Flesh and Blood

by Jonathan Kellerman

Paperback, 2002

Series

Alex Delaware (15)

Publication

Ballantine Books (2002), 437 pages

Original publication date

2001

Collections

Your library, Own, To read

Genres

Mystery

All Topics

Fiction

Description

Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:Perennial bestseller and acknowledged master of the psychological thriller, Jonathan Kellerman has created a riveting and memorable Alex Delaware novel about a troubled and elusive young woman whose brutal murder forces the brilliant psychologist-detective to confront his own fallibility. Lauren Teague is a beautiful, defiant, borderline-delinquent teenager when her parents bring her to Alex Delaware's office. But for all Alex's skill and effort, Lauren resists�??angrily, provocatively. Reluctantly, the psychologist chalks Lauren up as one of the inevitable failures of a challenging profession. But years later, when Alex encounters Lauren as a stag party's featured entertainment, both doctor and patient are sticken with shame. And the ultimate horror takes place when, soon after, Lauren's brutalized corpse is found dumped in an alley. Alex disregards the advice of his trusted friend, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, and jeopardizes his relationship with longtime lover, Robin Castagna, in order to pursue Lauren's murderer. As he investigates his young patient's troubled past, Alex enters the shadowy worlds of fringe psychological experimentation and the sex industry, and then into mortal danger when lust and big money collide in Southern California. Jonathan Kellerman's L.A. is evil, seductive, and unforgiving, and Flesh and Blood is mind-opening in its drama of a driven man's personal quest, breathtaking in its ingenious plot, filled with unforgettable characters, and topped off by a terrifying climax. This is suspense fiction at its fine… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member DekeDastardly

Flesh and Blood has all of the elements required for a good murder mystery, mostly believable characters, a number of suspects emerge and fade, until the real baddie appears with powerful motives and the bodies begin to pile up. The essential twist in the tail comes not with the revelation of the

murderer but with the consequent rehabilitation of previous suspects and surprising bloodline connections. The plot veers between seedy low life and seedy high life with the occasional unlikely segue but that can be forgiven as I found this to be an enjoyable, well structured and nicely paced thriller.

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LibraryThing member dickmanikowski

Jonathon Kellerman has been my favorite mystery author for years. The characters, the plot twists, the vivid descriptions, . . . he does it all.

And in this one, there's also some tension in the backstory involving his relationship with the enticing Robin.

LibraryThing member caveman_bob

I don't normally read this genre but I am attracted to the color yellow and had just completed the entire Baroque Cycle + a re-read of Cryptonomicon .. plowed through this one in three easy days, and thoroughly enjoyed it .. think I'read another

LibraryThing member raggedtig

I was not impressed by this book at all. The story did not flow and left me a bit puzzled at times.

LibraryThing member mrtall

Although the plot of this potboiler is preposterous at points, I'm finding Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series disarmingly fun to read.

LibraryThing member emigre

Another great book, very engrossing, the title is more meaningful once you finish the book.

LibraryThing member Darrol

The ending was obvious from the beginning. A little good psychology and detection. But mostly it was the turgid theorizing between Milo and Alex that made this book much too long.

LibraryThing member HenriMoreaux

Flesh and Blood isn't an outstanding novel, but it is a decent novel.

It has all the elements of a good murder mystery/'who dunnit' without any of the gaping plot holes that some other novels of late have included.

Essentially a young woman turns up dead whose past is less than innocent involving

prostitution & stripping. As the story develops a number of possible motives emerge along with a number of possible suspects, none quiet fitting the bill. Then the second half of the story frames the underlying plot developments, a few more bodies emerge and the story hones in on those responsible in a climatic main plot ending, after which the novel continues a little to resolve all of the secondary plots.

Enjoyable read.

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LibraryThing member diananagy

Really Loved This Kellerman Book! Some of them I can get right into...others I can't! This one and a couple of his others were GREAT~!

LibraryThing member lbswiener

Flesh and Blood is a good mystery whodunit novel. There are several stories going on in the story. Milo and Alex try to link them and figure out the killers with no evidence. Four stars were given to this book.

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Language

English

Original language

English

ISBN

034541389X / 9780345413895

Physical description

437 p.; 4.2 inches

Pages

437

Rating

½ (275 ratings; 3.6)

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