Baby its cold outside!

the wind chill is currenlty -37... that sucks...
  Here is one of my favorite recipes! now I didnt make it tonight but I made it a little while ago and never shared it. I love pasta and bread and well almost any carb out there. So here is a fun spin on classic Lasagna

Lasagna Ciabattas (found on Picky Palate)

2Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Lb ground Italian sausage (I often use ground beef)

1 26 oz jar of yoru favorite pasta sauce

15 oz container of Ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

1/4 tsp Italian seasoning

8 ciabattas

1/2-1 cup grated mozza cheese

parm cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Place oil in a med pot and cook sausage until browned. Remove 1/4 cup of the meat and set aside. Reduce heat and stir in pasta sauce and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Place reserved meat, cheeses, salt, pepper and italian seasoning in a bowl and stir to combine

Split each ciabatta and place cut side up on a large baking sheet. Spread ricotta mixture over each roll and top wiht a couple spoonfuls of pasta sauce and top with grated mozza cheese.

bake for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parm. cheese and serve!

YUMMY



Another week

here we are at the start of another week. Not only that but its the start of a new month... and that means I looked over my budget from last month...that is always a crappy task! Somehow I managed to completely blow my grocery budget during the shortest month of the year...that takes skill im sure. Since I blew my budget so badly last month Im going to try extra hard to stay on budget this month... which means this week Im still trying to use stuff up in my house.
Monday - Curry Cajun Chicken
Tuesday - Sausages and Crepes
Wednesday - Chicken Parm.
Thursday - Dragon Fire Chicken
friday - sausage and potatoe has
Saturday - Japanese grilled chicken
Sunday - Soup and grilled cheese

Cute Read

I have finished another book... actually two but the other one was a total flop and not even worth the time reviewing... But this one was really cute. Its Holes by Louis Sachar. It was a young read which was what I needed lately as my little monster is not sleeping... again. But I will admit that I got really into it and had a really hard time putting it down.
  Its a tale about a boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up in a work camp as punishment for a crime he didnt commit. There every boy has to big a 5foot hole everyday. They say its to help build character but really there is more to that story...
  The novel weaves in some fun tales about the past history of the place and the reader soon notices that connection the history plays to certain young men at the camp.
  Now most of the connections should be fairly obvious...especially to someone like me who figures things out 95% of the time... but the end chapter helped make a few connections for me that I missed. Im blaming the lack of sleep on my poor foreshadow catching. The connections I missed didnt ruin the story at all. It was a really fun, cute tale to begin with then when it was all laid out in black in white it was even cuter.
  Yeah I hear you out there in cyber space "Cute...how can a book about deliquints be cute?" But really read this and you will see what I mean... its CUTE.
  This is a book I bought and as I added it to my teen/young adult shelves of my book cases I realized I need to expand to shelf three (which is currenlty housing my 3 yr olds toys... so we are hunting for a new home for either the books or the toys) I LOVE BOOKS.
  Holes was made into a movie and i have it on hold at the library. Once I venture over there Ill tell you how the movie stacks up to the book.
  All and all I think its a worthwhile, quick easy read.

What am I reading now??? The Red Badge of Courage!

Pretzels

You are all aware of my LOVE of the Food Network Magazine right?? Well here is one more recipe for you from the Jan/Feb Issue... which means I can now really focus on the March issue I got the other day! I have flipped through it a few times already but now I can pick the recipes to try!!!
  This recipe for Pretzel recipe was just ok... they were good... I just wasnt blown away. Its a recipe from Guy Fieri (who is fabulous by the way!)

Soft Pretzels

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast

1 Tbsp agave nectar

2 1/2 Cups whole wheat flour (I used a multigrain flour)

2 3/4 cups white flour

1 tsp sea salt

2 Large eggs

1) Mix 1 1/2 cups warm water, the yeast and agave in a bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes.

2) In a mixer, fitted with a dough hook, pulse the whole wheat flour and 2 cups of white flour and salt. Add 1 egg and yeast mixture and pulse for 10 second intervals until dough comes together (about 3 times) Turn out on a floured surface and knead 10-12 times, adding up to 3/4 cup more flour if the dough is sticky. Cut into 4 even sections and cover with a clean towel

3) on a floured board roll out one piece of dough to 14x11 inches and 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into 7 strips.

