Customer Reviews

Flesh and Blood an Alex Delaware Novel (Large Print)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Alex Delaware chalked up his attempt at helping a young, defiant, angry teenager by the name of Lauren Teague, as a failure when she walked out of his office and out of his professional life. Years later, Teague and Delaware meet at a stag party where Teague appears as the night's entertainment. However, the reunion is brief and short lived when her body turns up in a dumpster. Delaware, the avenging angel in pusuit of justice, is determined to find the person who committed the crime. He becomes so intensely involved in his mission that he risks losing Robin, the love of his life, and Miles, his best friend and co-worker.

Kellerman takes a walk through the wild, seedy side of life where pornography is king and call-girls are nothing more than a replaceable commodity. Kellerman's latest book is jam-packed with suspense from cover to cover. While his previous novel "Dr. Death" may be seen as somewhat of a disappointment to many readers, Kellerman redeems himself in this one. This is, without question, the Kellerman readers have come to know and admire; here we have Kellerman at his finest.

The Alex Delaware of old is back in Kellerman's new novel. The last four in the series have been very disappointing to many of his long time fans, and Kellerman goes back to basics with this tale of a disappearance/murder that personally affects the good doc, since it happened to a former patient that he was never able to reach.

In the novel, the old obsessive compulsive Alex Delaware surfaces again. He takes the crime personally, and continues to follow up some blind alleys, driving both Milo and Robin crazy with his inability to let it go. His instincts are basically good, however, and you second guess the multitude of possible outcomes all the way through the book's end.

It feels as though Kellerman has decided to ground the doctor in the type of cases and well-intentioned investigations he crafted for Delaware in the early books of the series. It is good to have the real Alex back, and to have Kellerman fully flesh out a story, unlike the botched and tedious plots of "Monster" and "The Web".

With this book, Kellerman wins back a fan!

Lauren Teague, former delinquent, ex-patient of Alex Delaware is found dead in the bottom of a dumpster. There is no shortage of suspects or motives for Lauren had led a complicated, secretive life. A party girl, straight A student, generous to children and friends down on their luck, exquisite personal taste coupled with ugly job skills; Lauren has had bad luck, and it is catching.

The strongest area in the book is the incisive portraits of the secondary characters. The uneasy, almost saint-like Ben Dugger, the highly verbal, artistic gay roommate of Lauren's, the brutish, slovenly but shrewd Lyle Teague just sparkle on the page. The description of the fictional "Playboy Mansion" is a brilliant invention. Even protagonist Alex shows an obsessive/compulsive streak that sharpens up his sometimes-bland character. The book is well plotted, though the pace uneven.

So what was wrong? First and foremost, I found Lauren unbelievable. She came across as a set of contradictory traits that never added up to a total person. As she was the crux of the novel, it was a fatal flaw. Far too much time was devoted to the wavelets in Alex and Robin's insipid relationship. A secondary plot was superfluous, distracting from the main story and contributed nothing except a few characters that were not even remotely involved with the main plot.

"Flesh and Blood" definitely has its moments, just not enough of them.

Lauren Teague is a beautiful, but defiant teenager when her parents bring her to Alex Delaware's office. After only several visit's Lauren decides she does not need Delaware any longer, giving up her visit's to continue on her road to self destruction. Alex is left puzzled with the feeling the young girl wanted to continue her visit's but something was preventing her from doing so, none the less, Alex lets the case go, even getting stiffed for an un-paid bill.

Many years later, Alex happens to attend a bachelor party where up the stage two women are putting on a graphic sex show, to his shock, even though it has been many years, Alex recognizes one of the women to be Lauren Teague. After their chance encounter, Lauren gets in contact with Alex to explain what happened so many years ago, and brings him up to date with what is going on now. After this Lauren never gets in touch with him again.

Now, some more years later, Alex receives a phone call from Lauren's mom asking for his help, it seems Lauren has disappeared...Weeks after the disappearance, Lauren is found dead, shot with her own hand gun.

Now more than ever before, Alex puts his life, as well as his relationship with Robin, on the line, for the search for Lauren's killer will bring him into the seedy world of high priced call girls, drugs, and psychological experimentation.

`Flesh And Blood' is easily the BEST Alex Delaware novel in years. The plot is complex, but stays focused, and just when you think you have figured it out, the twists shock you without being confusing. Fast-paced, and smoothly written, readers will be captivated by the story of sex, and money.

Jonathan Kellerman is the leading author of psychological suspense, and his new novel will not only satisfy his many fans, but win him a slew of new ones.

Sure to be a huge best-seller, `Flesh And Blood' is a MUST read!

