Obsession (Alex Delaware Novels)

Book Description

With scores of millions of books in print, translation into two dozen languages, and one of the most popular heroes in contemporary fiction to his name, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman is the unequivocal “master of the psychological thriller” (People). In his newest novel Kellerman delivers a tour de force–poignant, dark, and chilling–that illuminates a shadowy world where impulse rules.

Tanya Bigelow was a solemn little girl when Dr. Alex Delaware successfully treated her obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Now, at nineteen, she still seems older than her years–but her problems go beyond hyper-maturity. Patty Bigelow, Tanya’s aunt and adoptive mother, has made a deathbed confession of murder and urged the young woman to seek Delaware’s help. The doctor recalls Patty as a selfless E.R. nurse struggling to raise a child on her own–a woman seemingly incapable of the “terrible thing” she has admitted. But for Tanya’s peace of mind, Delaware agrees to investigate, and he enlists LAPD detective Milo Sturgis in the search for the phantom victim of a crime that may never have occurred.

Armed with only the vaguest details, psychologist and cop follow a trail twisting from L.A.’s sleaziest low-rent districts to its overblown mansions, retracing Patty and Tanya’s nomadic and increasingly puzzling life to the doorsteps of a sullen heroin addict; a randy real-estate broker; and a brilliant, enigmatic physics student. Suddenly a very real murder tears open a terrifying tunnel into the past, where secrets–and bodies–are buried. As the tension mounts, Delaware and Sturgis uncover a tangled history of desperation, vengeance, and death–a legacy of evil that refuses to die.

Dramatic, action-packed, and filled with the psychological detail that only Jonathan Kellerman can provide, Obsession is a whodunit, a whydunit–and something unique: a did-it-even-happen? This is Kellerman at his heart-racing best.

Customer Reviews:

A real ho-hummer, unfortunately.......2007-09-12

About half-way through this book, I realized I didn't really care who did it. Or why. Or about any of the characters in the plot-line other than our regulars -- Alex, Milo, and Robin. I think the initial plot device, a vague deathbed confession from an unlikely murderer, was a good idea. The rest of the plot was a hot mess, involving characters discussed, but never really "present" in the book. I have loved many of Jonathan Kellerman's books, but this one didn't deliver.

Absolute rubbish.......2007-08-30

That's it. Jonathanan Kellerman I gave you one last try, and you failed. This has to be the worst book I have read by anyone in years. A convoluted nonsensical plot with so much padding the author should be in the upholstery business. At least half the book is taken up by poorly developed characters arguing about whether this or that happened, or perhaps it was that or this, or perhaps none of the above. And at the end I simply did not care who had done what to whom and why. In fact I wonder if the author felt the same way.

Thomas H Cook and Dennis Lehane, you have nothing to fear from this author. You guys rule.

Is It Me?.......2007-08-29

I always love the Alex Delaware novels, and I would never tell anybody not to read this latest entry in the series. And that is despite my ongoing complaint about Kellerman's ridiculous attention to every street in Los Angeles by name (what does this mean to a reader in Poughkeepsie?).

My problem with Obsession is that I simply could not keep the characters straight. I don't know whether this is a fault of my own as a reader, or whether, as it seemed to me, they are endless stock characters of such variety and of such little interest that I kept confusing them in my mind. It got so I had to keep turning back to make sure the gentle giant erstwhile bodyguard was who I thought he was; the sicko serial killer/would-be music impresario, who had TWO names, was indeed himself; the FBI informant, what was his name? who weaves in and out of the book in a confusing manner, and all sorts of other peripheral and confusing characters.

The main plot is easy enough, but as other reviewers have said, Why would the LAPD care? A dying nurse of stellar reputation confesses, or seems to confess, on her deathbed that she killed somebody. Her daughter, Tanya, an uptight, hard-to-like highly implausible character, wants her name cleared. Alex once treated Tanya; he wants to help. Milo, although on a much-needed and rare vacation, agrees to give up all his personal time to follow a trillion fruitless leads. Petra is always a wonderful addition to the series; she is very real. Robin doesn't bother me as much as she bothers other reviewers. I just find her annoying. And the puppy? Well I'm a dog lover, so I enjoyed her antics, figuring that in real life, the Kellermans have gotten themselves a bulldog puppy!

As stated above, I wouldn't tell anybody not to read this book, but I found it extremely confusing and the ending very lame. I like the series so much, and even with all the confusion, Kellerman is fun to read, so hence the lukewarm recommendation.

A pedestrian effort.......2007-08-29

I felt Kellerman delivered a boilerplate thriller with Obsession. The murder mystery centered around a "possible" crime uttered by a dying woman, which seems pretty flimsy but in true Alex/Milo form they kept digging and made something of it. The psychological aspect was also rather weak, as Kellerman focused this time on OCD, which didn't seem relevant to the murder mystery aspect. If it did, then I missed it, but it certainly wasn't obvious. Kellerman has always been so good at intertwining the psychological aspects with the murder mystery, but he just falls short here.

I also found most of the new characters uninteresting, and the existing ones stale.

Petra seemed tired and bored at times.

The entire Bedard family was annoying. I didn't find myself rooting for Kyle despite his good intentions and goofy parents.

Tanya generated very little sympathy, and how many college kids refer to their mother as "Mommy"?

Robin was window dressing - a few short riffs on her working at the shop, going out to eat, etc. Nothing on their evolving relationship.

Issac Gomez, who has potential, was dismissed early.

The Mario Fortuno storyline was clumsy, and could have been more interesting if fleshed out further.

The interrogation of Fisk seemed too ordered and convenient (dumb con tells all).

And finally names. Where does he come up with Mary Whitbread?

In summary, it was a boilerplate, pedestrian effort by an author I love. The whole effort seemed rushed and lacked his normal attention to detail.

Not one of his best, but still decent........2007-08-24

Jonathan Kellerman has set the bar for psychological thrillers, and he's set it high. Unfortunately, Obsession, the latest in the Alex Delaware series, falls short of his previous achievements.

While the usual elements are there -- a previous client needs help, and Delaware and his detective pal Milo Sturgis jump to the rescue -- things feel a bit stale. Everything is just a bit tepid. Their reason for becoming involved in the mystery (a dying request from Sturgis' lover's co-worker) is tenuous at best. Because there is no immediate crime to investigate, just the suspicion of one, things start off slow. And the character development seems to stagnate. Robin, Delaware's live-in love, is a mere two-dimensional place holder with no personality of her own, and nothing new about Delaware's or Sturgis' personalities is revealed.

The young girl they're interceding on behalf of is annoying and simple (does this college-aged girl REALLY call her mother "Mommy" ALL the time???). I wanted her to be guilty of something, just because she bugged me so much. Bad news when the reader is cheering for culpability on the part of the who's supposed to be protected.

All in all, a decently plotted and written mystery, but that spark of excitement and frisson of fear that accompanies most of Kellerman's books is missing.

Gone: An Alex Delaware Novel (Alex Delaware Novels)

Average customer rating:

Lacks plot
Reviews by Nan Kilar-This one is so-so
Gone and best forgotten!(1.5 stars)
I don't know.
Gone

Gone: An Alex Delaware Novel (Alex Delaware Novels)
Jonathan Kellerman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345452623
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Book Description

No one conducts a more chilling, suspenseful, thoroughly engrossing tour through the winding corridors of criminal behavior and the secret chambers of psychopathology than Jonathan Kellerman, the bestselling “master of the psychological thriller” (People). Now the incomparable team of psychologist Alex Delaware and homicide cop Milo Sturgis embark on their most dangerous excursion yet, into the dark places where risk runs high and blood runs cold.

It’s a story tailor-made for the nightly news: Dylan Meserve and Michaela Brand, young lovers and fellow acting students, vanish on the way home from a rehearsal. Three days later, the two of them are found in the remote mountains of Malibu -battered and terrified after a harrowing ordeal at the hands of a sadistic abductor.

