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Alex Delaware #13
Monster
The Barnes & Noble Review
In 1998, Jonathan Kellerman took a brief detour from the main line of his career and published an excellent, non-series novel called Billy Straight. This month, he returns to familiar fictional territory with Monster, his 15th novel in 15 years and the 13th to feature child psychologist Alex Delaware.
In 1998, Jonathan Kellerman took a brief detour from the main line of his career and published an excellent, non-series novel called Billy Straight. This month, he returns to familiar fictional territory with Monster, his 15th novel in 15 years and the 13th to feature child psychologist Alex Delaware.
Delaware, who first appeared in 1984's Edgar Award-winning When the Bough Breaks, has, over time, become more and more disengaged from his primary profession. These days, he offers counseling and therapy to a limited number of individuals (one of whom is that eponymous runaway Billy Straight), and continues to serve as an expert witness in child custody cases. Mostly, though, his time and energy are taken up by his role as consulting psychologist to the Los Angeles Police Department. By now, he has virtually been partnered with the LAPD's controversial, openly gay homicide detective, Milo Sturgis.
In Monster, Milo solicits Alex's help on a brutal, particularly frustrating case. Claire Argent, a 39-year-old psychologist, has been murdered, mutilated, and dumped in the trunk of her Buick Regal. There were no witnesses to the killing, and there are currently no suspects. In the months prior to her death, Claire had worked at the aptly named Starkweather Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Attempts to connect Claire's murder to her place of employment prove futile for a couple of reasons. First, her death occurred in the "outside world," beyond the reach of Starkweather's inmates. Second, her death bore striking similarities to an earlier murder, which was manifestly unconnected to Starkweather Hospital and its inhabitants.
Just as Milo and Alex turn their attention away from Starkweather, an inexplicable event takes place. Heidi Ott, a staff technician and former associate of Claire Argent's, recounts a bizarre "conversation" with imprisoned mass murderer Ardis Peake, a man who was nicknamed "Monster" by the tabloid press and who had been a particular source of interest to Claire Argent. According to Heidi Ott, Ardis, who is severely schizophrenic, has recently spoken for the first time in years, uttering cryptic phrases that seem to allude both to Claire's murder and to the subsequent murders of a pair of homeless derelicts. In the face of this questionable "evidence," Starkweather Hospital once again becomes the focus of intense police scrutiny.
Ultimately, in a manner deliberately reminiscent of classic psychoanalysis, Alex finds the answers to a complex puzzle in the distant, unresolved past. In Claire Argent's case, the past contains a traumatic secret: an act of family violence that provides essential clues to her character, her aspirations, her intense fascination with Ardis Peake, and his homicidal history. Ardis, of course, is inextricably bound to his own past, to a single night of violence in which he earned his nickname by butchering an entire family. As Alex investigates that long-forgotten massacre, he begins to discern the outline of another, hidden figure, a figure who may have played a role in those earlier killings, and who just might provide the link between past and present events. The search for that elusive figure eventually becomes the dramatic centerpiece of this intricately constructed novel.
Monster, incidentally, is dedicated "To the Memory of Kenneth Millar," who was better known to mystery readers as Ross Macdonald, creator of the classic Lew Archer series, books which were themselves heavily influenced by psychoanalysis, and in which the unresolved past invariably leaves its mark on the present. In his own, very different fashion, Kellerman takes the Macdonald tradition and carries it forward, giving us, in Monster, an absorbing mystery that has much to say about the human capacity for cruelty, and about the fundamental importance of discovering -- and confronting -- the demons of the past.
As always, Kellerman brings his own clinical experience to bear on the subject at hand, and the result -- in addition to its many other virtues -- is a compelling portrait of the harsh realities of mental illness. The scenes in Starkweather Hospital -- with its sad, shuffling population of damaged, overmedicated zombies -- are simultaneously moving and frightening. Through an uncommon combination of empathy and narrative expertise, Kellerman shows us the visible face of madness, and it's not a pretty sight. But it is a powerful one, and it gives this book an added dimension, a level of reality that very few novels -- in or out of the mystery genre -- ever manage to achieve.
--Bill Sheehan
Audio Cassette
First published December 7, 1999
656 people are currently reading
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About the author
Jonathan Kellerman
200 books5,799 followersJonathan Kellerman was born in New York City in 1949 and grew up in Los Angeles. He helped work his way through UCLA as an editorial cartoonist, columnist, editor and freelance musician. As a senior, at the age of 22, he won a Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award for fiction.
Like his fictional protagonist, Alex Delaware, Jonathan received at Ph.D. in psychology at the age of 24, with a specialty in the treatment of children. He served internships in clinical psychology and pediatric psychology at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles and was a post-doctoral HEW Fellow in Psychology and Human Development at CHLA.
IN 1975, Jonathan was asked by the hospital to conduct research into the psychological effects of extreme isolation (plastic bubble units) on children with cancer, and to coordinate care for these kids and their families. The success of that venture led to the establishment, in 1977 of the Psychosocial Program, Division of Oncology, the first comprehensive approach to the emotional aspects of pediatric cancer anywhere in the world. Jonathan was asked to be founding director and, along with his team, published extensively in the area of behavioral medicine. Decades later, the program, under the tutelage of one of Jonathan's former students, continues to break ground.
