Obsession by Jonathan Kellerman

Obsession

by Jonathan Kellerman

Personal Review/Comments

Ok, I have read a few bad reviews on this book and all I can say is, I disagree. This book, I enjoyed. We are not talking about high-brow literary art here but just purely good enjoyable reading. The characters are likable, the plot is engaging, the story is well-paced.

One of the best things I liked about the book, particularly in the character of Alex Delaware, is that in the role of psychologist, the things he asks (of his patients) are believable and valid. Nothing denounces a book more than when the author makes their characters "act" knowledgeable psychologist and then sprout TV-psycho-babble cliches.

But then on viewing "About the Author", I can better understand why Jonathan Kellerman comes across as knowing his psycho-babble stuff since he is/was a clinical psychologist. Good to see .. and read, of course.

Rating: 7/10

Synopsis

With scores of millions of books in print, translation into two dozen languages, and one of the most popular heroes in contemporary fiction to his name, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman is the unequivocal “master of the psychological thriller” (People). In his newest novel Kellerman delivers a tour de force–poignant, dark, and chilling–that illuminates a shadowy world where impulse rules.

Tanya Bigelow was a solemn little girl when Dr. Alex Delaware successfully treated her obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Now, at nineteen, she still seems older than her years–but her problems go beyond hyper-maturity. Patty Bigelow, Tanya’s aunt and adoptive mother, has made a deathbed confession of murder and urged the young woman to seek Delaware’s help. The doctor recalls Patty as a selfless E.R. nurse struggling to raise a child on her own–a woman seemingly incapable of the “terrible thing” she has admitted. But for Tanya’s peace of mind, Delaware agrees to investigate, and he enlists LAPD detective Milo Sturgis in the search for the phantom victim of a crime that may never have occurred.

Armed with only the vaguest details, psychologist and cop follow a trail twisting from L.A.’s sleaziest low-rent districts to its overblown mansions, retracing Patty and Tanya’s nomadic and increasingly puzzling life to the doorsteps of a sullen heroin addict; a randy real-estate broker; and a brilliant, enigmatic physics student. Suddenly a very real murder tears open a terrifying tunnel into the past, where secrets–and bodies–are buried. As the tension mounts, Delaware and Sturgis uncover a tangled history of desperation, vengeance, and death–a legacy of evil that refuses to die.

Dramatic, action-packed, and filled with the psychological detail that only Jonathan Kellerman can provide, Obsession is a whodunit, a whydunit–and something unique: a did-it-even-happen? This is Kellerman at his heart-racing best.

About the Author

Jonathan Kellerman is one of the world’s most popular authors. He has brought his expertise as a clinical psychologist to over two dozen bestselling crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher’s Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, and Twisted. 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. 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. Visit the author’s website at www.jonathankellerman.com

Book Review

Obsession is the latest masterclass in crime writing from the man who has 'shaped the psychological mystery novel into an art form '. ~ LA Times

Obsession

by Jonathan Kellerman

Personal Review/Comments

Ok, I have read a few bad reviews on this book and all I can say is, I disagree. This book, I enjoyed. We are not talking about high-brow literary art here but just purely good enjoyable reading. The characters are likable, the plot is engaging, the story is well-paced.

One of the best things I liked about the book, particularly in the character of Alex Delaware, is that in the role of psychologist, the things he asks (of his patients) are believable and valid. Nothing denounces a book more than when the author makes their characters "act" knowledgeable psychologist and then sprout TV-psycho-babble cliches.

But then on viewing "About the Author", I can better understand why Jonathan Kellerman comes across as knowing his psycho-babble stuff since he is/was a clinical psychologist. Good to see .. and read, of course.

Rating: 7/10

Synopsis

With scores of millions of books in print, translation into two dozen languages, and one of the most popular heroes in contemporary fiction to his name, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman is the unequivocal “master of the psychological thriller” (People). In his newest novel Kellerman delivers a tour de force–poignant, dark, and chilling–that illuminates a shadowy world where impulse rules.

Tanya Bigelow was a solemn little girl when Dr. Alex Delaware successfully treated her obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Now, at nineteen, she still seems older than her years–but her problems go beyond hyper-maturity. Patty Bigelow, Tanya’s aunt and adoptive mother, has made a deathbed confession of murder and urged the young woman to seek Delaware’s help. The doctor recalls Patty as a selfless E.R. nurse struggling to raise a child on her own–a woman seemingly incapable of the “terrible thing” she has admitted. But for Tanya’s peace of mind, Delaware agrees to investigate, and he enlists LAPD detective Milo Sturgis in the search for the phantom victim of a crime that may never have occurred.

Armed with only the vaguest details, psychologist and cop follow a trail twisting from L.A.’s sleaziest low-rent districts to its overblown mansions, retracing Patty and Tanya’s nomadic and increasingly puzzling life to the doorsteps of a sullen heroin addict; a randy real-estate broker; and a brilliant, enigmatic physics student. Suddenly a very real murder tears open a terrifying tunnel into the past, where secrets–and bodies–are buried. As the tension mounts, Delaware and Sturgis uncover a tangled history of desperation, vengeance, and death–a legacy of evil that refuses to die.

Dramatic, action-packed, and filled with the psychological detail that only Jonathan Kellerman can provide, Obsession is a whodunit, a whydunit–and something unique: a did-it-even-happen? This is Kellerman at his heart-racing best.

About the Author

Jonathan Kellerman is one of the world’s most popular authors. He has brought his expertise as a clinical psychologist to over two dozen bestselling crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher’s Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, and Twisted. 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. 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.

Book Review

Obsession is the latest masterclass in crime writing from the man who has 'shaped the psychological mystery novel into an art form '. ~ LA Times