New shrink doc a lot like old one, but decent story awaits...Feeling that the Alex Delaware series has lost a great deal of zest in recent books, we snapped up this latest Kellerman on learning it featured a completely new leading man, psychologist Jeremy Carrier. This doc practices on staff at a regular hospital; and we were surprised to learn how busy he was with the care and concerns of fairly normal patients whose current medical conditions were mostly other than mental difficulties. Carrier himself is dealing with the unsolved murder of his former serious nurse girlfriend, a case that has brought suspicion against himself by cop Bob Duresh. Soon a couple more killings suggest a possible link between Carrier's girlfriend and the other victims, a thought that once again sics Duresh onto his trail. Then another mysterious character, pathologist Arthur Chess, befriends Jeremy and invites him to an elaborate dinner meeting of some sort of secret society interested in dark human deeds. A series of follow-up clues from Chess to Carrier set our hero in pursuit of who might be the real perpetrator of these crimes. The clues continue to unfold and confound as Kellerman sets a nice pace of action and reaction throughout this suspenseful mystery; and of course our hero catches the bad guy in the end.We felt mixed emotions about this novel. We almost always enjoy Kellerman's writing, even though his last few books seemed a little stale. Our problem with this one is that while the mystery per se was entertaining enough, the characters were almost lookalikes to the Delaware clan: Jeremy for Alex, new girlfriend Angela for Robin, and cop Duresh for Sturgis, though the latter mostly an adversary instead of an ally. We find the speculation of other reviewers that maybe this manuscript was a precursor to the Delaware series as mildly amusing, but not impossible. So -- reasonably good novel, but not great.
I am reviewing the novel The Conspiracy Club by Jonathan Kellerman which is a very good psychological thriller which I bought from a car boot sale. This is a standalone thriller about a psychologist who has an inappropriate realtaionship with one of his clients and then she gets murdered. A pathologist dostor who is like a mentor to him also gets killed and it looks like he is the top suspect. He starts doing a little detective and notices lots of people are dying in suspicious circumstances which indicates a serial killer and a police cover up. There is a happy ending as with most Kellerman novels and of course he uses his psychological expertise to tell the story. Jonathan used to be a distinguished child psychologist and I think he has also worked with the police on cases. He is best known for the Alex Delaware series which is quite popular. He is also married to the author Faye Kellerman & 2 of his children are authors. I enjoyed reading this book and it's a good story that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
A new character for Jonathan Kellerman, and what I found to be a truly entertaining read, in the category of what I call my "nighttime escape" reading from the intensive research I do for my novel-writing. Dr. Jeremy Carrier is a partially developed character, but more than sufficient for this story. The plot is somewhat stretched, but so is every "thriller/crime" plot. My standard for this kind of novel is whether I am looking forward to reading a few more chapters, and this book met that test with flying colors. There is plenty of uncertainty, and several surprises, and the plot moves along. There is also a bit of technology, which I always like. The writing is clear and crisp but not overly elegant, which is exactly my taste for this sort of story.Also, kudos to Kellerman for reaching out beyond Alex Delaware. I enjoy the Delaware stories, but I also like it when an established, successful author tries something new. I'll be looking for Kellerman's next "outreach" novel.
—Lewis Weinstein
Two and a half for me. The author is very descriptive about food and location and all, which was okay with me. I felt it was all about creating an atmosphere. The story was okay and the main characters were fine. Everything was just fine. I liked the portrayal of Jeremy. I found it implausible that Jeremy would really 'face off' with the killer considering the killer's use of lasers to slice and dice. The case was built for this encounter, I just didn't really buy it.Sensitivity: One of the patients uses the 'f' word in about every sentence; luckily, that character's presence is limited. Other scattered, infrequent uses of the word. Little other swearing. A lot of sexuality. Sexual encounters were mostly non to mildly graphic. One act of violence toward the end is somewhat disturbingly descriptive.
—Nancy
I've read a lot of Jonathan Kellerman, and I always hesitate to deviate from his Alex Delaware novels. They're solid fare and I like the characters. It took me a while to get into THE CONSPIRACY CLUB, but I wound up enjoying it very much. Dr. Jeremy Carrier came across as cold and unemotional to me, which was probably why I had a hard time with the story at first, and I never really warmed up to him. But Kellerman throws some great twists into the story, and he manages to keep you guessing right through the novel. I felt that he left the ending open, just in case he wanted to bring the members of The Conspiracy Club back for another book. If you're a fan of Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware novels, this one is worth a try.
—Gae-Lynn Woods