Jonathan's first published book was a medical text, PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER, 1980. One year later, came a book for parents, HELPING THE FEARFUL CHILD.
In 1985, Jonathan's first novel, WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS, was published to enormous critical and commercial success and became a New York Times bestseller. BOUGH was also produced as a t.v. movie and won the Edgar Allan Poe and Anthony Boucher Awards for Best First Novel. Since then, Jonathan has published a best-selling crime novel every year, and occasionally, two a year. In addition, he has written and illustrated two books for children and a nonfiction volume on childhood violence, SAVAGE SPAWN (1999.) Though no longer active as a psychotherapist, he is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Psychology at University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.
Jonathan is married to bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman and they have four children.
Like his fictional protagonist, Alex Delaware, Jonathan received at Ph.D. in psychology at the age of 24, with a specialty in the treatment of children. He served internships in clinical psychology and pediatric psychology at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles and was a post-doctoral HEW Fellow in Psychology and Human Development at CHLA.
IN 1975, Jonathan was asked by the hospital to conduct research into the psychological effects of extreme isolation (plastic bubble units) on children with cancer, and to coordinate care for these kids and their families. The success of that venture led to the establishment, in 1977 of the Psychosocial Program, Division of Oncology, the first comprehensive approach to the emotional aspects of pediatric cancer anywhere in the world. Jonathan was asked to be founding director and, along with his team, published extensively in the area of behavioral medicine. Decades later, the program, under the tutelage of one of Jonathan's former students, continues to break ground.
Jonathan's first published book was a medical text, PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER, 1980. One year later, came a book for parents, HELPING THE FEARFUL CHILD.
In 1985, Jonathan's first novel, WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS, was published to enormous critical and commercial success and became a New York Times bestseller. BOUGH was also produced as a t.v. movie and won the Edgar Allan Poe and Anthony Boucher Awards for Best First Novel. Since then, Jonathan has published a best-selling crime novel every year, and occasionally, two a year. In addition, he has written and illustrated two books for children and a nonfiction volume on childhood violence, SAVAGE SPAWN (1999.) Though no longer active as a psychotherapist, he is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Psychology at University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.
Jonathan is married to bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman and they have four children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 421 reviews
March 29, 2011
Always a fan of Mr. Kellerman, Monster does not disappoint. I found this to be an intricately woven mystery with plenty of new and colorful characters to enrich the tantalizing plot; but not so many that a separate spreadsheet would be necessary to keep up. This story features the sweet and smart Alex Delaware and his pal, the mighty Milo. The story allows the reader to "solve" the mystery along with the characters, meaning the story-line stuck in my head like an annoying jingle. I HAD to know if I was right---or at least on the right track.
As stones are turned and clues are gathered, the plot (as they say) thickens. One seemingly random psychotic killing years ago was anything but. Mr. Kellerman, through Milo and Alex, take the reader on an adventure that has everything I want in a mystery novel: crazy folks (certifiably), crazy folks among us, long ago forgotten (or never acknowledged) family fueds, drugs and killing for fun (okay, okay, no sex or rock and roll).
The story is a thriller the whole way through, and the ending is just and satisfying without being ho-hum predictable. If you are looking for a good mystery, may I recommend Monster? Enjoy!
As stones are turned and clues are gathered, the plot (as they say) thickens. One seemingly random psychotic killing years ago was anything but. Mr. Kellerman, through Milo and Alex, take the reader on an adventure that has everything I want in a mystery novel: crazy folks (certifiably), crazy folks among us, long ago forgotten (or never acknowledged) family fueds, drugs and killing for fun (okay, okay, no sex or rock and roll).
The story is a thriller the whole way through, and the ending is just and satisfying without being ho-hum predictable. If you are looking for a good mystery, may I recommend Monster? Enjoy!
February 27, 2018
In this Delaware mystery, number 13, a mentally ill 'monster' is killing people. Maybe. Alex Delaware, my favorite fictional psychologist and amateur detective superhero, is called in when bodies are found horribly mutilated, obviously the work of a deranged killer. Because Alex cares and has the time and credentials, he helps Milo Sturgis, one of my favorite fictional professional detectives, gain access to a hospital prison, where various types of mentally ill live. The evidence shows that an inmate there is probably the murderer, but how did he do it? He has been locked up for decades. Copycat? Or conspiracy? One thing is for sure. There is a monster out there.
This is not a book for the squeamish. The killer is insane and he kills people with sadistic delight. While author Jonathon Kellerman doesn't get graphic, he does describe injuries to men, women and a baby.
If, gentle reader, you want to really have fun reading this macabre series, start with When the Bough Breaks.
I’m getting my soapbox out, and now I am standing on it. . *Ahem.*
Some decades ago there were all kinds of places for the mentally ill. Tons of hospitals - all rated with various degrees of lockup severity, like prisons. Some were like expensive vacation spas, others were grim horrors where involuntary patients were chained and tormented much as criminals were in 19th century prisons. Medical care began to become more humane in the 1960's, newspapers printed exposes of what was occurring in the worst hospitals for the mentally ill, and free or low-cost public clinics opened up everywhere.