Nick Gonnella

Flesh and Blood was my first Kellerman novel. After reading this one, I'll be checking out the other 13 Alex Delaware novels.

I won't rehash the plot again, but this novel starts out quickly and does not slow down. The plot is tightly woven and Kellerman wastes little space on irrelevant details. This is one of the few books that starts off well and only gets better.

After finishing off every James Patterson, John Sandford, and Jeffery Deaver novel, I've been looking for a new author to read. I'm now looking forward to reading the rest of Jonathan Kellerman's novels. If you've read any of the authors I mentioned above, you'll enjoy this book.

Jonathan Kellerman continues his successful Alex Delaware series with this story of self-forgiveness and redemption. Ten years ago Alex treated a precocious and defiant 15 year old who dropped out of treatment after a couple of sessions. She returned six years later after Alex had seen her acting as the main event at a bachelor's party and confronted him with what he saw. His need to expiate his feelings of guilt and shame served as the prime motivation to find out what happenned to her when she turns up missing four years later. What follows is vintage Kellerman: the psychological insights, the complex, thought-provoking plot, and the ability to delineate characters with description, dialogue and behavior. Kellerman's training as a psychologist gives Alex Delaware an educated perspective and insight of the world and characters with which he lives. His interview technique is skillful and artistic and after he speaks with an important character Alex offers analysis and description of the character's personality traits.

FLESH AND BLOOD is one of Kellerman's best. At times it is erotic, educational and suspenseful, but is always entertaining and satisfying. Highly Recommended !!!

During his days of private practice, psychologist Alex Delaware remembers one haunting failure; a beautiful but troubled teen, Lauren Teague. When Alex next happens upon Teague, she's a gorgeous grownup in an X-rated profession. The last time he sees her, she's a corpse.
The `would have, could have, should have' of Guilt drive Delaware, now a consultant to LA courts and cops, to pursue her killer.
Kellerman's readers are in for one wild ride as Alex interviews the players involved in LA's cash and carry sex trade, the psychology department of the university he once attended and Lauren's dysfunctional friends and family, many of whom also turn up dead - soon after speaking to Delaware. With a list of suspects long enough to fill a small town phone book, Alex plunges into the dark depths of seduction, deception, blackmail and greed to narrow the field.
On the sidelines, Delaware's longtime companion, Robin can't take another night of worry and makes a hasty exit. We wait until the final scene to see if this relationship becomes the final casualty in a well told tale of psychological suspense.
Another first rate offering from Jonathan Kellerman.

The book's premise is a little hard to take seriously. It seems unlikely that Alex Delaware would behave in such an irrational, risky manner. There are too many peripheral characters to keep track of and the subplot seems to infringe on the real story. Definitely worth reading (what Kellerman book isn't?) but by the end you won't really care who did it and the conclusion isn't that logical anyway. I did enjoy the psychological analysis and therapy descriptions, but I'm in the field, so maybe it's not that interesting to someone who isn't.

This is another book by Jonathan Kellerman with the further adventures of Dr. Alex Delaware,Milo Sturgis, and Robin Castagna, all of whom we are very familar with.This book,although very readable,falls short of his past narratives. It is just a bit unbelievable that Alex Delaware would become so obsessed with a woman he only saw twice, years earlier, when she was an adolescent. Her death releases a torrent of investigative behavior that seems highly unlike the Alex we know so well. It's no small wonder that Robin soon tires of this,leaving him. His diligent pursuit into the murder of this elusive ghost that haunts him so is a bit far-fetched. The other characters are fully dimensional,which Jonathan Kellerman does so well. His portrayal of sleeze is excellent. There is an additional subplot that both adds to and confuses the main plot. It is well written,but I feel the story line falls short of his past books.

Jonathan Kellerman is a very popular mystery author, but to my mind the last several books he's done with Alex Delaware haven't been that good. Alright, but nothing spectacular. In this, his latest book, the author redirects him to a simpler plot, keeping the action believable and the clues more convoluted, less confusing. The result, I think, is a better book.

Delaware is called by a woman whose daughter he tried to treat a decade ago, when she was a teenager. She'd been bright, but uninterested in the therapy, and so when the child's father cancelled the treatment, he'd only half-heartedly argued. Several years later, Delaware saw the girl again (now over 21) working as a stripper at a bachelor party, and she then visited his office once. Now the mother calls, worried because her daughter has dissappeared, and wanting Alex to try and see if he can find her. He agrees, and finds that another young woman vanished about a year earlier under similar circumstances, which piques his interest. Things kind of logically follow from there.

This is a very good book, not Kellerman's best, but still very good, and I would recommend it.