The details of the nightmarish event are shocking and brutal: The couple was carjacked at gunpoint by a masked assailant and subjected to a horrific regimen of confinement, starvation and assault.

But before long, doubts arise about the couple’s story, and as forensic details unfold, the abduction is exposed as a hoax. Charged as criminals themselves, the aspiring actors claim emotional problems, and the court orders psychological evaluation for both.

Michaela is examined by Alex Delaware, who finds that her claims of depression and stress ring true enough. But they don’t explain her lies, and Alex is certain that there are hidden layers in this sordid psychodrama that even he hasn’t been able to penetrate.

Nevertheless, the case is closed–only to be violently reopened when Michaela is savagely murdered. When the police look for Dylan, they find that he’s gone. Is he the killer or a victim himself? Casting their dragnet into the murkiest corners of L.A., Delaware and Sturgis unearth more questions than answers–including a host of eerily identical killings. What really happened to the couple who cried wolf? And what bizarre and brutal epidemic is infecting the city with terror, madness, and sudden, twisted death?

From the Hardcover edition.

Download Description

PRAISE FOR JONATHAN KELLERMAN

RAGE

“[Kellerman is] a master of the grab-the-reader contest. . . . The chills start within the first two pages.”
–Saint Paul Pioneer Press

“[An] adrenaline-fueled read.”
–People

TWISTED

“An elaborate, tangled web . . . with unsuspected turns at every chapter break . . . This addictive tale . . . is as intricately detailed as it is tantalizingly page-turning.”
–Entertainment Weekly

“A perfect whodunit–a tale told with gusto . . . a thrilling, engrossing pace from the first page to the last.”
–Orlando Sentinel

THERAPY

“Labyrinthine twists, excellent pacing, and hard-boiled, swaggering dialogue.”
–The Washington Post

“Immensely enjoyable . . . There’s even a shocking surprise.”
–Associated Press

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Lacks plot.......2007-08-31

As in other Kellerman novels, the plot is loose and unconvincing.
If all the pieces come together at the end, it is because of the same old "deus ex machina" Kellerman uses in other novels, not because of the natural, deductive progression one would expect from a police mystery work.
The author uses his signature resources: detailed physical descriptions of characters and their clothes, infinite Californian car drives, discussions about the case over meals, impersonal Los Angeles atmosphere. However, without real plot depth to sustain, these scenes seem repetitive and unjustified.
The action is slow and the outcome is predictable and anticlimactic.
The rendition by actor John Rubinstein is excellent, especially his versatility in switching between the characters' voice registers and timbres.

Reviews by Nan Kilar-This one is so-so.......2007-08-10

Two wannabe actors stage their abduction, get caught, and a few days later the young woman is dead. As homicide detective Milo Sturgis and Alex Delaware try to figure out whodunit, I had a pretty good idea who was responsible as the bodies kept turning up. And talk about a wacko family that's introduced! The story is not exciting; it just plods along and should have ended with the killer's death. But there is a happy note in Alex's life.

Hopefully the author will put some life into his next Alex Delaware story...if there is another one. They just aren't quite as exciting as they used to be.

Gone and best forgotten!(1.5 stars).......2007-06-25

I just couldn't warm up to 'Gone', or Kellerman's style. Maybe it was my relative lack of familiarity with the Alex Delaware series(I'd only read one of them previously, and I can't even remember which one!), or the feling that this was just another 'paint by numbers' police procedural, loaded with characters at the expense of plot. I think something about the overly superficial 'seamy underside' of Southern California put me off, as well.
I wouldn't recommend jumping in on this series in midstream. Kellerman assumes readers have a familiarity,if not a deep understanding, of the previous volumes, and newcomers might be lost. This book seemed like a mishmash, with Alex's romantic 'complications' filling space in the middle of a murder investigation that wasn't very compelling in the first place. The dynamics of Alex's and Milo's partnership could have been intersting, but it soon becomes a tired cliche. I really only finished this book because I don't like to leave anything unfinished.
I might try 'When the Bough Breaks' at some point, just to see how this series began, and if there was anything to recommend the series at the start. However, if Kellerman's later work is similar to this example, I'll most likely skip the rest of the series.

I don't know........2007-05-15

I hate to give a J K a low rate review. Since he is like like my best page turner writer,13 novels i think i read.

So i am not goin to elaborate, it's still a good book, but not like past ones.

for a newbiew Kellerman, do read it. IT's still boiling.

Gone.......2007-05-13

I am never disappointed in a Jonathan Kellerman book. I first read one about five or six years ago, then had to go back and buy all the others that he had written years ago. I am especially like when the author keeps a favorite character around like Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgess.

Average customer rating:

A psychological study.....
Good, but Implausable
WOW!
Silent but Deadly
ok, but......

Silent Partner (Alex Delaware)
Jonathan Kellerman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345460685
Release Date: 2003-04-29

Book Description

The bestselling author of When The Bough Breaks, Blood Test, and Over The Edge delivers the most stunning novel yet and featuring psychologist-detective Dr. Alex Delaware. At a party for a controversial Los Angeles sex therapist, Alex encounters a face from his own past--Sharon Ransom, an exquisite, alluring lover who left him abruptly more than a decade earlier. Sharon now hints that he desperately needs help, but Alex evades her. The next day she is dead, an apparent suicide. Driven by guilt and sadness, Alex plunges into the maze of Sharon's life--a journey that will take him through the pleasure palaces of California's ultra-rich, into the dark closets of a family's disturbing past, and finally into the alleyways of the mind, where childhood terrors still hold sway.

Also available on BDD Audio Cassette.

Download Description

The bestselling author of The Murder Book and A Cold Heart delivers the most stunning novel yet and featuring psychologist-detective Dr. Alex Delaware.

At a party for a controversial Los Angeles sex therapist, Alex encounters a face from his own past -- Sharon Ransom, an exquisite, alluring lover who left him abruptly more than a decade earlier. Sharon now hints that she desperately needs help, but Alex evades her. The next day she is dead, an apparent suicide.

Driven by guilt and sadness, Alex plunges into the maze of Sharon's life -- a journey that will take him through the pleasure palaces of California's ultra-rich, into the dark closets of a family's disturbing past, and finally into the alleyways of the mind, where childhood terrors still hold sway.

Customer Reviews:

A psychological study............2006-10-04

This was a terriffic book - which highlights the confusion and craziness of the borderline personality.
Truly Alex, at times seemed borderline -
When treating a borderline personality, this is indeed how you feel - crazy.
Kellerman took us into the borderline's world - the confusion of reality/unreality, identity shifts, fragmented world and fragmented childhood.
Kellerman was brave to take on a storyline like this - combining borderline, at times what seemed like multiple personality (because of the three disturbed twins), the world of treatment and psychotherapy, as well as the fallout - as it affected others in the borderlines' worlds.

This was quite a feat!
Yes, at times it was confusing - and that's how working with borderlines is.
I had to reread parts of the book with a few of the twists and turns.
Great book!

Good, but Implausable.......2006-07-23

Jonathan Kellerman is a fine writer with a very compelling sense of style. This book, like all of his Alex Delaware books, was fun to read and I recommend it overall.

However, I found the storyline of this book to be incredibly complicated and ultimately quite implausable. Indeed, the last 100 pages of the book are solely devoted to explaining the incredibly convoluted plot! What I like about Kellerman is that his stories are pretty realistic -- but SILENT PARTNER is about as believable as the plotline of a daytime soap opera.

This novel also features quite a bit of sex. Alex Delaware is a good looking man, but is it necessary for four separate women to make a sexual pass at him? He politely turns all of them down, but how believable is that? Even James Bond doesn't get that many opportunites in the course of one book.

