Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Monster
**** Monster by Jonathan Kellerman. Mystery.
I got this used, taking advantage of reduced shipping when I'd bought other books from the same seller on half.com. I thought I was familiar with Kellerman's Alex Delaware, but none of the titles on his website sound familiar, and I haven't read any of his books since I started keeping track. Quite possibly I'd read him before, or just heard someone talk about him.
Anyway. Monster is an Alex Delaware mystery. Alex Delaware is a psychologist who consults with the police. In this case, a psychologist is murdered and mutilated, in the same fashion as a young actor some months earlier. There seems to be no connection, so Dr. Delaware is called in to consult.
The actor's murder leads Dr. Delaware and police detective Milo Sturgis to a small independent film production, which seems like a dead end.
Dr. Claire Argent had been a promising psychologist, but she'd recently been working at Starkweather, a facility for the criminally insane, a job that appears to be a large step down for her. When Dr. Delaware investigates, the staff of Starkweather is uncooperative and insists that her murder couldn't have anything to do with the facility, because none of the patients ever gets out.
Dr. Argent had been primarily working with "Monster" Ardis Peake, who's the next thing to a vegetable. Yet Dr. Argent had reported some successes with him, and now he's predicting murders in between lapsing back into a vegetative state.
There are plenty of twists and turns in this story, and it kept my attention, but the pace was slow and I couldn't quite buy the killer's motivation. Still, an entertaining enough read, and I'm sure I'll read Kellerman again.
Categories: Books, 4stars, Mystery
Labels: 4 stars, books, mystery
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I either read this or have it here on the Mount. (Mount TBR, that is)
I like the Delaware books but have to confess they don't stand out enough from each other in my brain. I'm sure it's be because really, each plot is quite distinctive. That's a good thing or I'd probably keep reading the same one and thinking I was making progress through the whole series...
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I like the Delaware books but have to confess they don't stand out enough from each other in my brain. I'm sure it's be because really, each plot is quite distinctive. That's a good thing or I'd probably keep reading the same one and thinking I was making progress through the whole series...
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