Hangman: A Decker/Lazarus Novel [Hardcover]

Faye Kellerman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Decker/Lazarus | Publication Date: August 3, 2010

High school senior Chris Whitman confessed to murdering his girlfriend to spare beautiful, vulnerable Terry McLaughlin from having to testify at his trial. Years later, when the truth set Chris free, he married Terry, changed his name to Donatti . . . and became a professional killer. Now Terry’s missing, Donatti’s disappeared—and their teenage son, Gabe, has no one to turn to except his mother’s friend, LAPD Detective Peter Decker, and Decker’s wife, Rina Lazarus.

The last thing Decker wants is Terry’s sociopathic husband back in his world. And the hunt for Terry must share center stage with another case when a young nurse’s body is found hanging from the rafters at a construction site. Caught between two troubling investigations and an increasingly precarious home life, Decker and Rina must make a difficult decision about sheltering Terry’s son . . . even as the shadow of a serial killer falls across their own imperiled family.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

If you’re a Kellerman fan, especially of her best-selling and long-running series featuring LAPD Detective Peter Decker and his wife, Rina Lazarus, this latest entry, again mixing police procedural and family drama, should fill the bill. If you’re new to Kellerman, though, this is not the place to start. Kellerman works primarily in dialogue, with very sketchy narrative support, which requires readers unfamiliar with the backstory to act as their own detectives, figuring out what the heck is going on in each scene. The plot maintains a breakneck pace—we move from the Deckers at dinner getting a call from a distressed teen to the teen’s revelation that his parents are missing from their hotel to the further revelation that Decker worked on a homicide case 15 years ago in which the now-absent father falsely confessed to murdering his high-school sweetheart, went to jail, and emerged as a hired killer. There goes dinner. Decker and Lazarus have to track down all these moving pieces. Meanwhile, a neonatal nurse with a wild private life is found brutally murdered. Naturally, we have to confront the fact that there may be a serial killer at work. Fans of Joseph Wambaugh will find a very different LAPD here—less credible and certainly far less funny—than the one he presents. Still, the family-drama side of this series is its main appeal to fans, and that’s what will get them through a less-than-stellar effort. --Connie Fletcher

About the Author

Faye Kellerman is the author of twenty-seven novels, including twenty New York Times bestselling mysteries that feature the husband-and-wife team of Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. She has also penned two bestselling short novels with her husband, New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman, and recently teamed up with her daughter Aliza to cowrite a young adult novel, Prism—the story of four teens in an alternate universe. She lives with her husband in Los Angeles, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (August 3, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061702560
• ISBN-13: 978-0061702563
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #266,788 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

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slowwwwww, August 3, 2010

By 

Tina "Tina" (Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hangman: A Decker/Lazarus Novel (Hardcover)

**************SPOILER ALERT*********************
I have basically read all of Faye Kellerman's books and she is traditionally "hit or miss" with me, although I quite enjoyed her last book.

Hangman,however, is rating a 3 stars because it is so painfully slow. While I am aware that Kellerman's books are better known for being "procedurial" as opposed to "action packed" - Hangman isn't even as much about procedure as it is about going on and on about - basically nothing.

While the first few pages were interesting, the middle of the book is basically a search that never seems to end - especially since they don't seem to discover any clue and I mean absolutely nothing to advance the story or the plot.

Although I like that they incorporated Hannah a lot more in this one, I was at page 200 - and realized that absolutely nothing of interest had yet to happen - and it would be a while until any kind of activity would "stir" this book at all.

I also keep wondering why, everytime, the Madge character is introduced, the author feels the need to describe what she is wearing. While she tends to do this a little bit with Rinna, she never does it with the male leads - its just a little weird.

Kellerman's writing is engaging - I like the way she writes in that it is always down to earth and clearly understandable - but boy this one is slow.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Big Disappointment, August 20, 2010

By 

J. Prather (IN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hangman: A Decker/Lazarus Novel (Hardcover)

I have read most of the novels in this series. I think I've missed a couple of the more recent installments, but all in all I've been a pretty loyal follower of Ms. Kellerman's work. Pete Decker and Rina Lazarus have always been two of the most unique characters in crime fiction, and the way Ms. Kellerman mixed together religion with crime and also managed to include an overriding commitment to family has always resulted in novels that were well written page turners that I really enjoyed. I am very puzzled over what happened with this one!

I think this book was in sore need of a good editor. There were many instances where words were left out or repeated twice. I am a fast reader, and these were like stop signs on the road, or scratches on a DVD. Very distracting. The pacing of this book seemed off, and I have never read a Kellerman book that was so lacking in suspense throughout the entire story. I know that her novels are heavier on the procedural aspects than some, but jeesh this was ridiculous. Give me something to keep those pages turning other than curiosity about a 13 year old piano genius. Facts were often repeated, and different characters seemed to say the same things over and over again.

I wanted more Rina in this one. She's a great character and I wish we would have seen more of her along with other members of Pete's family. They had almost no role to play except for limited involvement with the Gabe/Chris sub-plot. Speaking of which, I really wish we could have had more of that story! It was way more interesting than the main crime plot involving Garth/Adrienne/Crystal. I didn't care a whit about any of those characters, while Gabe, Chris and Terry were all very interesting and I felt vested in finding out their fates.

The writing was a big disappointment. Dialogue was stilted in spots, and I became extremely frustrated when every chapter or section ended with a cliched tag line that was usually very corny and melodramatic. Marge's dialogue here was the worst offender. Marge used to be an actual person, but in this book she seemed reduced to a caricature, and all we learned about her was what she was wearing. I was really tired of hearing about her clothes and hearing her utter cliches that seemed to be straight off Law and Order.

The ending resolved all outstanding issues, but did so in a way that was not dramatic and very unsatisfying. I am sad to say that I will be very cautious about picking up another Decker/Lazarus mystery. This series seems to have lost its heart. Not a recommend.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kellerman is Back, August 12, 2010

By 

eric hobson - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hangman: A Decker/Lazarus Novel (Hardcover)

Faye Kellerman is back with a vengence. One of my favorite authors, Faye Kellerman has disappointed me of late. I was close to being bored with "The Mercedes Coffin", but "Hangman is a gem.

There are enough twists and turns here to keep the most dedicated mystery fan on his or her toes. For those of us who care about Kellerman's characters, they are all here. From Decker and Lazarus' family too my favorite bad Guy Chris Donatti this book has them all.

Welcome back Dr. Kellerman