Therapy

An Alex Delaware Novel

By: Jonathan Kellerman

Narrated by: John Rubenstein

"Been a while since I had me a nice little whodunit," homicide detective Milo Sturgis tells Alex Delaware. But there's definitely nothing nice about the brutal tableau behind the yellow crime-scene tape. On a lonely lover's lane in the hills of Los Angeles, a young couple lies murdered in a car. Each bears a single gunshot wound to the head. The female victim has also been impaled by a metal spike. And that savage stroke of psychopathic fury tells Milo this case will call for more than standard police procedure. As he explains to Delaware, "Now we're veering into your territory."

It is dark territory, indeed. The dead woman remains unidentified and seemingly unknown to everyone. But her companion has a name: Gavin Quick, and his troubled past eventually landed him on a therapist's couch. It's there, on familiar turf, that Delaware hopes to find vital clues. And that means going head-to-head with Dr. Mary Lou Koppel, a popular celebrity psychologist who fiercely guards the privacy of her clients...dead or alive.

But when there's another gruesomely familiar murder, Delaware surmises that his investigation has struck a nerve. As he trolls the twisted wreckage of Quick's tormented last days, what he finds isn't madness, but the cold-blooded method behind it. And as he follows a chain of greed, corruption, and betrayal snaking hideously through the profession he thought he knew, he'll discover territory where even he never dreamed of treading.

As provocative as it is suspenseful, Therapy is premier Kellerman that finds the award-winning author firing on all creative cylinders and carrying readers on an electrifying ride to a place only he can take them, for an experience they won't soon forget.

©2004 Jonathan Kellerman (P)2004 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Compassionate, intelligent protagonists, interesting secondary characters (including complex villains), strong plot lines, and clear, unpretentious writing. Kellerman delivers all these once again." (Publishers Weekly)

Good book but ...

Please, please, PLEASE stop putting music in the background. This is becoming an unfortunate trend in audiobooks. It's distracting, it's annoying. If I want to listen to music then I'll listen to music. At least there is very little of it in this one, just a little at the beginning and the end.

fun and true to L.A. life

This is the first Kellerman book I've read, and I want more. The strength is all in plotting (twisty) and character (widely varied, yet realistic). The dialogue is great.

And I don't understand the bad reviews about this reader. He does grizzled cop, druggy mom, spoiled teenager, and calm psychologist voices with total believability.

WHAT DO THINK ABOUT THERAPISTS NOW!!

good story about therapists. ha ha. keeps you going until the end. I'm a new reader/listener so I'm reading these books in order.

I'm glad Alex has a girlfriend but it doesn't seem to gel for me. she's nice and seems interested in Alex. But i don't feel a spark. it would be great if she was a murderess in another book. HOWEVER, I DONT LIKE ROBIN. GLAD SHE'S GONE!!

Decent book

this was a decent book. not very fast paced ,but decent. and not jonathan's best work either. I found that the process to how Dr. delaware arrived at some of his conclusion to be far fetched and reaching which is why when he turned out to be correct it sort of killed it for me . I was expecting more of a twist to the plot. A bit more natural flow with some logic to it. instead you get these giant leaps , that turn out to be true.

It passed the time

Didn't think this book was particularly good or particularly bad. I thought the characters were interesting and the story was passable. Not the kind of novel that would wear down you iPod battery. Yet the listening experience wasn't unpleasant. By now most who are reading this review will probably have figured out that I thought this book was average, as was the narration. This is the first Delaware story I've listened to and got the impression that Milo was the star of the series. Maybe that's the way Kellerman uses Delaware, sort of in story-teller mode. Might listen to another one of these. Might not.

Fun Listening

It had been awhile since I'd had a good Kellerman book to enjoy. I started this on audio...got so hooked that I bought the $25 hardcover to read on a plane...then went back to audio when I got home.

This was enjoyable and well written. Great mystery and recommended.

Intricate

This time Alex and Milo have a real puzzle to unravel! Kellerman has outdone himself. This plot requires close listening, but it is highly entertaining. I did not foresee the ending.

John Rubenstein not only is easy on the ears, I enjoyed the voices he uses to differentiate characters. His female voices I thought very amusing to hear. (He can do spoiled Beverly Hills bimbos with realistic intonation.)

; D

Another excellent who done it!

Alex and Milo for the win. Alex deserves a nice vacation.
Robin needs her head examined.
Allison for the win.

Kellerman strikes again

An interesting begining, good characters, but the usual Kellerman laziness in wraping up the story line. The reader is excellent however.

One of his Weaker Books

There are a few good moments in this installment of Alex and Milo's crime solving partnership. Unfortunately there are very few of these and the storyline running through the middle of the work is so long, convoluted and unpleasant that it was a struggle to stick with it. I found this audio long on venom and short on plot with hardly anyone coming off well in the telling. If not for my personal determination to listen to all the Alex Delaware novels I'd have given up on it.