When life gets in the way

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I have been running behind on this blog, mostly due to life getting in the way. I very briefly mentioned that I'd gotten caught up for the most part, but I didn't really go into the actual stuff of my life. Since I rarely mention anything other than books on here, I decided I'd take a few minutes and let my faithful readers know a little bit about me.

So the first thing getting in the way is, of course, work. We were very, very slow during the holidays, which is typical - we don't sell anything, so we're not a "hot spot" during the Christmas rush. And people plan on traveling and visiting with family, which means checking out a lot of books/DVDs/etc is not high up on their lists of things to do. Which makes for some long days of trying to find projects around the branch, things that need doing that we usually don't have time to do. Yeah, you got it - mostly this means cleaning!

When the patrons did start to return, it was in droves - had some of our busiest days since the summer months. And unfortunately, they were not all the "good" patrons that make my job one that I love. Lots of Internet requests that we couldn't fill due to our small branch only have 2 public Internet terminals (and before you ask, yes, it would be nice to have more - at times. They aren't always booked and frankly, we just don't have the space. Or the money!) I had to tell more than one person that we were either full for the day (you can make a same-day appt for one hour of usage) or that the next time available was a few hours away. Which led to several unhappy people, especially those that just "need 5 minutes" to check an email or print a resume from their flash drive or some other such request. This is where my patience starts to wear thin. An emergency on your part is NOT one on mine, and I don't appreciate when you snark at me like I'm depriving you of something. I really get peeved when these same patrons ask if they can interrupt another patron's Internet session for those same "5-minute" deals; the answer is no, you cannot ask someone to "let" you use a computer. They either showed up at the door at opening time, or dialed us and requested a time - they are allowed their full hour with no interruptions (other than our system taking a dump, which it does from time to time). Then comes my favorite: "Can you ask them to let me use it for 5 minutes? Just to print this out?"

Oh, HELL no.

Now get out of my library!

Sigh.

There have also been issues at work with our collection development process (yeah, how we get the books and stuff ordered - big fancy words for just that). I am one of the branch representatives on the committee, and came on board just before they made some major changes to how we order stuff. I've never known any other way to make these decisions, so I'm probably one of the few that isn't having a problem with it. Others are complaining that things aren't being done the way they should be (ie - more like the "old" way). Some are saying that others aren't "doing it right". Some branch people are feeling like they're not getting what they want, and getting lots of stuff they don't want (ie - stuff that you just cannot convince people to take home no matter what you do). There's a lot of snarking and stepping on toes, and just generally it's been miserable. My hubby has said on more than one occasion that I should just step down and let another branch supervisor take my place. No way! I really want our system to have the best stuff, while making sure that the branches have things that will actually circulate. It's not easy, but I believe it can be done. I'm just hoping that some of the infighting will die down soon...

Finally, there's just normal life. Like most people, I fell into the lazy patterns of early winter/the holidays. I put things off until later - and now it's later. I've started some spring cleaning at our apartment, mostly because as much as I love my hubby, we obviously have very different ideas when it comes to the definition of "clean". In his mind, if he isn't tripping over something, the room is clean! And of course I know that it means so much more. Don't get me wrong - he's awesome and does do quite a bit of housework, just in very specific areas. The dishes are washed every day, as well as the dishwasher run on a regular basis. He cleans the counter tops almost every day, too. But I had to tell him about the crumbs around the lid of the stove, and beg him to mop the darn kitchen floor. As I said, different definitions. I'm also trying to get back into the habit of walking every day. If you haven't heard, my state as well as almost the whole country was in the deep freeze for a good couple of weeks recently. I did try to keep walking, but MAN - it was just too blasted cold! Luckily, we are now having "normal" temps here, which means highs in the 50s. Not as warm as I prefer, but much, much better than frigid stuff we just had.

And that's my life! Nothing terribly exciting, but intrusive all the same. I hope to have some more spare time now and keep this blog better updated! Let me know if you have any ideas!

New titles for the week of January 18th

OK, to possibly atone for my complete slackness on last week's new arrivals, I'm trying to get ahead for this week. So here are the titles that should be hitting your local bookshelves/libraries. Look for them or don't - the choice is always yours!

"Kisser" by Stuart Woods. Book 17 in Woods' popular Stone Barrington series. I know - you just have to wonder how good the books still are when you get that many in a series. And the man writes four other series, too. Pretty much manly detective/crime drama type stuff.