4) Pinch together the long ends of the strips and roll like a snake until it is 12 inches long. Twist into a pretzel
5) Beat an egg and brush egg on top of pretzels. Sprinkle with salt. Bake at 475 on a parchment lined baking sheet for10 minutes.

These can also be stuffed... Once you have rolled out the dough add toppings to bottom half of the dough and fold over a flap to cover. then on top of the flap add more toppings and fold over the top half. Then re roll and cut into strips to form pretzels like before.

I made a nutella stuffed one which was really good. I also made a ham and cheese one... which was ok...it needed more filling but when I tried added more it didnt roll nicely...



A Nice Read

My friends had started to realize that I have an obession with WWII. One of my good friends, Claire, is a reader (YAY) and she let me borrow a book I had never heard of to read. It is called the Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society by Mary Ann shaffer and Annie Barrows. It was a nice relaxing read.
  This book is just a collection of letters (all fictional). It is set in post World War two London and in a small town names Guernsey on the Channel Islands. The Main character Juliet is an author trying to figure out what to write her next book about when she receives a letter from a man in Guernesy looking for a book. (its a fun story as to why he is asking her... but Ill leave that for the book to share with you!) Anyways... the Channel Islands had been occupied by the Germans during the war and  Juliet soon realizes that she wants to gather all the stories she can about what they people there went through during the Occupation. While looking for a story Juliet finds everything that has been missing in her life... its a sweet story.
  Reading a story written as letters is really interesting to me. I found I had to keep reminding myself that these were not real people. It was nice because you got so much of the story but also a really personal feel through out the book. I also found it really relaxing. See I am a reading who CAN NOT stop in the middle of a chapter. But I do most of my reading at night once the kidlets are in bed... which often means Im exhausted and I will admit that at times I rush through a chapter so I can go to sleep. But since this novel was all letters it was nice because a long letter was 2 or 3 pages long. so I could read a few letters and then if I was starting to head bob (at no fault of the book) then I could finish the letter and go to sleep.
  Reading this novel has made me wish for a pen pal!
  Thanks claire for such a sweet read!

Lets use it up

I have once again collected a rediculous amount of open packages in my fridge and freezer... so this week I am determined to use it all up... even though there are new recipes I want to try... I am going to resist and use up stuff. (Wish me luck!)
Monday - Nacho Party (its Tims birthday so we are going to have friends over and Im feeding them a few different types of nachos for dinner)
Tuesday - toasted Sesame Chicken and rice
Wednesday - Bang Bang shrimp
Thursday - Chicken Burgers and fries
Friday - Egg Sammies
Saturday - Chicken fingers
Sunday - Soup and Grilled Cheese

I love the BBC

Have I ever mentioned how much I love the BBC. It's fantastic. At first I didnt fully realize just how much I adored the BBC, but then I had one of those light bulb moments and realized that pretty much all the documentaries I have fallen in love with are BBC productions. Life, Blue Planet, Planet Earth, etc etc etc.
  I recently finished another BBC production. This one is called Aushwitz; Inside the Nazi State. I have been on a WWII kick lately. I am really intrigued. Ive been reading fiction and non fiction on the matter and have come to learn alot and have formed even more questions regarding that time. I had taken this book out at the library and then one night when I was searching around Netflix (another great love of mine) I discovered that it was a documentary from the BBC. OF COURSE I WAS THRILLED and started watching it right away. It was 6 1 hr episodes. It was INCREDIBLE. I learned so much in those short 6 hours. and of course it filled me with more questions as I am now left to search out more info on Drachau, Dr. Melegee, Himmler, and others.
  It was very humbling to see how small steps can lead to the largest and most horrific mass killing scene in WWII.... I say WWII because I have heard of other geneside sites and dont feel informed on those enough to weigh them against Aushwitz. But I think we all can agree that the murders there were devastating!
  I learned so much like;
-Aushwitz was orginally a POW camp for Polish prisoners and Soviets
-It was meant to be a slave workers camp for some huge Scientific company
-They had 'special' jewish workers who's job was to lead the other jews into the gas chambers and then clean up afterwards (disgusting eh?)
  It saddened me while watching this documentary to hear those who survived those days talk about it. They had Nazis, Jews, and polish prisoners all who lived at Aushwitz give accounts from that time. It saddened me to hear the hatred that the Nazis had and how they truly believed they were right. And it broke my heart to hear how much hatred filled the victims that survived. yes they are as justified as anyone to hate, but can you imagine carrying that baggage around. And how that must of effected their children to have grown up with those scars in their parents.
    Maybe I am morbid and warped but I loved this documentary. I thought it was fair to both sides and full of interesting history. I am so glad the BBC made this little gem. Now Im off to find another great and insighful documentary from the BBC!

