Child psychologist Alex Delaware returns in a follow-up to Devil's Waltz that begins with a childlike chant and finishes with Alex at the end of a chain of unexplained deaths. (Adventure & Suspense).
Bad Love: An Alex Delaware Novel
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From Publishers Weekly
The latest Dr. Alex Delaware novel, after Devil's Waltz , follows the child psychologist on an intricately plotted, murder-strewn course that started 20 years earlier when he was on staff at a Los Angeles children's hospital. Recently, Alex has become the target of ominous threats: weird laughter over the phone, a fish from his pond cruelly skewered, a tape of a child's voice repeating the words "bad love . " Initially he ties the threats to his work with two young sisters whose father, in prison for the murder of their mother, is claiming visitation rights. But Alex also remembers the phrase "bad love" was used by a child psychiatrist honored at a 1979 symposium he cosponsored at the hospital. A file search by his LAPD pal Milo Sturgis connects the phrase to two LA murders five and three years ago; inquiries by Alex reveal a surprisingly high death rate among speakers at the symposium. After more murders and harsher threats, the trails converge in a confrontation with a psychotic killer. Kellerman constructs his plot as adeptly as Robin Castagna, Alex's live-in lover, builds her prized guitars, but the decades-past motivation, the tangled connections among victims and Alex's peripheral association with the murderer foster a clinical detachment from the story's events. BOMC selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
Spine-chilling screams, followed by a childlike chant that includes the words "bad love, bad love," appear on a tape sent anonymously to Alex Delaware, the financially independent, Los Angeles-based child psychologist and amateur sleuth who has starred in seven previous Kellerman novels, beginning with When the Bough Breaks ( LJ 3/1/85). Delaware's pal, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, recalls that recently a man shouted "bad love" after killing his therapist in a clinic. After some research, the psychologist remembers that he was coerced into serving as cochair of a less-than-successful 1979 conference honoring analyst Andres de Bosch, who espoused a theory of maternal good love/bad love. Starting from these seemingly unrelated past events, the two men pursue one tenuous lead after another to a surprising conclusion. The prolific best-selling author keeps the reader involved through some rather fantastic plot turns. Delaware fans will be looking for this title. BOMC main selection.
- V. Louise Saylor, Eastern Washington Univ. Lib., Cheney
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
- V. Louise Saylor, Eastern Washington Univ. Lib., Cheney
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Format:Paperback
Not a bad read. This is the third Kellerman book I've read. I had trouble believing the plot in this one. Alex gets a tape and then spends most of the book trying to track down people that he can warn or that can help him figure out who the killer is. The problem is that nothing really earthshaking happens until the end. I don't think in reality anyone would go to so much trouble over a scary tape and a dead koi. I think there should have been something more real, like a murder, that Alex could verifiably connect to the tape before he marches off to find the killer. All in all, it was entertaining enough. There was not enough character development to get you to care about the victims. If your looking for something to give you the creeps or to get you "hooked", skip this one.
Read the Clinic if your looking for a good Kellerman Novel.
Read the Clinic if your looking for a good Kellerman Novel.
By RachelWalker
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The cassette tape arrives one morning in a plain brown wrapper with no return address. Alex Delaware, curious, puts it cautiously into his tape player, and a nightmare opens up before him. There is a long, soul-tearing scream, and then a child chanting the phrase, "Bad love, bad love, don't give me the bad love."
Shortly after, he receives a mysterious phone call, and then confronts a cruel act of vandalism against him, and is forced to admit that someone, for some twisted reason, has him in their sights.
He desperately searches his memory for recognition of the phrase "bad love", and eventually links it to a symposium he attended many years ago, dedicated to the work of child psychologist Andres de Bosch. Puzzled about how this could possibly link back to his taunter, Alex tries to get in contact with some of the other delegates, and discovers a chilling and random series of deaths amongst them.
This is the best Delaware book so far (I am slowly but dedicatedly making my way through the series.) It contains everything that makes Jonathan Kellerman books good. Plenty of psychology, his characters, his probingly analytical writing style (which, I must admit now, doesn't serve actions too well) and possibly the best plot he's dreamt up so far. Existing fans will love it, and newcomers to the series would do well to start at the beginning (When the Bough Breaks) and just look forward to this gem.
Kellerman's plotting is fluid, original, and moves at very good pace. It's also wonderful to witness Alex as he tries to work his way into the twisted and distorted logic of a killer and find even hints of a possible motive. The only times when this book falls down are when, occasionally, his prose seems too detached, and there are a couple too many characters. Otherwise, this is an excellent addition to a good series.
By "schautzi"
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I have read a couple of Kellerman's books and I really liked this one. Kellerman has a knack for pulling you into the mystery until you too are rubbing your hand over your face in concentration and confusion like Milo. I was totally surprised at the ending. You were pulled from one murder to another with the only connection being the words "Bad Love". When Kellerman pulls all the loose ends together you still get a big suprise of who and why. I highly recommend this quick reading, enticing murder MYSTERY.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
"Murderous Plot"
In the novel, Bad Love, the author, Jonathan Kellerman, has successfully created a haunting atmosphere with carefully determined, murderous plot. Read more
Published on Dec 5 2002 by Mayra
4.0 out of 5 stars
Darn you Kellerman, for making me lose so much sleep!!
As always, I picked up a Jonathan Kellerman novel and began to read. Hours later, still sitting in that same spot, I knew I was hooked!! Read more
Published on Sep 3 2002 by Michael in Helena, Alabama
4.0 out of 5 stars
Murderous plot
In this novel Alex Delaware himself is the object of a murderous plot. At the beginning the threats are vague and Delaware's fear somewhat ridiculous, but when the reader learns... Read more
Published on Aug 24 2002 by Peter Werner
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bad Love, Great Novel!
I don't usually read mysteries...What I've read before has been too easily solved (by me) about halfway thru. Read more
Published on Jun 27 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kellerman always delivers a great story...
My wife has been bugging me to check out Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series for some time. She thought that my insatiable habit of reading mystery novels would be satisfied... Read more
Published on April 2 2002 by "escapefromreality"
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Alex Delaware Adventure!
Kellerman in BAD LOVE pens another story in the life of child psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware. This time the story is intriguing, and will make the hair on the back of your neck... Read more
Published on Jan 15 2002 by Brendan Munoz
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bad Love is a GREAT book!
'Bad Love' starts off tame enough, but after a few chapters I was engrossed and intrigued. I love Rover/Spike the dog. He is so lovable. Read more
Published on Sep 28 2001 by V. VanCamp
1.0 out of 5 stars
Bad Love
My first time reading anything by this author and also my last. This book was so not interesting and it was also boring. Read more
Published on July 6 2001 by P. A. NADERI
5.0 out of 5 stars
Monster
As a new fan to Jonathan Kellerman Books i am Hooked big time. I got my first 3 books Silent Partner, Devils Waltz and Bad love at a garage sale for the bargan price of $10 for the... Read more
Published on Jan 8 2001 by sharon
5.0 out of 5 stars
If You Hate Pyschobabble You'll Love "Bad Love"!
This book is wonderful, great, a total phenomenon! It is not only a mystery that is superiorly crafted but it raises quite a lot of truths that our culture usually prefers to... Read more
Published on Dec 1 2000
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