin is a good, distinctive read. Check it out.
#
The resulting film was released stateside on August 29, 2013.
Scarlett Johansson played Laura (cinematic stand-in for Isserley). Paul Brannigan played Andrew. Jessica Mance played [an] "Alien". Krystof Hadek played "The Swimmer". Michael Moreland played "The Quiet Man". An uncredited Michael J. Goodwin played "Tearoom Customer".
Jonathan Glazer, who co-scripted the film with Walter Campbell, directed the film.
Child of God, by Cormac McCarthy
(pb; 1973: novella)
From the back cover:
". . . Falsely accused of rape, Lester Ballard - a violent, dispossessed man who haunts the hill country of East Tennessee - is released from jail and allowed to roam at will, preying on the population with his strange lusts. . ."
Review:
This stark, grim account of a cunning man's long-term depravity - which includes rape, murder, necrophilia, theft and other crimes - gripped me from its first word to its last, even as I mentally recoiled at some of his acts, as well as his amazing-but-believable luck. There are no wasted words in this exemplary, sometimes gut-wrenching novella.
Child of God is one of the best books I've read this year. Worth owning, this.
#
The resulting film was released stateside on September 29, 2013. James Franco, who played the character Jerry, directed the film. He co-scripted the film with Vince Jolivette, who played the character Ernest .
Scott Haze played Lester Ballard. Tim Blake Nelson played Sheriff Fate. Jim Parrack played Deputy Cotton.
From the back cover:
". . . Falsely accused of rape, Lester Ballard - a violent, dispossessed man who haunts the hill country of East Tennessee - is released from jail and allowed to roam at will, preying on the population with his strange lusts. . ."
Review:
This stark, grim account of a cunning man's long-term depravity - which includes rape, murder, necrophilia, theft and other crimes - gripped me from its first word to its last, even as I mentally recoiled at some of his acts, as well as his amazing-but-believable luck. There are no wasted words in this exemplary, sometimes gut-wrenching novella.
Child of God is one of the best books I've read this year. Worth owning, this.
#
The resulting film was released stateside on September 29, 2013. James Franco, who played the character Jerry, directed the film. He co-scripted the film with Vince Jolivette, who played the character Ernest .
Scott Haze played Lester Ballard. Tim Blake Nelson played Sheriff Fate. Jim Parrack played Deputy Cotton.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Doctor Sleep, by Stephen King
(hb; 2013: sequel to The Shining)
From the inside flap:
"On highways across America, a tribe of people called the True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless - mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, the True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the steam that children with the shining produce when they are slowly tortured to death.
"Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel, where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father's legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant shining power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes 'Doctor Sleep.'
"Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan's own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra's soul and survival. . ."
Review:
Doctor Sleep is an entertaining, gentler and worthwhile - if sometimes rambling - sequel to The Shining. For the most part, I haven't been a fan of King's work for the past two decades, but this is - in some parts - a return to King's earlier, better-edited writing (seen in the novels 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, Cujo, The Dead Zone and the expurgated version of The Stand) that often drew me in with its warmth, its character-based from-the-gut horror and its humor. (Speaking of which, sharp-eyed fans of Joe Hill may appreciate King's references to Charlie Manx from Hill's novel NOS4A2.)
Good read. Check it out.
From the inside flap:
"On highways across America, a tribe of people called the True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless - mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, the True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the steam that children with the shining produce when they are slowly tortured to death.
"Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel, where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father's legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant shining power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes 'Doctor Sleep.'
"Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan's own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra's soul and survival. . ."
Review:
Doctor Sleep is an entertaining, gentler and worthwhile - if sometimes rambling - sequel to The Shining. For the most part, I haven't been a fan of King's work for the past two decades, but this is - in some parts - a return to King's earlier, better-edited writing (seen in the novels 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, Cujo, The Dead Zone and the expurgated version of The Stand) that often drew me in with its warmth, its character-based from-the-gut horror and its humor. (Speaking of which, sharp-eyed fans of Joe Hill may appreciate King's references to Charlie Manx from Hill's novel NOS4A2.)
Good read. Check it out.
Thursday, October 03, 2013
Dexter's Final Cut, by Jeff Lindsay
(hb; 2013: seventh book in the Dexter series)
From the inside flap:
"It starts with Hollywood. A major police drama is set to be filmed in Miami - and blood spatter analyst Dexter Morgan is told he will be shadowed by Robert Chase, the brooding heart-throb actor who will star as. . . a Miami blood spatter analyst. Life may imitate art, but Dexter is none too pleased by having someone scrutinize his job and his life. . . or be anywhere near his dark hobby.
"The mood around the production turns suddenly serious when the body of a brutally murdered woman is found in a Dumpster in the heart of the city. As the police investigate and the Hollywood crew is aflutter with the excitement of a 'real' crime, Dexter gets a particularly sinister feeling about this killer, and what the act may signify. Meanwhile, a curious thing happens: Dexter is spending time with his new Hollywood counterparts - observing the ease with which they fake the most basic human emotions - and he soon realizes he may have finally found His People. He also gets closer to Jackie Forrest, the sexy star who is cast as the tough detective (and who is tailing his sister, Detective Deborah), and he's soon tempted by the luxury of the five-star life. . . and possibly Jackie herself. Dexter is suddenly on a personal journey that leads toward the dark question of who he really is. . . and, more alarmingly, on a course that will alter his life forever."
Review:
This mostly light entry (for the Dexter series) is a Game Changer novel, between its fresh-to-Dexter surreal environs (a film set; the "five-star life"), its oh-so-nasty crimes and its finish, which promises to inflict some long-lasting repercussions on Dexter and those around him, should Lindsay write another sequel. . . Lindsay seems to be shaking things up in the Dexterverse, and it works as an entertaining and - as always - a darkly witty read.
If you like the other Dexter books, chances are that you'll want to read this one, as well. Worth owning, this, if you don't mind Final Cut's relatively light tone.
Followed by Dexter is Dead.
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