"Be Careful What You Pray For" by Kimberla Lawson Roby. This is a sequel to the author's book "The Best of Everything". The privileged daughter of Reverend Curtis Black, Alicia, is all grown up and now on husband #2. He's just like her father, a pastor, and she's loving being the pastor's wife. Little does she know just how much her new husband resembles her beloved daddy. The author is pretty well-known in the African-American genre. Could be good - certainly sounds interesting.

"Book of Fires" by Jane Borodale. 17-year-old Agnes Trussel arrives in London lost, scared, and pregnant. She is taken in by Mr. J. Blacklock as an apprentice in his fireworks shop. Their relationship grows slowly, with Agnes learning the secrets of rockets and other forms of fire. Didn't really sound like much until I read in the product description that it would appeal to fans of Sarah Waters. Hmmm.... I do like her work. Might give this a try.

"Burning Land" by Bernard Cornwell. Another one of Cornwell's Saxon Tales. Should appeal to historical fiction fans (but probably not historical romance fans - these are "guy" books).

"The Endless Forest" by Sara Donati. Follows the Bonner family that Donati introduced in "Into the Wilderness". Set in the 19th-century New York frontier, this is a historical family drama.

"The Murderer's Daughters" by Randy Susan Myers. Debut novel about two sisters, Lulu and Merry, and the turns their lives take after their alcoholic father kills their mother, then botches his subsequent suicide. The girls are placed in an orphanage with predictable results. Could be a bit cliche as well as suffer from alternating perspectives (each chapter told by one of the sisters).

"The Queen's Governess" by Karen Harper. The product description on Amazon starts off with the following sentence: "A fresh and intriguing historical novel told in the voice of Queen Elizabeth I's governess." Which made me think, what IS it with all the historical novels coming out this week? I mean, really! Set in the Tudor times, do with it what you will.

"Rebels and Traitors" by Lindsey Davis. This has got to be some kind of joke, right? This book is set during the English Civil War. I am definitely sensing a theme here...

"Small Wars" by Sadie Jones. OK, this is historical, too, but in the very recent past. The setting is Cyprus in 1956 and the title refers to one of the "small wars" the British fought after WWII. Sounds like it will be a character-driven work, and that the main theme will be that there are no "small" wars - that the violence touches everyone. Her second book.

"The Vampire Maker" by Michael Schiefelbein. I am really surprised that this author is still getting published. I read the first of what was supposed to be a trilogy at the time, entitled "Vampire Vow". It was, without a doubt, one of the most hate-filled works I've ever read. I just could not understand the point of the book. If this is anything like that first title, stay away from it!

"Wild Child" by T. C. Boyle. A short story collection by a rather literary author.

"Wolf at the Door (sean dillon #17)" by Jack Higgins. This series features former IRA man Sean Dillon who is now part of the British Prime Minister's private army. Expect lots of action-packed excitement.

New Releases for the week of January 11

Yes, I know - who is she kidding? This week is almost over! Well, life has a funny way sometimes of getting in the way, which is exactly what's happened this time. Work, mostly, but other stuff too. Seems like the new year has brought lots of tasks with it, things that must be done RIGHT NOW, which means that I've had to put the blog on hold until I addressed the impatient things. I've finally gotten through most of them, so now I'm able to get back to this, the book news, which I would much rather have been doing anyway!

"The Swan Thieves" by Eliabeth Kostova. "Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient, Marlowe finds that order destroyed. Desperate to understand the secret that torments the genius, he embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism." Well, it sounds as good as her first work, "The Historian" did when it was getting ready for release. Unfortunately, I found that novel impossible to get through, so I don't really know what to think about this one. There's a big media campaign again, so we'll see...

"36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction" by Rebecca Goldstein.
The author of a best-seller about why God doesn't exist has a mid-life crisis. Sounds like it could go either way, so I'll reserve judgment for now. It is a hot topic, though, what with the "new atheists" gaining a little bit of ground out there, in turn giving the Moral Majority complete snit fits.

"Alice I Have Been" by Melanie Benjamin. Yes Virgina, there is an Alice. Her name was Alice Liddell and she was the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's hapless heroine so many years ago. The author writes a fictional account of the "real" Alice, who is preparing to celebrate her 81st birthday. She reflects on her long life, sadly revealing that she is truly tired of being known as "Alice". Lots of buzz on this book.

