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Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:In the first Alex Delaware novel, Dr. Morton Handler practiced a strange brand of psychiatry. Among his specialties were fraud, extortion, and sexual manipulation. Handler paid for his sins when he was brutally murdered in his luxurious Pacific Palisades apartment. The police have no leads, but they do have one possible witness: seven-year-old Melody Quinn. It's psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware's job to try to unlock the terrible secret buried in Melody's memory. But as the sinister shadows in the girl's mind begin to take shape, Alex discovers that the mystery touches a shocking incident in his own past. This connection is only the beginning, a single link in a forty-year-old conspiracy. And behind it lies an unspeakable evil that Alex Delaware must expose before it claims another innocent victim: Melody Quinn.… (more)
User reviews
With more twists and turns than a theme park ride, Kellerman keeps his protagonist jumping, discovering more links to prominent personages and more twisted and disgusting motives. The plot isn’t entirely plausible, but it’s certainly suspenseful and logical. Even though one of my pet peeves is non-law-enforcement types having a direct guns-a-blazin’ confrontation with the evil bad guy in the climax of the book, I thought this was pretty well done, and less egregious than some I’ve seen.
I also tend to agree with Alex’s philosophies on child psychology, particularly when it comes to the excessive use of pharmacology in treatment of children. I’ll be reading more of these.
My only complaint was early
When the book was originally published circa 1985, the subject matter was definitely a bit more taboo. In 2010, it doesn't raise eyebrows. How Delaware evolves, and how quickly, from a wet behind the ears, everything by the book type of psychologist, one who finds himself in way over his head early into this story
is the most gripping part. It was fascinating to see his reactions as the plot unfolded. Oh, and the epilogue was not predictable.
Kellerman, like his child psychologist hero Alex Delaware, has a background in clinical psychology. Alex, burned out after counseling children involved in a sexual
I found the details about psychological practice interesting, and Kellerman's first person narrative makes for a smooth read, even if aspects of the plot struck me as far-fetched and I didn't particularly like how once made an unpaid "consultant" Alex goes off investigating on his own, breaking laws and idiotically not bringing in the police even after being shot at. However I did find Alex, his girlfriend Robin and Milo likable characters. A good, solid read, even if not a keeper.
The story itself is neatly spun, though not always believable. Most of all I liked the quiet moments of Delaware’s investigations, the often humorous dialogs and very interesting characters with their different world views. Although I really did not like the boring descriptions of the lovelife between Robin and Alex that ruined the overall picture of the novel for me quite a bit. Also the redundant action sequences were not even half as good as the rest of the book. Alex Delaware chased by a motorbike or Alex Delaware wrestling with an enormous hound is just cheap crap (sorry).
But although there were quite some decent flaws, the story paints a good picture of the 80s and 95 percent of the book are really enjoyable to read. The other five percent I account for as means for a good start into Jonathan Kellermans’ big carreer. Even if I don’t think you can compare Jonathan Kellerman to his son Jesse Kellerman, I think Sunstroke was the better of the two first novels, avoiding the kind of semi-action and semi-love story flattery offered to the big crowd.
I will read the next novel in the series anytime soon and then I will decide if I continue to follow Alex Delaware’s steps in his next adventures into the minds and depths of murderers and murder. If one’s interested in a 95% really good suspense thriller, When the Bough Breaks could be what you are looking for.
Alex’s interest is piqued by the case, but doesn’t plan to get overly involved, just help out. Then he met Melody Quinn, the seven-year-old, lone witness to the double murder. She and her mother live in the same apartment building as the psychiatrist and his girlfriend that were murdered and she is the only one that can help with this case now as Milo has no other leads.
As he gets Melody to trust him and open up, Alex realizes there is more to this case than just a double murder. He digs deeper and deeper until he opens the door to secrets that several ‘well to do’ people would rather keep closed…and would do anything to keep it that way.
Intense, traumatic, and suspenseful, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Reviewed by Ashley Wintters for Suspense Magazine
In the world of mystery writing on two thing sell, pedophiles of serial killers. This book has one of them. Its a well written book but nothing new or special.
Re-reading this book, it's clear to me that the plot is a bit neither here nor there. There's no particularly surprising twist and it's been
Anyway, what makes this and the other books so worth recommending is their readability. The pages just turn themselves.
That one is the first one in the series, written 30 years ago. But if you ignore the technology (and lack of it mainly), the book is not dated
And this first novel is unusual in a way - it actually has two cases as its focus - the one that Milo goes to Alex for and the one that made them friends, that broke Alex and almost forced him into retirement. The new case is a double homicide - with a single witness - a non-reliable 7 years old girl that does not seem to be talking. Which leads to Milo calling on the only child psychologist that he knows - Alex Delaware.
It is a very dark novel, not as dark as some of the newer books but extremely dark anyway. Child abuse, an old conspiracy and blackmail are intertwined in a story that makes you hope that this cannot happen in the real world... and chills your bones knowing that it does.
It is a wonderful start to a series that I had grown to really like. I miss the side characters and the more mature friendship of the two men but then as a first book, you cannot expect that. The only reason I miss them is because I know what that brings to the stories. Onto book 2 in the series shortly.
I normally don't read mysteries or who done it books; however, I enjoyed this one. Written in 1985 and read in 2016, the book was a reminder of life before the Internet and before cell phones. Police didn't use google to solve crimes; they actually had to visit
The back cover of the book is a little misleading. Dr. Delaware does meet and talk to young Melody Quinn, but he does not see her again until the end of the novel. There are many different characters with many different personalities. By the end of the book, they all intertwined into ways I didn't expect.
I liked this book. Will I look up all Kellerman's novels and read them. Probably not, but if the mood strikes me, I'll read him again.
This book takes place when Alex's relationships with Milo and Robin are fairly new.
The theme of child molestation is disturbing, but not graphic. Equally disturbing is the portrayal of the wealthy men, and how they can buy off or blackmail anyone to pursue their hobbies. There are several characters introduced, and by the end you can see how they are all connected. This was a good read, especially when you consider it was Jonathan Kellerman's first fiction book.
The plot's a somewhat improbable one; Melody Quinn possibly saw murderers on their way to commit a crime, so Milo