THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (Stieg Larsson) - June 26/10

This incredibly entertaining (yet overlong) book spends quite a bit of time setting everything up and establishing the characters (Mikael and Lisbeth don't even meet until around page 500!), but the story is so well planned out and executed, that it's easy enough to overlook the book's somewhat erratic structure. And while Mikael is indeed painted as a very vivid protagonist, I found that I was more interested in Lisbeth's exploits (what an original, fascinating character). Likewise, the financial stuff involving Mikael's nemesis isn't nearly as entertaining as the central mystery (Harriet being alive is one of the best WTF moments I've encountered in a while), although it is occasionally a little difficult to keep track of all the characters. I only hope that the sequels focus more on Lisbeth. *** out of ****

HIGH-RISE (JG Ballard) - June 14/10

Quite literally one of the worst books I've ever read, High-Rise is an utterly interminable and pervasively pointless novel that is completely devoid of positive attributes. Ballard's complete and total (and shocking) lack of talent is reflected in the absence of interesting or even developed characters, and the increasingly outlandish storyline is nothing short of absurd. There's absolutely nothing here to hold the reader's interest. Ballard is an atrocious writer who seems to lack even a rudimentary understanding of what it takes to craft a marginally interesting story. My god. You could take a Chinese novel and translate it directly into English and it would still be more coherent and compelling than this piece of shit. Ballard, there's a special place in hell for you for writing something this oppressive and worthless. no stars out of ****

HORNS (Joe Hill) - June 10/10

Another frustratingly uneven book from Hill. Horns opens well, though, as Hill offers up an irresistible 70 pages or so in which the main character discovers his horns and the power that they contain. But then Hill does this weird thing in which he cuts to a flashback story about said protagonist and an adventure atop a very tall hill, which is interesting in its own way, I suppose, but basically kills the momentum of the story. The remainder of the book is like that; story followed by flashbacks, and it gets awfully frustrating. There's still plenty here to like, however (including the grisly manner by which Eric, who chokes on a snake, meets his maker), and Hill is certainly a talented writer. He just needs to streamline his stories. **1/2 out of ****

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME (Mark Haddon) - June 7/10

This seriously entertaining book, which follows an autistic teen as he attempts to solve a dog's murder and eventually makes his way to London, features one of the most compelling protagonists I've encountered in quite some time, as Haddon effortlessly gets inside the head of an autistic person and paints a rather vivid portrait of how they view the world. And though the book occasionally gets bogged down in digressions, there are so many surprise twists (his mother isn't dead!) and well-conceived set pieces (the train station) that it becomes impossible not to just breeze through the novel in a few days. ***1/2 out of ****

DEADLINE (Chris Crutcher) - June 5/10

I needed this book after this string of underwhelming and overwritten "adult" novels (I'm in the middle of Ballard's High-Rise as I write this). The book has its problems - the emphasis on football, the rather silly conversations with "Hey-Soos," etc - but it's often quite moving and very entertaining. I could've used more stuff revolving around Ben's relationship with Dallas Suzuki, but otherwise, I really enjoyed this one. *** out of ****