Customer Reviews

Devil's Waltz

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Excellent book! In my opinion this is one of the best Kellerman books I have read. "Devil's Waltz" is disturbing in that there are actually people out there that will hurt their child for attention. This novel opened my eyes. There are some very sick people in the world. Kellerman writes "Devil's Waltz" with a few different mysteries all tied up together. Just when you think Alex might get this thing solved... something else happens and twists everything around! The ending was great and did surprise me somewhat. I enjoyed learning about munchausen syndrome by proxy -terrible, yet fascinating. I recommend this book enthusiastically. It is quite fascinating. I neither slept nor ate much while I was reading this book... I could not stop reading!!!!!! In a word: Gripping!

As a tremendous fan of Kellerman and his protagonist, child psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware, I found this book's premise to be promising - munchausen syndrome by proxy, the intentional injuring of a child by the parent(s) (or sometimes nurses) to gain attention. Although the book loses a little steam compared to his previous books, especially for those who have never met the main characters, the simple idea that a plot can be suspenseful without involving a medical examiner or a detective or a lawyer makes his books not only necessary, but instantly refreshing.

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.

This book will keep you in suspense. It is such an unthinkable premis. You will not be sorry if you select this book.

A disturbing novel and a parent's worst nightmare!!!

Kellerman is the obvious choice to pen this plot. A child who is sick or parent's compelled to make their child sick? That sums up this novel in a nutshell and to give more away would be criminal!!

Jon weaves magic as he displays his usual smooth flow, vivid charcterizations, and superb narrative voice to turn in another stellar book every parent should go out and purchase.

Keep 'em coming, Kellerman! Two thumbs way way up!!!

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.

J. Kellerman continues to write stories with a twist. As a medical professional I thought I had this one all figured out right up to the end. WOW. While child abuse is always difficult to read about, Kellerman once again educates as well as entertains.

This is a chilling mystery (the twist - the protagonist is a child psychologist) about parents suspected of harming their baby. It is a completely engrossing book -- I started to read it at a world-class resort in Hawaii, and I saw very little of the resort! After finishing Devil's Waltz, I read most of the other books in the series (there are quite a few) and I already have "EYES" looking for his next one!

It is brilliant to have the main character be someone OTHER than a cop or a jaded P.I.!! Having now read most of the books in the series, I am delighted by the development of all the leading characters across the years of the series. This book, I think, is still my favorite, though.

Kellerman is really skillful at maintaining continuity and evolving their personalities at the same time. I strongly suggest reading the whole series. I hope Mr. Kellerman never tires of Alex Delaware (the psychologist).

Devil's Waltz by Jonathan Kellerman has Alex called in on a consult at his old hospital by a doctor who suspects the increasing visits to the hospital by a toddler with mysteriously changing aliments may be caused by someone close to her suffering from Munchausen by proxy. This harrowing mental illness drives a person to make children sick so they can gain attention from various medical people and family members.
Each time the child is bought to the hospital she is in worse condition and Alex recruits fiend Milo to help him sift through the suspects. He's totally baffled by who is making the child sick and how they are doing it. The one thing he's sure of is the child will not live much longer if he can't solve the mystery quickly. Alex suspects the previous death of the child's baby brother was not due to natural causes, but the hospital records are missing and the two people that handled them last have been murdered.
The issues get even more confusing when Alex and Milo begin to suspect hospital's administrators of carrying out some sort of financial plot against the hospital. It soon becomes one of those who's doing what to whom things where everybody knows something's going on, but nobody can figure out what it is. The clues are subtle, but once the mystery is solved, just like Alex, you wonder why you didn't see it. This story makes for an excellent read.

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.