Overall, I give this book a mild recommendation. Don't make this your first Delaware novel, you should instead read WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS, which I found far superior.

WOW!.......2006-06-02

This one is scary! The climax is scarier than that of Bad Love - and
that one is SCARY! Even though Alex ... well, I don't want to give
anything away, so I'll just leave it at that. Alex sure does get himself
into spooky situations. And he can't keep his mouth shut! Who would have
thought Alex would be such as smartalec?

In this one Alex and Robin are seperated and she's off finding herself
or something. In his boredom and despair, he agrees to attend a faculty
party celebrating the appointment of a new department head. Alex and his
friend Larry attend just to make snide remarks about Paul Kruse, the man
of honor. At the party, Alex spots an old flame and that's when all the
trouble starts.

Sharon corners him and all his conflicting emotions flood to the
surface. She says she is not doing so well and wants to get together
with him - just to talk. He agrees, but later, he regrets it and calls
to cancel, leaves a message on her machine. The next day, she is dead -
an apparent suicide - and Alex blames himself. He flashes back to their
relationship in Grad School - which is pretty darned steamy - and then
starts digging - into her past as well as into his own soul and what he
finds isn't all that pretty.

At the start, Milo and Rick are off on a fishing trip and Milo's
description of this trip is pretty darned funny. Alex gets his friend
involved in all the mess, though, and then goes off on his own, leaving
poor Milo out in the cold. I hope he makes it up to Milo in the next
book.

Another book I couldn't put down - another sleepless night - I should
charge the author for my sleep deprivation therapy.

Silent but Deadly.......2005-10-23

I have read all of the Alex Delaware books and am eagerly awaiting his next, it made me want more of this interesting character! I have since read all his fiction novels, and love them all, but still think "Silent Partner" the best. So many odd twists and turns, not even the best arm chair detective can anticipate the plot. It held my attention from first word to the last, and I hated to see it end. It was the book that hooked me on Jonathan Kellerman novels. The type of book you can read in one sitting.

ok, but.............2005-10-10

i enjoy the kellerman novels, but this one was a slight disappointment. a bit meandering, a little overwritten, several flashbacks, and with the most exciting interpersonal dynamics and scenes involving the antagonists being revealed, barely, in retrospective conversation. and finally, are they twins?, triplets?, multiple personalities?, borderlines verging on psychotic?, on and on and on. who knows? after 450 pages, one doesn't much care. with a *who's on first??* narrative that was not very enjoyable, but kind of irritating. what little psychological suspense there is, is eclipsed by the extended series of closing scenes. i hope the next one is tighter. by the way, the length of the novel, for a mystery was not a problem at all, it was a content issue.

Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History)

Average customer rating:

Where is a ghost writer when you need one?
Top-Notch history from a Top-Notch historian
What can I say that hasn't been said
Excellent work
Excellent

Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History)
David Hackett Fischer
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Military & Spies | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 019518159X

Book Description

Six months after the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution was all but lost. A powerful British force had routed the Americans at New York, occupied three colonies, and advanced within sight of Philadelphia. Yet, as David Hackett Fischer recounts in this riveting history, George Washington--and many other Americans--refused to let the Revolution die. On Christmas night, as a howling nor'easter struck the Delaware Valley, he led his men across the river and attacked the exhausted Hessian garrison at Trenton, killing or capturing nearly a thousand men. A second battle of Trenton followed within days. The Americans held off a counterattack by Lord Cornwallis's best troops, then were almost trapped by the British force. Under cover of night, Washington's men stole behind the enemy and struck them again, defeating a brigade at Princeton. The British were badly shaken. In twelve weeks of winter fighting, their army suffered severe damage, their hold on New Jersey was broken, and their strategy was ruined. Fischer's richly textured narrative reveals the crucial role of contingency in these events. We see how the campaign unfolded in a sequence of difficult choices by many actors, from generals to civilians, on both sides. While British and German forces remained rigid and hierarchical, Americans evolved an open and flexible system that was fundamental to their success. The startling success of Washington and his compatriots not only saved the faltering American Revolution, but helped to give it new meaning.

Customer Reviews:

Where is a ghost writer when you need one?.......2007-08-21

I believe it was easier to cross the Delaware in winter than to get through this book. I just read 1776 by David McCullough, loved it, and was interested in reading more. Fischer is one of the dullest writers I've read. It is painfully obvious that being a successful academic and a successful writer are not necessarily connected.

Top-Notch history from a Top-Notch historian.......2007-06-24

This is probably about as well organized and detailed as any book on a single historical event can get. That it does so without loosing pace or drying out is commendable. While the title may lead one to believe that this book is only about the famous "midnight" crossing, the actual event serves as the centerpiece for the story with the painting by Emanuel Leutze as its starting point. In fact, "Washington's Crossing" deals as much with the events leading up to and afterwards as it does the actual crossing. It is also about more then just the famous crossing with which we are all familiar. Several other Delaware River crossings are detailed including the initial retreat from the ensuing British, the return from the battle of Trenton, and the advance back into New Jersey shortly thereafter. The book is also a detailed biography of George Washington's years just before and into the fist several months of the American Revolution. Appropriately enough this book is also, at times, about the Delaware River itself.

Davis Hackett Fischer deserves five stars on his writing style alone. This book flows like a well written story, which is appropriate in that history is human drama. The book starts with a description and history of the famous painting of Washington crossing the Delaware and then discusses the recent arguments over the painting's accuracy. It seems to have become the fashion lately to debunk this painting over various, some rather trivial details, such as time of day, type of boats used, and even how chunks of ice depicted in the painting, Fischer staunchly defends the painting based on what and who it represents, and most importantly the spirit that is represented. One appreciates Fisher's references throughout this book that American history is not something that needs an apology.

The first three chapters provide a thorough background on all of the major players, the American rebels, the British regulars, and the Hessian mercenaries. Fischer maintains a sense of objectivity in his accounts. Although the acts of rape, pillage, and violence towards the colonies are not ignored, The British and the Hessians are not merely described as the villains of the story just as the Colonials are not by default "good guys." This book is sympathetic to the American cause, but that does not prevent it from describing the people and nations as what they were. One example is General Cornwallis, who is frequently described the pompous and arrogant buffoon who lost the colonies. Fischer however devotes a fair amount of time to Cornwallis's standing in the British military and career as a whole. The depiction is that of an accomplished military career by all standards and that of a person with his own mind who was well respected by all ranks.

The rest of the book can be divided into three sections starting with the seemingly endless series of disasters that the continental army incurred after the British regulars arrived, including the fall of New York, the execution of Nathan Hale, and the loss of Fort Washington, probably the lowest point for George Washington during the entire revolution. The second, as the book's chronology makes its way towards November and December of 1776, deals with the places and events leading up to and including the Battle of Trenton. There is some good history in this section, particularly the river raiding parties out of Pennsylvania that routinely harassed the British encampments along the Delaware River's banks in New Jersey and numerous contributions they made to the attack on Trenton. This section also details Alexander Hamilton's artillery division, one of the few bright spots for Washington's young army. The final section deals with events following the Battle of Trenton, including post celebration war cabinets trying to decide what to do next, the subsequent trip back across the Delaware, and the Battle of Princeton. Again, there are some great gems of history to be found here. Most notably is Fischer's detailing of the lesser known, but probably more important events unofficially known as the Second Battle of Trenton in which Washington's forces held their ground at Assunpink Creek and turned back Cornwallis's larger and superior forces.

Fischer closes the book with a refreshing and necessary summary and conclusion. While the main body of the book completes in fewer than 400 pages, they are dense with information, which leave one feeling that they have actually completed a much longer book. Additionally, there are numerous appendices detailing all sorts of interesting facts and statistics and a section devoted to the Historiography of Washington's Crossing. This is a formidable book, but it is also a top-notch one that should delight fans of History, the American Revolution, and certainly of George Washington. Newcomers to history should probably work their way through a couple of easier books before tacking this one, but they should still consider putting this one on their shelves for future reading.

