TVSquad

One of the joys in reviewing the new season of Showtime's Dexter has been in the preparation. I did just re-watched the previous season. I watched all the other seasons, read every interview I could find and even dove into a couple of reviews, both good and bad. I even got an advanced copy of the Dexter video game for the iPhone.

But while watching that iconic opening of Dexter's mourning routine, I noticed the credit to Jeff Lindsay, the author of the first Dexter novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter on which the whole show is based. I picked it up in the library and even though I knew most of what happened from the show's first season, it was still a very enjoyable read. It was dark, funny, foreboding and every other adjective you would expect to hear from a review of a great mystery novel.

The best part is that even if you watch the show, you can still enjoy the books since they take very different paths that still provide plenty of good twists and turns. Any Dexter fan would enjoy them.

Remember James Frey? He's the author of A Million Little Pieces, which became a bestseller thanks to Oprah Winfrey. Earlier this year, The Smoking Gun uncovered that Frey's book, which he claimed was non-fiction, was at least partially fabricated. At first, Oprah defended him but then she came to her senses and beat him witless on her show. It was an ugly affair, wasn't it? Thousands of readers filed a class action lawsuit against Frey and his publisher, Random House, claiming they were defrauded. Now Frey and his publisher have agreed to give refunds to all the people involved in the lawsuit. It will take months before everyone's money is returned.

Despite the gray hair, American Idol champ Taylor Hicks is only 29. So can someone explain to me why he's already writing his memoirs (if he is indeed writing them, he'll probably get a co-writer)?

Hicks just got a $750,000 advance from Random House to pen his life story, titled Heart Full Of Soul. The book will be in stores next spring.

Is there anything about Hicks that we don't already know from all of the interviews he's given and all of the family and behind the scenes stuff we've seen on Idol?

I can't wait for the Taylor Hicks Xbox game and the line of Taylor Hicks clothing. Don't laugh, it could happen.

After Oprah tore James Frey apart on her show last week, I was left to wonder what would be next for the author.

I should've known.

A Manhattan social worker was the first to file a lawsuit against Random House, the publisher of Frey's fictitious memoir about overcoming drug and alcohol addiction. The plaintiff, Jennifer Cohn, said she recommended Frey's book to a number of clients who were struggling with the same addiction. Another New York reader filed a class action lawsuit, asking for her $14.95 back. There are also lawsuits in state and federal courts in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

So...what's worse? Ripping apart the author on nationwide television or suing an author because his memoir is packed with lies?

If you purchased a copy of James Frey's book A Million Little Pieces and were devastated to find out he made a lot of it up, torn asunder by the audacity of this so-called author, bolting upright in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and punching the walls screaming, "Why, Jimmy, why?" over and over again while angrily gnawing at your own feet because the pain is the only way you know how to cope with what he's done... then you've overreacted just a tad. Still, there was a small glimmer of hope. Reuters and others reported that Random House was offering refunds to anyone who purchased the book through them, but that rumor was put to rest with this statement on Random House's Web site. If you want to return your book, you'll have to take it back to the bookstore like everyone else.