What I've Read - another Alex Delaware psychological thriller.

I first got hooked on the "Alex Delaware" series of novels by Jonathan Kellerman waaaaaay back in high school and college. Dad would always pick them up and I'd get them second hand. Haven't read one in a long time, but they had a few at the book sale at the JET mid-year earlier this week, so I snagged one in the name of charity. Along with another half dozen books or so...

The Kellerman books are like novels of comfort food for me. The same intriguingly dysfunctional mysteries, the good character beats, the twists and turns to the last page that shows you that yes, all along, everyone was actually far more screwed up than they seemed. Yes, even the guy who killed and stuffed people.

Good read.

Gone (Alex Delaware, No. 20): Jonathan Kellerman: Books:

"From Booklist
In "a reality show episode that backfired," two twentysomethings fake a kidnapping to jump-start their acting careers. When criminal psychologist Alex Delaware is called in to evaluate one of the pair, Michaela Brand, he learns a few details that come in handy later, after she's found brutally murdered, and the case has fallen into the lap of Alex's buddy, Lieutenant Milo Sturges. The murder trail leads back to an acting studio operated by wealthy, drug-addled Nora Dowd; a steady stream of starstruck would-be thespians arrive at the studio--and then sometimes disappear. Gradually, the pool of suspects widens, as more people turn up missing and dead. As usual, Kellerman maintains a tight balance between suspense and characterization, using dialogue to push things quickly along: Delaware and Sturges bounce theories off one another in rapid succession--as much from habit as necessity. Neither gets everything right; the truth is much more horrifying than either suspected. As number 19 in the long-running series, this fast, clever thriller proves again why Kellerman's books reside on best-seller lists. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. "