I DID IT!

This has been a recipe I have been terrified to try! Its one of those long running family passed down from generation to generation recipes. I was always so scared id mess it up... so I never learned how to do it. At least thats what I thought.
 
Jaxon's class needed some buns to celebrate bun day at preschool. They said they could just buy some but lets face it homemade are always better. So I volunteered to make some. Then the stressing started... "what if I cant do it?" "What if they dont turn out??" But all was for naught. They worked great. Its amazing how once you watch something being made your entire life how you just know how to do it. My rolling technique was not perfect but I soon got the hang of it and it was like how my mom does it! YAY!

Sweet Rolls

Combine 1 1/2 cup water with 2 tsp sugar. Sprinkle 3 tbsp of yeast over the water (DO NOT STIR) Let stand until foamy (about 10 min) In a seperate bowl (LARGE BOWL) combine 1 cup sugar, 4 tsp salt, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup veg. Oil and 3 cups warm water. Add the yeast mixture. Then add flour (anywhere from 9-12 cups) it all depends on the flour and the weather... today I used about 12 1/2 cups. the dough has to be smooth and not sticky, but still moist.
Cover with a towel and let rise for 90 minutes. Punch down and let rise again for about 1 hour. Form buns and put into buttered pans and let rise for about 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees until browned (about 20 minutes)

Sorry I know most of you will be cursing this recipe... but thats what happens when its a passed down recipe... most of it is learned but watching! Hoping it works for you!

Reall? Thats it???

A few days ago a finished another book....it was painful... it left me thinking "Wow did I really just waste the last few nights on this?" Good thing it was a short book! Here is how I had come across this book. Friday night TV sucks (besides CSI NY) then I saw this preview for a show called Haven. I will admit it didnt look great, but it looked decent enough for me to give it a go. So here is my review of Haven... BAD BAD BAD. The acting reminds me of a junior high play and the writing is not much better. The lines they come up with are so rediculous that even an oscar winner could not pull them off! And then there is the story lines. Beyond Hokey! I mean I am all for a little far fetchedness (yeah I like that word) but there are still limits! There is one long runnign story line; an FBI agent comes to investigate a murder in the little town of Haven, Maine and then discovers that someone who might of been her mother (whom she never knew) may have been there. So she stays to investigate that.  But there are also all these little show to show story lines that are all super natural. It appears that everyone in Haven has some crazy super power like controling the weather or dreaming things into reality. Yep its a winner. Despite all the awfulness I was still sucked in by the "is that her mom?" Story line and Im sure the fact that there is nothing else on then helps too! Anyways... I heard it was based on the book Colorado Kid by Stephen King. So I thought I'd save myself alot of misery and just read the book to find out how it all ends.
Smart Idea right???? WRONG... I read the book. I am still left wondering How it even relates! The book is really short so it was a fast read (luckily) The book is about 3 journalist from a small town in Maine (so far the only connection between show and book I could find) the 2 elderly journalist are telling their intern journalist the mystery of the Colorado Kid (the mention the colorado kid in the show but its only in passing as the headline in the newspaper) Anyways.. they are sharing this story about a man who is found dead on the beach and for 18 months they have no idea who he is, how he got there, or why is his there. Finally they find out he is from Colorado (hence the Colorado Kid) and that he left behind a wife and son. They never find out why he was in Maine or anything. and thats the end of the book... yep I know. Im not the kind of reader who needs everything wrapped up in a nice little package at the end of a book, but at least leave me feeling like ive traveled somewhere different then when I started. 
  This was disappointing for two main reasons. 1)I love King's work. LOVE HIM. He is sort of my guilty little secret because his lanugage is awful in most of his books, but I think his novels are genius. They all have weak endings but the rest of it is great! 2) I am still stuck watching this horrid show because I have no answers! ARGH! Maybe its time to turn to google and see what I can find out there!