Then Ronald Reagan won the Presidential race in America. He closed it all down - all the public clinics and hospitals that had a mental health department, the good with the bad. The promise he made was that his administration would support private enterprise in opening up new and better clinics and hospitals for the mentally ill. Didn't happen.
Most of these folks who were released are sleeping under freeways and in alleys, pissing on the back doors of businesses.
In my large state, there are only two major state hospitals left, with the available beds cut back to half of what they used to have and the attendant nurses cut back even more, even though the number of criminally violent mentally ill has grown, along with the ordinary garden-variety mental patients. On the other hand, our building of prisons has exploded. It's estimated that 60-80% of the prison population has serious mental illness. I think I read that the United States has the largest prison population in the world. Now, the soldiers from the two Iraq wars and the Afghan War who have mental illness from their service are being given the shaft in getting mental health treatment. How much will you bet me that many of them will end living in the streets and prisons soon, if they aren't killing themselves in suicide? Yet, psychiatric drugs and types of treatment has never been more enlightened.
Why do we allow this? Is preventive mental treatment more expensive than building thousands of prisons and housing people for decades after their mental problems, untreated, are allowed to explode? The answer is no. But math has never been a strong point for the average taxpaying citizen.
This is not a book for the squeamish. The killer is insane and he kills people with sadistic delight. While author Jonathon Kellerman doesn't get graphic, he does describe injuries to men, women and a baby.
If, gentle reader, you want to really have fun reading this macabre series, start with When the Bough Breaks.
I’m getting my soapbox out, and now I am standing on it. . *Ahem.*
Some decades ago there were all kinds of places for the mentally ill. Tons of hospitals - all rated with various degrees of lockup severity, like prisons. Some were like expensive vacation spas, others were grim horrors where involuntary patients were chained and tormented much as criminals were in 19th century prisons. Medical care began to become more humane in the 1960's, newspapers printed exposes of what was occurring in the worst hospitals for the mentally ill, and free or low-cost public clinics opened up everywhere.
Then Ronald Reagan won the Presidential race in America. He closed it all down - all the public clinics and hospitals that had a mental health department, the good with the bad. The promise he made was that his administration would support private enterprise in opening up new and better clinics and hospitals for the mentally ill. Didn't happen.
Most of these folks who were released are sleeping under freeways and in alleys, pissing on the back doors of businesses.
In my large state, there are only two major state hospitals left, with the available beds cut back to half of what they used to have and the attendant nurses cut back even more, even though the number of criminally violent mentally ill has grown, along with the ordinary garden-variety mental patients. On the other hand, our building of prisons has exploded. It's estimated that 60-80% of the prison population has serious mental illness. I think I read that the United States has the largest prison population in the world. Now, the soldiers from the two Iraq wars and the Afghan War who have mental illness from their service are being given the shaft in getting mental health treatment. How much will you bet me that many of them will end living in the streets and prisons soon, if they aren't killing themselves in suicide? Yet, psychiatric drugs and types of treatment has never been more enlightened.
Why do we allow this? Is preventive mental treatment more expensive than building thousands of prisons and housing people for decades after their mental problems, untreated, are allowed to explode? The answer is no. But math has never been a strong point for the average taxpaying citizen.
May 3, 2020
The more Kellerman I read, the more I become a fan.
The first book I picked up by him took me two attempts to get into. The second I seemed to enjoy more. The third (this one) I loved. Gripped from (almost) the beginning and left wanting to read “just one more chapter” to uncover a bit more of the story.
There isn’t really a big twist at the end, it’s more that answers unfold throughout the book, keeping the reader wanting more.
The first book I picked up by him took me two attempts to get into. The second I seemed to enjoy more. The third (this one) I loved. Gripped from (almost) the beginning and left wanting to read “just one more chapter” to uncover a bit more of the story.
There isn’t really a big twist at the end, it’s more that answers unfold throughout the book, keeping the reader wanting more.
July 21, 2016
This is my first Jonathan Kellerman book. He has been on my TBR list for some time but I was slow to get to him because I am reading so many other series. I am in the midst of Andrew Vachss, Sara Paretsky, Loren Estleman, Michael Connolly, Scott Turow, Karin Slaughter, George Pelecanos and probably a few more that I am not remembering right now.
Monster is the thirteenth book in the twenty-eight book Alex Delaware series that began in 1981 and is still ongoing. I am starting in the middle with the first several books being hard to find. Number thirteen just happens to be the first I have of the series. Just by chance. No special reasoning.
Kellerman doesn’t waste any time getting to his first social issue, leaving both the right and the left to lick their festering wounds.
With Jonathan Kellerman you expect some psychiatric education via Alex Delaware, the narrator, and you get it, a lot of it.
Sounds like a drugged life. Or maybe it is better called an existence. Plenty of theories from Alex based on his knowledge of psychology and psychiatry. He already had twelve books under his belt.