"Betrayal of the Blood Lily" by Lauren Willig. The newest installment in Willig's Pink Carnation series. Think Regency romances with a good bit of mystery and intrigue. My sis read the first few (might have read them all, I can't keep track!) and said they were pretty good.

"The First Rule" by Robert Crais. Crais returns to a character first introduced in "The Watchman" - Joe Pike. Expect gritty crime drama. Look for his other series starring Elvis Cole - hubby really likes those a lot.

"Sleepless" by Charlie Huston. It's always a happy day in my world when I learn that Huston has a new book. I've been reading him for a few years now, mostly his Joe Pitt vampire detective series, but anything by him is usually good. Huston doesn't pull any punches - expect lots of very dark, disturbing, gritty realism. Life ain't pretty in Huston's view, and this time he's writing about an undercover cop looking to stop the flow of Dreamer, an illegal street drug that gives people what they really want - sleep.

"Saving Ceecee Honeycutt" by Beth Hoffman. A debut novel about a 12-year-old girl in the South being raised by her crazy mother and cranky father. The mother is killed by an ice cream truck, leaving an aunt to step in and save the day. Sounds like it could go either way - cute, promising new writer of Southern stories or just completely cliche.

"Treasure Hunt" by John Lescroat. Another entry in the author's series about Wyatt Hunt's San Francisco detective agency, starring one of his younger assistants, Mickey Dade. Never read anything by Lescroat, but patrons seem to like him. Biggest mystery? How to pronounce his last name! (we finally found a site that says it should be something like les-kwaw. Weird...)

"Where the God of Love Hangs Out" by Amy Bloom. Short stories. Expect very literary work, lots of relationship stuff, not a lot of action. And short stories are tough - some do it very well, others, not so much.

"Driftwood Summer" by Patti Callahan Henry

As usual, I read a description of this way back when, thought it sounded good, reserved a copy to come much later, then couldn't remember why I wanted it in the first place. Oh yes, I thought as I read the back cover, the family owns a little bookstore! That must be it....

Well, it certainly wasn't what I thought it would be. Call it "family drama" and not overly good at that. The story revolves around the three Sheffield sisters, their mama, and the aforementioned Driftwood Cottage Bookstore. Riley, the eldest sister, runs the store that Kitsy, her mother, bought 12 years ago, right around the time Riley's son Brayden was born. Riley is a single-mom, hard-working and responsible, but a bit dull. She used to be absolutely fearless in her teen years but now worries about everything, including losing the bookstore.

Her mother, Kitsy Sheffield, is controlling, domineering, and all the other adjectives you can think of that would be used in this sort of work. She's also written as a typical, well-off Southern woman of leisure, the kind that starts having "cocktails" around 4 in the afternoon. When she falls down a flight of stairs and lands in the hospital, Riley learns that some broken bones and bruises are the least of her worries - Kitsy has cancer. It's serious, but of course, Riley is not to tell her sisters. The Sheffields are preparing for the 200th birthday party for Driftwood Cottage; the building used to sit on a plantation before it was moved to its current location in Palmetto Beach, Georgia, where it served as a summer rental for tourists for years. And this party has to come off without a hitch - the bookstore is drowning in debt, and if Riley can't make enough money on the week's worth of festivities, Mama has declared that she will sell the property.

Riley calls in her two younger sisters to help her out. Maisy is the middle child, not much younger than Riley, and the sort of woman who always falls for the "wrong" man (ie - married or otherwise taken). She and Riley used to be the best of friends until the summer that a boy showed more interest in Maisy than in Riley. They've barely spoken since Maisy ran off to California, where she still lives and works in interior design. Adalee, the youngest Sheffield sister, is the baby of the family, not arriving until 8 years after Maisy. She's in college, failing most of her classes, and determined to spend her summer partying and hooking up with her current beau (and loser), Chad. Neither Maisy nor Adalee is thrilled with Riley's demands that they get themselves to work, and neither can understand why Riley is always caving in to their Mama's every whim.

