Therapy [Audio Cassette]

 

 

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In Therapy, Jonathan Kellerman returns to the brilliant Alex Dellaware series. I was all set to immerse myself in what should have been a gripping, suspenseful read. Regrettably, Therapy left me feeling bored, restless and in need of a shrink.

In Therapy, Alex and his best friend, gay cop Milo Sturgis, are called to the scene of a murder not far from where they are having dinner. They arrive to find a man and a woman, both shot dead in a Mustang convertible. Each has a bullet in the head, the man's fly is down and the woman's panties are down around her ankles. There is also a metal spike protruding from her chest.

They are able to find the identity of the man, Gavin Quick. After a recent car accident, Quick had changed. He was no longer in control of himself, neat and tidy. Now he was a slob, capable of mood swings and his personality changed as well. Gone was the Gavin Quick that everyone knew. He was seeing noted physiologist Mary Lou Koppel for help. Little is known about the mystery woman, except that she is wearing Armani and Jimmy Choo shoes. There is no identification found on her, though the metal spike points towards more than
straightforward murder.

After more investigation, Alex realizes that he knows Koppel. He had asked her questions regarding a young woman involving a police investigation. Koppel's refusal to help led to difficulty in the investigation. Koppel has also had a patient die before, several years ago. Quick is not her first patient to die.

Then, when Koppel herself is found murdered, Alex and Milo know that they have a vicious killer on their hands. They know that they must catch the killer before one of them becomes the victim.

Normally, I love a good Jonathan Kellerman novel. The plot is usually wonderfully paced, the dialogue crisp and the characters real and believable. Unfortunately, I found Therapy really hard to read. I didn't know enough about Quick to care about his death and I found all the talk about therapy boring, despite the novel's title.

I just found that the plot didn't know where it was going for most of the novel. The writing tended to go on for long periods of description that didn't really add anything to the book. I found the dialogue painful to read, boring and I failed to see how Kellerman could take such a complicated, convoluted plot and wrap it up so nicely in the end of the novel. If only life were that simple.

None of the characters, except for the obvious, were very nice and I didn't find any of them particularly likeable. I also found the outcome of the novel to be a bit much and one hell of a disappointment after reading three hundred plus pages of boredom.

With a little bit more work, Therapy could have been a wonderful read. I long for the days when Kellerman was on top of his game. Hopefully, those days are not behind us.

Using Alex Delaware once again, Kellerman has given us yet another in his long series of great reads. The writing is clear and clean, and the characters, especially the villians, are three-deminisional. The ending gets wrapped up nicely and overall this is one satisfying book. Would also recommend THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD for another great summer read, though it's not a thriller or whodunnit. Still a good book, though.

I love Jonathan Kellerman's stories about Alex Delaware and his friend Milo Sturgis, but this one, like Mr. Kellerman's last book "Conspiracy Club," was not up to par.

The plot got bogged down in the intricacies of government funding and Medi-Cal billing. The average citizen dislikes dealing with insurance in real life, so why would they want to read about it in their spare time? Too many characters contributed to this problem. I found it hard to care about Gavin Quick, and it was even harder to figure out whether he was a bad guy or a good guy. Ditto for his father, aunt, and ex-girlfriend. And why the long ramble about the girl who was found in the car with him? Background is one thing, Mr. Kellerman, but superfluous writing is quite another.

Go back to psychology and murder, and leave the California insurance business alone, Mr. Kellerman. Your books are much more enjoyable that way.

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1.0 out of 5 stars boring and simple-minded plot, script, acting...whatever
i've found kellerman and his wife's stuff were all mediocre and bored to death. he's one of the writers who i've dumped long time ago with tony hillerman, james patterson, jeffrey... Read more

Published on July 13 2004 by justareader

1.0 out of 5 stars Where's the old Jonathan Kellerman?
Boring, boring, boring. That just about sums up this book. Sorry Mr. Kellerman -- you need you get your old spark back. Read more

Published on July 13 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing insightful in Therapy
Jonathan Kellerman needs to get some therapy about his writer's block. This book was poorly written with plenty of 'filler' and not much story. Read more

Published on July 9 2004 by alicia

3.0 out of 5 stars This once-excellent series is rapidly loosing steam
Being a psychologist myself, I was excited to discover the Alex Delaware series many years ago. I enjoyed reading many of the earlier books--even those that I read out of... Read more

Published on July 6 2004 by Beth Cholette

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing.....
I'm a huge fan of Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series. This book, being one of them, was a major disappointment. It clearly did not live up to the others. Read more

Published on Jun 29 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great one from Jonathan Kellerman...one that will
surely keep you turning those pages. The shocking murder of two young lovers on Mulholland Drive starts the wheels of justice turning in the forms of Alex Delaware and his buddy... Read more

Published on Jun 29 2004 by Joymarie

3.0 out of 5 stars O.K., but not a winner
Jonathan Kellerman is all over the place in Therapy. It could be broken up into substantial parts of several other books. Read more

Published on Jun 26 2004 by Bookworm Plus

3.0 out of 5 stars Another reviewer...
said it best when accusing Jonathan Kellerman of "going through the motions". Good ingredients in this story -- a lot of Milo and Alex acting as sidekicks; a solid... Read more

Published on Jun 22 2004 by L. Quido

2.0 out of 5 stars Not up to snuff!
I have loved the Alex Delaware series and this one started out strong, but somewhere in the middle of the book, it turned extremely dull. Read more

Published on Jun 21 2004 by Sara Chung

4.0 out of 5 stars Anxiety & fear make me feel alive......
This is a solid Kellerman outing, and the 4 stars are for fans. Kellerman is once again examining the questionable ethics of many of those involved in his first calling,... Read more

Published on Jun 19 2004 by Archmaker

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