Hater by David Moody

As great as some people's reviews were for this book, I found it very predictable and unoriginal. I liked the book, but it seemed like the author took ideas from other people's books and movies, and made them into his own story. As you read the book, I always felt like "this reminds me of something I've read, or seen, or heard about." I still enjoyed the book. It was fast paced and kept me interested, though no shocker. I am interested, since this is the first in a trilogy, how the next two will compare. Hopefully they will be more original.

The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham

I had never heard of this book or author before, so I jumped into book four of this series. It was nothing like I had predicted it would be! I expected your predictable detective chases serial killer, in this case over burning bodies, and then the detective becomes victim at the end and ends up a hero blah blah blah... that is so typical of detective series books. I was in for a treat. It did not matter if I had ever read a book in this series, the main detective was just one of many characters that this story revolved around. There were several sub-plots that went on in the story...were they linked? Or how many? And did this book have to do with serial killers burning girls at all? Thats what I probably liked best, I was completely proved wrong about so many things and kept guessing and coming up with new theories that I couldn't put the book down.

Ghost Trackers: The Unreal World of Ghosts, Ghost-Hunting, and the Paranormal… by Chris Gudgeon

This book is geared for children from ages 9-12. It is informative, well written, and covers a variety of topics, ranging from historical ghost stories to how to carry out your own “ghost-hunting” (even though no kid in the world would have the equipment to do this). I liked the fact that it gave both a scientific basis and other...possibility for what possibly may be a paranormal experience. It also gave excellent definitions and examples that were appropriate for a child between the ages of 9-12 to understand. It was engaging and quite fun to read. I actually had my 9 year old check it out around Halloween with her friends to see what they thought of it. I was a little nervous that it might be a little scary, but it the writing was humorous at times and interesting, that it took any “scare” out of ghosts and paranormal away. We were actually able to have some interesting conversations about haunted houses, possible ghost sightings (I grew up in Boston and lots of people's houses are “haunted”...or are they?), and visiting some of the places mentioned in the book that were nearby. She and her friends carried that book around for a good couple of weeks before I could get it back from her to actually review it myself. If a book can engage a nine year old girl in to science of any type (who has no interest in science what so ever), then there has to be something good about it. As a former teacher, I think these types of books are great. They are not to long, they are appealing to children, and they are not to complected to read so that a “non-science” person is bored. They also encourage conversation between parents and children about belief systems, experiences, and who knows, maybe exploring new places together.

When Doctors Kill: Who, Why, and How- by Joshua Perper and Stephen J. Cina

I was very excited to read this book. From reading about the authors, I thought it was great to have a book about some of the well known reasons and theories of why doctors kill. Having a professional background in psychology, and post-graduate studies in forensic psychology and law, I am always looking for new material to recommend to friends who teach college courses, or to keep in mind, should I decide to teach a course in the future. This book had the potential to be informative and controversial, both assets to any classroom discussion.

I was impressed with about the first 100 pages. It was reader friendly, informative, and added a bit of humor on an otherwise dark subject. Many important subjects were covered, such as: doctors trying to make advancements in medicine, serial killers, doctors with a “God” complex-who liked to have the power of life and death, government medical trials on human subjects, and Nazi “medical experiments” during WWII. Several specific and important cases were cited, and overall, I thought that part was well written.

And then came part four, the authors included another approximately forty (which seemed like another 100) pages on terrorism and politics. Other than the fact that the politicians and terrorist who committed atrocious acts while in positions of power. Other than the fact that they had obtained a medical degree at some point in their lives was irrelevant. They were killing people, and training people to kill as their role as a leader (of a country, a terrorist organization, etc...), not as a medical doctor. Therefore, it should not have been included in the book because they were not “Doctors who Kill” technically. They were, as the title of the section in the book was titled “Politicians” or “Terrorists” that kill.

Part five of the book started of nicely, and I began to regain hope for this book. It discussed the issues of physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. Again, a great topic for debate, and a couple of noteworthy cases were presented. Cutting out section four, and ending with euthanasia, the book just should have ended. Or, could have included, a whole area not even mentioned, the statistics on doctors who kill their families and spouses, which is not that uncommon.

Instead, there is the real ending that I felt completely went off topic again, and was written based more on opinion. I agree with them, but it didn't seem like the appropriate place to bring up those medical dilemmas because once again, it does not stay on the topic of “Why Doctors Kill.” The book goes on about the public's view of TV doctors, once again, information that probably could have been left out. They gave definitions of different types of non-medical treatment options and some of the fatal outcomes. Once again, information I felt irrelevant because these were treatment choices that the patient made. They then brought up the issue of over-prescribing medication, and the dilemma doctors have to treat pain, and the savvyness of patients to make up symptoms to get medications and addiction. Which lead into “Doctors to the Stars” who over prescribe medication to -which the authors even state that killing them would be ridiculous because they make large sums of cash and do not have to deal with insurance companies. Ending with the evil issue of malpractice, and make a convincing defense of why most doctors don't want to kill.

Umm...now I am confused. I read this book because I wanted to know “Why Doctors Kill,” not how they are over stressed, over worked, and live in constant fear of malpractice suits...unless you are setting up a defense for why they kill. But that was not given as any motive.