Then there's Mack Logan, the boy who broke Riley's heart, the boy that had been her best friend for several summers running - until the summer that he noticed Maisy. Mack and his father, Sheppard Logan, return to Palmetto Beach to enjoy the celebrations; the family used to spend their summers at Driftwood Cottage. Mack spends time with both Riley and Maisy, but he has concerns of his own regarding his father. Will he rekindle his relationship with Maisy? Or will he realize that he loved Riley all along?

So what's not to love? Several things. First of all, the story revolves around the three sisters, but is only told from the alternating perspectives of Riley and Maisy. This made Adalee come off like a third well, not important enough to merit her own chapters, which made me want to read her side of things. Sure she's a lot younger, but wouldn't her perspective on her two older siblings round things out nicely? I also felt like things never really seem all that dire; I never really believed that there would be anything other than a happy ending. This goes for all the "tension" points - Riley losing the bookstore, the romantic "triangle" between the two sisters and Mack, the sibling rivalry between Riley and Maisy, etc. Come to think of it, the "romance" never felt very real, either, more like the idea of a summer romance. Overall, the characters were a bit on the cliched side, very one-dimensional, and that meant they never really clicked with me.

The one thing that did resonate was the sibling rivalry, and I think that's why I'm so disappointed with this book. Riley and Maisy had this huge falling out, a betrayal of trust on both their parts that actually sent Maisy into a tailspin and off to the other side of the country. They've barely spoken in years, yet they manage to mostly patch up their differences in just one week? Are you kidding me? Speaking as a sister, and as someone who has had a situation where she did not speak to her sister for almost 4 years, this is just complete crap. Trust me when I tell you that it takes much longer than a mere 7 days to get that train back on the tracks.

I did finish this book, but I can't say I really enjoyed it, more like I tolerated it. Maybe I just don't like the "family drama" genre, but really - I think I just didn't like this book very much.

Thoughts on 2009 and the past decade

Yes, I'm going to do it, too. All the TV shows are doing their "look back on the year" spots, and since this is the end of our first decade in the 2000s, we get to look back at that, too. I figured, why not? I have thoughts and feelings about this subject, darn it! LOL....

So how was my 2009? It was OK. We didn't accomplish everything we'd hoped, but we didn't fail miserably, either. Jeff and I managed to keep hammering away at our debt while saving money at the same time - no small feat in this economy. Granted, it would be a lot easier with both of us working, but at least we DO have an income, right? There are a lot of folks out there where both husband and wife are out of work, and a lot of times, they have kids, too. We're very lucky that it's just us, and trust me, we know it. We did manage to take two long weekends away to the beach, which was a miracle in itself - my hubby and I successfully travelling together, that is! We have a horrible track record when it comes to vacations; we're lucky we haven't killed each other. Not only did we take two this year, they were both fairly pleasant and we enjoyed our time away. We're already planning to go back next year!

I still have my job at the library, which I still love, and I know how lucky that makes me. Yes, it's been hard - the economy has brought in more patrons, and they're stressed out like you wouldn't believe, making our jobs here a bit more difficult and delicate. We feel for our patrons that are out of work, and we celebrate when they get the job. Tax season is right around the corner, and I am NOT looking forward to it this year, as NC has decided that they will not be sending out forms to libraries this year. OMG, what a nightmare! Think I'll start stocking up on alcohol now...

As for the decade, well, it's had its ups and downs, just like any decade I suppose. On the highlight reel for myself? I met and married Jeff, moved here to NC, and found my calling in library work (something I had once feared - didn't want to be the old spinster librarian w/a million cats!) I still have my car, Merlin, and both Jeff & I are healthy. We're ending the decade with money in the bank, which is a very good thing, and we're looking toward the future.

We did have some very low points, though, and when I say low, I mean low. We both lost grandparents in 2000, within months of each other, and we were close to them. We moved here - very stressful - and then couldn't find work right away, leaving us with very little money to live on. And being the proud idiots we are, we wouldn't look for help - we just charged all our necessities, hoping we could pay it back someday. We both had major automotive repairs to the tune of several thousand dollars over the last 10 yrs, but we couldn't really afford to get a new (or newer) car, meaning we just had to whip out the plastic and suck it up. And we had a few very rough years in our marriage, bad enough that I think we both thought about divorce more than once.

