Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay

Dexter is a blood splatter specialist working for the Miami police department. His adopted father was a cop and his sister is a cop. A serial killer has begun chopping up prostitutes and dumping them in a particular way. Sister, Debora, is determined to find the killer so that she can finally get that transfer to Homicide she has always wanted. She calls on Dex to help as he seems to have a knack for solving these things. What she doesn't know is why. Dexter is able to put himself so perfectly into the mind of a killer because he is the same. Only his father taught him to go for the bad guys. If he has to kill then kill those who deserve it. This new killer on the seen though is an artist. Dexter can appreciate him and he isn't sure if he wants him to be caught.

I am probably the only person in the world who hasn't seen the tv show. I have heard of it though and knew what it was about. I am one of these sad folk that would rather try out the books first. It may just be the tiredness talking at this point but it annoyed me quite a bit. First of all Dexter doesn't just come across as your cold serial killer. He is supposed to be soulless and dead inside. Instead he comes across as smug and arrogant. There is a very tiny part of him that worries about what his father would have thought. Without that he probably would go ahead and kill everyone. Then there is his sister Deborah who relies so heavily on Dexter to help her. Surely at some point she would have to stand on her two feet? She just doesn't seem to have what it takes to get very far in her chosen career other than ambition. In all honesty she doesn't seem all to bright.

Having said that I did enjoy the story for the most part. It has an interesting premise. I would be tempted to read others in the series but more so watch the tv show. I somehow think they might have done it a tiny bit better (unusual, I know).

Oh, one thing I do recommend. When you are sleep deprived and the only person awake don't read about serial killers. My over active imagination interpreted every creek to be a serial killer coming out to get me.

Readathon: Post 3

Hour 13 Woo hoo! Have reached the halfway point. What I really want is my bed. So I am away to get some badly needed caffeine. Before I go though I have finished two whole books and I am 12 pages into this one. So  at the halfway mark I have read 704 pages. Hope everyone is managing.

Hour 15 Have slowed down and only read 100 pages those last two hours which brings my total up to 804 pages. I have my second wind though. Word to the wise. Don't read books about serial killers at 3am when everyone else is upstairs asleep. Every little creek was a serial killer coming to get me.

Hour 17 Just finished my third book and about to start my third. Far too tired to calculate page numbers just yet.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie

Dr Shepperd is the dear friend of Roger Ackroyd. Poor Ackroyd is going through some troubles and as a Doctor and a friend he feels he must hear them out. He confesses to proposing to a woman who refused him as she had murdered her husband and she couldn't take the guilt. It's only after her suicide that Ackroyd discovers that she is being blackmailed and by whom. Before he can tell anyone who the blackmailer is he is murdered himself. Luckily Hercule Poirot is living next door to the good Dr and the niece of Ackroyd convinces him to find out who the murderer is. His stepson is the main suspect but he is in hiding and the niece is convinced of his innocence. Poirot agrees to take on the job and the good Dr takes the place of his old friend Hastings.

I love Agatha Christie. This is the book I was most looking forward to and it didn't let me down in any way. I was a little put out at first that good old Hastings wasn't in this one. His character whilst irritating at first grew on me and amuses me quite a bit. I thought I was going to miss him but he was replaced by the Doctor who just so happened to live next door to Poirot. He wasn't as amusing as Hastings but he still did the job. In fact he was a little brighter than Hastings, truth be told.

Well with out going into detail, as I don't want to spoil it, I guessed one or two of the mysteries involved. You know Christie, she likes all her characters to look guilty and one by one those guilts are explained away. This book is no different. As I said I guessed on or two of them. I did have an inkling early on as to who the murderer might be but I dismissed the idea thinking there was no way. Turns out if I had stuck to this inkling I would have been right. As it was I was completely surprised and it made a fantastic ending. I will say on thing that surprised me though. Poirot gives the murderer a way out which I wasn't expecting. I'm afraid if you want to know more on that though you will have to read it.

This is my second book of the readathon and I have to confess I am beginning to flag a bit. After my next update in 15 minutes I am away to sit in a cool room drinking tea.

Readathon: Post 2

Hour 7 After a small break for dinner (I had Nachos) I finished my first book of 324 pages. I am now 20 pages into my second book The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. Bring it on Poirot! No snacks as I am still full.

Hour 9 I'm 160 pages into The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I love Poirot but somehow this one isn't the same without Hastings. Having said that his current sidekick is a little bit brighter. Haven't taken part in any mini challenges as yet although there are a number of good ones out there. Too busy reading.

Hour 11 270 pages into the book. Read in the bath for a little while. Still enjoying the book.

The Doctor Will See You Now - Max Pemberton

Max Pemberton has finished a year working in the community. He is now about to commence a year back on the wards. The community has made him forget the fast pace of the hospitals and he feels a little out of place having been thrown in the deep end. Thankfully his flatmates, the nurses and secretaries all help to see him through. Now working on a general medical ward and dealing with dementia patients he feels anger when he sees how easily they are mistreated.

