Bones (Alex Delaware, No. 23)
by Jonathan Kellerman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jonathan KellermanEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-02-24
ISBN: 0345495179
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of Bones (Alex Delaware, No. 23)
Book Review: Excellent, though bleak in spite of a fianl epiphany
Summary: 5 Stars
The plot of this thriller, the whole thriller actually is seen through the eyes of a psychologist or maybe psychiatrist, or any level in-between, who is associated to a team of criminal investigators. So we always have that distantiation that is typical of the specialists in psychology. The thriller takes a situation that is complex in all possible ways and that mixes various approaches. On one side a top social family, very rich, but also with a history from little to big, with previous phases of social disparagement (first marriage marked with drug abuse or other psychological disorders) and a daughter from that first marriage that inherits the family history and develops her own handicaps. Then some highly gifted people, a child and an adult, a boy and a woman, in music, those who do not study music but create music, even when five or six. They are in a way explored, but the woman has social problems too and she gets mixed up in some strange sexual activities that will lead her to her own end. Then we are in Los Angeles and the whole plot revolves around a protected marshy area in the city and the man who is taking care of that protected area. He is a marginal person who can only live on the side of society. He is a political and social misfit in this society and he cannot imagine himself in the main stream of social life. He is in connection with a woman who used to be a university professor and finds herself in her older adulthood also marginalized and making do with it. The psychology of these two people is explored and it shows how they can get involved in criminal activities in a way just when these activities are disguised as socially marginal, and in this case environmentally marginal. You add to that the exploration of the police force, with a seasoned inspector, a rookie detective and an ex-cop turned private eye, all of them seen through the eyes of the psychologists. You also have the exploration of lawyers, with a do-gooder woman who is more or less taking care of some social cases she defended when she was young, then a law firm in the hands of a completely crooked and berserk lawyer who wants to recuperate the tremendous fortune of the rich family he is managing, and a few other lawyers who are less important, and then you have a microcosm of the American society in its most ugly segments and least savory attitudes and dealings. Then you just have to add a "natural victim" who was the victim of bullying and social rejection as soon as grade school, thus turned into a "social reject", and you can build a particularly ugly plot. Kellerman makes a pretty good job of it and the slow rhythm represents the psychologist's vision and at the same time the real rhythm or flow of life which can accelerate at times but that is most of the time slow, like in slow motion, pulled back. At times some elements are poignant, particularly at the end. The epiphany of the "social reject" who was used by the murderers as their cover-up scapegoat is refreshing. Even the worst "social reject" can find an epiphany, even from the police itself, provided the right explanation is given to them, which is of course the difficult condition to fulfill and a condition that the socially rejected person cannot fulfill on his own since he has developed some kind of morbid self-vision if not self-hatred. The most poignant part is of course the retrieval of the very young music-genius who was traumatized by the situation. His salvation is an admirable moment though Kellerman does not go as far as making the salvaged "social reject" meet the retrieved young musician, though he had insisted a couple of times on the privileged communication they had before the drama. Quite a page-turner because of that social content.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Panthéon, Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Vincennes Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Val de Marne Créteil, CEGID
Summary of Bones (Alex Delaware, No. 23)
When it comes to writing deftly layered, tightly coiled novels of suspense, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman reigns supreme as ?master of the psychological thriller? (People). Now, Kellerman has worked his magic again in this chilling new masterpiece.The anonymous caller has an ominous tone and an unnerving message about something ?real dead . . . buried in your marsh.? The eco-volunteer on the other end of the phone thinks it?s a prank, but when a young woman?s body turns up in L.A.?s Bird Marsh preserve no one?s laughing. And when the bones of more victims surface, homicide detective Milo Sturgis realizes the city?s under siege to an insidious killer. Milo?s first move: calling in psychologist Alex Delaware.
The murdered women are prostitutes?except the most recent victim; a brilliant young musician from the East Coast, employed by a wealthy family to tutor a musical prodigy, Selena Bass seems out of place in the marsh?s grim tableau.
Conveniently?perhaps ominously?Selena?s blueblood employers are nowhere to be found, and their estate? s jittery caretaker raises hackles. But Milo?s instincts and Alex?s insight are too well-honed to settle for easy answers, even given the dark secrets in this troubled man?s past. Their investigation unearths disturbing layers?about victims, potential victims, and suspects alike?plunging even deeper into the murky marsh?s enigmatic depths.
Bizarre details of the crimes suggest a devilish serial killer prowling L.A.?s gritty streets. But when a new murder deviates from the pattern, derailing a possible profile, Alex and Milo must look beyond the suspicion of madness and consider an even more sinister mind at work. Answers don?t come easy, but the darkest of drives and desires may fuel the most devious of foes.
Bones is classic Kellerman?relentlessly peeling back the skin and psyches of its characters and revealing the shadows and sins of the souls beneath. With jolt after jolt of galvanizing suspense, it drives the reader through its twists and turns toward a climax as satisfying as it is shattering.
From the Hardcover edition.
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