Customer Reviews

Survival Of The Fittest

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

You start this book with no concept that it's going to go to one of the most reprehensible areas of humanity--eugenics. But Kellerman handles this with great finesse and holds us spellbound right up to the end. Dr. Alex Delaware gets better and better with each book. And now we have a new hero, Daniel Sharavi, who makes a repeat appearance here and certainly warrants future books of his own. Kellerman continues to provide meaty, exciting thrillers with a very human quality that doesn't let you put the book down until you've lived each and every line right along with his heroes and heroines. This is a great one and well worth the time spent. It also leaves us pondering the ethics and morality involved and wondering if it's fiction or a very real dilemma of the very real world we live in.

I had heard it wasn't as good as previous books by this author, but I thought it was of the same quality. Kellerman has a formula and a style, and if you like it, I think you'll like this book. The plot involves first a very public suicide by a policeman and then the discovery of the body of a dead child -- who is both deaf and retarded, not to mention the daughter of a diplomat. Alex Delaware, child psychologist and consultant to the LAPD, gets involved through his policeman buddy. In no time at all, you start wondering who can be trusted -- and Alex begins to uncover something larger and even uglier than the death of a child.

It's hard for me to imagine what they cut out of the book for the abridgement, because I didn't feel like I was getting the reader's digest version. I enjoyed listening to this tape.

I have to admit I have a soft spot for the Alex Delaware series, in fact, it is the only detective-book series I have followed in its entirety. This isn't really because it is great in its entirety: in fact the series includes great books (When the Bough Breaks, Over the Edge, Silent Partner, Blood Test), so-so books (The Clinic, The Web, Bad Love) and definitely horrible books (Time Bomb, Self Defense, Private Eyes). I know Kellerman isn't such a great writer (his tendency to string sentences without verbs is most irritating, among other things), but I confess I rather like Alex, Milo, Robin, and dog Spike. So I doggedly keep up with the series. This one enters definitely in the so-so category. The plot starts out interestingly but it is as if Kellerman didn't know very well how to get its act together. A whole-hog investigation of a certain organization is started, without any real link between the organization and the murders. After a lot of work (including undercover work), not a wisp of real, admissible-in-court evidence is found, so the author takes the easy way out to finish the story. It is readable but you have to allow your suspension of disbelief and critical spirit to take a hike. I probably rate it higher than it deserves because, as I said, I like this series, and because of the chapter on eugenics, which was very educational.

This one is sooooooo GOOD! First off, several characters from other book

series pop up in this one. We meet an Israeli detective named Daniel

Sharavi who first appeared in J Kellerman's non-Delaware novel The

Butcher's Theater; we meet Hollywood detective Petra Connor who would go

on to have her own series (well, two books of her own so far: Billy

Straight and Twisted), and there is even a mention of detective Peter

Decker who was created by JK's wife, Faye Kellerman. I love a good

crossover, so this was fun. This is the first Delaware novel I've read

that switches POV. Most of it is still told in the first person by Alex,

but there are some chapters told in the third person from other

character's POV. That's the way Billy Straight is told and it kind of

irritated me with that book, but really didn't bother me as much with

this one. Plus, we get an actual description of Alex, who never

describes himself.

It starts with a young policeman killing himself in public. This

policeman's sister is a nurse at Cedars-Sinai, where Rick (Milo's lover)

works and Rick asks Alex to talk with her because she is really shook up

by it all. But then, Milo asks for some help with a cold case he's been

assigned - a case with international overtones. The daughter of an

Israeli diplomat was murdered and the original investigators got

nowhere. This is where Daniel Sharavi comes in.

The investigation leads to some shocking revelations and Alex agrees to

go undercover to investigate. This almost gets him killed. MAN, does he

come close to kicking the bucket in this one! Both Daniel and Milo are

more-or-less abducted by their respective superiors, which keeps them

from backing up Alex and there is a BRILLIANT scene where Milo fakes a

heart attack to get away. I mean it - who knew Milo was such a good actor? And we've

never seen Milo so frightened and upset and flat out angry because, of

course, he blames himself for endangering Alex in the first place, even

though it was Alex who talked him into it.

All's well that ends well, though, so I won't give anything else away.

These books just keep getting better!

Once more, Jonathan Kellerman drives us to the dark depths of the human soul. As a great psycographer, he creates characters the reader can identify with and follow them through the labyrinth of prejudice, vice and malice that unfolds before them. A great book that kept me up until I finished it.

I have liked all of Jonathan Kellerman's books but I would have to say that this one is now my favorite. This book has it all, it is exciting, thrilling, intelligent and very chilling. Kellerman brings back a hero from one of his earlier non-Deleware books (The Butcher's Theater), Daniel Sharavi. He along with a skeptical Milo and Alex try to solve a horrible murder of the daughter of an Israeli diplomat. Kellerman's characters are so well drawn and his attention to detail is as always superb! If you like a fast moving thriller this book is one of the best!
Ree-views

I disagree with many of the other reviews. I think this novel was very well done, and Jonathan Kellerman delivered--like usual!

This novel starts out with a policeman that commits suicide--in public--which comes together much better later in the novel.

Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis go on an unbelievable journey to solve their mystery of a murderer killing people who are mentally challenged! This novel's plot will keep you guessing until the very end!

Though Alex Delaware novels are always a good read, this book has an unbelievable plot, which does not jell well with reality. However, the pace of the book remains fast and adroit and first time readers must try other Alex Delaware books cause they have much better plot than this book.

Or is it because the book is pro-Jewish and leans favorably on minorities - that some readers disturbing?

This book was terrific. All the main characters are likeable and interesting. Their dialogue is entertaining and unpredictable. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries. It was my first J. Kellerman book and I'm excited to have found this author.

"Survival of the fittest" was the first book I ever read from Jonathan Kellerman and I must admit I really liked his writing style because he unfolds the story so professionaly.

"Survival of the fittest"
A cop commits suicide in public.A retarded fifteen years old girl
is found dead. She happens to be the daughter of an Israeli diplomat and (the poor thing doesn't get enough publicity so the killer would be found a bit easier) this is because criminals may get encouraged to target other diplomats children. Later on,
another girl is found dead - and she happens to be just a street girl even though she was strangled to death too...
A detective Milo Sturgis, has all the help he needs to solve these crimes and all that help comes from a psychologist Alex
Delaware...

If you enjoy psychological thriller this book wont dissapoint you at all.