Projection by Keith Ablow

After looking over some of my previous reads this year, I decided to select another of Mr. Ablow's book to read next. Much to my surprise it was a continuation of the first book I read in the summer and it took me awhile to remember what had happened. Once I did, I picked up the book more and read more than half of it this morning. I would rate it a B+.

From Amazon:
Distinguished plastic surgeon Trevor Lucas may not be guilty of the four murders he stands accused of, as Ablow's gruesome psychological thriller opens, but he has clearly lost his mind, claiming that his right arm is controlled by Satan. Frank Clevenger, hero of Ablow's first novel, Denial, and consulting forensic psychiatrist to the Massachusetts police, is well aware of Lucas's innocence, since he framed him to save their mutual lover, the pathologically jealous but pitiable Kathy Matheson. Kathy's four victims were Lucas and Clevenger's other sexual partners, including the woman who was Frank's real love, but he sees Kathy only as a victim, since she was raped by her father as a child. When Lucas takes control of the hospital ward where he is being held, cuts off his arm and begins mobilizing the criminally insane inmates to assist him in vivisecting their fellow patients and members of the hospital staff, Clevenger makes a foray into the grisly ward and convinces the state police to hold off their assault on the hospital for 24 hours so he can delve into Lucas's past to discover the roots of his trauma. Astonishingly, the cops agree, and Clevenger is off to Baltimore, Lucas's hometown. Along the way, ponytailed Clevenger scores heroin, falls in love with a prostitute and continues to affirm that criminals with difficult childhoods are not responsible for their actions.

I liked this book because their were surprises and twists I never even expected. Like I said, it started off slowly for me but then really picked up the pace. Dr. Clevenger is hardly anything close to a normal psychitrist and is far from perfect. He definitely has his own problems, which I sort of like. Quite often the hero in suspense books are close to being perfect and Dr. Clevenger is not. It is hard to like him, but I felt this book did show his good points. I was surprised by a lot of the events that happened and I feel like this book was not completely resolved. I hope there is more of this book in the future Clevenger books. I know I have a couple more, so hopefully I will be able to get some answers.

Up next is T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton. My idea of placing the books that are large typed on hold panned out again as people seem to forget about those. I got it in really quick and on the normal book list, I was number 136 for it. However, I will read it quickly because I feel guilty holding on to a popular book for a long time. Hopefully I can get it read fast over today and tomorrow, though of course we will be busy with Christmas. I also missed my blog anniversary yesterday. I can't believe it has been a year. I read some of my older entries and I really love being able to reflect on the books I have read over the year that I otherwise may have forgotten about. I also noticed I didn't meet some of my goals, but hopefully will meet my main goal of reading 100 books. I think it will be pretty big with graduating this semester and my problems I went through this summer. Three more to go, so hopefully I will be able to get it done.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable Christmas. I am looking forward to it all being done. Sometimes it just seems like such a chore since we have so many places to go. My parents just got divorced three years ago and it is a pain trying to see everyone, including the in-laws. Plus my anxiety and depression is getting bad again and I really don't feel like leaving my house. Oh well, gotta do it. To everyone else, have a wonderful Christmas and be safe! Happy reading!