Delusion: A Mystery

Peter Zack is involved in a most complex case. His friend Chip, who is a lawyer, calls in the middle of the night and requests him to accompany him to the home of a client. Upon arriving they meet Nick who is acting rather bizarre. After walking through the house, they discover a blood trail and follow it to the pool.In the pool floats his wife. She has died a rather horrible death and Nick claims he neither remembers nor heard anything in the house. Since Peter is a forensic psychologist he agrees to examine Nick and determine his state of mind that night. Upon meeting with Nick we quickly learn he is paranoid. He believes THEY are out to get him. Peter is trying to figure out who he means by THEY. We also meet Nick's mother who is suffering from Dementia. Peter knows she witness something that night but she believes she is reliving the massacre of the Turks by the Armenian army in the 1930's. I have loved this series from the first book and with the third this duo writing team holds it together. We see Peter at work handling his duties at the PearceInstitute, working on this case and we see more of his personal life. A couple years ago he put away a deranged killer and now it seems that this man is stalking him from behind bars. So while we are watching Peter become paranoid like Nick this author spends a great tale that is disappointing in the end. About twothirds into the book, I thought I had it all figure out but when the conclusion is revealed it made me sad. I felt disappointed that they wove such a tight plot to leave fall flat at the end. I still give it a 9 but the ending should of been different.

Delusion explores a gripping world where fear threatens to take over. The protagonist, Peter Zak finds himself emmeshed in the same paranoia that plagues the defendant accused of the central murder. As Zak unravels the mystery, the reader unravels a truth: paranoia is its own danger. A great read that will keep you up at night wondering...

It seems like an open and shut case. A beautiful woman is found killed and her husband has blood on his shoes. Psychologist Peter Zak is asked to do an analysis of the husband, but something about the case bothers him. The evidence seems too perfect. Nick, the husband, is certainly paranoid, but as Zak comes to find out, sometimes paranoia is the appropriate response when they really are out to get you. The only question is, who THEY are and why they now seem coming for Zak. Author G. H. Ephron (the pen name for writing team Hallie Ephron and Donald A. Davidoff) delivers a really good mystery. Zak is a sympathetic character with his attempts to wade through Nick's insanity to find the truth. Zak's own emotional trauma (his wife was also murdered) gives him both emotional depth and lets him sympathize with Nick's efforts to prove his innocence.

It's been over three years since forensic psychologist Peter Zak's wife died at the hands of a psychopath and he is finally ready to return to the world of the living. He is emotionally involved with Annie, an investigator for defense attorney Chip Ferguson. One night when Peter and Annie are together, Chip calls asking the psychologist to meet him at the home of his friend who sounds very distraught.When everyone converges at Nick Babikian's home, they find his wife floating in the swimming pool, her body torn open. Nick is covered in blood, as is the floor where the swimming pool is located. Chip knows that the police will most likely arrest Nick and wants Peter to do a psychiatric evaluation on him. Peter finds him highly paranoid but isn't quite sure he's guilty. When the investigator focuses on another suspect Peter finds he second-guesses his own judgment.DELUSION is an enthralling medical thriller where the protagonist identifies a little too closely with his patient. This leads to an exciting crime tale in which the potential antagonists seem more interesting than the hero does. Readers will keep turning the pages as they try and figure out who the guilty party really is.Harriet Klausner