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| Compulsion: An Alex Delaware Novel (Alex Delaware) | 
 enlarge | Author: Jonathan Kellerman
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $27.00
Buy Used: $2.17
You Save: $24.83 (92%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  62 reviews
Sales Rank: 6894
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 034546527X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780345465276
ASIN: 034546527X
Publication Date: March 25, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Nice, clean - SHIPS SAME DAY
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Product Description
Once again, the depths of the criminal mind and the darkest side of a glittering city fuel #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman’s brilliant storytelling. And no one conducts a more harrowing and suspenseful manhunt than the modern Sherlock Holmes of the psyche, Dr. Alex Delaware.
A tipsy young woman seeking aid on a desolate highway disappears into the inky black night. A retired schoolteacher is stabbed to death in broad daylight. Two women are butchered after closing time in a small-town beauty parlor. These and other bizarre acts of cruelty and psychopathology are linked only by the killer’s use of luxury vehicles and a baffling lack of motive. The ultimate whodunits, these crimes demand the attention of LAPD detective Milo Sturgis and his collaborator on the crime beat, psychologist Alex Delaware.
What begins with a solitary bloodstain in a stolen sedan quickly spirals outward in odd and unexpected directions, leading Delaware and Sturgis from the well-heeled center of L.A. society to its desperate edges; across the paths of commodities brokers and transvestite hookers; and as far away as New York City, where the search thaws out a long-cold case and exposes a grotesque homicidal crusade. The killer proves to be a fleeting shape-shifter, defying identification, leaving behind dazed witnesses and death–and compelling Alex and Milo to confront the true face of murderous madness.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 57 more reviews...
 2008 Installment in the Alex Delaware Crime Series March 26, 2008
49 out of 50 found this review helpful
It's early spring, time for Jonathan Kellerman's latest addition to his Alex Delaware crime novel series. For those who don't know Alex is an LA psychologists who often works with LAPD detective Milo Sturgis to solve crimes perpetrated by crazed psychopaths. The strength of these novels is Kellerman's clear crisp writing and his knack for describing LA life (in this latest novel Alex also makes a quick trip to Manhattan) for the poor, the mighty and those in between. The weakness is the preposterous elements of some of his latest plots though this years COMPULSION is actually better than last years really unlikely OBSESSION. Another weakness in many of the latest books in the series is Alex's ever annoying, "perfect", girlfriend, Robin, but thankfully she is off stage for most of this outing. Milo, Alex's gay detective sidekick is a much more interesting and sympathetic character.
The plot of COMPULSION involves a series of disparate murders and the victims include a twenty something shop clerk, a retired school teacher and two beauty salon workers. All these crimes seem to have in common is the murderer arrived in a large dark luxury car and the murders were especially brutal. Will Alex and Milo be able to tie the cases together and solve them with one suspect? Well, what do you think? There is also a subplot about a young boy who has been missing for years and of course our heroes are able to tie that crime up too. COMPULSION is a fast paced very readable novel and Kellerman is a good enough writer that this reader forgives his increasing "by the numbers" approach to plotting.
 Mediocre outing -- even JK seems tired of our buddy Alex! April 13, 2008
31 out of 34 found this review helpful
We've read every single Alex Delaware novel, so are big fans, well-informed about this series. What started out great - the child psychologist by profession who consults with the police; specifically Milo Sturgis, a gay, very interesting, and persistent homicide cop; on murders where the police feel they need a consultant's help - has resolved into little more than two detective buddies, one paid, the other an amateur hardly more skillful than we at surfing the web, chasing clues until typical procedure dissolves into denouement. Alex joins Milo seemingly whenever he wants (presumably being paid at premium consultants' rates), often as little more than a pastime, not because his skills are pertinent, which is pretty far-fetched in terms of the state of most public budgets! His relationship with live-in girlfriend Robin, always an on-again, off-again, "affair", barely gets a nod herein, with a silly custom musical instrument buyer paying too much attention to her a lame attempt at stalker suspense, resolved equally poorly in our opinion. Meanwhile, the excuse for the plot, a serious of murders involving luxury autos, barely holds our attention, and while we plodded along to see whodunit, we hardly cared by the time we got there.
To us, the series has run its course. While Milo per se is one of the more interesting police characters to come along over the last couple of decades, and while the original premise of Delaware's involvement was novel, there's virtually nothing left to excite or entertain us. It seems to us we're at that deadly state of an author not knowing what to do or where to go except to the bank, as he churns out contract-fulfilling installments of mediocrity. Sorry `bout that!
Compulsion March 28, 2008
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
I have enjoyed all of Jonathan Kellerman's novel, particularly the ones featuring his Alex Delaware character. Unfortunately, this latest effort stretches the reader's imagination with some particularly convoluted plot logic. We are expected to accept the fact that an internet search for crimes committed with the perpetrator using a large black luxury car should readily yield a common denominator who is then found and brought to justice. No matter that years and continents have separated the victims and the circumstances. I've had many comfortable hours with Jonathan Kellerman's characters and I've been able to excuse most of the plot excesses in the past, but I'm afraid this one is just too much of a stretch.
Compulsively readable, but not terribly original March 27, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
"Compulsion" is one of Kellerman's stronger recent entries in his Alex Delaware series because it doesn't suffer from the implausibilities that marred the last few. However, it does seem to conform to a template that could maybe use some shaking up: a series of murders take place and we follow Delaware and Sturgis from one clue to another, stopping off for frequent status meetings between the two along the way. It's a good template, but a template nonetheless. The only thing that saves this from becoming "ho-hum" after 22 books is that the two leads are so likable and interesting, and we love hearing them talk. I liked the Manhattan detour in "Compulsion," and feel the series would benefit from a few more surprises like it. The author is obviously a great storyteller, who fashions complicated plots with engaging characters, and Kellerman/Delaware fans will surely not be disappointed with "Compulsion."
Also recommended: A Stranger Lies There - this crime novel won the Malice Domestic Award for best first mystery.
 for shame, jonathan, for shame April 8, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I've been a fan of Kellerman's work for a long time and have read every single book he's written. I have to say that this is not only the worst Kellerman novel to date, but it's one of the worst books I've read in a long time.
Disjointed, confusing, not suspenseful in the least. There was little to enjoy and even the series distinguised and well-developed stars, Alex and Milo, came across dull and one-dimensional.
The story starts slow and convoluted. With a number of "seemingly" random crimes that are obviously connected yet fail to deliver a compelling backbone to the story. Then there's the other mystery the duo follows involving a death row inmate's deathbed confession. Cliche, obvious, and little more than a distraction to an already dull story.
I was looking forward to this novel after the surprisingly good Obsession but I would not recommend this book, escpecially for anyone discovering Kellerman for the first time. Read some of his earlier works instead. This book was a disappointed.
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