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30th out of 907 books
—
857 voters
When the Bough Breaks (Alex Delaware #1)
In the first Alex Delaware novel, Dr.Morton Handler practiced a strange brand of psychiatry.Among his specialties were fraud, extortion, andsexual manipulation. Handler paid for his sins whenhe was brutally murdered in his luxurious PacificPalisades apartment. The police have no leads, butthey do have one possible witness: seven-year-oldMelody Quinn.
It's psychologist Dr. A...more
It's psychologist Dr. A...more
Paperback, 448 pages
Published
November 4th 2003
by Ballantine Books
(first published 1981)
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May 04, 2013
Dirk Grobbelaar
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery-thriller,
wife-books
This wasn't the first Alex Delaware novel I'd read. I had the good fortune of being introduced to Jonathan Kellerman with Monster. And what an introduction it was.
In my experience, the Alex Delaware novels are a bit hit and miss. Some are really good. Some just aren't.
This novel, however, was a winner of the Edgar award, and being a bit of a fan I decided to start the series from scratch. All things considered, and keeping the character development of Alex Delaware in mind, that is probably the...more
In my experience, the Alex Delaware novels are a bit hit and miss. Some are really good. Some just aren't.
This novel, however, was a winner of the Edgar award, and being a bit of a fan I decided to start the series from scratch. All things considered, and keeping the character development of Alex Delaware in mind, that is probably the...more
The book "When the Bough Breaks", is about a retired child psychologist, Dr. Alex Delaware. Dr. Delaware retired because of the stress he faced after a man had committed suicide in his office. During the case of the suicide, Dr. Delaware meets and befriends a police officer that was in charge of the case, Milo Sturgis. After the case, Officer Sturgis and Dr. Delaware remain friends.
When on a new case, Officer Sturgis lets himself into Dr. Delaware's home, hoping Dr. Delaware would help him with...more
When on a new case, Officer Sturgis lets himself into Dr. Delaware's home, hoping Dr. Delaware would help him with...more
This is the first in Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware detective series. Gene and I both read them, discuss them, and like them tremendously. I await the release of each new book with real anticipation. Alex Delaware is an earnest, sensitive Los Angeles based child psychologist, and the stories all take place in areas we are more than familiar with. He is called to assist with various crimes, not all related to children. His police contact is his close friend, Milo Sturis, a dedicated police li...more
Disturbing. Some of it was a little to close to home for me. Thankfully nothing is described, but the overall picture is gruesome. Delaware is a intriguing character, rich but doesn't flaunt it. Milo his LAPD friend is gay, and the pair make a good team. Mile does the legwork while Alex does the brain side. It all starts with a double murder and slowly moves into something far more sinister and disturbing that either could envisage.
As the pieces start to fall into place we find that the main cu...more
As the pieces start to fall into place we find that the main cu...more
I love Milo Sturgis. I like Dr. Alex Delaware. Kellerman is a great genre author, and I will recommend him highly to everyone unless you are a cozy reader or hung up on propriety. Alex breaks the rules in the manner of 1970's TV private eyes who were fighting the good fight, like in 'The Rockford Files' or 'Magnum P. I.' He is a star, someone who can do anything, except walk away from criminality. He makes mistakes, but he is one of those individuals who is very smart and athletic. Despite his p...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Dr. Alex Delaware is a child psychologist who has seen enough violence and evil done to children to burn him out and break him down at the age of thirty-three. Now retired, he has plenty of money to live on while he ponders the question of what to do with his life. That is until his friend, a police detective, Milo Sturgis asks him for help on his latest case.
Alex’s interest is piqued by the case, but doesn’t plan to get overly involved, just help out. Then he met Melody Quinn, the seven-year-ol...more
Alex’s interest is piqued by the case, but doesn’t plan to get overly involved, just help out. Then he met Melody Quinn, the seven-year-ol...more
I read some Kellerman books years ago and now got almost the complete series in German for my mom.
Unfortunately this first book was published in 1987 - cheaply. It's both poorly translated and dated - I'm sure it doesn't read that badly in English since the translator's choice of words is always clumsy and often horrible when he tried to be very contemporary - 80s vernacular as imagined by an old fart, I'd say. For some inexplicable reason they even changed the girl's name from Melody (read that...more
Unfortunately this first book was published in 1987 - cheaply. It's both poorly translated and dated - I'm sure it doesn't read that badly in English since the translator's choice of words is always clumsy and often horrible when he tried to be very contemporary - 80s vernacular as imagined by an old fart, I'd say. For some inexplicable reason they even changed the girl's name from Melody (read that...more
My book group has chosen the 7th book in this series for our next selection. So, of course, I had to start with book one. We'll see if I manage to make it to our actual chosen book. But, if the ones to follow are anything like this one, I shouldn't have any problem. I really enjoyed this one! It was gripping, with a strong, well-woven mystery that made me think, and some great characters. Alex Delaware is an interesting protagonist-- a genuinely good guy, very intelligent, but he has his flaws....more
2 likes · like · see review
Alex is a psychologist who has retired at the ripe old age of 33. Yeah, he's rich, smart and lazes around in retirement. His friend Milo is a detective that he met when Milo was investigating a suicide victim in Delaware's office. In this book, Milo wants Dr. Delaware to meet with a young girl and see if he can get her to help relay the details from a murder in her apartment complex.