What can I say that hasn't been said.......2007-06-03

As an avid early American Historian, I place this book in my top three. This is must reading. The facts are told as they were, through the primary characters and you are there during the end of the mini ice age crossing the Delaware. Like MJ's last shot against Utah, if it didn't really happen, we would all just chalk it up to a Hollywood fairytale.

I read McCullough's 1776 after this and there is no comparison.

This book is so vivid and palpable that I felt obligated to go follow the trail of those early warriors. Amazing!

My other two favorites are Chernow's Hamilton and Gotham.

Excellent work .......2007-05-30

Fischer's Washington's Crossing is detailed account of the New Jersey campaign of 1776-1777, specifically focusing on the battles of Trenton and Princetion. Fischer does a great job of showing the differences between the leadership of Washington and Cornwallis and the effects that the battles of Trenton and Princeton had on the soldiers from both sides. While the book does get bogged down in too much detail in some points and not enough in others, this is a great book.

Excellent.......2007-03-20

This is a wonderful book. Now I want to read all of Mr. Fischer's work.

Average customer rating:

Self-Defense
Facinating
very happy with my purchase!
Great Book!
I love Alex.

Self-Defense (Alex Delaware)
Jonathan Kellerman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345458834
Release Date: 2002-10-01

Book Description

Dr. Alex Delaware doesn’t see many private patients anymore, but the young woman called Lucy is an exception. So is her dream. Lucy Lowell is referred to Alex by Los Angeles police detective Milo Sturgis. A juror at the agonizing trial of a serial killer, Lucy survived the trauma only to be tormented by a recurring nightmare: a young child in the forest at night, watching a strange and furtive act.

Now Lucy’s dream is starting to disrupt her waking life, and Alex is concerned. The power of the dream, its grip on Lucy’s emotions, suggests to him that it may be more than a nightmare. It may be the repressed childhood memory of something very real. Something like murder.

Download Description

Dr. Alex Delaware doesn't see many private patients anymore, but the young woman called Lucy is an exception. So is her dream. Lucy Lowell is referred to Alex by Los Angeles police detective Milo Sturgis. A juror at the agonizing trial of a serial killer, Lucy survived the trauma only to be tormented by a recurring nightmare: a young child in the forest at night, watching a strange and furtive act.

Now Lucy's dream is starting to disrupt her waking life, and Alex is concerned. The power of the dream, its grip on Lucy's emotions, suggests to him that it may be more than a nightmare. It may be the repressed childhood memory of something very real. Something like murder.

"Exciting... loaded with tension and packed with titillating insights."
   THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

"Kellerman at his best."
   USA TODAY

"Satisfying... suspenseful."
   PLAYBOY

Customer Reviews:

Self-Defense.......2007-08-03

Jonathan Kellerman is an amazing writer. His books never cease to enthrall. Highly recommend any and all of his works.

Facinating.......2007-07-16

As usual Alex and Milo kept me on the edge of my seat. The Alex Delaware novels are hard to put down. I'm always anxious to start and hate to see the ending come. Very exciting reading.

very happy with my purchase!.......2007-04-11

Book in great shape and so happy with entire experience! Thank you!

Great Book!.......2007-03-24

This was a really excellent story: vivid scenes, strong characters, fascinating plot. I read it in 2 days flat and enjoyed it very much.

I love Alex........2006-06-28

Dr. Alex Delaware is completely incorrigible! I love this character, but no wonder his pal Milo is going gray - keeping Alex out of trouble is a full time job! There is a scene in this one where Milo tells Alex straight out not to go snooping - he tells him, "I know you ..." Yeah, Milo knows him all right, and so do we, don't we? (And if you don't - read the books! They're great!)

Okay, Alex is a clinical psychologist who is semi-retired, does mostly forensic work now for the court and the police. His best friend Milo Sturgis is a homicide detective with the LAPD. Once Alex gets involved in a mystery, he is incapable of letting it go. In all fairness, it is Milo who gets him involved in this one.

Alex and his girlfriend Robin are rebuilding their house - she's a carpenter, so she's very hands-on with the rebuilding. In the meantime, they're living on the beach in Malibu. Sweet.

Milo is quite taken by one of the jurors involved in a particularly gruesome and high profile case. Ever since the trial, Lucy Lowell has been having nightmares and Milo asks his friend Alex to try to help her. She's quite a character and Alex is taken by her too. (Things get a little complicated when she reveals her crush on Milo - FINALLY! A woman falls for Milo! (I'm not the only one!) The fact he's gay does put a crimp in things, but no matter). While her recurring dream becomes more intense, other strange happenings have her - and everyone else - questioning her sanity. But there is obviously more going on than anyone originally thought and Alex is afraid maybe this dream is not a nightmare at all, but a long suppressed childhood memory. The memory of a murder.

Milo is tied up with another complicated case, so Alex goes off digging on his own - again. I had to laugh - several times, Alex comments about doing something "on impulse" and I'm sitting there waiting for someone to try to kill him. The lies come so easy for him in this one - he's been getting a lot of practice. He pretends to be a journalist, a freelance novelist, a publisher and he even manages to keep his lies straight - he's amazing! But the inevitable happens and he and Lucy find themselves staring down the wrong end of a gun.

The mystery is 20 years old, so it's a very cold trail and a very complicated case - you won't figure it out - the ending is quite a surprise.

Rage: An Alex Delaware Novel (Alex Delaware Novels)

Average customer rating:

Typical Kellerman, interesting, too long, enjoyable
Really Bad
A bewildering conglomeration of psycho-babble!
Too vague
Really Good

Rage: An Alex Delaware Novel (Alex Delaware Novels)
Jonathan Kellerman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345467078
Release Date: 2006-02-28

Book Description

In a host of consecutive bestsellers, Jonathan Kellerman has kept readers spellbound with the intense, psychologically acute adventures of Dr. Alex Delaware–and with excursions through the raw underside of L.A. and the coldest alleys of the criminal mind. Rage offers a powerful new case in point, as Delaware and LAPD homicide detective Milo Sturgis revisit a horrifying crime from the past that has taken on shocking and deadly new dimensions.

Troy Turner and Rand Duchay were barely teenagers when they kidnapped and murdered a younger child. Troy, a remorseless sociopath, died violently behind bars. But the hulking, slow-witted Rand managed to survive his stretch. Now, at age twenty-one, he’s emerged a haunted, rootless young man with a pressing need: to talk–once again–with psychologist Alex Delaware. But the young killer comes to a brutal end, that conversation never takes place.

Has karma caught up with Rand? Or has someone waited for eight patient years to dine on ice-cold revenge? Both seem strong possibilities to Sturgis, but Delaware’s suspicions run deeper . . . and darker. Because fear in the voice of the grownup Rand Duchay–and his eerie final words to Alex: “I’m not a bad person”–betray untold secrets. Buried revelations so horrendous, and so damning, they’re worth killing for.

As Delaware and Sturgis retrace their steps through a grisly murder case that devastated a community, they discover a chilling legacy of madness, suicide, and multiple killings left in its wake–and even uglier truths waiting to be unearthed. And the nearer they come to understanding an unspeakable crime, the more harrowingly close they get to unmasking a monster hiding in plain sight.

Rage finds Jonathan Kellerman in phenomenal form–orchestrating a relentlessly suspenseful, devilishly unpredictable plot to a finale as stunning and thought-provoking as it is satisfying.

From the Hardcover edition.

