Some Kind Of Fairy Tale, by Graham Joyce

Well. Fairies? Or psychotic episodes and coincidence? Read the book and decide.

A Certain Justice, by P.D. James (on CD)

I have no idea how I missed this one when it came out ten years ago, but I'm glad I read it finally. It reminds me a bit of another of hers in that it ends in a non-solution, although we do find out "whodunnit." This one, however, involves the death of an attorney in her locked "room" (office) with a judge's wig and blood on her head.

And there are plenty of suspects; this was not a woman that anyone found anything much good to say about. She's actually one of those characters who rather 'deserved to die.' And so when one of the suspects turns out to have had a great deal to do with her death, it's a shame that the character turns out to be much more likable than the victim was.

Lots of twists and turns, as usual in all James' books.

In Sheep's Clothing, by George K. Simon, Jr.

The subtitle: "Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People" and that was why I grabbed it. However, it wasn't really what I expected, and didn't address what I was looking for so...browsed and tossed back.

Shatter, by Michael Robotham (on CD)

The Last Lie, by Stephen White

I love these books and not only because they take place in Boulder. The characters are complicated and real and current and sometimes frustrating and unlikeable. This was all about a drug-rape that occurs in the house next to Alan's in which he becomes involved via two routes other than only the neighbor one. All tied together at the end, though far from neatly.

Book of the Dead, by Patricia Cornwell (on CD)

Oh, dear, Scarpetta makes me SOOOO angry. I didn't like this one at all; the mystery wasn't bad though not very well organized, but the interpersonal shit just about made me vomit. How can such an amazing beautiful woman (inside and out, to hear the characters tell it) be such a moron and attract so much negativity...and be so idiotic. No.More. I said that before about this series, skipped a few books, and picked this up hoping for improvement.

Every Man Dies Alone, by Hans Fallada; translated by Michael Hofmann; afterword by Geoff Wilkes

Very, very interesting. Written just after WWII, and taking place in early parts of the war (beginning when Germany invaded France and moving forward about two years), it focuses on the people who live in one apartment building in Berlin and how day-to-day life twisted in upon itself under the Nazi regime. It takes awhile to realize, but it's really about the lengths people go to live with themselves. Reading this along side "Crime and Punishment" would be fascinating.

Astonishingly good, with some clunky translation in parts. And the afterword is quite helpful as well.

Kill Me, by Stephen White

A very different book from the usual Alan Gregory novel: Dr. G is extremely peripheral in this one. Rather than being told from his point of view, the majority of the novel is about one of his patients, a short-timer in a couple of senses.

The deal is this: wealthy bigshot has near-death experience, makes it clear that if he ever gets into a situation where he can't live at his full capacity he wants to die, he hires people to follow those wishes explicitly, he suddenly discovers he has a teenage son he never knew about, and then finds out he's got cancer which means his "Death Angels" contract goes into effect.

As he says to Dr. Gregory, he's dying, but there are complications. Not of the usual kind. He wants to connect with his son, and he needs more time than the Death Angels are willing to give him. It's a fascinating premise since we all think we know that we'd rather die quickly than slowly...until it comes right down to it in fact.

The story gets a little out of control, but the action sequences and descriptions of character and scene are fabulous. Having just driven the area of I-70 where a large chunk of the excitement takes place, it was quite easy to picture the whole thing, but I think even if the reader hasn't been there the description is good enough to see the panorama.

The end? The end is unexpected and more than a little pat. But good in the sense of leaving the reader hanging on a whole lot of issues. Nice to see Dr. G from "the outside," i.e. what his patients think of him, instead of what he thinks of himself.

The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog : and Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook, by Bruce D. Perry and Maia Szalavitz

Early childhood psychology is so fascinating, and the title definitely draws you into this book, which has a further subtitle of what traumatized children can teach us about loss, love, and healing. Perry has an extensive two-decade background in child psychiatry, and discusses some of his more difficult cases in the book and then draws out how lessons learned with these kids can be applied to other kids.

Perry worked with the children released from the Branch Davidian compound before the remainder of the members of the cult died. He's also worked with children--like the one in the title--who were raised in utter neglect by people who just didn't know any better, and lots of people who did know better. There is no blanket indictment of parents, teachers, or anyone else, but he clearly feels that we as a society are not aware of how impressionable infants and young children really are. He also feels that science hasn't done enough research in this area, and presses for more. Mostly, he just wants people to remember that the habituated lessons learned before the age of one are long-lasting and hard to undo. Sobering and frightening.