All that is behind us now, and I for one am looking forward to 2010 and the next decade. I know that our fortunes will really head in the right direction; we're working together as a team, which makes all the difference. We love each other and have worked thru our personal differences (for the most part!). And even though we don't have everything we'd like to have right this second, we know we'll have it someday, which is good enough. Patience, grasshopper, patience.

I wish all my friends out in cyberland a happy, healthy, and properous New Year. Take a few minutes to think about the good things in your life, and say "good riddance!" to the rubbish. Tell people you love them and show kindness to strangers. And let's try to make all that last past January 2nd, shall we?

Starting the year out right!

Well, actually, I'm starting 2010 out right - by getting you ready for the first week of new releases! I know, I'm impressed with myself, too. Don't worry - I'm sure this won't last...

OK, for the week of January 4th, here's what we can look forward to:

"Committed" by Elizabeth Gilbert. This is the author of the incredibly popular "Eat, Pray, Love", a book that I finally read and ended up enjoying quite a bit. This work picks up where EPL left off; Gilbert has found her true love Felipe, a very hot, older Brazilian. They've continued their long-distance relationship for the past year with Felipe spending 90-day stretches in the U.S. with Gilbert. However, after taking one of their non-90-day-in-the-USA trips, Felipe is denied entrance to Gilbert's homeland. The couple are told that the only way he can come in again is for them to be married. However, Gilbert is reluctant to do so, nor does she want to leave Felipe for good. She begins a year-long exile, reading up on the subject of marriage, and in the end confronting her own fears. I have high hopes for this book, as I understand there will be a lot of historical background on the subject of "wedded bliss". Wonder if Oprah will have her on again?

"Impact" by Douglas Preston. Another thriller starring CIA operative Wyman Ford, who was also in Preston's book "Blasphemy". Publisher's Weekly says there are three storylines here which eventually intersect. Fans of scientific thrillers should be happy with this. Interesting that he is not writing with Lincoln Child...

"Iron River" by T. Jefferson Parker. This is the third book in Parker's Charlie Hood series, and I'm happy to report that my hubby just finished the first two. He said they were fabulous, action-packed easy reading. I'm sure he's going to be happy to hear that this book is coming out! The Hood books are police procedurals.

"Noah's Compass" by Anne Tyler. Recently our collection development team here at the library had to reassess our needs and wants, including which authors would be considered "must-have" for all branches, which ones could be picked up for a select few, and which ones might not be picked up at all anymore. Tyler is an author that I lobbied for dropping down to a select few, as her books just do not circulate very often. I was surprised how many on the team wanted to keep her. I don't know if they read her, or if they've actually got demand for them. Either way, I consider her to be "literary", which isn't a high-demand category here. PW seems to like it, saying she's written another good work about a "flawed" character. Not really on my list of reading, though.

"Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier. Another historical work from Chevalier, who hit it big with "Girl with a Pearl Earring" back in the late 1990s. I think this is another one of those authors who hit it big almost right out of the box, then has slowly and consistenly flagged as time goes on. I know I don't have many patrons asking for her stuff, nor can I get it to circulate when I display it.

"The Summer We Fell Apart" by Robin Antalek. The father is a playwright, the mother a cult-actress, the grown kids a mess. This is a debut novel set in New York and Los Angeles and covers 15 years of family dysfunction (which sort of makes one wonder at the title, doesn't it?) It sounds like it could be promising but I'm not one for the family drama genre.

"Thereby Hangs a Tail: A Chet and Bernie Mystery" by Spencer Quinn. I cannot wait to read this! Probably one of my favorite books of 2009 was "Dog On It", the debut of Chet (the dog) and Bernie (the detective). It was funny and a great little mystery, all told from Chet's point of view, which I was worried would end up as "too cute!" Luckily, Quinn got it right - you really believe that Chet is talking to you, and he acts just like you'd think a dog would act. It was recommended by Stephen King in one of his EW columns, and I totally agree.

"The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny" by Simon R. Green. Green now has an even ten book in his popular Nightside series starring John Taylor, the man who can find anything. I can't wait for this, but I have to catch up first - somehow I missed the previous book, "Just Another Judgement Day". These are always good little reads - nothing too long, big on action with just enough fantasy.

"Inked". A collection of four novellas by some of the better authors in paranormal writing. Look for new works by Karen Chance, Marjorie M. Liu, Yasmine Galenorn, and Eileen Wilks. I usually like this sort of thing, so I'm looking forward to it.

