Nightstrike's Reviews: A Few Jonathan Kellerman Novels...

Bad Love

Let me just start off by saying I'm not the biggest fan of Kellerman. I've always preferred James Patterson, mainly due to the continuity between novels that makes them seem more like part of an ongoing narrative, than simple adventures. Patterson has recurring bad guys who tend to fascinate the reader. For the most part, Kellerman lacks that. A lot of the stories in the Alex Delaware series come across as stand-alones. However, there has been the occasionally interesting novel, and Bad Love is one of those. The story starts off interestingly enough with Delaware receiving a mysterious recording after attempting to deal with a custody issue regarding a criminal. One's first thought is that the two are involved, but [Spoilers!] they're not! I don't want to spoil any more of the story, but one thing Kellerman is good at, is having the antagonist be the person least expected.

7/10

Survival of The Fittest

Another one of the few books from Kellerman's Alex Delaware series I enjoyed, Survival of The Fittest has a few twists that leave me both amused and . . . frankly, shocked. The killer(s) is/are targeting disabled children with racial reasoning, while the Israeli diplomat introduced in this book provides Delaware and Detective Sturgis with a means of tracking down the killers. While the killers are the ones I had initially expected, the ending was surprising, and made me wonder if the diplomacy would have further involvement in the series, or if this was just a one-off. Nonetheless, it makes for a great read, and I highly recommend this one if you're looking into Kellerman's novels. There's a lot of references to various psychology and genetic research papers that help give this story a feeling of almost reality.

8/10

Therapy

Probably my least favorite of the Alex Delaware novels, Therapy is . . . interesting, to say the least. As is typical, a dozen or so new characters are introduced, often one right after the other, making it difficult to keep track of who's who. The psychologist/victim's character also was not delved into as much as I would have hoped, making this one seem rushed. Overall, there were a lot of loose ends, and I'd only recommend this for someone who's a fan of the series.

5.5/10

Breakdown

While not one of the best of Kellerman's Alex Delaware novels, Breakdown made for an interesting read. I particularly liked the deep-dive into the characters' psychology and motives, as well as their acquisition of evidence at the end. Unlike most of the novels in this series, there wasn't really a twist, and around the middle of the book, it became painfully obvious who the killers were. The general premise also had a few details that were essentially left up to the reader, namely the primary victim's own psychological issues. The only real surprise was what happened to her son, but even then, it could be expected. If you're looking for a one-off book, this probably isn't it, but if you want to read the series, and are curious about the exploits of Dr. Delaware, than I'd definitely recommend this.

7/10

Victims

Another installment in the Alex Delaware series, Victims takes a departure from the normal approach of a self-aware killer, and instead opts for something far more brutal. While there is meaning to the killings, one immediately sees that there are more disturbing aspects at play, including an almost child-like curiosity that defines the level of gore. If you want something that is disturbingly visual in its description, but still leaves you on the edge of your seat, I recommend this.

8/10