Download Description

PRAISE FOR JONATHAN KELLERMAN

THERAPY

“Labyrinthine twists, excellent pacing, and hard-boiled, swaggering dialogue.”
–The Washington Post

“Immensely enjoyable . . . there’s even a shocking surprise.”
–Associated Press

“A tight, engaging . . . brainteaser.”
–New York Daily News

THE CONSPIRACY CLUB

“An unnerving, highly cinematic plot . . . [Kellerman has] headed off into different terrain . . . with striking success.”
–JANET MASLIN, The New York Times

“[Kellerman] keeps the creepiness coming until the big-twist finish.”
–People

“Turn the page and you’re hooked.”
–The New York Times Book Review

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Typical Kellerman, interesting, too long, enjoyable.......2007-09-17

Rage is another novel by Jonathan Kellerman featuring psychologist Alex Deleware and police detective Milo Sturgis. Eight years ago, Deleware consulted on a case where two young boys, barely teenagers, brutally murdered a two year old toddler. Delaware has long forgotten about the case until recently, when one of the killers, now 20 and out of prison, calls Delaware and asks for a meeting. The boy doesn't show up for the meeting and Delaware thinks nothing of it, until the boy is found murdered. Now, Delaware joins with Sturgis and they both try and get to the bottom of the case. Delaware, acting as a police consultant, along with Milo first figure the murdered girl's father had done the killing as revenge. Then their trail leas them to a couple of former seminary students who now take in up to 8 foster children at a time.

I listened to the book on CD and found it highly enjoyable. The Kellerman formula is predictable. Milo and Delaware talk back and forth forever about possible theories. This is the way characters are developed and the action is given. Actually, this novel had little action or suspense. The novel consists of interview after interview with different characters. Fans of Kellerman will enjoy rage. New readers might be turned off by his style. This is an average effort from Kellerman.

Really Bad.......2007-09-03

My 2nd book by Kellerman and I can't remember the plot of the first, thankfully. This one does it for me. I thought it was terrible and don't understand how someone could get away with what the perp did for so many years. Wake up people.

I agree with many others, the ending needed finishing. What happened? Where did everyone go?

Skip this one in my opinion.

A bewildering conglomeration of psycho-babble!.......2007-08-04

Troy Turner and Rand Duchay were barely teenagers, little more than children themselves, when they kidnapped and murdered a young child. Troy, clearly the instigator and an evil sociopath lasts mere weeks in prison and receives his just desserts shanked by a fellow inmate. Rand, a somewhat more pathetic slow-witted dysfunctional creature who appears to have been relentlessly drawn into the deed of kidnapping by bad company somehow survives his incarceration. Upon his release he seeks to talk with psychologist, Alex Delaware, whom he encountered briefly during his trial for the murder eight years earlier. Delaware, who only reluctantly agrees to talk with him, is shocked to find Duchay murdered mere minutes before the planned conversation can take place.

"'Rage", an aptly titled psychological thriller, place Delaware and his police colleague, Milo Sturgis, into a complex battle of hide and seek with a brutal, psychopathic serial killer.

In marked, almost stark contrast with some of his current best-selling colleagues such as James Patterson, Jonathan Kellerman has chosen to focus his novels on the psychological aspects of crime - motive, character, deviance, emotion, passion - and "Rage" takes this approach to story-telling to levels beyond any he has previously attempted. So much so, in fact, that the thrill of the story is mostly buried in a web of convoluted, puzzling dialogue between Sturgis and Delaware in which they simply feed off one another in a stacked series of "what-ifs". One dysfunctional misfit after another is introduced, anaylyzed and set up as the possible mastermind of a series of brutal, evil killings. The conversation becomes so dense and the analysis becomes so complex that ultimately the evil devolves into something almost banal and the story is lost in a thicket of psycho-babble.

"Rage" is far from Kellerman's best efforts and ranks as almost boring beside such phenomenal successes as "The Murder Book".

Paul Weiss

Too vague.......2007-08-04

One of the "rules" of the standard mystery novel is that the murder victim has to be someone of importance--as does the killer. One homeless person murdering another homeless person, for example, is sad but not worthy of a mystery novel plot. In the case of this book, none of the victims is of importance, and the killer... There's not much to give away with respect to the denouement, but I'll refrain just the same. Mr. Kellerman does break the "rule" and gets away with it to some degree. I'll give him that.

The problems with the plot are of a different nature. Dr. Delaware and his police detective friend speculate endlessly about what might have happened--and then somehow turn these unsubstantiated speculations into fact. In addition, there are all sorts of "it just so happened that" incidents. Finally, there is no hard evidence that would have convicted anyone, nothing that could stand up in court against vigorous cross examination. As a result, the plot just sort of dribbles down to nothing, and I'm not at all certain who did what and to whom.

The characters are nothing remarkable. The dialogue is good for the most part, but when learning disabled girls talk, they seem much too articulate and introspective. The atmosphere is nothing remarkable, either. There are lots of details, but they do not add up, somehow, to something that grabs the reader's interest. Driving directions, attire, and botany are not, per se, atmosphere.

In summary, this is a book with a vague plot, with a vague ending, one that will not long remain in a reader's psyche.

Really Good.......2007-05-18

Keeps you going to get to the end. Another great mystery from Jonathan Kellerman. Although not his very best, it still has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. I recommend to any mystery buff.

Average customer rating:

Very Good Effort from Kellerman
golden oldie
Psychological thriller
Worth the Read
Okay, I really like Alex Delaware

Over the Edge (Alex Delaware)
Jonathan Kellerman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345466624
Release Date: 2004-03-02

Book Description

When the phone rings in the middle of the night, child psychologist Alex Delaware does not hesitate. Driving through the dream-lit San Fernando Valley, Alex rushes to Jamey Cadmus, the patient he had failed five years before—and who now calls with a bizarre cry for help. But by the time Alex reaches Canyon Oaks Psychiatric Hospital, Jamey is gone, surfacing a day later in the hands of the police, who believe Jamey is the infamous Lavender Slasher, a psychotic serial killer. Wooed by a high-powered attorney to build a defense, Alex will get a chance to do what he couldn’t five years ago. And when he peers into a family’s troubled history and Jamey’s brilliant, tormented mind, the psychologist puts himself at the heart of a high-profile case. Because Alex knows that in a realm of money, loss, and madness, something terrible pushed Jamie over the edge—or else someone is getting away with murder.

Customer Reviews:

Very Good Effort from Kellerman.......2007-10-01

For the most part, I enjoyed OVER THE EDGE. It's a very effective psychological thriller about a young man who may or may not have committed a horrible series of murders. It works well as a whodunit, and Kellerman knows how to keep the suspense alive in his stories.

OVER THE EDGE does suffer from many of the flaws that characterize Kellerman's work. The storyline is not particularly realistic, and is very complex and convoluted (Kellerman takes 50 pages to explain it at the end). This novel also contains a lot of pages of technical jargon, including some rather incomprehensible discussions about how certain drugs affect the limbic system of the brain. While I'm impressed by the depth of Kellerman's research, I think he dumps way too much of it in his novels, leading me to skip over quite a number of paragraphs.

Still, I really enjoy Kellerman's writing style, and I found OVER THE EDGE quite engaging for the most part. While it isn't as good as WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS, I think this is definitely one of the better Alex Delaware novels that I've read.

golden oldie.......2007-09-13

The copyright date on this Alex Delaware novel is 1987. I had not realized the series was that old ~~ or Dr Delaware, for that matter.

Even then, at the beginning of the series, the writing is fluent and well thought out. The plot is carefully planned, with a lot of interesting ideas to ponder as you follow the story.

Something that interests me: I really enjoy Kellerman's work, but in the last couple additions to the Dr D series, I have been able to spot the Bad Guy the moment he appears on the scene. I can't put my finger on what it is, but there is something that tips me off right away. (You can probably tell I have read a lot of Kellerman's books. They're all good!)

However, Over the Edge kept me guessing right up to the end, with extra unexpected surprises. As I have suggested in another review, maybe the author, like the villains he writes so vividly about, falls into patterns that give him away.