Shit gets crazy and he goes from one end of LA to another following leads. With no experience working for the poli...more
Shit gets crazy and he goes from one end of LA to another following leads. With no experience working for the poli...more
Alex Delaware is a child psychologist who burned out after a particularly difficult case where a group of children were molested by the husband of a woman that ran a daycare. Even though he has left his practice, he remains friends with Milo, a detective on the L.A. police force. When a terrible murder is committed in an apartment complex, the only witness to the murder is a young girl and Milo calls on Alex to help solve the case.
The book was a quick read and interesting throughout. There were...more
The book was a quick read and interesting throughout. There were...more
I've been a long-time fan of Jonathan Kellerman ever since I received "Conspiracy Club" from my grandfather-in-law.
The Alex Delaware series was written several years before that, though, and some of the lapses in writing and plausibility are readily apparent compared to Kellerman's later works. However, Kellerman's work in the field as a psychologist really shine through in the Alex Delaware novels, so he truly does play well to his strengths and the old writer adage of "write what you know."
I f...more
The Alex Delaware series was written several years before that, though, and some of the lapses in writing and plausibility are readily apparent compared to Kellerman's later works. However, Kellerman's work in the field as a psychologist really shine through in the Alex Delaware novels, so he truly does play well to his strengths and the old writer adage of "write what you know."
I f...more
This is the first Alex Delaware book published (I've read several...all out of sequence) ...and it was very good; great plot, gave me the backstories of why Alex got out of an active therapy practice, and explained more about Milo's struggle being a gay man in the police force. All of this information satisfied my need for a beginning of the series. One thing to remember is the setting is in the mid eighties; the author mentions a tape deck, a 'Vega' (I owned one of those!), and a number of othe...more
The first in Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series. Alex is a retired child psychologist who will start doing private consulting again in this series. These suspense murder mysteries are often gruesome. Alex must get inside the heads of the characters in each novel. He is often asked to work as a consultantant for the Los Angeles
Police Department where he becomes friends with Milo Sturgis. Milo never has it easy at the LAPD b/c he is gay--but also very smart and has a high crime solve rate.
D...more
Police Department where he becomes friends with Milo Sturgis. Milo never has it easy at the LAPD b/c he is gay--but also very smart and has a high crime solve rate.
D...more
Jul 08, 2009
Dennis D.
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
only those completists who want to go back to where the saga all began
This is the first book in the Alex Delaware series. I went back to the beginning here, after having received and read a couple of the later books. (If you've read some of my other reviews, you'll notice that this is a trend with me).
Jonathan Kellerman must have taken a couple of classes at the Kathy Reichs School of Unbelievable Coincidences before coming up with a couple of the plot twists in this one. And the child abuse ring is kind of a tired trope. But overall, this one wasn't awful. It jus...more
Jonathan Kellerman must have taken a couple of classes at the Kathy Reichs School of Unbelievable Coincidences before coming up with a couple of the plot twists in this one. And the child abuse ring is kind of a tired trope. But overall, this one wasn't awful. It jus...more
Don't read this novel, unless you are willing to take a look at evil. This is no novel that wants to know why someone killed someone else. Or to probe into their psychic. This novel shows evil as a stark reality, more common than we like to admit.
Strikes at the prominence of men who are predators of children.
Strikes at the thousands of children in this society who are living in substandard institutions. Throw away children.
A series of gruesome murders,and the tireless pursuit by one detective...more
Strikes at the prominence of men who are predators of children.
Strikes at the thousands of children in this society who are living in substandard institutions. Throw away children.
A series of gruesome murders,and the tireless pursuit by one detective...more
I honestly tried to like this book. Someone recc'd it and I thought I would give the series a go. Sadly, I won't be reading the rest of the books. For the first half of the book I kept wondering what Eve Dallas (from JD Robb's In Death series) would do. Then as the book progressed, I started wishing that Eve Dallas was there because some random psychologist was breaking all sorts of laws and doing really horrible things. I actually had to take a few minutes from the book because I was so angry a...more
1 like · like · see review
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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There are some elements to the plot (including the felonious, overly macho, and improbable actions of the protagonist, Alex Delaware) that are difficult to swallow in 2013, but they make more sense given the 1985 publication date of the book. There's more than a touch of "Starsky and Hutch" and "Baretta" to the logic and action sequences in this novel, which probably played well a generation ago, but not so now. Instead, I was left with a grateful recognition of how much the world – or my expect...more
I read this book only to clear space in the shelf for other books. Previously, I had read the Devil's Waltz, and while the writing was good enough to make me read to the end, I found it more frustrating than enjoyable. Thus I was surprised that I actually found this book to be fairly exciting. That said, I rather wish it was the detective who was doing all the investigating rather than his nosy, obsessive pychologist friend, not because I like Milo all that much, but because what's the point of...more
4 ½ Stars! ~ This is the very first of Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware novels, one that I read years and years ago. I thought I might enjoy reaquainting myself with this incredible character while gardening thanks to the my ipod shuffle and an audiobook. I'd forgotten how gritty and sometimes graphic the Delaware books were, but none the less, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Alex is a character we can all root for. It was great meeting up with Milo and Robin again too. If you love supense thriller...more
Massively underwhelming! Right now I can not think of any other book I've read recently with such a large number of ridiculous coincidences. Kellerman is a good writer, no question about that, the book was easy to read BUT the problems is I found myself rolling my eyes at multiple points in the book. In the final third of the book, the ridiculous daft decisions made by the lead character are exactly mirrored by the imbecilic moves of the bad guys. By the end Delaware is victorious because the po...more
Once again, another book with a great premise that didn't quite measure up to me. Many reviewers commented on how out of date it was, but I think that's obvious when the book was published in 1985. I didn't find that that really detracted from the book.
