- Paperback
- Publisher: Random House Inc.; First printing of this edition edition (30 April 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345459377
- ISBN-13: 978-0345459374
- Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 10.6 x 3.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
The Murder Book: Alex Delaware 16
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Product Description
Product Description
An Alex Delaware thriller - compulsive, intriguing and unputdownable
Alex Delaware's relationship with his longterm partner is on the rocks. He is floored when Robin announces she's heading off on a three-month music tour. But he soon has other things to think about. He is sent an envelope with no return address. Inside, he finds an album with gold letters on it - THE MURDER BOOK. It's full of macabre pictures of murders, with brief descriptions of how, and why, the victims died. One picture is marked 'Not solved' - the horrifically mutilated body of a young woman. Unsettled, Alex calls his friend, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, who seems strangely familiar with the case. What connects the photograph with Milo's past? What's more, why has it been sent to Alex - and by whom?
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.About the Author
Jonathan Kellerman is one of the world's most popular authors. He has brought his expertise as a clinical psychologist to more than two dozen bestselling crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar and Anthony awards, and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. Jonathan lives in California and New Mexico, with his wife, writer Faye Kellerman, and their four children.
--This text refers to an alternate
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
After the hugely disappointing "Flesh and Blood", Kellerman is back on top form with his latest "The Murder Book".
One of the major criticisms of the last few Delaware novels is the fact that we didn't learn more about Alex and Milo - the plots need not have involved them at all. Kellerman tackles this with, for the first time, giving us a detailed description of Milo's earlier life and start in the police force. Things that have been alluded to in earlier books, for example his tour of Vietnam, are made concrete here. It's also interesting to find out that he gets annoyed at Alex sometimes!
Kellerman also changes the usual structure of the Delaware novels, much like he did in "Survival of the Fittest", to great effect. I would say that almost half the novel is told in the third person from Milo's point of view. This devices generates unbelievable suspense towards the end of the novel. Alfred Hitchcock said that if there are two people talking in a movie and a bomb explodes under the table, this is shock. But if the audience knows there is a bomb under the table before it goes off, this is suspense. With multiple viewpoints, we know that certain characters are in danger before they do - something that cannot be achieved when writing purely in the first person. The ending of this book is the most exciting of all the Delaware novels. It's also more violent than usual. On this note, no one describes the full horror and violence of people getting shot than Kellerman!
The book isn't perfect, hence the 4 stars - Alex's fight with Robin only really slows the pace down, and the story does take a bit to get going. But once it does, the multiple viewpoints, intricate plotting and sheer quality of the writing make "The Murder Book" one of the best Kellerman has written in years.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Those of you familiar with Jonathon Kellerman's Delaware series will find something a little different in this latest novel. With Robin leaving to go on tour (effectively imposing a trial separation on Alex), "The Murder Book" finds Delaware in a more contemplative mood, certainly more aware of his own failings than we've seen him before. For once Alex is not presented as the everyman hero, but instead as the civilian addicted to danger, with scant regard for the emotional and physical dangers that are the inevitable consequence for both himself and those around him.
Kellerman also take an opportunity to delve more deeply into Milo's past - and his present, including several chapters in which Delware is absent, written in the third person. We learn more about the prejudice and bigotry that Milo faced in his early years as a homicide detective, and far more about his relationships with Rick Silverman and Alex Delaware than we've ever seen before. Rick and Milo even have some scenes alone together - finally adding some flesh to the bones of characters and relationships that have been merely wallpaper for the past 15 novels.
The main storyline concerns the usual mysterious murder, and the mind games played by all involved. This is classic Kellerman country, with twists and turns, danger and dénouements a plenty.
Personally, I found the change in style and content a refreshing change - a little reward for having stuck with these guys for so long.
Kellerman also take an opportunity to delve more deeply into Milo's past - and his present, including several chapters in which Delware is absent, written in the third person. We learn more about the prejudice and bigotry that Milo faced in his early years as a homicide detective, and far more about his relationships with Rick Silverman and Alex Delaware than we've ever seen before. Rick and Milo even have some scenes alone together - finally adding some flesh to the bones of characters and relationships that have been merely wallpaper for the past 15 novels.
The main storyline concerns the usual mysterious murder, and the mind games played by all involved. This is classic Kellerman country, with twists and turns, danger and dénouements a plenty.
Personally, I found the change in style and content a refreshing change - a little reward for having stuck with these guys for so long.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An excellent book to begin with, the narrative is well told, and you feel empathy with the characters. As the book climbs towards it's climax, however, things take a sudden turn for the worse. As all good authors know, you start your book with the climax, and work backwards, so that everything falls into place. (In your mind, not in the actual book!) The author has failed to do this here, as a result what could have been an excellent book is reduced to a shelf-filler. Obviously I don't want to ruin the book by going into too much detail, suffice to say he has no idea what to do with the suspects, so he 'removes' them!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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One of the better of the more recent entries in the series. The plot works well and the ancillary characters are interesting. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2007 by derekmas
A new twist to an old theme
This is a good book (as usual) from Kellerman. The twist of using the police blue folder proceedure for the Murder Book that forms the title is a nice touch. Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2003 by ratscat13
Disappointing - has done better!
As a fan of Jonathan Kellerman's previous books, I eagerly grabbed this from the shelf to add to my holiday reading. Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2003 by R. Green
Classic Kellerman!
The Murder Book is classic Kellerman which keeps the hairs on the back of your neck standing up. The ideas he comes up with are fantastic and the twists and turns that he leads... Read more
Published on 18 July 2003 by "saranissa"
The Murder Book
The Murder Book, by Jonathan Kellerman is a psychological, murder thriller. It is the sixteenth supplement to the Alex Delaware collection and promises to provide just as many... Read more
Published on 14 July 2003 by Mr Sam Davies
Make room for Milo
Alex Delaware, psychologist and consultant to the LAPD, has just taken his longtime girlfriend, Robin, to Paris to try to repair past ills. Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2003 by Anna Klein
Gripping but,
This is the second book I read of Kellerman (after Flesh and Blood). I thought it a good book. I like the combination of Alex Delaware and Milo. The setting is interesting. Read more
Published on 9 Dec 2002 by Mariane Chair, Holland,
The best yet
This is Kellerman on good form. Alex Delaware receives a book of photos from various crime scenes. When he shows the book to his cop pal Milo Sturgis, he learns that one of the... Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2002 by "spuddler"
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