Over The Edge [Import] [Paperback]

Jonathan Kellerman (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Futura; New Ed edition (1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708835856
• ISBN-13: 978-0708835852
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,884,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jonathan Kellerman is one of the world's most popular authors. He has brought his expertise as a clinical psychologist to more than thirty bestselling crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher's Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted,and True Detectives. With his wife, the novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored the bestsellers Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. He is the author of numerous essays, short stories, scientific articles, two children's books, and three volumes of psychology, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children, as well as the lavishly illustrated With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and has been nominated for a Shamus Award.

Jonathan and Faye Kellerman live in California and New Mexico. Their four children include the novelist Jesse Kellerman.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GLASS HOUSES, February 17, 2001

By 

BeatleBangs1964 (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Over the Edge (Alex Delaware, No 3) (Paperback)

Dr. Alex Delaware's world is jolted by a surprise telephone call from a former client. Jamey Cadmus, 17, was part of a pilot project of highly gifted adolescents 5 years earlier and Dr. Delaware was a consultant for that project.

Jamey, disoriented and confused, calls Delaware from a private hospital in the California Canyons. He is kidnapped from his room and it falls to Dr. Delaware to investigate the hospital and Jamey's tangled family tree.

Set in 1987, Dr. Delaware makes numerous references to the university project that accepted Jamey in 1982, when the boy was nearly 13. He uncovers a questionable family history, a web of murders and corrupt developers in the canyons. Jamey, by now found and incarcerated in the County Jail, tries to, in his own incoherent fashion tell Dr. Delaware what he knows about the series of cases.

Robin has a more prominent place in this story. Although I never cared for her, the one thing that annoyed me in this book was one scene where Delaware greeted her, "shushing her with a kiss." To me, the "shushing her with a kiss" was simply a way of shutting her up. That act sounded as if he had no use for her opinions or anything she ever said and smacked of chauvanism. Delaware was plainly far more cerebral than Robin ever was and I felt that single act was to underscore his mental superiority to her, not unlike Jamey's mental superiority prior to his breakdowns. The theme of glass houses is revisited throughout this story.

This is truly an outstanding work. Readers are taken on some very painful, bumpy roads through the seamy, seedy parts of Southern California and encounter some equally seamy, seedy characters. Bikers, corrupt developers, questionable family ties, persons not involved with the cases -- each appears to be a likely suspect. The conclusion is powerful and very satisfying; it makes sense, yet stays several steps ahead of the readers. Each character is richly drawn and believable; each new layer of mysteries interlock believably. Jon Kellerman is truly the Michaelangelo of the Mystery genre.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Humdinger of a story!, July 21, 2002

By 

Diana Poskrop - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Over the Edge (Alex Delaware) (Hardcover)

A mind-blowing look into the nature of madness. The psychological background is totally fascinating. I learned a lot about how the mentally ill are treated by the system, some background of schizophrenia, the difference between psychosis and schizophrenia and how they relate to the law, and so on. There's more, but I won't give away any surprises.

The dialogue, as always in Mr. Kellerman's books, rings true. Watch out for the main characters, though! The twists and turns keep coming right to the end of the climactic chapter.

A few minor complaints. I felt some secondary characters could've been developed more. This is just my taste, but I find the lengthy descriptions of buildings, landscapes, etc. a bit tedious. I had hoped for at least the beginning of a resolution to Milo's problems with homophobes at work. But you gotta save something for later in the series. I was taken aback to learn that, at the time OVER THE EDGE was written, gays were officially(?) considered deviants.

Lots of food for thought in this book. There are many ideas here that'll get your gray cells going.

If you have any interest in the workings of the human mind -- the sane and not-so-sane -- grab this book!

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First of the Alex Delaware novels, don't miss it!, August 16, 2000

By 

"theladypandora" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Over the Edge (Alex Delaware, No 3) (Paperback)

This is the first novel featuring Alex Delaware, child psychologist and it is a stunner. I don't know why I have resisted reading Jonathan Kellerman for so long, but I sure do regret it. When Dr. Morton Handler and Elena Gutierrez are found mutilated in Handler's apartment, Det. Milo Sturgis recruits Dr. Delaware to help unlock the mind of the only witness, 7 year old Melody Quinn. As Dr. Delaware tries to help this child, he unwittingly unlocks a deeper secret, one that has existed for over 40 years. This novel is a fine debut for Jonathan Kellerman. We now know he goes on to write many more Dr. Delaware novels and I will be reading all of them