The Burnt House [Mass Market Paperback]

Faye Kellerman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 2008

L.A.P.D. Detective Peter Decker and his wife, Rina, are profoundly shaken by this terrible "accident" that has occurred frighteningly close to their daughter's school. And an irate call from the unaccounted-for flight attendant's stepfather further tangles an already twisted mystery. The man insists twenty-eight-year-old Roseanne Dresden was never on the doomed flight, but was probably murdered by her abusive, unfaithful husband—a revelation that propels Decker down a path of tragic history and deadly lies toward an unimaginable evil that will challenge his and Rina's cherished beliefs about guilt and innocence and justice.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A coincidence so improbable that a character comments on it renders bestseller Kellerman's 16th novel to feature Lt. Peter Decker of the LAPD and wife Rina Lazarus (after 2003's Street Dreams) one of the series' lesser entries. After a commuter airplane crashes into an apartment building shortly after takeoff from Burbank Airport, Decker and his team investigate what many fear was a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, the parents of Roseanne Dresden, a flight attendant, suspect that their daughter was murdered by her stockbroker husband, Ivan, who claims his wife joined the doomed flight at the last minute. Roseanne was considering divorce, and Ivan stood to lose financially. As the probes into the crash and into Roseanne's fate converge, readers will find it a challenge to suspend disbelief. Fans of the extended Decker-Lazarus clan will enjoy catching up with old friends, but those looking for a plausible police procedural may be disappointed. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Praise for The Burnt House:Relentless suspense with intense, multilayered human drama, this is an utterly compelling page-turner’ My WeeklyPraise for Faye Kellerman:‘Very exciting’ Daily Mail‘Brutal but thoughtful and well-plotted, fast-moving and well told’ Observer‘Sensational’ Mirror‘Kellerman creates a claustrophobic atmosphere, against a background of seediness, violence and distrust’ Sunday Telegraph‘Kellerman moves her gritty mean streets LA plot along with breakneck pace’ Irish Independent --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Harper; Reprint edition (July 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061227366
• ISBN-13: 978-0061227363
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Faye Kellerman is the author of twenty-six novels, including nineteen New York Times bestselling mysteries that feature the husband-and-wife team of Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. She has also penned two best selling short novels with her husband, New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman, and recently has teamed up with her daughter, Aliza, to co-write a teen novel, entitled PRISM. She lives in Los Angeles, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as many others in the series, August 18, 2007

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Burnt House: A Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels) (Hardcover)

Having read the other books in this series and having waited almost 2 years for this book, I was really looking forward to this latest entry about Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. Unfortunately, it was somewhat of a letdown. One of Faye Kellerman's strengths is weaving the home life of Peter and Rina in with Peter's professional life as an LAPD Lieutenant. Although some time has passed since the last book, Kellerman fails to fill us in fully on the family. Rina's boys are absent, Hannah's teenage angst is hinted at but never fully developed and Peter's daughter Cindy and her husband make quick appearances. Part of the charm of this series is the description of what it's like living in Peter and Rina's Orthodox Jewish home, but the explanation of customs is missing in this book. As to the mystery, it rests on some pretty far-fetched coincidences. The ending comes with a whimper, after a few red herrings, and is never fully resolved. Hopefully, the next book will be better.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great take-off, bumpy ride, September 15, 2007

By 

Dr Cathy Goodwin (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Burnt House: A Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels) (Hardcover)

Homicide Lieutenant Peter Decker gets drawn into the investigation of Roseanne Dresden. She's listed as a passenger on the plane, but was she working as a flight attendant? Riding jump seat to her Burbank home from San Jose? Or did she run off to start a new life to escape from a difficult marriage?

So far so good. I have to admit I had trouble putting this book down for the first 200 pages or so...up till Kellerman throws her readers a curve with an improbable coincidence. After that I skimmed through to the ending, which definitely does not live up to the first third of the book.

Apart from the ending, the book could have been cut by at least 100 pages. We get details of forensic techniques. We get descriptions of what everyone was wearing, even some minor characters. And we get too much details of police interrogations.

I also can't help wondering if the LAPD would invest substantial resources to fly to another state for a cold case. And some of the airline information didn't seem quite right.

All in all, frustrating to get so interested and then deal with an anticlimax ending. Great writing -- just needed some heavy-handed edits. And I would have to agree with the reviewers who criticized the book jacket. A good mystery -- maybe. Definitely not a "mind-searing portrait of unimaginable evil that will challenge Decker's and Rina's own beliefs..." Not even close.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Burnt House, July 17, 2008

By 

Ted Feit (Long Beach, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Burnt House: A Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels) (Hardcover)

The return of Peter and Rina Decker is always welcome. It combines good police procedure and the smell of good food. This novel is no exception. It begins with the crash of a small commuter plane out of Burbank (Bob Hope) airport early one morning and the supposed death of an airline steward. When all the victims are accounted for, her body is not identified, although the remains of bones beneath the destroyed structure into which the plane plunged are discovered.

Thus begins the hunt for the truth behind the disappearance of two women. The skeleton is finally identified as someone gone missing thirty years before. The stewardess' body remains the subject of a continued search. Is the husband somehow responsible for her disappearance or even her possible murder? Or is it a contractor in San Jose with whom she had a brief affair? What started out as two unrelated incidents draws Decker and his team back and forth to San Jose and New Mexico in an effort to uncover 30-year-old information in attempt to solve the cases.

With more questions than answers the investigation unearths more dead ends than answers. But perseverance is virtue that pays off in the end. And the interrelationship of Peter and Rina is on display deeply, as she provides a sounding board to guide him both supernaturally and professionally. Tightly plotted and well-written, the series remains a joy to read.