Excuse me if I bore you for a few minutes. Remember this is my first date with Alex so everything is new to me. You know how new relationships can be so exciting that way. So the book starts out being about two kind of grisly murders. One is a cold case and the other just happened. The murders are described just enough so you get the grisly message but little detail beyond that. They may or may not be related. Milo and Alex scope things out. There is a lot of talking and hardly any action. They visit a psychiatric hospital full of murderers who are tamed by illness and medication. Then they go to the home of the recently murdered woman. The house is literally practically empty with an empty living room with uncarpeted hardwood floors and a bedroom with a dresser and a mattress and box spring on the floor. Strange for a woman who makes a reasonable amount of money. Lots of talking as they wander through the house. Then Alex goes home and out to dinner with his wife and there is quite a bit of shop talk about the cases with the wife posing lots of possibilities that might explain what Alex has observed. He has been hinting at romance and she promises him some action when they get home.
Can’t hardly contain yourself, can you? Well, the interesting thing is that I am reading another book simultaneously, Ship of Fools. So the two books are stacked together on the coffee table. Every time I sit down to read I pick up this Kellerman mystery. So he must have grabbed my attention more than Katherine Anne Porter has! Should I be embarrassed?
Action happens finally. The first action is a flashback of the killing spree of the title character of the book. The second is a visit with this character in his room at the mental hospital for homicidal psychotics. That action consists of the apparently futile attempt to communicate with the “Monster” and the action is in facial and body movements. You will have to read it for yourself to see how this rates as action.
But just when I think that the action may go on for a while, the story goes back to talking to people, in person and on the phone. I do find the numerous psychological tidbits interesting if not action packed. This might be a friendly, informal Abnormal Psych 201 course if my “sieve for brain” could actually file away the bits for possible future use. I am going to pay attention to see if Alex is so erudite in his personal conversations when he is not on the job. I will watch to see how he talks with his wife in bed.
Even Milo can get warn out by all the talking.
Milo doesn’t want to spend so much time speculating with Alex and thinks of people calling him back as action. That is the truth about this book at the beginning. It is mostly talking and thinking. Making a phone call is action! I don’t have much experience yet with mysteries so maybe they commonly start slowly with the author planting bulbs, building up details and clues, and then eventually it comes bursting into bloom.
You don’t run into too many characters named Milo. So here we have a co-star with that name. I couldn’t stop thinking about “The Adventures of Milo and Otis,” the 1986 film that was turned into a book. Was Milo the dog or the cat? Now there was a story with action from beginning to end as I recall.
I am not allowed to tell you how this book ends. There are definitely some events that got my adrenalin pumping and it ends with a bang. And I guess it is fair to say that the hero lives to analyze another day. You know that because you have the next book in the series waiting for you to read. I am looking forward to reading more of Jonathan Kellerman. I am still trying to figure out how he is called a consultant when he follows the detective around like a shadow. It is true he is offering theories pretty much nonstop but he gets his hands dirty too. I wonder how he decides what is a billable hour?
I am going to resist the temptation to give Monster five stars. I have to read a few more Alex Delaware mysteries to decide if he really deserves that high praise. Besides, I am still feeling guilty that I am reading mysteries instead of literature. But giving it four stars is easy to do.
I am left with the inebriating question of how many celebratory single-malt scotches Milo can put away in a mere four pages. Maybe he heard that detectives in crime/mystery/thriller books are supposed to drink.
Monster is the thirteenth book in the twenty-eight book Alex Delaware series that began in 1981 and is still ongoing. I am starting in the middle with the first several books being hard to find. Number thirteen just happens to be the first I have of the series. Just by chance. No special reasoning.
Kellerman doesn’t waste any time getting to his first social issue, leaving both the right and the left to lick their festering wounds.
It was a strange time to build a new hospital. State asylums for the retarded and the harmlessly psychotic were being closed down in rapid succession, courtesy of an odd, coldhearted alliance between right-wing misers who didn’t want to spend the money and left-wing ignoramuses who believed psychotics were political prisoners and deserved to be liberated. A few later, a “homeless problem” would appear, shocking the deacons of thrift and the social engineers, but at the time, dismantling an entire inpatient system seemed a clever thing to do.
With Jonathan Kellerman you expect some psychiatric education via Alex Delaware, the narrator, and you get it, a lot of it.
But take away the violence and you didn’t have serenity. What remained were what psychiatrists labeled the negative symptoms of psychosis: apathy, flat mood, deadened voice, blunted movement, impoverished thinking, language stripped of nuance and humor. An existence devoid of surprise and joy.
Sounds like a drugged life. Or maybe it is better called an existence. Plenty of theories from Alex based on his knowledge of psychology and psychiatry. He already had twelve books under his belt.
Excuse me if I bore you for a few minutes. Remember this is my first date with Alex so everything is new to me. You know how new relationships can be so exciting that way. So the book starts out being about two kind of grisly murders. One is a cold case and the other just happened. The murders are described just enough so you get the grisly message but little detail beyond that. They may or may not be related. Milo and Alex scope things out. There is a lot of talking and hardly any action. They visit a psychiatric hospital full of murderers who are tamed by illness and medication. Then they go to the home of the recently murdered woman. The house is literally practically empty with an empty living room with uncarpeted hardwood floors and a bedroom with a dresser and a mattress and box spring on the floor. Strange for a woman who makes a reasonable amount of money. Lots of talking as they wander through the house. Then Alex goes home and out to dinner with his wife and there is quite a bit of shop talk about the cases with the wife posing lots of possibilities that might explain what Alex has observed. He has been hinting at romance and she promises him some action when they get home.
