An Autistic Savant, A Man From Jersey, and a Ho Walk Into A Bar….

I had the marvelous pleasure of finishing three very different books this week. I'm liking this whole 'reading at night for fun' concept. This week, I finished, The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime by Mark Haddon, Gone For Good, by Harlan Coben, and an ARC for The Washingtonienne by Jessica Cutler.

Going in chronological order, I finished the Dog in Nighttime first. I got this on CD several months ago when B&N had it on sale. I haven't done many audio books, but what I have done, I've enjoyed, although it takes me a LONG time to finish them because my listening has to be done hit or miss (I don't hang out with a CD player all day). BUT, on with the book. This book got rave reviews, and I thought the premise was intriguing. Here's the description from Amazon:

"Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. Routine, order and predictability shelter him from the messy, wider world. Then, at fifteen, Christopher’s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.

Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents’ marriage. As he tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, we are drawn into the workings of Christopher’s mind.

And herein lies the key to the brilliance of Mark Haddon’s choice of narrator: The most wrenching of emotional moments are chronicled by a boy who cannot fathom emotion. The effect is dazzling, making for a novel that is deeply funny, poignant, and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing is a mind that perceives the world literally."

First of all, let me say that the reviews were well-deserved. The character is done brilliantly and from what I can gather from those who have experience with autism, accurately as well. Christopher has no emotions, and as such, all the pain that is inflicted on Christopher is reflected onto the reader instead. Masterful use of character suffering. The one place where I felt like this backfired was the ending. Because the character couldn't experience emotion, there was no satisfaction in the ending. I missed that moment when the character "gets it," because this character can never truly "get it." But that's a minor piffle. I love crawling into interesting minds, and this book definitely does that. Highly recommended.

The next one was Gone for Good by Harlan Coben. I had never read Harlan Coben before, but this one made me realize the errors of my ways. From Amazon:

"As a boy, Will Klein had a hero: his older brother, Ken. Then, on a warm suburban night in the Kleins’ affluent New Jersey neighborhood, a young woman--a girl Will had once loved--was found brutally murdered in her family’s basement. The prime suspect: Ken Klein. With the evidence against him overwhelming, Ken simply vanished. And when his shattered family never heard from Ken again, they were sure he was gone for good.

Now eleven years have passed. Will has found proof that Ken is alive. And this is just the first in a series of stunning revelations as Will is forced to confront startling truths about his brother, and even himself. As a violent mystery unwinds around him, Will knows he must press his search all the way to the end. Because the most powerful surprises are yet to come."

This was a fast, fun read. The author does come up with some surprising twists and turns in the plot, leading you down one alleyway, and then SCREECH, wheels spinning you move on to the next supposition about what happened to whom and why. Again, I had issues with the ending. I thought the author made one turn too many and because he had led me down one path the entire book, I didn't buy it. I loved the author's narrative voice. I like narrator's who talk to the reader directly and the main character does. By the time the book is over, you feel like you have a new friend. This was a cleverly plotted book and because I have so much trouble with plotting, I writhe with jealousy when I see it done masterfully, as Coben did. I'll be looking for more of his books now. Highly recommended.

And lastly, the Washingtonienne. From Amazon:

"The blog that scandalized Washington, D.C., is now a sharp steamy, utterly unrepentant novel set against the backdrop of the nations’ capital….

"Just between us girls, Washington is an easy place to get laid. It’s a simple matter of economics: supply and demand. Washington lacks those industries that attract the Beautiful People, such as entertainment and fashion. Instead it has the government, also know as ‘Hollywood for the Ugly.’ Without the model-actress population to compete with, my stock shot up when I moved to DC."

When Jacqueline Turner’s fiancée gives her two days to move out of his apartment, she has no choice but to leave New York City and crash with her best friend in Washington, DC. (She can’t be expected to keep herself in cute clothes while paying New York City rent, after all.) She needs a new, exciting life—not to mention real employment. Where better to get a fresh start than the nation’s capital?
Alas, DC turns out to be a lot more buttoned-up and toned down than she’d hoped. It’s a town where a girl has to make her own excitement—and Jacqueline Turner is just the woman for the job.

From the married presidential appointee who gives her cash after each tryst, to the lascivious Georgetown lawyer who parades her around like something out of Pretty Woman, Jackie’s roster of paramours grows so complicated her friends ask her to start a blog so they can keep up. But in a small town like Washington, the line between private and public blurs very easily. Just as one of her beaux takes a lead in the race for her heart, Jackie realizes this blog idea may be more than she bargained for….

Deliciously gossipy and impossible to put down, The Washingtonienne is every bit as outrageously scandalous as the real-life exploits that inspired it. "

When I read Chapter one in this one, I was thrilled. I loved the character and I immediately assumed I would love the rest of the book. WRONG. Chapter 2 through 23 made me go "ewww," several times, and I considered washing my sheets.

This could have been such a good book. The author is a good writer. However, Jacqueline and Christopher Boone shared much in common. Mainly, the absolute lack of emotion for twenty-one chapters. That worked with an autistic savant. It doesn't work with a ho. And unfortunately, without that emotion (and I'm not even talking regret here; I'm talking joy, sorrow, pain, nervousness, pleasure, heck -- ANYTHING) it falls flat. The sex should have been steamier. Instead, we might as well be boiling broccoli... Oh, the primary positions are covered, but if you want to get off, good luck!

The book moves briskly, the words are strung together well, and starting in chapter 24, when the conflict FINALLY arrives, it does pick up. I hope Jessica Cutler stays in writing. I think she has a lot of potential as an author, and I'm not sure if her real life is currently as jizzed as the story, but I bet not. No, I bet Jessica Cutler is doing just fine.

That's my reading report for today! If anyone has read anything fun, let me know! I've got Alison Kent's Larger than Life in my pile and also Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase (LOVED Lord of Scoundrels).