The road to hell is paved with adverbs!

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Mystic River - Dennis Lehane

The novel revolves around three boys who grow up as friends in Boston — Dave Boyle, Sean Devine, and Jimmy Marcus. When the story opens, we see Dave abducted by child molesters while he, Sean, and Jimmy are horsing around on a neighborhood street. Dave escapes and returns home days later, emotionally shattered by his experience. The book then moves forward 25 years: Sean has become a homicide detective, Jimmy is an ex-convict who currently owns a convenience store, and Dave is a shell of a man. Jimmy's daughter disappears and is found brutally murdered in a city park, and that same night, Dave comes home to his wife, covered in blood. Sean is assigned to investigate the murder, and the three childhood friends are caught up in each other's lives again.

This book was so intense and it was so tragic all at the same time. I cared about all the characters and could understand their emotions well.
This is my second Dennis Lehane book (Shutter Island was first) and I have to say, as good a Shutter Island was, this is far superior.
The thing I like about Lehane is he doesn't waste tons of pages on useless words, he can say something so powerful in few words, that is something I appreciate.
I watched the movie as soon as I finished and it's not a patch on the book.

My mission is to read everything my Lahane now.

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American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis

Patrick Bateman is a rich kid who works on Wall Street. Bateman spends his mornings at the gym and his nights clubbing with his friends. Everyone believes Bateman is a nice guy, the shy boy next door. What his friends do not know is that Bateman is a psychopathic killer who has confessed to his crimes repeatedly. No one wants to believe that the boy next door could hurt someone, so everyone chooses to ignore Bateman's confessions. American Psycho is a satire that is both entertaining and frightening, opening reader's eyes to the consequences of apathy in society.

The story started off very slowly but I figured that was because Ellis really wanted the reader to realize how crazy Patrick Bateman was really becoming, going into great detail in describing different styles, repetitive conversations, music, 80's satire, jealousy, etc.
I understand that Bateman finds meaning only in materialism, but do I really need to read over a hundred pages worth of clothing descriptions?

The message is undoubtedly profound though; it is definitely worth a read. Some have found the violence to be gratuitous or exploitative; I found it to be neither.

I'd be interested in reading 'The Rules of Attraction' but I don't fancy another Ellis novel so soon after reading this.

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Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay

Meet Dexter Morgan. He's a highly respected lab technician specializing in blood spatter for the Miami Dade Police Department. He's a handsome, though reluctant, ladies' man. He's polite, says all the right things, and rarely calls attention to himself. He's also a sociopathic serial killer whose "Dark Passenger" drives him to commit the occasional dismemberment.

The concept was unusual and interesting.
Lindsay's idea to have a psychopathic serial killer as a protagonist is brilliant. Even more is his ability to endear him to readers.
I think my main issue with this book is that every single character, save Dexter himself, is inept and one-dimensional. I found myself having serious trouble giving a **** about the story or the people in it.
I wanted to see where it was going. But the ending was just awful. It was obvious and completely unbelievable.

C'mon, a long lost, previously unknown twin brother who is also a serial killer!

I was slightly disappointed because I think the premise is much stronger than the delivery

I doubt I'll bother with anymore in the Dexter series.

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I've just started 'The Passage'..