Never mind all that, just read and enjoy!

Psychological thriller.......2007-07-19

Psychologist Alex Delaware participated in a study of teenagers with extemely high IQs. One of the participants in the study, Jamey Cadmus, began to show psychotic symptoms during the study and Alex was dismayed that he could not help Jamey and, in fact, might have caused him some harm. Five years later, James places a late-night call to Alex which sounds like a cry for help. Jamey's disjointed and bizarre ramblings are difficult to untangle, but Alex decides he must try to help the young man. In doing so, he becomes involved in a court case which will have serious ramifications for Jamey's future.

Jonathan Kellerman uses his background as a psychologist to spin a creative and complex story. Jamey is a fascinating character, at once sympathetic yet terrifying in his actions. Author Kellerman at times uses too many psychological and pharmacological terms for the typical lay person, but despite this, the book is an engrossing read.

Worth the Read.......2007-05-17

When I start getting antsy, I automatically go to the back of the book and read the last few chapters. If I can easily connect the dots from what I've read from the beginning to what I read at the end, I put aside the book and move on.

This book not only had a surprise ending, but I wanted to know how the characters progressed to get there. I found myself reading forward and skipping back to the end multiple times to try to understand how it got there. I wasn't even able to skip a single page because the plot was so in depth and the events unfolding were so intriguing.

In general, I do like Jonathan Kellerman for that reason - most of his books make me want to read it from beginning to end. I find myself learning more about the characters and understandng Alex and Milo and Robin a little bit more each time. While many "series" books tend to get repetitive, I feel that most of Kellerman's books (and indeed this one) is unique and intriguing.

Okay, I really like Alex Delaware.......2006-05-07

This is the third Alex Delaware novel written by Jonathan Kellerman, but
it's the second one I've read. The first one I read was a much more
recent novel (Therapy) and was kind of slow going at first, but this one
had me hooked on page one! Alex Delaware is an intriguing character and
it makes a nice twist to have a crime novel told by someone more on the
fringe of the investigation. Delaware is a Psychologist who sometimes
does consulting for the police department. His good friend Milo Sturgis
is a homicide detective, so Delaware is often drawn into complicated and
grisly cases.

This book starts with a phone call in the wee hours which turns out to
be a crisis call from a former patient. James Cadmus had been a child
genius, but now has evidently gone off the deep end. When he is found
with two mutilated bodies and the bloody knife in his hand, it seems
obvious he's a homicidal maniac. But Delaware isn't so sure. It's a
wickedly tangled web, but Delaware finds help in some unexpected places
and the truth slowly becomes clear. Great stuff.

I love the dynamic between Alex and his friend Milo. Poor Milo has a new
captain who doesn't like him, so he's going through hell at work at the
moment and that leads to the bottle and trouble at home too. But you'll
just have to read the book to find out how that turns out.

And now I must go read all the other volumes in this series. There are
TWENTY of them! ARGH!

Average customer rating:

Solid Suspense and Intrigue w/Comic Relief
Great purchase!
OHMYGOSH!
Well Done!
A puzzle

Survival of the Fittest (Alex Delaware)
Jonathan Kellerman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345458842
Release Date: 2002-10-01

Amazon.com

Legendary L.A. psychologist-turned-novelist Kellerman raids real life when inventing the adventures of his psychologist sleuth, Dr. Alex Delaware, and some of the scariest parts of Survival of the Fittest are historical. Eugenicists lurk behind a murder spree Alex must solve, and he notes that the eugenics movement involved one elite U.S. college professor who advocated castration of ethnically lesser men, a forced sterilization ordered by Supreme Court Justice Holmes that Hitler used as a precedent to sterilize millions, and the pre-Holocaust coinage of the phrase "final solution."

Besides a truly horrifying theme, Survival of the Fittest boasts sharp but not arch dialogue; savvy psychological insights into stressed-out cops, suicides' loved ones, and malevolent therapists; and a sense of place so vivid that the Los Angeles Times has rated Kellerman the most evocative L.A. author since Raymond Chandler.

The plot's as twisty as a canyon road, and it's great fun to ride along with Dr. Alex and his sidekick, the burly, gay LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, as they dodge large red herrings and strive to find out why mildly handicapped kids are suffering "gentle strangulation" by killers who sign their handiwork with the mysterious letters DVLL, and what the devil this has to do with the high-IQ group Meta. Bonus for Kellerman fans: his Israeli serial killer catcher, Daniel Sharavi, star of his 1988 bestseller The Butcher's Theater, joins the sleuth team. But in the gory finale, Dr. Alex faces absolute evil all alone. --Tim Appelo

Book Description

“FEVERISH IN PACE AND RICH IN CHARACTERS . . . THIS IS A CHILLING AND IRRESISTIBLE THRILLER.”
–People

The daughter of a diplomat disappears on a school field trip–lured into the Santa Monica mountains and killed in cold blood. Her father denies the possibility of a political motive. There are no signs of struggle, no evidence of sexual assault, leaving psychologist Alex Delaware and his friend LAPD homicide detective Milo Sturgis to pose the disturbing question: Why?

Working together with Daniel Sharavi, a brilliant Israeli police inspector, Delaware and Sturgis soon find themselves ensnared in one of the darkest, most menacing cases of their careers. And when death strikes again, it is Alex who must go undercover, alone, to expose an unthinkable conspiracy of self-righteous brutality and total contempt for human life.

Download Description

The daughter of a diplomat disappears on a school field trip -- lured into the Santa Monica mountains and killed in cold blood. Her father denies the possibility of a political motive. There are no signs of struggle, no evidence of sexual assault, leaving psychologist Alex Delaware and his friend LAPD homicide detective Milo Sturgis to pose the disturbing question: Why?

Working together with Daniel Sharavi, a brilliant Israeli police inspector, Delaware and Sturgis soon find themselves ensnared in one of the darkest, most menacing cases of their careers. And when death strikes again, it is Alex who must go undercover, alone, to expose an unthinkable conspiracy of self-righteous brutality and total contempt for human life.

"Feverish in pace and rich in characters... This is a chilling and irresistible thriller."
   PEOPLE

"An original and gripping tale that is one of his best."
   CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"Why is it so hard to put down a Kellerman thriller...? It's simple: the nonstop action leaves you breathless; the plot twists keep you guessing; the themes... are provocative."
   PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Customer Reviews:

Solid Suspense and Intrigue w/Comic Relief.......2007-10-08

Kellerman's Alex Delaware novels never fail to deliver entertainment. Survival of the Fittest is no different. The plot carries a sustained suspense to the climax that will satisfy all the amateur detectives amongst you. The special treat for readers of Delaware novels is the comic relief provided by the interactions of Milo Sturgis and Alex Delaware...or for that matter Milo Sturgis and just about any other character. Have fun with this and get your dose of intrigue, too. Recommended by R.J. Estko, the author of Evil, Be Gone, a John "Lilly" Lelankevitch novel available on Amazon.com.

Great purchase!.......2007-01-12

Thank you for this great purchase! The book is in great shape and I couldn't beat the price!

OHMYGOSH!.......2006-06-09

This one is sooooooo GOOD! First off, several characters from other book
series pop up in this one. We meet an Israeli detective named Daniel
Sharavi who first appeared in J Kellerman's non-Delaware novel The
Butcher's Theater; we meet Hollywood detective Petra Connor who would go
on to have her own series (well, two books of her own so far: Billy
Straight and Twisted), and there is even a mention of detective Peter
Decker who was created by JK's wife, Faye Kellerman. I love a good
crossover, so this was fun. This is the first Delaware novel I've read
that switches POV. Most of it is still told in the first person by Alex,
but there are some chapters told in the third person from other
character's POV. That's the way Billy Straight is told and it kind of
irritated me with that book, but really didn't bother me as much with
this one. Plus, we get an actual description of Alex, who never
describes himself.

