Rage (Alex Delaware, No. 19)

Once again, it's a phone call and a voice from the past that gets Dr. Alex Delaware involved in murder and mayhem. Rand Duchay had been an illiterate 13 year old when he helped to kill a little girl eight years ago and Delaware had been called upon to evaluate him (and the other 13 year old murderer, Troy Turner, who didn't survive his incarceration). Anyway, Rand is a 21 year old man now, and has just been released. He calls from a payphone and says he wants to talk about the murder. Alex agrees to meet him, but Rand never shows. Eventually, homicide detective Milo Sturgis is able to explain why the troubled young man never showed - he was busy being murdered. Milo tells Alex to forget about it, but we know Alex, don't we? He wants to know why Duchay called him, starts tossing around theories and sucks Milo into an investigation that begins to unearth some very nasty creatures. More relationship troubles for Alex and this time he is completely blameless. He may have given Robin reason to leave (even though she refuses to actually leave), but Allison's problem is all hers! Not sure where that relationship is going to end up. It's a shame, because I liked Allison - you know, before she went all freaky. Poor Spike - the cute pooch? - is not doing well. Seems old age is creeping up on him. There's a scene at the climax that is ... well, pretty gross. Like Alex, I'm pretty good at conjuring mental images too and these descriptions were pretty vivid. Just a warning to the faint-hearted.

You'll be less than a third of the way into RAGE, Jonathan Kellerman's brilliant new novel, before you encounter a pivotal passage. Here's the setup: Psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis are investigating the killing of a convicted murderer. The newly deceased --- Rand Duchay --- is an easily led, slow-witted soul who in the company of a child psychopath named Troy Turner murdered two-year old Kristal Malley some eight years ago. Turner never made it out of prison alive; Duchay, however, survived his stretch and, newly released to the world at age 21, had placed a call to Delaware, wanting to talk to him about Kristal's murder. Duchay and Delaware were not strangers to each other, Delaware having evaluated both Turner and Duchay on the eve of their trial. But before Delaware and Duchay are able to meet, Duchay is murdered. An immediate suspect is Barnett Malley, Kristal's father, a man who lives in brooding isolation. When Delaware and Sturgis journey out to the trail park where Malley spends his quiet life, he refuses to talk to them, shutting his door in their faces. A few moments later, Delaware and Sturgis hear the man playing the piano, a wistful, angst-laden instrumental --- it's a song that you know, even if you think you don't --- which sets the stage for what is to come while revealing the quiet anguish of irredeemable, irreparable loss. What is brilliant about this passage is that Kellerman makes time stand still within it; one can smell the grass that surrounds Malley's home, feel the heat, hear the piano notes hanging mournfully in the air and then disappearing to make way for the next set. It is a beautifully rendered vignette in a novel full of them. Malley is a mysterious man, full of bitterness and anger, one who certainly has motive to hunt down and destroy those who took Kristal from him forever. Delaware and Sturgis doggedly pursue evidence that takes them to surprising and unforeseen places. There are other murders in addition to Duchay's that are tied to the death of Kristal Malley, and there are other crimes --- unspeakable crimes --- that must be answered for as well. RAGE is more than a complex, well-plotted whodunit. Kellerman slowly has been developing the person of Delaware for two decades, and continues to do so here, exploring the irony of how a man in the helping profession is, ultimately, unsuccessful in resolving his own unhappiness. Interestingly enough, though, RAGE is as much about Sturgis as it is about Delaware. Kellerman never brings us back to Sturgis's home --- most of the personal information we get about Sturgis is secondhand, through Delaware --- but much about Sturgis's inner psyche is revealed here. Sturgis constantly threatens to eclipse Delaware; he is one of those characters who does not fit comfortably into a secondary role, so that one cannot imagine an Alex Delaware novel without him. And, as always, the City of Los Angeles has a starring role. Kellerman's description o

We're big fans of J. Kellerman, but find that sometimes the Alex Delaware stories drift so far from his child psychology specialty that it's tough to believe either the action or the detective work. But in this latest "intellectual" thriller, we spend much of the time reading dialogue between Alex and cop buddy Milo Sturgis dissecting a variety of perplexing clues; their skills at finding motives and posing possibilities are tasked to the limit. The tale starts with the killing of a toddler by two tough teens. Alex interviews them to help determine whether trials as adults make sense, but a plea bargain puts them both in youth prison without courtroom proceedings. One of the youths is murdered a month later, but the other survives eight years in jail (with scars galore) and comes out wanting to talk to Alex again, presumably with new information about the murder. Before the meet can take place, this youth's murdered body turns up and the race is on to figure out what is going on. Before it's over, the toddler's parents are involved, some "spiritual advisors" and foster parents are involved, and a clever but insidious killer is eventually unearthed. The application of justice at book's end is a fascinating conclusion, even though it seemed the novel ended a bit abruptly considering how totally absorbed we were in reaching the outcome. Kellerman has crafted an intriguing plot, one that requires plenty of cerebral work on the part of both his leading men and the reader. Unraveling the eventual truth created tremendous suspense, sustained without some of the silly cops and robbers type action of some of the other Delaware stories. Delaware's love life was mostly on vacation as well, although new love interest (and fellow doc) Allison seemed to be losing the spark. Meanwhile, long-time ex-partner Robin has returned to LA, having dumped her singer boy toy, and we're left to wonder might happen there in what is bound to be our author's next release. It sounded like a tiring Milo is having thoughts of pulling the pin (retiring) as well -- will he? We're more than happy to recommend "Rage" as Kellerman and Delaware in the very fine form of his earlier works -- enjoy!

I look forward to all the alex delaware books, but some are better than others, and this one is very good. Other reviewers have described the plot; I will just say that it was pleasurably twisty. About a third of the way through the book I thought the solution was obvious, and I was disappointed, but I was wrong! A minor flaw is that the book ended too abruptly. It needed a little more of a wind-down. SPOILER ALERT! There is a hint toward the end of the book that Alex and Allison may be heading for a split and Robin may reappear...Mr Kellerman, if you read these reviews, DON'T DO IT. While one criticism I would level at all of the Alex D. books is that the two female love interests do not have very well-developed characters, as far as they go, Allison is preferable. Robin is kind on whiney.

In Los Angeles, the call surprises Dr. Alex Delaware because he had no idea that Rand Duchay was God forbid free; a frantic Rand pleads with Alex to see him immediately. Alex agrees thinking back eight years when then thirteen years old Randolph and his friend almost fourteen years old Troy Turner abduct and killed twenty-five months old Kristal Malley. Alex was the psychologist who dealt with the teen murders. Not long afterward someone at the Chino CYA camp for juvenile defenders killed Troy. Alex arrives at the meeting place, but Duchay fails to show up. Surprised, Alex, who is to meet his beloved in New York tomorrow, informs Police Lieutenant Milo Sturges about what happened. The cop mentions a murder victim who turns out to be Rand. Is this a revenge killing perhaps the baby's father whose rage was obvious when the state cut a deal with the defense, an idle act, or someone insuring the truth of the infanticide never surfaces? RAGE is a terrific Dr. Delaware thriller that grips the audience when Alex recalls (in a flashback) the heinous crime and the reactions of the two teens who committed the murder. Alex is super in this novel especially his asides such as fearing Rand will find another dominant personality to coax him along for a deadly ride. The who-done-it is well designed so that readers know that everyone involved just about believe Duchay deserved death including to a degree Milo and Alex, but they overcome their personal disgust while seeking the killer. Fans of the series will be elated with Jonathan Kellerman's latest tale. Harriet Klausner