the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon. 15 year old Christopher finds the body of his neighbor's dog, Wellingon, impaled on a pitchfork and is blamed for the killing. Christopher is a high-functioning autistic and relates better to animals than to people. He hates to be touched by any person and seems to not have an emotional connection to anyone including his family. He also doesn't trust strangers and hates people who lie as he feels that he always tells the truth.

He decides that he needs to find out who killed Wellington but ends up discovering a lot about himself and his parents. He has to decide if he can trust his parents after he discovers that his simple life is now very complicated. A very intense read as it is from his point of view which focuses on very minute details and mathematical equations. This is a British novel so some of the terminology is different. Highly recommended.

With a Vengeance by Eileen Dreyer features Maggie O'Brien -- A trauma nurse and paramedic who works one of the toughest EDs in the city. When people start dying who shouldn't be she starts to question the system. She quickly discovers that when she choices sides that she becomes an outsider and is on her own. When her own life becomes at risk who can she really trust. An interesting read, kind of dramatic but good. We mostly get things from her point of view but interspersed there are chapters of other's point of view that are anonymous which leads to the drama and suspence. I will probably read more by this author.

Chasing Shakespeare by Sarah Smith is a story about a self-professed "hick from Vermont," window installer/Shakespeare scholar Joe Roper who while cataloging an obscure collection discovers evidence that might refute the Bard's authorship of his hallowed canon. If Joe announces his find, it could make his career as a literary scholar-but it would also mean betraying his beloved mentor, Roland Goscimer, who's on the cusp of publishing part two of his long-awaited Shakespeare biography. Posy Gould, a flashy, aggressive Harvard student, who believes the Earl of Oxford is the author of the canon, jets with Joe to England to resolve the matter by sleuthing through libraries, graveyards, castles and stately homes-and, vicariously, through the glitter and duplicity of the Elizabethan stage and court. Smith, a Harvard Ph.D., knows academia can be as hazardous as cocktails with the Borgias and renders that world well, while making the Shakespeare authorship controversy as riveting as any film noir plot bursting with bodies.

Out of Sight by T.J. MacGregor deals with many moral issues. Human experimention is the major one and do we have the right to play god. Dr. George Nash has discovered how to make things and people invisible with the help of an indian named Luis. He manages to make a couple invisible but one (Logan) escapes while her husband Tyler is imprisoned. 3 years later Logan comes back to break Tyler out and destroy the project. A family camping accidently gets made invisitble as well and all hell breaks loose. A very fast moving and thought provoking book.

Slow River by Nicola Griffith Lore awoke in a dark alley, damaged and afraid. Who could she trust, not her family that wouldn't pay her ransome, until a stranger, Spanner takes her in and she starts living in the hidden dark side of society. Credible internet charity scams, kidnapping, fashionable designer drugs, sex, sadism, advanced digital porn, sabotage, information and identity theft are all a part of society and gives us a glimpse of what the future may hold. She discovers herself in both worlds and must decide where she will live. A very interesting read.