It starts with a young policeman killing himself in public. This
policeman's sister is a nurse at Cedars-Sinai, where Rick (Milo's lover)
works and Rick asks Alex to talk with her because she is really shook up
by it all. But then, Milo asks for some help with a cold case he's been
assigned - a case with international overtones. The daughter of an
Israeli diplomat was murdered and the original investigators got
nowhere. This is where Daniel Sharavi comes in.

The investigation leads to some shocking revelations and Alex agrees to
go undercover to investigate. This almost gets him killed. MAN, does he
come close to kicking the bucket in this one! Both Daniel and Milo are
more-or-less abducted by their respective superiors, which keeps them
from backing up Alex and there is a BRILLIANT scene where Milo fakes a
heart attack to get away. I mean it - who knew Milo was such a good actor? And we've
never seen Milo so frightened and upset and flat out angry because, of
course, he blames himself for endangering Alex in the first place, even
though it was Alex who talked him into it.

All's well that ends well, though, so I won't give anything else away.
These books just keep getting better!

Well Done!.......2006-05-21

I disagree with many of the other reviews. I think this novel was very well done, and Jonathan Kellerman delivered--like usual!
This novel starts out with a policeman that commits suicide--in public--which comes together much better later in the novel.
Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis go on an unbelievable journey to solve their mystery of a murderer killing people who are mentally challenged! This novel's plot will keep you guessing until the very end!

A puzzle.......2006-01-26

This book IS a page-turner, and has many commendable qualities.

The characters have substance and are believable and varied and interesting. The plot is unusual, although pretty far-fetched. The twists and turns keep you guessing, and there is considerable suspense.

But it also has some strange flaws.

The ending is strictly Deus ex Machina--just when all hope is lost, ta-DAH!, superheroes materialize out of nowhere and save the day.

Also, there is the odd and intrusive (and unnecessary) Pro-Israel undercurrent.

This is counter to the main theme, which is, Everyone Is Deserving of Respect--the opposite of the ideology of the book's fascist eugenics nuts.

And yet Israel is somehow portrayed as superior to other countries (and heavy slams are laid against Palestinians--gratuitously, because there are no Palestinians in the book). Individual Israelis (like Zev) may have their faults, but Israel is unstintingly held up as a paragon.

That would be easy to ignore, but the entire ending hinges on it.

So why all the Pro-Israel propaganda?

How would people feel if Kellerman suddenly started singing the praises of Germany--what a great, embattled country it was, how heroic its people were, how awesome its culture, how superior blah blah blah? He would rightly be condemned as a proto-fascist himself, like the eugenics nuts in his book.

Another flaw, maybe inherent in the genre, is the pervasive idea: The World Is Full of Psycho Killers. This is nonsense, of course, and leads to paranoia and the police state.

Average customer rating:

Munchausen's by proxy
Overdetailed
I just love Milo.
Kellerman At His Best!
A Devil of a read

Devil's Waltz (Alex Delaware)
Jonathan Kellerman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345460715
Release Date: 2003-12-02

Book Description

The doctors call it Munchausen by proxy, the  terrifying disease that causes parents to induce  illness in their own children. Now, in his most  frightening case, Dr. Alex Delaware may have to prove  that a child's own mother or father is making her  sick.

Twenty-one-month-old Cassie Jones  is bright, energetic, the picture of health. Yet  her parents rush her to the emergency room night  after night with medical symptoms no doctor can  explain. Cassie's parents seem sympathetic and  deeply concerned. Her favorite nurse is a model of  devotion. Yet when child psychologist Alex  Delaware is called in to investigate, instinct tells him  that one of them may be a monster.

Then  a physician at the hospital is brutally murdered.  A shadowy death is revealed. And Alex and his  friend LAPD detective Milo Sturgis have only hours  to uncover the link between these shocking events  and the fate of an innocent child.

Download Description

Twenty-one-month-old Cassie Jones is bright, energetic, the picture of health. Yet her parents rush her to the emergency room night after night with medical symptoms no doctor can explain. Cassie's parents seem sympathetic and deeply concerned. Her favorite nurse is a model of devotion. Yet when child psychologist Alex Delaware is called in to investigate, instinct tells him that one of them may be a monster.

Then a physician at the hospital is brutally murdered. A shadowy death is revealed. And Alex and his friend LAPD detective Milo Sturgis have only hours to uncover the link between these shocking events and the fate of an innocent child.

Customer Reviews:

Munchausen's by proxy.......2007-01-09

I found Devil's Waltz to be a fast, exciting read and can thoroughly recommend it. Psychologist/detective, Dr.Alex Delaware is called as a consultant to a case in a run down hospital in Los Angeles, where a 21 month old girl,Cassie Jones, is brought repeatedly, suffering from inexplicable symptoms, ranging from breathing difficulties to gastro intestinal problems. The doctors run all the usual tests on her but can find no obvious cause of her illnesses. Suspicion focuses on her mother, Cindy, a nervous young woman who is married to the son of a multi millionaire, Chuck Jones. Departments are being closed down at this particular hospital where the finances are now in the control of Jones, and the whole structure of the institution is being allowed to slide into decay. The ugly spectre of Munchausen's by proxy occurs to both Alex and the other doctors who monitor Cindy's visits to Cassie but can find no evidence to support their theory. Readers who love Jonathan Kellerman's work will relish this book.

Overdetailed.......2006-06-29

Perhaps the author is paid by the word, we get full details of carpet color and type, wallpaper colors, the artwork, name dropping at its worst, medical terms that I didn't know and weren't explained,Kellerman seems to get to the heart of the mystery too soon and then it drags and drags to the end, it will help the insomniacs to get some rest though.

I just love Milo........2006-06-09

This one starts off kind of dry - lots of technical psychobabble, but it
is interesting - in an arid kind of way. Alex is called in on a consult
to evaluate a situation involving a little 2 year old girl. Cassie has
been in and out of the hospital multiple times and no one can figure out
why. Is it a case of Munchausen by Proxy? Is Cassie's mother making her
own child ill just for attention? It's an ugly suspicion and Alex feels
very duplicitous in his evaluation - becoming friendly with Cindy, the
girl's mother, in order to spy on her, but the alternative is a dead
child, so Alex accepts the challenge.

The truth of the situation is even more heinous and when the bodies
start accumulating and the suspect list starts growing, Alex turns to
his old pal Milo for help and things get really interesting. Detective
Milo Sturgis has been demoted following an assault on a superior officer
and he's been relegated to a boring data processing position, but he's
moonlighting as a private detective and he uses the police computers for
research in order to help Alex with background info on all the players
in this potentially tragic drama. And drama it is, complete with cloak
and dagger shadow government involvement that borders on scary.

It's great watching Alex toss around all these conspiracy theories while
Milo puts it all on the line for his friend. As they both dig, the story
they uncover is more convoluted than they could have imagined and when
all is said and done, they get help from a very unexpected source.

Like I said, I just love Milo.

Kellerman At His Best!.......2005-12-31

This is my favorite Jonathan Kellerman novel. The book focuses on a disturbing story about Munchausen's Disease by Proxy. This book so quickly caught my interest, that I ended up doing my psych 101 paper on this disease. I had not heard of this disorder when I read the book. It was disturbing, intense, and tore away at your heart. I would definitely recommend this book! Munchausen's Disease seems to have become a more popular topic since I read this book. I have seen countless documentaries on, and it was also featured in the newest episode of House. It is a disturbing, yet intriguing disease, and this book delves straight into the ugliest form of it, Munchausen's Disease by Proxy.

