Retribution and 'the curious incident of the dog in the night-time'

Retribution, by Jilliane Hoffman, has been lying beside my bed for a few months and I finally committed myself to finishing it one night last week. It was an entertaining and exciting read. I feel some spooky and twisted dreams creeping up but they haven't been experienced yet, phew! I recommend this read for days when you're at home, sick, or just lying in bed, and want to enjoy a good mystery.
The curious incident of teh dog in the night-time, by Mark Haddon, was exceptional. I brought it to Mexico and was reading it on the beach, when two people throughout the span of one day stopped walking (or stumbling, 'dirty monkey' in one hand, pina colada in the other) and started telling me about how much they enjoyed this book. It was interesting to get in the head of a boy who has autism. Everyone has some autistic tendancies within the spectrum so I could relate to certain aspects. such as a lack of emotion when nothing can be changed in a situation. Now I can be pretty emotional and girl-ish but a lot of times I really just am emotionally mono-toned when it comes to social events. It's a protection mechanism for me, ignoring the fact that I may be hurt makes me think about it less and, therefore, it takes the power away from the hurter by not letting the situation consume my life very much. But with Christopher (the protagonist), it is hard to determine whether his lack of emotion towards his mother and father's history being explored and surprisingly discovered, is a strong protection mechanism or if he honestly does not feel these emotions in his core. His life sounds really hard and I am thankful to not be 'autistic' and capable to make day-to-day decisions and function fruitfully. Fruitfully is from the definition of mental health: "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community."
That is all for now, I may want to write more about 'the curious incident...' later but overall, it was intellectually stimulating and complex.