Can’t hardly contain yourself, can you? Well, the interesting thing is that I am reading another book simultaneously, Ship of Fools. So the two books are stacked together on the coffee table. Every time I sit down to read I pick up this Kellerman mystery. So he must have grabbed my attention more than Katherine Anne Porter has! Should I be embarrassed?
Action happens finally. The first action is a flashback of the killing spree of the title character of the book. The second is a visit with this character in his room at the mental hospital for homicidal psychotics. That action consists of the apparently futile attempt to communicate with the “Monster” and the action is in facial and body movements. You will have to read it for yourself to see how this rates as action.
But just when I think that the action may go on for a while, the story goes back to talking to people, in person and on the phone. I do find the numerous psychological tidbits interesting if not action packed. This might be a friendly, informal Abnormal Psych 201 course if my “sieve for brain” could actually file away the bits for possible future use. I am going to pay attention to see if Alex is so erudite in his personal conversations when he is not on the job. I will watch to see how he talks with his wife in bed.
Even Milo can get warn out by all the talking.
He massaged his temples. “Okay, okay, enough talk, I need to do something. I put in calls to Miami and Pimm, Nevada, this morning. When we get back, I’ll see if anyone called.
Milo doesn’t want to spend so much time speculating with Alex and thinks of people calling him back as action. That is the truth about this book at the beginning. It is mostly talking and thinking. Making a phone call is action! I don’t have much experience yet with mysteries so maybe they commonly start slowly with the author planting bulbs, building up details and clues, and then eventually it comes bursting into bloom.
You don’t run into too many characters named Milo. So here we have a co-star with that name. I couldn’t stop thinking about “The Adventures of Milo and Otis,” the 1986 film that was turned into a book. Was Milo the dog or the cat? Now there was a story with action from beginning to end as I recall.
I am not allowed to tell you how this book ends. There are definitely some events that got my adrenalin pumping and it ends with a bang. And I guess it is fair to say that the hero lives to analyze another day. You know that because you have the next book in the series waiting for you to read. I am looking forward to reading more of Jonathan Kellerman. I am still trying to figure out how he is called a consultant when he follows the detective around like a shadow. It is true he is offering theories pretty much nonstop but he gets his hands dirty too. I wonder how he decides what is a billable hour?
I am going to resist the temptation to give Monster five stars. I have to read a few more Alex Delaware mysteries to decide if he really deserves that high praise. Besides, I am still feeling guilty that I am reading mysteries instead of literature. But giving it four stars is easy to do.
I am left with the inebriating question of how many celebratory single-malt scotches Milo can put away in a mere four pages. Maybe he heard that detectives in crime/mystery/thriller books are supposed to drink.
April 1, 2018
Overall, this was a good story. The plot is clever and interesting. But I feel that the book itself could have used a good edit (or a different editor).
First, the writing itself felt like Kellerman was more interested in reaching a word count instead of telling his story. I like descriptiveness as much as the next person, but it felt overboard much of the time. Exacting descriptions of what a person is wearing or exactly what roads are being taken and buildings are being passed during a drive gets old and takes me out of the story. I get it, he knows Los Angeles! The descriptions of his drives and arrivals at locations made me think of that SNL skit, "The Californians." Also, in one spot, the character of Alex is handing someone the same item TWICE in two paragraphs; something a close read should've caught. It was this mistake and the over-descriptiveness that made me think that maybe this book didn't get the edit it deserved.
I am also not sure how I feel about the first person telling of the story. I didn't hate it, but I felt maybe I would've felt more connected if I'd known what was going on in the head of his partner as well.
All of that said, I don't regret reading it. It's good idea/story with OK storytelling.
First, the writing itself felt like Kellerman was more interested in reaching a word count instead of telling his story. I like descriptiveness as much as the next person, but it felt overboard much of the time. Exacting descriptions of what a person is wearing or exactly what roads are being taken and buildings are being passed during a drive gets old and takes me out of the story. I get it, he knows Los Angeles! The descriptions of his drives and arrivals at locations made me think of that SNL skit, "The Californians." Also, in one spot, the character of Alex is handing someone the same item TWICE in two paragraphs; something a close read should've caught. It was this mistake and the over-descriptiveness that made me think that maybe this book didn't get the edit it deserved.
I am also not sure how I feel about the first person telling of the story. I didn't hate it, but I felt maybe I would've felt more connected if I'd known what was going on in the head of his partner as well.
All of that said, I don't regret reading it. It's good idea/story with OK storytelling.
June 1, 2020
My first Kellerman and not too impressed with the slow pace of the book. Maybe the choice of the book was not great. The plot starts with murders happening all over the city and it involves inmates of a psychiatric treatment asylum. A patient is predicting the murders. Alex Delaware is roped in along with Detective Milo Sturgis to investigate. The investigation takes them on the trail of lunatics, healthcare workers, serial killers et al. The premise is very promising but the climax peters out. The drag in the plot does not help. Maybe something did not click for me. But will look out for another book by the author.
February 23, 2013
Meh. I usually like Jonathan Kellerman books but I had a hard time getting into this one. I kept wanting it to end...and then it did.
