Customer Reviews

Deception: An Alex Delaware Novel (Alex Delaware Novels)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

When Kellerman first brought the Delaware series forward, the books were a welcome and unique entry to the mystery genre: a psychologist who used his unique insights and training to solve crimes, especially those involving children, child psychology being Delaware's specialty as a shrink.

Milo Sturgis was a supporting character to whom Delaware would turn when he needed police support. But what made the series so appealing was the idea that Delaware was getting inadvertently involved in solving mysteries while trying to cure his patients, and his expertise as a psychologist would afford him the unique perspective from which to solve those crimes, in spite of the ineffectiveness of the police.

My, how times have changed.

Milo Sturgis is now the central character; Delaware's simply along for the ride, and to act as a sounding board for Milo so that we readers don't have to sit through endless exposition; his being a psychologist has become completely irrelevant, and isn't even used as a device anymore. Gone are the descriptive passages that establish place and setting, which were so evocative of LA in all its varied motifs. Gone are any personal story elements, such as those involving his girlfriend Robin or his dog; they've become nothing more than set dressing for the few passages when Delaware's in his house (presumably just to have something happen in a different physical scene). Dialogue consists of terse exchanges between Sturgis and Delaware; many of the scenes with witnesses or suspects remind me of the old "Dragnet" TV series, or maybe "Law & Order".

The series has become a hard-boiled detective series starring Sturgis; it's almost on the level of pulp fiction; certainly "police procedural" genre rather than psychological mystery/thriller.

Now, on that level these recent books - including "Deception" - work okay... for what they are. So, I guess I'll give it 3.5 stars on that basis.

But if you're expecting classic Delaware, especially if you're a long-time reader, you're in for a big disappointment.

I understand that over time authors make creative decisions, and sometimes elect to change their approach to a character or series. That's certainly their right. But then we as readers need to be aware of what we're getting. Some people may well like this transition; others certainly won't.

As I said, as a procedural or hard-boiled detective novel, this book works okay. But as an "Alex Delaware Novel", I think it falls far short of the mark, and is overall pretty pedestrian.

Alex and Milo are back, trying to figure out who-dunnit in Kellerman's newest Alex Delaware novel. I am not a huge fan of the mystery genre- maybe I just haven't read enough to find the authors I would enjoy- but Kellerman has long been the exception.

What I love about Kellerman is that he maintains a certain level of consistency in his writing while avoiding becoming boring and predictable. The trend continues in Deception which has some great twists and turns.

Deception starts off at a steady clip and maintains a good pace throughout. Alex Delaware, psychologist and unofficial detective, is brought onto a homicide case by Lt. Milo Sturgis. Alex and Milo are a seemingly unlikely partnership. Alex provides illuminating insight, drawing on his talent as a psychologist while Milo is the gritty, street-smart cop(who often doubles as the comic relief).

Right from the start, Alex and Milo find the murder of a teacher from an elite prep school raising puzzling questions. Why is there so much interest from above in keeping the case hush-hush? Why has protocol been breached in the handling of evidence? A strange DVD of the victim before her death adds further intrigue and could she have identified her murderer on the recording? And that's just the beginning!!

People are not always what they seem '

Books by prolific authors such as Kellerman are often hit or miss in quality- not so with "Deception"! If you are a fan of Kellerman and his characters, you won't be disappointed. Kellerman does a fantastic job of deftly handling the plot, stringing the reader along as he builds to a riveting finish.

"Deception" is well-written and fast paced as it builds to a big finish. Full of suspense, interesting characters and enough turns to keep even the most seasoned armchair investigator guessing, fans will be greeted by old, familiar friends and those who are new to Kellerman will likely be inspired to check out some of his earlier books after finishing this one. Great read, very entertaining- Kellerman delivers with "Deception".

Jonathan Kellerman has developed a winner in the characters of Milo Sturgis and Alex Delaware. Each new novel promises the maximum amount of entertainment with a puzzling new case. Deception, the latest in a growing line of well written novels, promises to turn over a few well place rocks to reveal the creepy humans who hide there.

In Deception, Elise Freeman, a faculty member from prestigious Winsor Prep Academy is found murdered and a DVD is found next to her body. When played, the DVD reveals a woman who has suffered abuse at the hands of multiple abusers for more than a year. As the story unfolds, it appears that the culprits are fellow faculty members and co-workers. As the details become more warped, Detective Milo Sturgis is assigned to the case. Both he and Dr. Alex Delaware must untangle the clues to get to the truth. However, that task is complicated by the resistance of both the school and the wealthy clientele that send their Ivy League bound children there.

Deception is a hand wringer. Should the upper class be allowed to hide behind a curtain thus hiding their own sins and should those that cater to this class be allowed the same privilege? This is an interesting question, because it appears that the answer to this question is usually yes.

Kellerman does a good job in keeping the story fresh and the characters interesting. After-all, after 25 of these books, keeping things moving isn't easy.

All in all, I think you'll be glad you read Deception.

