Private Eyes (Alex Delaware) [Mass Market Paperback]

Friday, April 6, 2012

Private Eyes (Alex Delaware) [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Details

Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books (April 1, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345460707
ISBN-13: 978-0345460707
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.2 x 6.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

By : Jonathan Kellerman
Price : $7.99

Customer Reviews

Nine years ago, Alex Delaware successfully treated Melissa Dickinson, a tormented and phobic young girl, irrationally scared of almost everything. After two years of treatment, Melissa seems almost totally recovered, so her need for Dr Delaware ceases, and she becomes one of his most spectacular triumphs. Now, Melissa contacts Alex again, this time seeking advice concerning her mother. Gina Dickinson is a recluse, an ex-actress hiding away from the world ever since a vicious acid attack that left her scarred for life, even after extensive and traumatic plastic surgery. Even though Gina is now seeing, with some effect, a psychiatrist of her own, Melissa wants to know if Alex feels her mother could cope if she went away, accepting her place Harvard. Then, one day, Gina inexplicably climbs into her car, and drives off into thin air, leaving a tangled mystery to be unravelled in her wake.
I had started to think that this series was in danger of going stale. The prose is adequate and easy to read, but hardly full of spirit and at times seems a little perfunctory, and Alex Delaware has also remained a rather static - if very likeable - character. But now, after reading Kellerman's excellent standalone "The Butcher's Theatre", I returned to the series with "Private Eyes", and found it a wonderfully invigorating experience. This may be his lone of his longest Delaware books to date, but every word is fascinating, and there seems to me to be fresh fire in the writing. The characters are all very well developed, and although Kellerman never really takes any risks with his well-structured plot, it's a complex and clever book that really kicks the brain into gear, and presents one or two nice surprises along the way.
The psychology is dead-on, the relationships are all fascinating, the characterisation is acute, and the resolution is exciting, well-done, and satisfying. This may well turn out to be the rock of the Delaware series. To find out, i shall have to read on...

This book is gripping, and yet I found it a bit too slow (I know it does not seem to make sense...). A substantial amount of pages go by before anything actually happens and, even though the background is interesting, it stretches a bit too much. The characters are well developed, if somewhat unbelievable. The psychological aspects are also interesting. The relationship between Alex Delaware and Robin irritated me somewhat, and not for the first time. However, I really enjoy the Alex Delaware series, and I am being a bit harsh here mainly because I expect a lot from it and, while this book is definitely an enjoyable read, I have read better from this author. Another author from whom I expect less would have gotten 4 stars for a book such as this.