Private Eyes (Alex Delaware Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Jonathan Kellerman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Alex Delaware Novels | Publication Date: October 1, 1992

The voice belongs to a woman, but Dr. Alex  Delaware remembers a little girl. It is eleven  years since seven-years-old Melissa Dickinson dialed  a hospital help line for comfort--and found it in  therapy with Alex Delaware. Now the lovely young  heiress is desperately calling for psychologist's  help once more. Only this time it looks like  Melissa's deepest childhood nightmare is really  coming true ...  Twenty years ago, Gina Dickinson, Melissa's  mother, suffered a grisly assault that left the budding  actress irreparably scarred and emotionally  crippled. Now her acid-wielding assailant is out of  prison and back in L.A.--and Melissa is terrified  that the monster has returned to hurt Gina again.  But before Alex Delaware  can even begin to soothe his former patient's  fears, Gina, a recluse for twenty, disappears. And  now, unless Delaware turns crack detective to  uncover the truth, Gina Dickinson will be just one  more victim of a cold fury that has already spawned  madness--and murder.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kellerman devises a psychologically complex, highly satisfying plot in this latest mystery (after Time Bomb ) to feature child psychologist Alex Delaware, although we wait too long for the best parts and although Delaware, his love life on hold, seems less emotionally present than in previous cases. Harvard-bound, 18-year-old heiress Melissa Dickinson, whom Delaware had successfully treated for anxiety 10 years earlier, calls him with concerns about leaving her wealthy mother, an agoraphobe. Years before Melissa's birth, Gina Dickinson Ramp had been disfigured by acid thrown for never-revealed reasons by a former lover, now out of prison and back in town. Widowed for many years, recently remarried and making progress in her own intensive therapy with a noted husband-and-wife team of behaviorial psychologists, Gina is still fragile. When she disappears, Melissa enlists Delaware's help and that of his friend, Milo Sturgis, on leave from the LAPD (for having slugged, on TV, a homophobic superior). Kellerman deftly handles the strings of his plot, keeping in question the plight of Gina and the identities of those wishing her ill, until final events make what came before seem inevitable. A brief reunion with his former lover Robin will leave readers hoping for a reconciliation in Delaware's next appearance. 150,000 first printing; major ad/promo.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Vividly realistic ... explores the subject with  haunting emotional power."-- Playboy

"A page-turner from beginning to  end." --Los Angeles Times

"A gut-wrenching scenario... might well be  Kellerman's finest."  --Booklist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (October 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553299506
• ISBN-13: 978-0553299502
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 3.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,333,867 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

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fresh life into the series, February 4, 2003

By 

RachelWalker "RachelW" (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Private Eyes (Alex Delaware Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Nine years ago, Alex Delaware successfully treated Melissa Dickinson, a tormented and phobic young girl, irrationally scared of almost everything. After two years of treatment, Melissa seems almost totally recovered, so her need for Dr Delaware ceases, and she becomes one of his most spectacular triumphs. Now, Melissa contacts Alex again, this time seeking advice concerning her mother. Gina Dickinson is a recluse, an ex-actress hiding away from the world ever since a vicious acid attack that left her scarred for life, even after extensive and traumatic plastic surgery. Even though Gina is now seeing, with some effect, a psychiatrist of her own, Melissa wants to know if Alex feels her mother could cope if she went away, accepting her place Harvard. Then, one day, Gina inexplicably climbs into her car, and drives off into thin air, leaving a tangled mystery to be unravelled in her wake.

I had started to think that this series was in danger of going stale. The prose is adequate and easy to read, but hardly full of spirit and at times seems a little perfunctory, and Alex Delaware has also remained a rather static - if very likeable - character. But now, after reading Kellerman's excellent standalone "The Butcher's Theatre", I returned to the series with "Private Eyes", and found it a wonderfully invigorating experience. This may be his lone of his longest Delaware books to date, but every word is fascinating, and there seems to me to be fresh fire in the writing. The characters are all very well developed, and although Kellerman never really takes any risks with his well-structured plot, it's a complex and clever book that really kicks the brain into gear, and presents one or two nice surprises along the way.

The psychology is dead-on, the relationships are all fascinating, the characterisation is acute, and the resolution is exciting, well-done, and satisfying. This may well turn out to be the rock of the Delaware series. To find out, i shall have to read on...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT psychological thriller!!, March 23, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Private Eyes (Alex Delaware, No. 6) (Hardcover)

This was the second of many book I have read by Jonathan Kellerman, and is
the best to date. Kellerman shows his expertise in psychology and suspense in this
page turner. I could not put this book down, and lost a lot of sleep trying to finish
it. You'll learn more about a phobic personality than you ever thought possible, and
you'll have a great time doing it. Tou may have your own list of suspects by the end,
but you'll never figure this ending out!!<BR

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good character development, July 5, 2001

By 

V. VanCamp "lovesbookslovesmusic" (Ithaca, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Private Eyes (Alex Delaware Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I liked this book a lot. It had a good amount of relationship issues in here and I enjoy that. I found it interesting to see the relationship between the mother and daughter change and to see the daughter make sense of her mother. Alex Deleware is a great character. Jonathan Kellerman has kicked out another good book! You easily get caught up in the characters lives. Kellerman draws you in. I could barely wait to find out what happens in the next chapter!