Review by Booklist Review
This third superb thriller starring Alex Delaware as psychologist-turned-detective follows When the Bough Breaks (Booklist 81:1030 Mr 15 85) and Blood Test (82:947 Mr 1 86). Here, a brilliant but disturbed teenage boy, who was once Delaware's patient, is now in deep trouble: he's the chief suspect in a series of horrible homosexual-oriented murders. Delaware is called on to be a consultant for the defense, to analyze the boy's current mental state. Exacting the truth from everyone involved is what Delaware intends, and in the process the reader is pulled head over heels and quite willingly, too into a mesmerizing story. Attention to good writing, characters drawn with fine shading, and plausibility of plot to say nothing of excitement all ensure that this novel won't be put down unfinished by either hard-core mystery and psychological thriller fans or more literary-minded readers. BH. [OCLC] 86-47936
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The third novel to feature child psychologist Alex Delaware begins with a desperate, garbled phone call from former patient Jamey Cadmus, genius of record and heir to a construction fortune. The next day, Jamey is accused of the Lavender Slashings, a series of grisly homosexual murders that have rocked Los Angeles. The teenager's lawyer asks Alex to examine Jamey's recent history with the hope that a plea of diminished capacity will protect Jamey from a prison sentence. Though soon fired, Alex continues his investigation, motivated by the compassion and intelligence previously demonstrated in When the Bough Breaks and Blood Test. Tracing the rocky road of Jamey's emotional development, Alex crisscrosses L.A., moving from Beverly Hills mansions to biker cabins, from the old Haight district to mountain canyons, with stops at the U.C.L.A. medical library, the high-security section of the L.A.P.D. jail and some exquisitely appointed legal offices. Aided by his friend, homicide detective Milo Sturgis, Alex ignores warnings to stay away from the case and begins to discern an ominous pattern in Jamey's family history, connecting esoteric South American hallucinogens, a massively irresponsible real-estate scam and the ageless human motivations of revenge and greed. The first two Alex Delaware books were very good indeed. This one, more complexly plotted, more richly psychological and filled with convincing financial and pharmacological details, is the best yet. Paperback rights to NAL; Mystery Guild main selection; Literary Guild alternate. (April 23) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
YA Kellerman, a contemporary master of psychological thrillers, has created a story of building suspense about a psychotic teenage boy, Jamey Cadmus, who is accused of six murders. Dr. Delware, local psychologist, receives a late night phone call from Jamey, drawing upon him to help defend the teenager. The plot slowly unravels and the conspiracy of Jamey's family to create his madness is revealed. Readers will be drawn into this suspenseful drama by vivid descriptions of a psychotic, details of family greed, and the hope for the teenager's sanity. Susan Penny, Houston Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Kellerman's third investigation for L.A. psychologist Alex Delaware begins as a densely absorbing case-history. . .but then, like its overrated predecessors (When the Bough Breaks, Blood Test), turns into an overlong, overwrought gothic, more cheap than thoughtful. Delaware is brought in as an expert-consultant for the defense--when catatonic, 18-year-old Jamey Cadmus (heir to a major fortune) is arrested, charged with complicity in a series of gay-hustler murders and the bloody demise of gay banker Digby Chancellor (who may have masterminded the serial killings). Jamey, you see, was a patient of Delaware's six years before, when he was a withdrawn, sexually confused, genius-I.Q. preteen. And ever since then Jamey has been descending into apparent schizophrenia, to the point of incoherence, paranoia, violence, and institutionalization. So Delaware examines the evidence for an insanity defense, including the instability of Jamey's parents (both dead, one a suicide). But there's a bothersome flaw in the theory--""schizophrenics don't commit serial murders""--and Delaware eventually exposes a labyrinthine but unsurprising conspiracy, featuring both ""the evil doctor scenario"" and ""your basic extortion/elimination scenario."" As long as Kellerman sticks with psycho-close-up, there's a grimly intriguing clinical narrative here, serviceably filled out with character studies of Delaware's gay-cop pal Milo, the super-competent Cadmus family lawyer, and others. Once the tacky-formula outline takes shape, however, many readers will become resentful of the long-windedness (448 p.), bored by the many anticlimactic wrap-up chapters (trapping the villain, explaining All), and increasingly irritated by the self-righteousness and purple patches that mar Dr. Delaware's sturdy narration. Still: heavy hype and a strong first half ensure a sizable audience. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