A Devil of a read.......2005-10-24

Another classic from Kellerman! Kellerman's psychologist/sleuth Alex Delaware nimbly executes tricky steps of his own when called in to consult on the mysterious ailments afflicting a baby being seen at his training hospital in Los Angeles. In his seventh appearance (after Private Eyes ), Delaware is in top form, carefully pursuing the possibility that 21-month-old Cassie Jones may be the victim of Munchausen's Disease by Proxy, a complex syndrome in which a parent, usually the mother, secretly causes the symptoms that endanger the child. That Cassie is the only grandchild of the hospital's new CEO, a corporate hotshot who has demoralized the staff with cutbacks and a new administration of "paramilitary types," adds political twists to the case's knotty psychological aspects. After a doctor involved in computer research is murdered in the hospital parking lot, Delaware calls on his friend Milo, a gay LAPD homicide cop currently serving as an input clerk. They link an earlier murder to the hospital and then key into a secret federal investigation, all the while trying to keep Cassie safe. With familiar characters, including Delaware's woodworking girlfriend Robin, and some well-developed new ones, notably the hospital's thuggish security head and an uptight pediatric nurse, Kellerman steadily turns up the suspense, reserving some surprises to spring near the end of this intricate tale, the best of recent Alex Delaware stories.

Average customer rating:

Another great book!
THE WEB WILL CAPTURE YOUR INTEREST!
Spiders and Deceit
Very Mysterious!
Overstepping his experience

The Web (Alex Delaware)
Jonathan Kellerman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345460731
Release Date: 2003-12-02

Amazon.com

Another gripping Alex Delaware novel from Kellerman, the king of psychological suspense and author of ten successive New York Times bestsellers. The setting is tropical but the atmosphere is sinister as Delaware probes the secrets of a wealthy scientist/philanthropist and unleashes an uncontrollable chain of violence.

Book Description

Psychologist-detective Dr. Alex Delaware finds terror in the heart of paradise in this relentlessly sinister novel by America's premier writer of psychological suspense, the author of ten successive New York Times bestsellers.  Three months in paradise, all expenses paid.  It's an invitation Alex Delaware can't refuse.  Dr. Woodrow Wilson Moreland, a revered scientist and philanthropist on the tiny Pacific island of Aruk, has invited Alex to his home to help him organize his papers for publication-- a light workload leaving Alex plenty of time to enjoy a romantic interlude with Robin Castagna.

Quickly, however, secretive houseguests, frightening nocturnal visitors, and the elusive Dr. Moreland himself dim the pleasures of deep blue water and white
sand.

The cases Moreland chooses to share--a patient driven to madness by a cruel, unspeakable act; a man who succumbed forty years ago to radiation poisoning after a nuclear blast; a young woman, brutally murdered, whose mutilated body was found on the beach just six months before-- seem unconnected.  And yet Alex can't help wondering what the good doctor is trying to tell him...and what Moreland's real reason for inviting him to Aruk is.

As Alex probes--with a little long-distance help from his friend LAPD detective Milo Sturgis--he comes to believe the answer lies hidden somewhere on Moreland's vast estate.  Yet when he finally discovers the truth, the revelation will be more shocking than he could have imagined.  And it will come too late to stem the tide of violence that threatens guilty and innocent alike on the lovely lost island of Aruk.

Once again, with his brilliant characterizations and rapid-fire pace, Jonathan Kellerman has redefined the boundaries of suspense, probing real-life horrors and innermost fears in a novel that transfixes from first page to last.

Also available on BDD Audio Cassette.

Download Description

Three months in paradise, all expenses paid. It's an invitation Alex Delaware can't refuse. Dr. Woodrow Wilson Moreland, a revered scientist and philanthropist on the tiny Pacific island of Aruk, has invited Alex to his home to help him organize his papers for publication—a light workload leaving Alex plenty of time to enjoy a romantic interlude with Robin Castagna.

Quickly, however, secretive houseguests, frightening nocturnal visitors, and the elusive Dr. Moreland himself dim the pleasures of deep blue water and white sand.

The cases Moreland chooses to share—a patient driven to madness by a cruel, unspeakable act; a man who succombed forty years ago to radiation poisoning after a nuclear blast; a young woman, brutally murdered, whose mutilated body was found on the beach just six months before—seem unconnected. And yet Alex can't help wondering what the good doctor is trying to tell him... and what Moreland's real reason for inviting him to Aruk is.

As Alex probes—with a little long-distance help from his friend LAPD detective Milo Sturgis—he comes to believe the answer lies hidden somewhere on Moreland's vast estate. Yet when he finally discovers the truth, the revelation will be more shocking than he could have imagined. And it will come too late to stem the tide of violence that threatens guilty and innocent alike on the lovely lost island of Aruk.

Once again, with his brilliant characterizations and rapid-fire pace, Jonathan Kellerman has redefined the boundaries of suspense, probing real-life horrors and innermost fears in a novel that transfixes from first page to last.

Customer Reviews:

Another great book! .......2006-06-28

Dr. Alex Delaware's new house still isn't finished yet and the lease is up for the little beach house in Malibu, so Alex, his girlfriend Robin and their pooch Spike are about to be out on the street. That's why Dr. Moreland's invitation for Alex to come stay a few months in a tropical paradise to help the old man organize his notes is a very tempting proposition. And since Robin is under doctor's orders to give her wrist a rest so her tendonitis can heal, why not take a little vacation to the tiny island of Aruk?

Thus begins a very tangled web indeed. Alex is really sucked into this one, though. He doesn't even have a choice when it comes to snooping because nothing is as it seems in paradise and Dr. Moreland is fond of games. When murder and mayhem invade the island, Alex's LAPD Detective pal Milo can help only so much from thousands of miles away (but he does try), and it soon becomes clear that Dr. Moreland had ulterior motives for inviting Alex - motives that do not include organizing his notes. The danger becomes very real, though, and Alex does something ... Agh, I don't want to give anything away, but he is forced to do something he is definitely not proud of and he does it in front of Robin, which only makes it worse. MAJOR Angst!

Great, creepy story.

THE WEB WILL CAPTURE YOUR INTEREST!.......2006-05-04

This is the second novel I read by Jonathan Kellerman, and I must admit I've now become a diehard fan of his-after only two novels!
This being an Alex Delaware novel it is part of a series, but you do not have to read these in order-at least I'm not, and I have no trouble knowing his usual characters.
This takes place on an island, without the usual Milo Sturgis that has become Alex's crime solving partner and best friend.
Instead, Alex is on an island, an island that becomes a place of mystery along with its inhabitants. There are mysteries to be solved, and Jonathan Kellerman doesn't let down with the thrilling conclusion. A must read!

Spiders and Deceit.......2006-03-17

"The Web" is Jonathon Kellerman's eleventh Alex Delaware novel wnd was first published in 1996. Delaware is a psychologist based in LA who earns his living as a consultant - largely working with the courts and the police. However, the action in this book largely takes place on a small island called Aruk.

Alex and his girlfriend, Robin, have been invited to Aruk by Dr Bill Moreland. Moreland, who has gathered a great deal of clinical data in his time on the island, wrote to Alex requesting his assistance in organising and analysing it. Moreland proposes working on the biological aspects of it, with Alex focusing on the psychological aspects. The benefits to Alex include a very nice salary for the duration of the research and, hopefully, joint authorship of a number of journal articles - or possibly even a book.

Aruk is officially part of the Mariana Commonwealth and a self-governing US territory. It is also a very divided island. Moreland lives on the island's leeward side, near Aruk town - the windward side is home to Stanton, a US naval base. The Navy has also blocked the southern beach road, after sailors were blamed by some for the murder of a local girl. This has caused some ill-feeling on the island and has also had a damaging effect on the island's economy. Unfortunately for the Aruk, it's not the last suspicious death the locals will see...

Moreland lives on a 700-acre estate which was originally built by the Japanese and used as their official headquarters when they controlled the island. McArthur f