Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992                   TAG: 9203010226
SECTION: HORIZON                    PAGE: E-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO BOOK PAGE EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

KELLERMAN'S LATEST THRILLER IS HIS BEST

"Private Eyes" is Jonathan Kellerman's sixth Alex Delaware novel, and his best to date. If he sticks too closely to the formula established in the earlier books, that's a minor flaw. The writing is tight and colorful; the characters are vivid; and the plot is almost homage to Ross MacDonald.

For Delaware, a child psychologist, the case begins when he hears from an old patient after a nine-year silence. Melissa Dickinson had been a wealthy, self-possessed child who suffered from terrible nightmares and fears when he had treated her before. That wasn't surprising considering her circumstances. Her father died before she was born. Her mother, Gina, was completely agoraphobic, due to a senseless attack that scarred her face with acid. She refused to set foot outside her huge estate in exclusive San Labrador.

Now Melissa is 18 and uncertain about her future. Should she go to Harvard, or should she stay with her mother who is making progress with her phobia? Melissa isn't comfortable with the doctor who's treating her mother. Is it jealousy, or could it have something to do with the many secrets in the family's past? The man who attacked her mother has been released from jail and is back in the area, and her domestic situation has changed, too. Then Gina disappears.

Compared to the earlier novels, there is comparatively little physical action in this one. The intricate plot is revealed through long conversations and the gradual accumulation of details. It's the same technique that Ross MacDonald employed, and Kellerman gives his story the same psychological depth that marked MacDonald's best work.

Kellerman also has a keen eye for external detail. His descriptions of Southern California culture - from the worlds of pampered old money to has-been Hollywood types to unscrupulous bankers and lawyers - have an authentic ring.

It's that kind of perceptiveness that raises Kellerman's work above the level of simple escapism. He's describing a complex world where guilt and innocence exist in an uneasy balance, and his ending arrives with a real jolt.

Kellerman's fans don't need to be persuaded. Readers who haven't discovered him are in for a treat.