Happy Valentine's Day

AHHH Valentine's Day. I will admit Im not a huge valentines day fan. But it was so fun this year, now that Jaxon is in school and could give out Valentines. yes I did go a little over board... why?? because Im me and thats what I do!

Jaxon loves diggers. That is one highlight to living in the construction zone. So we made him digger valentines to give out.

Then we added a heart shaped Rice Krispie treat because they are yummy!

For our neighbour friends we gave them heart shaped cookies. Really simple no fail recipe. But the funny part of this story is that when I got home I realized that I didnt have red food coloring. But it was a good thing that I had some of this extra yummy cherry cordial M&Ms from Christmas. They added a nice touch to the cookies

Sugar Cookies (they stay soft!)

(from Grandma Shelva!)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

3 Tbsp Milk

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the yolk and milk and mix to combine. Add flour and baking powder and mix until well combines. Add in the vanilla and combine.

Roll out on a floured surface and cut into desired shape.

Bake at 350 degrees. The cook time will vary depending on how think you like your cookies... a pretty average cookie takes 8-10 minutes.

need sleep

My Little monster Owen has had a fever since thursday night... which means this mom is seriously lacking in the sleep department. the worst was last night... where he was up every 20 minutes. So this will be a less then thrilling post... but here is this weeks menu. I think Im repeating stuff from last week because I made too much food some nights and we had tons of leftover.
monday - enchiladas
Tuesday - Breakfast
Wednesday - Talapia and Rice
Thursday - Egg sammies
Friday - something with chicken... hmmmm Ill think on that!
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Ill ahve to come up with something for this night too!

GUMBO

As I was thinking about what to post today I totally had another plan (ive finished another book and was going to review it) but then I made this for dinner tonight and I thought I have to post it before I forget how I made it. Here is the story behind my Gumbo Recipe. Tonight we had the Missionaries over for dinner. I was feeling brave and thought Id test out a new recipe on them. Normally I try to avoid new recipes when Im serving guests and just do something I know is yummy. But today was a brave day for me. They were scheduled to show up at 6pm so at 5pm I decide I should start looking over the recipe to figure out how long it will take. Well I did the math in the book and without prep (chopping, etc) it took a total of 150 minutes to cook! Needless to say I did not have that kind of time, and lets face it even if I did I doubt Id commit that amount of time to soup! So  few teaks here and there and voila My very own Gumbo recipe that was ready by 6pm! I think it was pretty yummy and so does my hubby!

Amanda's Gumbo

2 chicken breasts cubed

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

1 med yellow onion, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped

4-6 bay leaves

1 lb sausage, removed from casing

2 cups beef broth

4 cups chicken broth

1 chipotle pepper

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

cilantro to sprinkle

4 cups cooked white rice

1) heat some oil in a pot. Add chicken and brown slightly. Add garlic and veggies and cook until soft (about 10 minutes)

2) Add broths and pepper, crushing the pepper slightly. Pinch off bite size chunks of the sausage and drop into stock. Stir to combine.

3)Bring to a rolling boil. (you will notice that I didnt use a roux... GASP! I know I felt weird about it too!) All to boil for a good 15-20 minutes. This will help to reduce the stocks and allow it to thicken slightly.

(You could not eat the gumbo... but Its always better to let is simmer that way all the flavors come together nicely)

4) reduce heat to low, cover and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

5) 5 minutes before serving throw in the green onions.

6) when ready to serve, place a layer of rice in the bottom of the bowl and top with Gumbo.

Pretty darn good!