January 22, 2020
Another super solid Alex Delaware novel, I’m really enjoying reading this huge series!
Some pretty outdated language/terminology in this one, but it was published in the 90s so understandable.
Some pretty outdated language/terminology in this one, but it was published in the 90s so understandable.
February 19, 2019
Kažkada man Jonathaną Kellermaną pristatė Rasa Drazdauskienė, kuria labai žaviuosi. Ir iš tiesų, jei mėgstate kriminalinius romanus, susijusius su psichologija, bet jau pavargote nuo to motyvo, kur "tyrėjas turi savyje atrasti tamsą, kad suprastų žudiką", tai Kellermano knygos - pats tas.
Policininkas ir psichologas tiria baisius nusikaltimus, bando atrasti naujų faktų, spekuliuoja, kodėl nusikaltėlis galėjo padaryti tą ar aną, teorijos dažnai keičiasi iš pagrindų. Dar Kellermanas išsiskiria išsamiais aprašymais, kurie kažkodėl neerzina - aprašo veikėjų išvaizdą, aprangą, mažus įpročius. Veiksmas paprastai įsibėgėja į galą, būna ir kokios nors gaudynės.
Šitai knygai minus žvaigždutė už tai, kad kažkaip labai nuo anksti buvo aišku, kur yra silpnoji visos teorijos grandis.
Policininkas ir psichologas tiria baisius nusikaltimus, bando atrasti naujų faktų, spekuliuoja, kodėl nusikaltėlis galėjo padaryti tą ar aną, teorijos dažnai keičiasi iš pagrindų. Dar Kellermanas išsiskiria išsamiais aprašymais, kurie kažkodėl neerzina - aprašo veikėjų išvaizdą, aprangą, mažus įpročius. Veiksmas paprastai įsibėgėja į galą, būna ir kokios nors gaudynės.
Šitai knygai minus žvaigždutė už tai, kad kažkaip labai nuo anksti buvo aišku, kur yra silpnoji visos teorijos grandis.
November 2, 2018
I believe this is the first Kellerman book I’ve read and I must admit I enjoyed it. The topic mainly revolves around murders and psych patients. Odd mumblings start to come out of a patient after a worker at the psych hospital is murdered.
The ending was good and there was a twist that I didn’t see coming. Never would have thought that Crimmins was making death videos.
The ending was good and there was a twist that I didn’t see coming. Never would have thought that Crimmins was making death videos.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2020
Unrealistic dialogue, cringe, overdescription of mundane things (i know what color tie every character wears), very boomer-lit
The story actually made zero sense which was disappointing as I was expecting something more understandable. (Spoiler: I thought the crazy guy was framed for the murders, that would have been a really good twist. Instead the guy who orchestrated it just likes killing but on film? And all of his reasoning for his need to kill random people, elaborate set ups and seemingly nonsensical planning is just: he's a psychopath. Lazy writing IMO) This book is a part of a series, I can't imagine why someone would read 13 volumes of this
The story actually made zero sense which was disappointing as I was expecting something more understandable. (Spoiler: I thought the crazy guy was framed for the murders, that would have been a really good twist. Instead the guy who orchestrated it just likes killing but on film? And all of his reasoning for his need to kill random people, elaborate set ups and seemingly nonsensical planning is just: he's a psychopath. Lazy writing IMO) This book is a part of a series, I can't imagine why someone would read 13 volumes of this
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2015
Wished I'd skipped this one
I did not find this Delaware story interesting. Too matter-of-fact. Interesting idea, but no motive for the murders left me wanting more. I know in life sometimes things work that way, but it doesn't have to in books.
I did not find this Delaware story interesting. Too matter-of-fact. Interesting idea, but no motive for the murders left me wanting more. I know in life sometimes things work that way, but it doesn't have to in books.
August 25, 2020
3...This one was iffy for me....only because I hate when the bad guys get one over on my heroes...Characters were well written and I love Alex, great story...Unfortunately, the beginning of these novels drag so much...It feels daunting to finish them...then the endings are so good...just uneven!
September 9, 2019
This was good. Much of the story was internal dialogue, or sorting out possibilities which sounds boring but wasn't- at least not to me. I found myself mulling through possibilities and felt that this writing style pulled me further into the world of the author. The main character, Delaware, is likable and relatable which also helped.
August 15, 2018
Interesting story. I finished it because I wanted to know how it ended, but it had a lot of characters to remember and too many irrelevant details that took up space in my head, thinking that information might be important. The ending made sense, but it was pretty boring at that point and just petered out. Meh.
November 25, 2008
Ok...a female psychologist in her thirties tires of her career in academia and chooses to work in a forensic institution east of Los Angeles. About six months into her job she turns up dead. Seriously, this is the plot. I kid you not. Meanwhile I'm still reading and working.
October 20, 2024
This book has been collecting dust on my bookshelf for quite a while. I think Kellerman was one of those authors who pumped out a book a year to keep his fans satisfied.
The mystery, horror element was there but I felt like I missed out on getting to know who the main characters were. Dr. Alex Delaware, a forensic psychologist accompanies LA detective Milo Sturgis to track down a brutal killer. There is very little revealed about Delaware and Sturgis', who were they and how they knew each other.