My real pet peeve was that everything was described to the smallest detail. We were subjected to reading EVERY item that Alex ate, or EXACTLY what a person was wearing, or EVERYTHING that was in the room he entered. I found this really bogged the...more
My real pet peeve was that everything was described to the smallest detail. We were subjected to reading EVERY item that Alex ate, or EXACTLY what a person was wearing, or EVERYTHING that was in the room he entered. I found this really bogged the...more
This book started off well, but it lagged in the last third. One reason for the lag, I think, is because the sidekick, Milo, disappeared for a long time to follow his own lead, and when he returned, it was only mentioned in passing. Another reason for the lag was the reliance on expository dialogue by the author; a lot of it. The book was also dated by its mid-80's cliches.
The strongest part of the book was the relationship between Alex and Milo, and since I've told this becomes more integral in...more
The strongest part of the book was the relationship between Alex and Milo, and since I've told this becomes more integral in...more
Alex Delaware book #1 and Kellerman's first book. His budding mastery of suspense and story weaving was very enjoyable. He creates real characters worthy of love ... or hate. Found myself laugh aloud in a few places. I love his sense of humor. Definitely NOT a dry read. His intricate details spin a story easy to follow and draws the reader into the world of a Child Psychologist helping a police buddy solve an LA double murder. Loved his plot twists and non-predictable ending. As this is only the...more
If a murder thriller can be called pleasant, this would be it. Interesting enough to get through commutes and work without screaming, not interesting enough that I want to listen to it when I should be doing homework. The best part is Milo, Alex's best friend and a gay detective. He's gay and in a relationship like Alex is straight and in a relationship. It's normalized, which is great for a popular series. Witnesses are more forthcoming than realistically possible, and the end is not so believa...more
This is the first in the series, and has left me looking to find the next one in the series - and the next and the next. Alex Delaware is a child psychologist, retired after burning out in his early thirties, but his great friend Milo drags him into what promises to be a couple of hours' work at the most. Instead it turns into a real viper's nest, taking Alex all around the country and exposing the nasty side of some very influential people. One or two twists I didn't anticipate, and lots of edg...more
Mar 27, 2011
Lily Mulholland
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-suspense
This was a pretty solid murder mystery/crime novel - you can see the beginnings of a bestseller series at work. Some lovely, surprising prose, although the plot was pretty convoluted and (by today's standards) lame. Back in the day (mid-80s when it was written), it was probably quite edgy.
I did love the references to pagers and the main characters having to pull over to find a payphone to make a call. Reminds how far technology has come since I was at high school!
I'll read another Kellerman to s...more
I did love the references to pagers and the main characters having to pull over to find a payphone to make a call. Reminds how far technology has come since I was at high school!
I'll read another Kellerman to s...more
I wanted to go back and read the first of the series before reading the newest Delaware novel. Kellerman's first novel sets the stage for all of the following Delaware novels: they simply don't change. Most if not all of the novels involved child abuse, family neglect or overindulged parents and/or child. Usually, there are too many characters to follow. The role of Milo Sturgis doesn't change; over weight, out in the open homosexual detective who is not accepted by his department but involved...more
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Jonathan Kellerman was born in New York City in 1949 and grew up in Los Angeles. He helped work his way through UCLA as an editorial cartoonist, columnist, editor and freelance musician. As a senior, at the age of 22, he won a Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award for fiction.
Like his fictional protagonist, Alex Delaware, Jonathan received at Ph.D. in psychology at the age of 24, with a specialty in the t...more
More about Jonathan Kellerman...
Like his fictional protagonist, Alex Delaware, Jonathan received at Ph.D. in psychology at the age of 24, with a specialty in the t...more
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“Pessimism is not good for the soul."
"I sold my soul years ago."
"To whom?"
"The bitch goddess Success. She cut town before paying off.”
—
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"I sold my soul years ago."
"To whom?"
"The bitch goddess Success. She cut town before paying off.”
“Assholes are like weeds, a bitch to get rid of and when you do another one grows back in its place.”
—
1 person liked it
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