Baptism gift

One of our good friends turned 8 this year and in the LDS world that means BAPTISM! Its a big birthday for us! I can not believe she turned 8! Time flies by! We unfortunately miss the event as we were all sick. But I wanted to share the gift I came up with to give her.
  I got a few packages of Tic Tacs and attached a paper that read "Getting Baptized is worth a MINT" and I also got 10 loonies and attached them to 10 papers. On each of the papers I wrote a scripture reference. I then included the instructions for a Scripture Treasure Hunt. She was told that the scriptures contain many treasures so look up and read each verse and once she did that remove the loonie as a bonus treasure! I think it was a cute idea!

Post 200---One for the kids

This is my 200th post! YAY!!! Sorry I have no giveaway or anything super exciting to share with you... But I do have a new book for the kids
  Yes this is late... my boys got their new book of the month at the beginning of the month and then I forgot to write about it. We are reading african stories this year. This month it's Tricky Tortoise. Im not to sure how I feel about this story. The art work is amazing. Makes me want to go to africa (but it doesnt take much to make me want to travel) Here is my issue... Its a tale about a tortoise who is always getting stepped on because he looks like a rock. He gets really mad when Elephant steps on him and bets elephant that he can jump over elephants head and the winner of the bet has to provide a huge feast for all the animals in the jungle. The next day when it was time to see if tortoise could make the jump, tortoise has his brother who looks just like him hide on the other side of elephant in the grass... then tortoise pretends to jump over elephant with this brother popping up on the other side.  Elephant therefore has to provide a feast. In some respects I like the ingenuity shown by tortoise in taking on the bully that is elephant, but at the same time I dont like the lying and trickery is being rewarded. Jaxon loves the book and thinks its funny, especially the silly chant the tortoise says when jumping. So for now I will just enjoy it as a funny tale about talking animals and cross the rewards to lying bridge when it comes!

Another Great Read!

This past weekend I did alot of reading since everyone was under the weather. I finished a book called I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. Zusak is also the author of the Book Theif that I reviewed a little while ago. I am the Messenger is winner of the Michael L Printz award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature from the American Library Association.
  I will admit at the beginning of this book I was not sure I was going to be able to get into it. At times the Language is not great. Im not sure if its a cultural difference (like I know alot of the swearing in the Harry Potter books is because its not really considered bad in England) This is an Australian book. But since the words used are harsher then the ones in the Harry potter books I think its just bad language. Its funny because it seems like it came in spurts... lots of bad words and then nothing for a while. As always Id much prefer if that sort of thing was not included at all.
  But this was still a wonderful book. I loved it! I will probably buy it. Its about this young man named Ed. He is 19, driving a cab, playing cards with his friends, and basically going no where. This is is life and will be his life until he dies. Then one day he stops a bank robbery with out even really trying. After his 15 minutes of fame he is back to his normal go no where life when he starts getting Aces in the mail with weird messages on then... like addresses, or names or movies. He takes on this call to improve the lives of others, somewhat reluctantly at first, but once he gets going he feels a new purpose to life and slowly comes to realize that the messages he spreads are not so much for the people he delivers them too but for himself. By the end of the book you would barely recognize Ed if you had not taken this incredible journey with him.
   There is one quote that has stuck with him in this book. It's near the end of the book. He is recalling the dismall state of his dad's funeral the year before and comes to realize that his life is/was headed in the same direction. no one had anything to say at his dads funeral and Ed concludes; "I want words at my funeral. But I guess that means you need life in your life." That is my firm belief. We all have been given a gift in this life. Time. Time is such a double edged sword... what will you do with it. Will you spend it being unkind or creditcal, or even worse will you squander it away doing nothing. or will you rise to the occassion and make the most of the time you have been given. I am trying everyday to make the most of the time I have been gifted with.
  That was another thing I loved about this book. Rarely were the messages Ed delivered world changing. At first you were life to think... "Really thats it" but as it evolved you came to realize just how much a simple act can change a persons life. In all the instances the simple acts Ed did for them changed their lives. And by seeing that change in other and realizing his potential they changed Eds life as well.
  im still thinking about the ending. It was a totaly surprise to me... and Ill admit Im still slightly confused. But it wasnt until I started to think about it that I got confused.... maybe Im over thinking. I dont want to give away too many details because I dont want to spoil the ending for you. But Maybe I was so caught up in the story that at the time the details of the ending didnt matter... but once I removed myself I bit I still have questions. But then again I think thats the mark of a good book as well; to leave one thinking and talking about it after you have closed the cover.
  Well Done Markus Zusak. Well done!

