Customer Reviews

Private Practices (Alan Gregory Series)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been a big fan of Stephen White for many years. I re-read Private Practices in one sitting last night. It only reconfirmed why I grab White's books as soon as they're printed.

First and fundamentally, White writes with great suspense and lots of unexpected twists and turns. In this book, a ski death, a spousal abuse murder,the crash of the United flight in Sioux City, a gas explosion and a gourmet restaurant all find their way into the tangled web.

Still,when I recommend White to friends (which I do often), the recommendation always includes the wonderful dry humor of the books.About 3/4's of the humor is universal and a healthy forth is directed at Colorado things - weather, the People's Republic of Boulder and skiers. Funny enough for outsiders and really big grins for locals.

One word of caution to new readers of the Alan Gregory series. Unlike many male slueths, Alan doesn't have a new babe in each book. If you want to follow his romantic relationship, as well as the progress of friends and neighbors, this is a series worth reading in sequence. It starts with Priviledged Information. This book, Private Practices, is the second in the series...

This is my favorite of all the Alan Gregory series. I really like his cast of characters and they are all featured in this book. Plus I was fascinated with the therapy sessions with the airline crash survivor. This is a fast paced, can't put-it-down kind of book. Highly recommended!

The main plot was well put together, but I really enjoyed the various personal and professional subplots. Alan's dealings with his young patient and with his ex-wife were interesting and gave readers more insight into his personality.

Fans of the series and those new to Stephen White will get a lot out of this book.

Stephen White interweaves a good mystery story with descriptions of the beautiful Colorado topography and, along the way, gives the reader interesting lessons in psychology. Stephen White is, clearly, an expert on all of these. The author is a clincial psychologist who treats the reader to glimpses into his profession. A resident of Boulder, Colorado, White gives poetic and detailed descriptions of the city and surrounding areas. However, the best part is the suspenseful story with strong and believable characters. This book is a real treat! I was entertained and educated at the same time. I loved it!

If you like Jonathan Kellerman, you will like Stephen White. Their styles are very similar and th main character is even a psycholgist which is similar. The big difference I feel is that this character seems more human. He has to make life changing decisions while solving a case.

This second in the series permits the reader to learn more of Dr. Alan Gregory, a clinical psychologist practicing in Boulder, CO, as he navigates between nearly ex-wife Meredith and new squeeze assistant DA Lauren, advises some very troubled patients, expands his relationship with detective Sam Purdy, and puts his wellbeing at risk as he is drawn into a situation involving multiple deaths.

Little did Alan realize on the day that a husband shot his estranged wife and her lawyer and in turn was killed by police in Diane's, his partner, office that this situation would have ripples into the Boulder psychologist community. His seemingly unrelated treatment of a teenage boy, the sole survivor of a family in an airliner crash, leads to a small, old mining community with a few second-home cabins in the CO mountains that connects a lot of discordant facts that have been uncovered by Purdy and Alan.

This book is a worthy next book to Privileged Information, the author's first in this series. As some have noted, there is character creep, but the book is fairly fast paced and pretty much comes together in the end. Alan is an appealing character who shares rudiments of psychotherapy with the reader while demonstrating his own limitations in his personal life. He seems like the sort of character in an engaging setting who can support a long and interesting series.

This is the second book I have read by Stephen White and I loved it. I couldnt put this book down! It keeps you guessing the whole way through!

I love this author, everything I have read I have enjoyed, I first found his book Kill Me, what a wonderful writer, I then had to find everything he wrote. Each book I read never disappoints.

Very satisfied with the condition of the book and the time it took to reach me.

Stephen White is one of the best mystery/psychological thriller
writers among a slew of them. This early read in his series is complex and abundant with details that kept me reading. It was a very difficult book to put down. I only only hope his 'yet-to-be-released' latest, 'The Siege', continues to impress. White is 'up there' with Sue Grafton of the alphabet series.