This is the third book by Max Pemberton in his career as a doctor. It's from this one that you can definitely see that he has grown. He still gets nervous about unknown procedures and his first day back was rather funny to read (probably not so funny for him). You can see that he is now more confident in his own abilities.

I liked this one more than the middle book. I think part of that is that I recognised a lot of what he talked about from my own studies. A lot of the problems he mentioned in the book such as interpreting illness in dementia patients, being their spokesperson and the health and safety aspects of the wards have all been discussed in class (obviously from a nursing perspective).

It still has that sense of humour though. He is still able to laugh at himself and I love the interaction between himself and the secretaries. I also love the part his flatmates have to play. I hope there will be more of these books to come as I don't think I would get bored of them. A great first choice for the readathon.

Readathon: Post 1

Woo hoo, just half an hour to go. I have my first snack (which is really fruit from my lunch) and my first book all ready to go. Decided to go with the non-fiction first. As light a read as Pemberton's books are I'm not sure non-fiction is the best choice for 1am. Looking forward to it as it has been on my tbr pile for a good few months now.

So I have a glass of diluting juice by my side, along with my phone and iPad, some big comfy cushions and my favourite yankee candle (vanilla lime). I am ready. Just need the time to speed up.

I will basically be updating on the same post until I finish a book. I then review the book and start with a new readathon post. I did it that way last time and it seemed to work. This is also my first attempt at using instagram. Quite like it although not sure I have it worked out completely.

If you don't fancy reading all my posts you can also follow me on twitter as Karencrafts.  I'll also update photo's on my Just Giving page where I am raising money for Crohn's and Colitis UK.

Hour1
Introductory questionnaire

1. I'm from Scotland.
2. I'm probably most looking forward to the Agatha Christie book as I love Poirot. But also looking forward to having a go with the Dexter series.
3. I probably should say all the fruit I have bought in but the true answer would be the donuts for later on in the night.
4. I used to be a bookseller but I'm now studying for my nursing degree. Actually on exam leave just now and using the readathon as a break. Also a huge sci fi fan and bit of a girly geek.
5. This is my second readathon. Will probably be updating with more photo's than last time. I also have a fruity candle which keeps me awake. Oh, and I am more prepared on the snack front as last time my bread had went all moldy and had to make do with just lots of tea.

Hour 3 Finished the fruit and I did open the Doritos briefly. Have read 106 pages of The Doctor Will See You Now by Max Pemberton. So funny!

Hour 5 Now 228 pages read. Still enjoying it. Starting to get uncomfy though. Going to move to the kitchen for a wee while.

Angelmaker - Nick Harkaway

Joe Spork is trying his best to be like his Grandfather. To live an honest life as a clockwork expert. Sadly clockwork isn't appreciated as it once was and Joe is doing his best to keep on top of things. His friend then gets him to fix an unusual piece of clockwork. A book that fits into another apparatus. By fixing it Joe has inadvertently started off a series of events which leads to everyone hunting him down so they can gain control of the machine. Poor Joe has to rely on his fathers crooked friends to save him. Meanwhile Edie Bannister has some knowledge of the machine and events have brought her out of retirement. She spent most of her life as a spy and now in her twilight years she must once again face her nemesis and save the world.

This is Haraway's second book. Normally I would compare the two having loved the first one so much. This one is so completely different from The Gone-Away World that there was no way I could compare them. The genre and the tone is in no way the same. Impressive I think.

This is just the sort of book I love. It has a lot of tongue in cheek all the way through it. In place of James Bond we have Edie Bannister (who takes on the name James when under cover). I loved the parts as she reflected on her career as a spy. Like James Bond she was a bit of a womaniser and managed to get herself a megalomaniac nemesis. Joe on the other hand was a bit of a drip. He's so unsure of himself. He is trying so hard to be like his grandfather and not his father that he doesn't know who he is. Thankfully he is surrounded by some wonderful characters who make up for it. Plus, he is supposed to be like that until he discovers who he is (which he does and I quite like it).

The crooks are the good guys in this book which is another reason I loved it so much. It's almost like the get more out of creating a little bit of mischief than they do making some money for themselves. I loved the descriptions of the night market where they all get together and how they teach the young ones their trade. It's like they have a society all of their own with its own rules, values and moral code. Since Joe's father was one of them they go out on a limb to help him.

As for the real bad guys. I thought that they were fantastic too. Government agencies, a religious cult and a man determined to destroy the world to meet his own ends. Loved it. Oh, and it had some great dry humour through out too.

Despite not being able to compare it to The Gone-Away World I still think I liked that one just a little bit more. It had quite a sad tone to it and I do love a post-apocalyptic tale.