Im Back!

Did you miss me??? Sorry for the unexpected absense from blogging the last few days... we have been bombarded with sickness in this house... its been crazy... first my little monster, Owen, started throwing up at 2 am thursday morning... then once he was better Jaxon took a turn starting friday night at midnight (I guess that technically saturday right) Tim wasnt well that day either adn then once all three boys were better it hit me today. I have extra diclitin (no Im not pregnant) so I have been popping those all day. It helps... I love those wonderful pills! I think Im better now... but Ill still take some more before bed just to be sure.
So today is menu day... good thing I did this ahead of time as I have not wanted to think about food lately. And this also comes with a disclaimer... this is my plan.. although I may not stick to it as Im still not 100%... but at least i have a plan!
Monday - Firehouse chicken
Tuesday - Gyoza
Wednesday - Pizza
Thursday - Enchiladas
Friday - Lasagna Ciabattas
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Chicken and sausage Gumbo

Brown Sugar Cupcakes

Seems like its birthday time! Alot of my friends or friend's husbands, my kid's friend, or even my husband have had or are about to have birthdays. Since its birthday time I thought it was only approriate for me to share my favorite cupcake recipe. Arent cupcakes great. here is a weird fact about me... I cant stand cake, but I love cupcakes. I dont know why but I have no desire to eat a slice of cake... but give me a cupcake and its gone in 30 seconds. LOVE THEM! Yeah I know... weird eh?? Oh yeah and give credit where credit is due... I got this recipe in one of my most used recipe books... Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

Brown Sugar cupcakes

3 Cups Flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

4 eggs

3/4 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 325 Line standard muffin tin with paper liners. whisk together flour and baking powder.

2. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one and a time. Scrape down sides and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk. beat until well combined.

3. Fill each cup 3/4 full. Bake for 25 minutes.

Beef Dip Nachos

Here is yet another Nacho recipe for you. I can take full credit for this one... and Im feeling pretty proud of it. Its not as great BBQ Chicken ones I shared earlier but its still pretty darn good!
   Caramelize one large onion in a saute pan. Put some sliced roast beef in med bowl and add the onions to it. Make up an Au jus sauce... I made mine by taking a cup of beef broth and a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce and a dash or two of hot sauce... (you will have lots left over) pour about 1/4 cup of the sauce onto the meat and onions and stir to combine. You want to use just enough sauce to moisten the meat. on a bakign sheet lay out a single layer of Sweet Chili Heat Doritos and top with the meat mixture and then grated cheddar cheese... bake until its melted goodness!
  Sorry no pics... Tim ate them too fast! And this is a short post because Jaxon wants to build castles!

Big Red Tequila

ok...so here is the story... I had been hearing great things about this book called Mission Road by Rick Riordan. I didnt know he had written adult books before he did Percy Jackson. So I was very intrigued to read Mission Road since I loved percy Jackson. So I got it from the Library, only to find out its book five in a sequence... (not a series, you can read books in a sequence as stand alone books, but there is a main character in all of them that is the same) so since Im slightly OCD I have to read them in order. So then I googled the main characte Tres Navarre and returned Mission Road and then got Big Red Tequila. I was on the wait list forever so I was so excited to finally get it... that soon passed...
  This book SUCKED. The language wasnt great, but I will admit I have read books with worse lanuage. But still it was a pain to have poor Language. But even beyond that the story just dragged. Nothing happened. It was supposed to be some big mystery and by the end of the book the killer was revealed, but I am still left here going... WHY DID IT TAKE ALMOST 400 PAGES???
  Tres, the main character is just weird and whiney... and DUMB... I have no idea how he was able to do what he did. He got police records that were supposed to be confidential. He has guns pointed at him all the time and was always able to use his stupidity to get away.

  I doubt ill be reading the rest of these books.... who knows maybe one day Ill get desperate and try again... But I say DONT WASTE YOUR TIME!