I have read most of the books in the Alex Delaware/Milo Sturgis series, and this one was probably the absolute worst in the series. Recently, every new book by Jonathan Kellerman felt like an attempt to meet the publisher's deadline with no consideration for putting out a credible, engaging story. However, Kellerman was always ultimately saved from complete and utter failure by his talent, his gift at creating alluring plot twists, and the likability of his characters. This novel, however, has none of these ingredients.

Alex and Milo in this novel seem more like sad parodies of their former selves. Milo's endearing habit of enjoying food has degenerated into this character wolfing down every scrap of nourishment he enocunters in a truly disgusting way. Alex, who always suffered from being a little stuck up, is insufferably boring in "Deception." He never offers any insights, psychological or otherwise, which made me wonder why he was included in the story at all.

The plot of the novel is very limp. After a couple of half-hearted attempts to create some semblance of twists to the annoying plotline, the author gives up and introduces the solution to the so-called mystery. Both the mystery and the solution to it prove to be mind-numbingly boring.

As a long-term fan of the series, I sincerely hope that Kellerman will manage to get himself together and stop insulting his readers with inane efforts at mystery writing that we see in "Deception."

Unfortunately the first Alex Delaware novel ever, that i didn't finish, and i've read every one.It is obvious the authors find it hard to sustain their books as time goes on.The story became so jumbled up towards the end with characters that i didn't know, that i gave up

Alex Delaware fans will enjoy Deception. The plot is tight, the balance between Alex/Milo just about right, the cutesy-poo interchanges with Alex's luthier/love kept to a bare minimum. A substitute teacher/tutor at an elite Westwood prep school turns up dead, packed with dry ice. With a taste for Grey Goose and a roving eye that extends beyond her relationship with a pudgy, gambler/salesman, there are any number of possible suspects and motives for the icing. The problem is that the LAPD Chief's son is a student at the school and the Chief fears that any adverse publicity could jeopardize the school's reputation and, hence, the son's chances for admission to Yale.

It's great to see the Chief again, a model of insight/cleverness yoked with snarky political incorrectness. In a world where coptalk and copspeak are the coin of the realm, you can see why he is the head honcho. He tries to keep Milo on a short leash (with predictable, negative results) as Milo and Alex investigate the pomps and works of prep schools and the politics of the SAT's/ACT's. Alex gets to use a bit of his psychological training; we get to see some of the dark side of L.A. and the even darker side of L.A.'s prep schools.

This is a solid outing, not the best of the series necessarily, but one which is smooth, tight and to the point. The chief and his son are worlds apart in their takes on things; you'll like both.

Another disappointing book from the pen of an author who used to write in an intelligent, solid and engaging way. Alex Delaware offers little genuine insight, serving primarily as a chauffeur and straight man for Milo. The characters are flat, the conversation banal and the plot cluttered rather than complex. On the up side, we heard little about Robin or Rick with blessedly little of the relationship angst that sometimes overpowers the story. Every time Kellerman releases a new novel I hope for a return to the quality that marked his earlier books that I fear will never be seen again.

I'll admit straight off that I didn't finish this book. I've been a long time fan of Kellerman's, and while I've grown somewhat disenchanted with recent books, I've kept at them. Mostly what bothered me about his recent books is that all the characters sound the same. But this was worse. It's almost all conversation with very little attribution or stage action or thoughts or emotion. There was nothing to draw me into the story, even though the plot sounded interesting in the abstract, and there was nothing about the characters that made me care about them (even though I've gotten to know them over the course of many novels.) In short, I found the book (and characters) flat and uninteresting. I may be my last Kellerman novel. Too bad because I really used to like his books.

The last three books out of this author have been so below average as to what we expect from him, I am hoping his creative juices have not dried up because I have read all of his previous books and have been thrilled with them. This particular read was one of those books that you think is going to get better--page after page until you are about 50 pages from the end and then you know it will not get better but you finish it anyway hoping for a great boffo ending--well, it ends with a whimper and you have wasted hours of your time. The review was given 3 stars instead of 2 because I did actually finish and the basis of the story line was interesting.

On the plus side, we get less of the girlfriend. Robin, and more of Milo and his wonderful adjectives for his superiors. On the minus--Less of Delaware's insight and participation, more of Milo scarfing tons of food, not utilizing supporting characters of past novels that we are used to (Sean Binchy, Moe) and after bringing in fairly important characters not utilizing them to the fullest. MILD SPOILER ALERT The final reveal is a big fat out of nowhere flop. Interesting ending but not a good one.

Maybe Mr. Kellerman will bring in his son Jesse the next time and give us something extra special.

I am huge fan of Jonathan Kellerman and have all of his books (hardback). I am a Kindle owner but will continue purchasing the actual books for all my favorite authors. Deception was a fast paced, exciting read. Kellerman did not let me down with his ability to create intriguing twists and turns. A previous review mentioned that they missed Robin and Rick. I have to admit that Robin was wearing very thin with me in previous books. I felt this was a "get the job done" investigation for Alex and Milo. Great detective work to solve the crime without all relationship issues that have come up in the past. Though, I also felt that there was something missing and that may have been it.