"Kitty's House of Horrors" by Carrie Vaughn. Book 7 in the Kitty Norville series, which I'm very anxious to read. Kitty is talked into participating in a supernatural TV reality series. Of course, this being our favorite werewolf DJ, you just know things will start going wrong in a hurry. This has been a very strong series, and again, I look forward to reading this one!

"Dexter by Design" by Jeff Lindsay

Lindsay returns to the Dexter that we all know and love (and perhaps fear just a bit). After a small mis-step with his third in this series ("Dexter in the Dark"), Lindsay comes smashing back with "Dexter by Design". I'm very happy with the results; there are only a few small things to worry about, rather than the whole work.

The book opens with our favorite blood-spatter analyst and psychopath on his honeymoon in Paris with new wife Rita. Dexter is not overly impressed by all things French, certainly not like his wife. However, all is not lost; Rita drags him to an art exhibit that proves to be most enlightening. The final work is the most daring, and Dexter is duly impressed - Jennifer's Leg is a series of video pieces that appear to show a young woman cutting off bits of her own leg with a chainsaw. Rita and several of the other gallery patrons are horrified, refusing to believe that the video vignettes are "real" - only Dexter knows how incredible they are, having done some of the same work himself.

Back in Miami, he continues to hone his "human" disguise, playing the good husband and now-step-father to Cody and Astor. Of course, his new kids have a dark side of their own, one that Dexter intends to nurture just as his foster-father, Harry, did with him. Dexter's Dark Passenger is back and looking for new playmates, and it appears that one just hit town. Bodies are being found in very public places, bodies with their insides taken out and displays of items left insides, bodies that are proving to be very bad business for the Miami Tourism Board. This is a case where the old adage about any publicity being good publicity is just not true. Dexter's Dark Passenger is intrigued by these bodies, but doesn't really have much to say to its host, not until Dexter's sister Deborah has been knifed while attempting to question a suspect.

After Debs is rushed to the hospital, Alex Doncevic is arrested and brought in for questioning, only to be released soon after. He returns with a very high-profile lawyer, claiming that he will sue Miami P.D. for false arrest; Dexter is brought in to the captain's office and asked again about the incident. Events play out quickly, and the chase is on. But just who is Dexter chasing? Doncevic, or someone else? And what about the email Dex receives, the one with a link to a video on YouTube, a video clip that shows someone that looks very much like Dexter from behind, doing what Dexter does best? Is this a new playmate? Or is this the end of Dexter?

Most of the characters that have appeared in the previous books are back, such as Dexter's sister, Debs; her boyfriend, Kyle Chutsky (who may have CIA connections or something equally mysterious); fellow analyst Vince Masuoka (without all his dirty jokes this time); detective Angel Batista (but not nearly enough); and of course, Doakes, Dexter's nemesis on the force. Now, if you've only watched the series, be aware - there are some very big differences between the TV show and the books. Doakes is one of those very big differences, and if you follow both, you know what I'm talking about. If not, read the books because Doakes is so much more interesting in the books, especially after he's "modified".

The little things that I mentioned at the beginning of the review are just that - probably petty little things. Such as Cody and Astor. I get the beauty of Dexter having to instill some sort of "moral code" in them, just as Harry instilled in Dexter. But let us not forget - Harry did it to keep Dexter from just randomly killing people; Dexter wouldn't know "moral" if it came up and bit him in the butt. And while I do see shades of Dex in Cody, I just don't pick up the same thing in Astor. Her actions almost feel like a sibling jealously of Cody - if he can do it, I can do it - that sort of thing. I'm not entirely convinced that she's got the real killer instinct, nor do I think both children need to be little potential psychos. I also wonder about Dexter's blood slides, the ones he collects from his playmates. Now that he's a married man with a family, where exactly are those precious mementos? The book mentions something about his "office" and that Rita doesn't go in there - has he stashed them there? It just doesn't feel very safe to me; would you put something that important, private, and potentially damaging in a room that could be accessed by anyone in your house? It didn't state that his office was locked and he the only one in possession of a key. What if Rita gets a hankering to do some spring cleaning?

Just little picky things, I think, but still...

Overall, a much, much better entry than that third book, but not quite as good as the first two in the series. I do dearly love Dexter, though, and I can't wait to see what happens next.