There was a lot of clinical explanation about psychosis and mental illness. A lot of the story took place in an institution for the criminally insane. The story dragged for a while and finally picked up in the last third of the book.
Since I have another of Kellerman's books on my shelf collecting dust, I am giving him another try.
The mystery, horror element was there but I felt like I missed out on getting to know who the main characters were. Dr. Alex Delaware, a forensic psychologist accompanies LA detective Milo Sturgis to track down a brutal killer. There is very little revealed about Delaware and Sturgis', who were they and how they knew each other.
There was a lot of clinical explanation about psychosis and mental illness. A lot of the story took place in an institution for the criminally insane. The story dragged for a while and finally picked up in the last third of the book.
Since I have another of Kellerman's books on my shelf collecting dust, I am giving him another try.
October 7, 2018
One of the best books in this series so far. I don’t want to say to much so as not to ruin anything but this book takes the reader on the slow journey into the motivations and actions of a monster that’s all to human and gives a glimpse of the senseless darkness and malicious glee that’s possible when a psychopath can truly cut loose with intent and nothing to lose.
An absolutely fascinating read that moves at an ever increasing pace that’s hard to put down.
An absolutely fascinating read that moves at an ever increasing pace that’s hard to put down.
February 16, 2019
Other episode in the Alex Delaware & Milo Sturgis casebook as the murder of a psychologist in a high security mental health institution shows similiarities with the murder of an out-of-work actor some months earlier. Good plot with a solid pace throughout.
December 29, 2020
I love this series and going back to the beginning to catch some I missed. Alex and Milo are on the case of a murdered doctor and her relationship to a inmate in a state mental hospital. The cast of characters are never as innocent as they appear to be and the ending just blows it out of the water.
December 21, 2021
Excellent! Just finished and I really admire how Mr. Kellerman tied everything up so skillfully. I had many questions as I read about the storyline which kept me reading to find out more, but now I'm satisfied with the mastering of it all. Won't say any more to not spoil it!
July 18, 2017
Hey look, I read this out of order. Surprise!
I've had this book for over 17 years. I know this because the bookplate in the front has my old address. I had a strange feeling of deja vu when I read this but I also don't think I've read this before. Ardis Peake is a mad man and his killings were what sounded familiar.
Anywho, Dr. Delaware is back again helping solve a series of strange murders that, on the surface, don't really look related. But somehow, things tie back to Peake, locked up in Starkweather Hospital for the criminally insane and, boy, is he insane. Or, at the least, so medicated for insanity he's practically a vegetable. Until he escapes. WHAT? Yes.
The murder that got Delaware and Milo Sturgis to Starkweather was of Claire Argent, a psychologist at the hospital. As they start snooping around, or detecting, things start to become more confusing.
Is Peake a prophet?
Why was Claire so interested in Peake?
This was a pretty decent mystery that took me a bit to guess what was going on in the end. Clever.
I've had this book for over 17 years. I know this because the bookplate in the front has my old address. I had a strange feeling of deja vu when I read this but I also don't think I've read this before. Ardis Peake is a mad man and his killings were what sounded familiar.
Anywho, Dr. Delaware is back again helping solve a series of strange murders that, on the surface, don't really look related. But somehow, things tie back to Peake, locked up in Starkweather Hospital for the criminally insane and, boy, is he insane. Or, at the least, so medicated for insanity he's practically a vegetable. Until he escapes. WHAT? Yes.
The murder that got Delaware and Milo Sturgis to Starkweather was of Claire Argent, a psychologist at the hospital. As they start snooping around, or detecting, things start to become more confusing.
Is Peake a prophet?
Why was Claire so interested in Peake?
This was a pretty decent mystery that took me a bit to guess what was going on in the end. Clever.
August 27, 2019
Closer to 3.5. I’ve never read an Alex Delaware novel I didn’t enjoy. Sometimes they are a little bit far fetched but most crime novels tend to be. Still an enjoyable read.
April 22, 2022
1.99 stars. One of my least favorite
April 17, 2020
The best one that I have Read to date!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2011
Monster is the third Kellerman novel I've read and with every book read,I like his writing even more. I picked up this book at a bargain at a second hand store as i don't normally buy my copies of thrillers and borrow them from libraries.Faintly reminiscent of The silence of the lambs and more of ,Hannibal Lecter, I found the book spine chilling and gripping.The pace is not really high-adrenaline inducing,but Alex Delaware and his LAPD buddy Milo chip away industriously at uncertainty to make sense of madness behind Monster's random babble. Narrated from Alex's point of view,Monster is 13th in the row of Alex Delaware books.I was surprised at Jonathan's style of writing -vivid descriptions and flowery words somehow don't normally get associated with crime writing,more so with a psychological thriller,but you'll find that in this book.What I find fascinating about books like these is the psychological profiling that unravels during the course of the investigations.The book gives you a sneak peak into the workings of an institution for mentally unstable criminal-Starkweather hospital in this case.It also made me wonder about the safety of the carers and the techs that man these facilities.Either they must be highly motivated or paid very well to take up a job that is fraught with so much risk.
