True Detectives: A Novel
by Jonathan Kellerman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jonathan KellermanEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-03-24
ISBN: 0345495144
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of True Detectives: A Novel
Book Review: A brilliant novel and may well be Jonathan Kellerman's best work to date
Summary: 5 Stars
TRUE DETECTIVES is a brilliant novel and may well be Jonathan Kellerman's best work to date.
Let's start with the primary characters. Moses Reed and Aaron Fox were introduced in 2008's BONES. Interesting secondary characters in that book, Kellerman fleshes them out and gives them living, breathing substance in TRUE DETECTIVES. These half-brothers are very different from each other. Reed is a flashy, stylish dresser who is well ahead of the GQ curve and possessed of an observant eye such that he immediately "gets" Dr. Alex Delaware's digs from a once-over of the outside. Fox is comfortable in undistinguished clothing and is not so much unstylish as unconcerned. Reed is an extremely successful private investigator with a quietly A-list clientele and a contact sheet of equal quality. Fox is an L.A. homicide detective, a de facto protégé of Milo Sturgis, with a dogged tenacity fueled by a desire to do well for the sake of the job.
They do not get along. Although Fox is white and Reed is of mixed race, their racial difference is not the source of their disagreement, though it would have been easy enough for the author to go down that route. Kellerman, however, does not take shortcuts when exploring the fraternal relationship. He makes you believe that race is not the etiology for the problems between them; it goes deeper than that. And when Fox and Reed realize that their respective cases throw them uneasily together, they find that they have to confront their differences --- and themselves.
But that is only one element that makes TRUE DETECTIVES such a joy. There is a real plot here, buoyed by Kellerman's L.A. triptych tour of the restaurants and attractions of Los Angeles --- from the boulevards to the side streets and all points in between. The focal point is a private investigation of a missing person initiated by Reed at the behest of one of his regular clients, an enigmatic Russian expatriate who he knows only as Mr. Dmitri. Reed is retained by Dmitri to investigate the disappearance of Caitlin Frostig, the adult daughter of one of Dmitri's accountants. The job brings Reed into contact with Fox, who was the primary investigator on the case and who wound up with nothing but dead ends. The unsolved case grates at Fox, as does his brother's interest in it, so the two form an uneasy and occasionally unwilling alliance to determine the fate of the missing woman.
Caitlin's boyfriend seems to be a likely suspect, and their investigation of him soon reveals that he is a gofer for an almost washed-up actor who has a load of problems, not the least of which is the company he keeps. When Caitlin's disappearance appears to be related to the unsolved murder of a prostitute, Fox and Reed soon find that their investigation is leading to the highest echelons of the Hollywood power structure and beyond, though to places they never could have anticipated.
The aspect of TRUE DETECTIVES that makes it an addicting read is the manner in which the two brothers work so well together by virtue of their very separate but compellingly equal ways. It is their differences that ultimately fit the fruits of the their labors together, like pieces in a puzzle. And this is very much a Fox and Reed book, if you will; Sturgis and Delaware make brief, if important appearances, enough to provide a sense of continuity but not enough to steal the show from the brothers. Not that they necessarily could. Fox and Reed may be the most interesting detective team you will encounter this year, and TRUE DETECTIVES is the perfect novel to officially launch them. I would be happy to see more of them, and Dmitri, in the future.
Summary of True Detectives: A Novel
In Jonathan Kellerman?s gripping novels, the city of Los Angeles is as much a living, breathing character as the heroes and villains who roam its labyrinthine streets. Sunny on the surface but shadowy beneath, this world of privilege and pleasure has a dark core and a dangerous edge. In True Detectives, Kellerman skillfully brings his renowned gifts for breathless suspense and sharp psychological insight to a tale that resonates on every level and satisfies at every turn.Bound by blood but divided by troubles as old as Cain and Abel, Moses Reed and Aaron Fox were first introduced in Kellerman?s bestselling Bones. They are sons of the same strong-willed mother, and their respective fathers were cops, partners, and friends. Their turbulent family history has set them at odds, despite their shared calling. Moses?part Boy Scout, part bulldog, man of few words?is a no-frills LAPD detective. Aaron, sharp dresser and smooth operator, is an ex-cop turned high-end private eye. Usually they go their separate ways. But the disappearance of Caitlin Frostig isn?t usual. For Moses, it?s an ice-cold mystery he just can?t outrun, even with the help of psychologist Alex Delaware and detective Milo Sturgis. For Aaron, it?s a billable-hours bonanza from his most lucrative client. Like it or not, Moses and Aaron are in this one together?and the rivalry that rules them won?t let either man quit till the case is cracked.
A straight-arrow, straight-A student from Malibu, Caitlin has only two men in her life: her sullen single father and her wholesome college sweetheart, who even the battling brothers agree seems too downright upright to be true. Reluctantly tag-teaming in a desperate search for fresh leads, Moses and Aaron zero in on Caitlin?s white knight as their primary ?person of interest,? hoping that, like most people in L.A., he has a secret side.
But they uncover more than just a secret as they descend into the sinister, seamy side of the City of Angels after dark, populated by a Hollywood Babylon cast of the glamorous and the damned: a millionaire movie director turned hatemongering eccentric; a desperate Beverly Hills housewife looking for an exit from the fast lane; a heartthrob actor being eaten alive by personal demons; a hooker who?s probably seen it all . . . and might just know too much. And at the center, a dead young woman whose downward spiral and brutal end loom over Moses and Aaron like an omen of what may come to be if the dark end of the street claims another lost soul.
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