Street Dreams (Mass Market Paperback)

Bestseller Kellerman's latest Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novel (after 2002's Stone Kiss) will please her fans, but is unlikely to make new converts. When Cindy Decker, Peter's LAPD officer daughter (who had a big role in 2000's Stalker), finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster, she sets out to track down the developmentally disabled mother, suspecting that the child may have been the product of a rape. Her fellow officers discourage her efforts, while an attempt on her life sparks conflict with an alarmed Peter. Romance occupies Cindy, an observant Jew, as much as her professional career. Conveniently, the sexy and caring black pediatric nurse who cares for the baby turns out to be an observant Ethiopian Jew who is instantly smitten with her. Other coincidences abound, including Cindy's witnessing of a fatal hit-and-run that may be connected with the sexual assault she alone believes occurred. A minor subplot concerning the murder of stepmother Rina's grandmother in 1920s Munich simply peters out. Details of Jewish religious observance amount to superficial trappings. Cindy mentions dealing with an earlier trauma through therapy, but the author never lets the reader in on any of her sessions. The solution to the crime comes almost as an afterthought in this overlong book. Others, and Kellerman herself, have done a better job of melding a mystery plot with the challenges of maintaining Jewish identity in the modern world.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.

Kellerman's original series about LAPD Detective Peter Decker has given birth to a new generation in which daughter Cindy follows in dad's footsteps. In this second of the series, young Decker finds a baby in a dumpster. Her search for the baby's parents leads to a developmentally disabled mother who was raped, a father who may have been murdered, and a gang that wants to get Decker off the case by putting her permanently out of commission. Still, Decker finds time to meet a near-perfect man, have wild sex, and deal with personal issues. Decker is fully realized through Nancy McKeon's characterization. Other characters are strongly individualized, and McKeon's Ethiopian accent, when called upon, is lovely. Yes, it does seem too good to be true, but who cares? It's all deeply satisfying. E.S. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.

Because Kellerman doesn't reprise history in her latest Rina Lazarus and Peter Decker mystery, readers new to the long-running series may find themselves frustrated by the allusions. But Decker family fans will speed through this solid whodunit, which is not only an entertaining puzzler but also takes the characters' relationships to a new level. Cindy, a rookie cop and Peter's 28-year-old daughter by his first marriage, takes center stage here. Both her rocky history with the department and with her dad come to the fore as she digs into the case of a developmentally disabled teenager who abandoned her baby, insists she was raped, and may have witnessed a murder. Following the strangely coincidental hit-and-run of another disabled teen from the same area, the case blossoms into a mystery that requires help from Peter and from Cindy's new boyfriend, an Ethiopian-born Jew who finds willowy, red-haired Cindy to be the girl of his dreams. The romance and the dialogue are a tad overdone ("you and me both, hot stuff"), but series fans won't be too concerned. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.

An Abandoned Baby. A Missing Mother. But Innocence has a Fighting Chance. While on routine patrol, LAPD Officer Cindy Decker rescues a newborn from an alley Dumpster. But she can't call it a night until she sees the infant safe in a hospital, cared for by a professional-in this case a male nurse with soulful eyes and lots of charm. Now the hunt is on for the mother. Armed with advice from her overworked father, Detective Peter Decker, Cindy plunges into her inner-city Hollywood district, a world of helpless people and violent gangs. Pursuing each new lead batters her complex relationships and endangers her life. On one side: Decker and Decker, a brilliant but combative pair. On the other: a vicious killer ready to strike again.

FAYE KELLERMAN is the author of the bestselling Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novels, as well as a thriller, Moon Music, and a historical novel, The Quality of Mercy. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Jonathan Kellerman, and their children.