Character-wise I can't choose between Milo or Alex and say who I liked better.I also liked the way how Kellerman lets us see a bit of Alex's personal life in between the investigations.The murders that take place are slightly disturbing and not for the faint-hearted and in most cases Kellerman describes the crime scene almost clinically,going over details of the onslaught on the victim.Almost 200 pages into the book,we get to know who the possible murderer might be and its more a question of the duo locating him.
Overall ,this might not be the best psychological thriller I've read till date, but it was good nevertheless.4/5 for this book. I recommend it to people who like reading psychological thrillers.
Character-wise I can't choose between Milo or Alex and say who I liked better.I also liked the way how Kellerman lets us see a bit of Alex's personal life in between the investigations.The murders that take place are slightly disturbing and not for the faint-hearted and in most cases Kellerman describes the crime scene almost clinically,going over details of the onslaught on the victim.Almost 200 pages into the book,we get to know who the possible murderer might be and its more a question of the duo locating him.
Overall ,this might not be the best psychological thriller I've read till date, but it was good nevertheless.4/5 for this book. I recommend it to people who like reading psychological thrillers.
October 10, 2012
I found this book to be a creative individual story; however, I also thought that it was drug out longer than it needed to be. Jonathan Kellerman keeps his reader involved throughout the first half of the story, but in the second half I felt like he was filling pages and not making very much progress in the story line. I thought that he was repeating a lot, and spending too much time explaining how the characters felt about something and not enough with what actually was happening.
Even though I didn’t particularity like the writing style, I found Monster to be the kind of book that keeps you up at night. There were several parts in the story when I found myself with the main character, Alex, and just as horrified as he was. With all the murder and violence in this book, it’s hard not to feel engaged in the story at times.
I felt like the ending of this story didn’t follow through with the rest of the story. Throughout the book, Milo and Alex are looking for a character, and at the end they find him, and kill him immediately. I was disappointed, and felt like Jonathan Kellerman should have introduced this character more and showed us this story from his point of a view. I feel like the main characters found this man solely on theory and no evidence. I was expecting more of an ending, and felt like it was abrupt.
All and all, I liked the story, but not the way it was presented. I think that it is worth reading, as others may like the writing style better than I do. The characters, other than the antagonist, were well developed and personal. I would rate this book as mediocre overall, and a bit of a disappointment to what the description on the back would lead me to believe.
Even though I didn’t particularity like the writing style, I found Monster to be the kind of book that keeps you up at night. There were several parts in the story when I found myself with the main character, Alex, and just as horrified as he was. With all the murder and violence in this book, it’s hard not to feel engaged in the story at times.
I felt like the ending of this story didn’t follow through with the rest of the story. Throughout the book, Milo and Alex are looking for a character, and at the end they find him, and kill him immediately. I was disappointed, and felt like Jonathan Kellerman should have introduced this character more and showed us this story from his point of a view. I feel like the main characters found this man solely on theory and no evidence. I was expecting more of an ending, and felt like it was abrupt.
All and all, I liked the story, but not the way it was presented. I think that it is worth reading, as others may like the writing style better than I do. The characters, other than the antagonist, were well developed and personal. I would rate this book as mediocre overall, and a bit of a disappointment to what the description on the back would lead me to believe.
February 15, 2010
Really good. in fact one of my favourites so far.
It kept me guessing and I really liked the characterizations.The story is gripping due to the difficulty in understanding how and why everything is happening.
Involving the death of an actor as well as a psychiatrist who apparently had no connection, the trail leads back to a historical slaughter and to a maximum security asylum.
I read it out of order, so cringe when I read the relations between Alex and Robin, but like the suspense of this twisted tale.
While i understand why it ends where it does, i can't help but wish a more complete and fair end were possible ...
JK doing what he does best :-)
It kept me guessing and I really liked the characterizations.The story is gripping due to the difficulty in understanding how and why everything is happening.
Involving the death of an actor as well as a psychiatrist who apparently had no connection, the trail leads back to a historical slaughter and to a maximum security asylum.
I read it out of order, so cringe when I read the relations between Alex and Robin, but like the suspense of this twisted tale.
While i understand why it ends where it does, i can't help but wish a more complete and fair end were possible ...
JK doing what he does best :-)
January 3, 2016
This book a little hard for me got into at first. I struggled through about the first 100 or so pages, but I stuck with it because I knew from what I had gotten through that this book had the potential to be really good. The plot is a great story.
Once I got through that section of the book it really started moving. The story is compelling. I enjoyed it.
So, I give it a three, only because it was so hard at the beginning. I read these books out of order. This was actually the 13th in a series and I just picked it up randomly from the library so maybe that had something to do with it. I am going to read the first one in the series next.
Once I got through that section of the book it really started moving. The story is compelling. I enjoyed it.
So, I give it a three, only because it was so hard at the beginning. I read these books out of order. This was actually the 13th in a series and I just picked it up randomly from the library so maybe that had something to do with it. I am going to read the first one in the series next.
July 4, 2013
Sometimes you just need read a really good, twisty crime novel. This is a good one to pick up, if you do. I found it original and interesting. The only drawback to the book that I found was that the ending lags quite a bit. I'm sure that Kellerman thought he would up the suspense by describing every single rock and shrub and star and breeze during the final scenes, but it had the reverse effect on me and I just got profoundly bored. Despite that, I enjoyed the book as a whole.
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