Time Bomb

I really need to read these in order. When I said Alex comes close to death in Survival of the Fittest I hadn't read this yet - he comes sooooo much closer in this one. And Milo is right there with him. In fact, the poor detective takes quite a beating. Okay, it all begins with a sniper incident at a grade school. The kids are traumatized and Detective Milo Sturgis calls in his friend Dr. Alex Delaware to help the little ones cope. When politics get involved, everything goes downhill. Kinky politicos, fugitive left wing radicals, neo nazis - it's all here. Add one demented little father on the war path and we have the makings of one dangerous situation. Into which, poor Milo and Alex walk blind. Alex and Robin are still separated in this one and she really irritates me. She dumped him and now she keeps calling him, wanting to be friends and just picking at old wounds. Alex has a great new love interest now - Linda, the school principal. I really like her. I wish she would stick around. And, yes, another sleepless night reading this - lots of tension, lots of angst - lots of frantic page turning to find out what happens next.

towards the final detonation! A sniper has just opened fire on a school playground, creating trauma and mayhem. She was shot to death before she could claim any child casualties.She? Yes. The mysterious woman who opened fire a propos of nothing had secrets begging to be revealed. Dr. Delaware and his sidekick Officer Sturgis travel down some seedy side streets before they unmask the sniper's identity and reason for opening fire. The attacker's father enlists the aid of the duo, requesting that they do a psychological portrait of his slain daughter. As the men delve deeper into their work, they uncover a Pandora's box of ugly secrets and are left with the question of who was REALLY a victim the day of the shooting?On the plus side, Alex develops a new romantic partner, principal Linda Overstreet. A tough Southwesterner, she provides more class than Robin ever did. She also appears to be much brighter. She has an interesting psychological background including "cops and music." It would have been wonderful if Robin had been ushered out the door for good.

I got Time Bomb for Christmas and I could not put it down, it was so good, I would stay up late, not wanting to stop. Jonathan Kellerman is the master of psyschological thrillers. Here is a little about the story.When Alex Delaware gets a call from his friend, LAPD homide detective, Milo Sturgis, he is asked to come down to a school which as been targeted by a sniper, and help the kids. When he gets there, he finds that the details are sketchy and all that he learns is that the sniper has been killed without hurting anyone. Milo tells him that the sniper was a girl, nonviolent, and had mental difficulties. Now, Alex has to figure out, was the sniper a killer, or just another victim?

Time Bomb's plot is very well assembled, all the facts fall together amazingly. Nothing from the sleeve, pure logic. The story evolves thrillingly and I found myself reading at 4am. Delaware is so real, so ordinary, you get to know him well and feel with him. Kellerman's detailed descriptive adds to the atmosphere and gives a feeling of being standing right there. What I haven't been able to do is give a face to Milo Sturgis, though he is a wonderful character. This is the 5th Kellerman book I read, and definitely look forward to reading the rest.

On my way to the theater I had some time to kill. I stopped in the Wal-mart and browsed their bargain bin of books. The price I paid for Time Bomb was a steal. I have read everything by the author since and have started reading his wife's works also. Alex Delaware is an original, a reluctant detective who happens to be a brilliant child psychologist. His friend Milo goes against all the stereotypes as a macho gay detective who isn't afraid to buck the system in the name of justice. The ending was totally unexpected but plausible. Kellerman has a winner with his series. I am currently reading The Clinic