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Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML: BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Jonathan Kellerman's Victims. A second-rate actor is found mutilated in a car trunk. Then a psychologist at a Los Angeles hospital for the criminally insane is murdered in a similar grisly fashion. Suddenly the incoherent ramblings of an inmate at the presumably secure institution begin to make chilling sense--they are, in fact, horrifying predictions. Yet how can a barely functional psychotic locked behind asylum walls possibly know such vivid details of crimes committed in the outside world? Drawn into a labyrinth of secrets, revenge, sex, and manipulation, Dr. Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis set out to unlock this enigma and put an end to the brutal killings--before the madman predicts their own demise. . . ..… (more)
User reviews
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.
The psychologist had worked in one of the mental
The book is aptly named - the mentally ill man who killed a family had won the name Monster but the real monsters turn out to look normal. As is often the case, the truth emerges from the past - while chasing down the two murders, Milo and Alex end up learning more than they wanted to know about a few old massacres. The end of the novel did not come as a surprise either - the suspicions are there from very early, even if Alex does not voice them until almost the end.
And as is occasionally the case with Kellerman's novels, there is a not so subtle commentary on how the mentally ill are treated in the courts - complete with calling out the fakers and the changing laws.
It is a sad book - while most of novels in the series are gory, this one is more sad than anything else. The goriness of the original murders gives way to medical insanity and its exploration - and it is even more unsettling. Good entry in the series - it was about time for an entry where Alex is the one leading the case (more or less).
However, ultimately, as with any thriller, it's the dénouement that really justifies the plot. This is always, for me, Kellerman's weak spot - normally the crime and perpretator makes sense, but the action at the end seems a little contrived. In this book, I simply didn't 'buy' the crime and perpetrator. it was plain too odd and unsatisfying, and the police etc. are themselves baffled by this guy and why he did what he did. True, I guess that he has to come up with something different each time, but this one was just too weird - and you could see most of it coming a mile off. There wasn't any great twist as we got towards the end - except one character, who weren't supposed to think was a goodie turned out to be a baddie, but I'd guessed that one from the start.... So.... Good writing for the most part, as always. but the thriller part of the plot sucked really. But I still love him!
For lovers of suspense and thrillers, I'd absolutely recommend the Alex Delaware series, and this book among the group of them.
This one was a little different compared to earlier novels in that as we followed along with Alex and Milo we could see the clues and there were really no surprises.
As a change of pace it was quite interesting, though not sure if I prefer knowing what's going on or being surprised.