The Picture of Dorian by Oscar Wilde

Beautifully written and witty but the story despite this didn't grab me. PW: Oscar Wilde brings his enormous gifts for astute social observation and sparkling prose to The Picture of Dorian Gray, the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. This dandy, who remains forever unchanged---petulant, hedonistic, vain, and amoral---while a painting of him ages and grows increasingly hideous with the years, has been horrifying and enchanting readers for more than 100 years. Taking the reader in and out of London drawing rooms, to the heights of aestheticism, and to the depths of decadence, The Picture of Dorian Gray is not simply a melodrama about moral corruption. Laced with bon mots and vivid depictions of upper-class refinement, it is also a fascinating look at the milieu of Wilde's fin-de-siècle world and a manifesto of the creed "Art for Art's Sake."The ever-quotable Wilde, who once delighted London with his scintillating plays, scandalized readers with this, his only novel. Upon publication, Dorian was condemned as dangerous, poisonous, stupid, vulgar, and immoral, and Wilde as a "driveling pedant." The novel, in fact, was used against Wilde at his much-publicized trials for "gross indecency," which led to his imprisonment and exile on the European continent. Even so, The Picture of Dorian Gray firmly established Wilde as one of the great voices of the Aesthetic movement and endures as a classic that is as timeless as its hero.

Live Bait by P. J. Tracy

Pretty good, the characters are so likable I rated the book more on them than so-so the plot. PW Minneapolis detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth are bored - ever since they solved the Monkeewrench case, the Twin Cities have been in a murder-free dry spell, as people no longer seem interested in killing one another. But when elderly Morey Gilbert is found dead in the plant nursery he runs with his wife, Lily, the crime drought ends - not with a trickle, but with a torrent. Who would kill Morey, a man without an enemy, a man who might as well have been a saint? His tiny, cranky little wife is no help, and may even be a suspect; his estranged son, Jack, an infamous ambulance-chasing lawyer, has his own enemies; and his son-in-law, former cop Marty Pullman, is so depressed over his wife's death a year earlier he's ready to kill himself, but not Morey. The number of victims - all elderly - grows, and the city is fearful once again. Can Grace McBride's cold case-solving software program somehow find the missing link?

The Third Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders

4th in the series of 5 - wish there were more because the Delaney series is excellent. PW A "Hotel Ripper" stalking New York's nightside with a Swiss Army knife and the retired cop named Edward X. Delaney determined to catch him. Or the killer.

Never Go Back by Lee Child

This book is painfully slow. There's very little plot, mostly just characters reflecting on something around them in a way that attempts to be witty or knowledgable. Reacher is a clever guy but some care should be given to making the plot so too. As usual Dick Hill brings the story to life with his narration. This isn't the worst book in the series but it's down in the bottom 5 - if you're new to the Reacher series, choose one of the earlier books. Child makes interesting characters for his good guys but his bad guys are one dimensional. Even so, Reacher's character is what will bring me back to the next in the series.

The Assassin: Badge of Honor by W. E. B. Griffin

Book 5 is an enjoyable continuance of this character drama about cops.

The Witness: Badge of Honor by W. E. B. Griffin

Book 4 continues where 3 left off and lead right into 5.

The Victim by W. E. B. Griffin

Badge of Honor, Book 3 continues the fun macho cop soap opera...