

Hannibal Lecter and his complicated relationship with FBI profiler Will Graham. What it's about: The life and killings of Dr. Why you should watch: Other than Russell and Rhys' performances in this smart, sexy thriller, the series, like others ("Breaking Bad," "The Sopranos"), gets the viewer to root for characters who walk a fine line between good and bad. What it's about: The series follows two Soviet KGB officers played by Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys posing as a married American couple in the '80s. You may even start thinking they're different actresses. Why you should watch: It's amazing to watch Maslany convincingly play numerous versions of one character from a rebel punk to a brainy UC Berkeley student to a soccer mom. At times the reading is verbose - but then perhaps that's the point of this text.What it's about: After Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany) finds out she's one of many clone versions of herself who are being killed off, she sets out to find both the murderer and the people behind the doubles. Overall, though, the information is plentiful. It's easy to find oneself at the end of a 30 page chapter and asking, 'so what were the major take -home points?' Though many chapters emphasize basic science relevance, a balance to the clinical side is at times lacking, and leaves the house officer with unsatisfied experience. At times, chapter authors regurgitate statistics and major findings to provide an 'evidence-based text,' Unfortunately, the dizzying array of numbers and references are incohesive without major conclusions being drawn by the chapter authors. Though each chapter is quite lengthy, there is a lack of uniform length and clarity from chapter to chapter which makes the reading style somewhat difficult.

The trauma, vascular, and most GI sections are fairly well written. There is no doubt that if one seeks to understand the basic principles as well as clinical application of general surgery, this text is an excellent addition to any surgical library. Overall, the breadth and depth of this text was very good.
