Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9503310100
SECTION: BOOK PAGE: G-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO BOOK PAGE EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
This is the ninth novel in Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series, and it's a solid entry. The story begins with Lucy Lowell, an unassuming young woman who has just spent a trying tour of jury duty deciding the fate of a serial killer. The terrible details of the case have reawakened recurring childhood nightmares. Those lead LAPD detective Milo Sturgis to suggest that she see his friend Alex, a psychologist. He agrees and hypnosis therapy gradually leads to the truth behind her dream/memories.
Kellerman delivers a well-crafted story based on crimes committed in the not-too-distant past, realistic characters, a plot that combines logical surprises with inventiveness and an authentic sense of place and time. If the novel has a flaw, it's in the flamboyant character of Lucy's father. Buck Lowell is a larger-than-life author - a crippled Hemingway-type given to bombastic speeches so out of step with the rest of the novel that they jump off the page. The rest of the novel is as compelling and readable as Kellerman's best, and that's very good, indeed.
Comparisons have been made between Kellerman and Ross MacDonald and though there are similarities between their work, Kellerman really owes more to another MacDonald: John D. Like that master of escapism, Kellerman is creating a series of novels that entertain readers while at the same time, describing the popular mood of the country. Beyond the popular elements of the mystery, Kellerman deals with questions of celebrity, violence and culture that describe America as well as the nightly news.
Pick up a paperback of one of MacDonald's early Travis McGee novels and you'll find a snapshot of middleclass America in the 1960s.
by CNB