City of Thieves; Dexter's Final Cut

A customer at work asked if I watched "Game of Thrones", and I said yes, and he asked if I had read co-creator David Benioff's "City of Thieves" and I said no, and he said I should so I did, and I'm glad I did, it was really brilliant. It's either meant to be semi-autobiographical about David's grandfather or we're to believe it is: the book starts with a young screenwriter named David going to interview his Russian grandfather about his experiences during WWII. He goes to Florida and sits down with his retired grandfather to hear the story about how he killed two German soldiers before he turned eighteen and met his wife to be. The poverty of Russia during the war: people eating the paste out of library books, resorting to cannibalism, was really heartbreaking. Lev is captured when he and some friends go to inspect a dead German paratrooper and taken to a prison known as the Crosses. There he meets Kolya, a young soldier accused of deserting. They are taken to a Colonel who promises to spare their lives if they return in a few days with a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake. No one has seen eggs for months, but Lev and Kolya are determined, so off they go, chasing black market rumors and fighting for their lives. The ending was bittersweet.

Dexter is given the job of showing actor Robert Chase how to be a forensics geek so Robert can be authentic in his new show. The pilot is shooting in Miami, and Deborah has to show beautiful actress Jackie Forrest how to be a hard nosed detective. Dexter is attracted to Jackie, and she to him, so when she reveals that she's being stalked by a psychopath and doesn't want the network to know for fear they'll recast her, Dexter offers to be her full time bodyguard and moves into her plush suite at a local hotel. Dexter hunts down the psycho stalker and kills him, but then Jackie's assistant Kathy is killed. Dexter is spending all his time with Jackie on the pretense of earning money for a pool cage for their new house, and ignores Rita until she tells him Astor is missing. Dexter realizes she's with Robert Chase, who is rumored to have a penchant for underage girls, and goes looking for them, only to find Jackie dead. He finally finds Astor and Robert at the new house, and Robert has killed Rita. Astor kills Robert, and it looks like it might be the end for poor Dashing Dexter.