Rating: Summary: Ending was good, but too little too late Review: In a departure from his Alex Delaware series, Jonathan Kellerman introduces us to Dr. Jeremy Carrier. Dr. Carrier is emotionally traumatized by the death of his girlfriend. She is brutally murdered and Jeremy becomes a prime suspect in her death. He is the staff psychologist at City Central Hospital. There he gets drawn into a unexpected and rather bizarre friendship with pathologist Dr. Arthur Chess. More murders ensue with the police focusing on Jeremy. Dr. Chess slips away supposedly to go on vacation. He leaves Jeremy what amounts to pieces of a puzzle that will help solve the spate of recent killings and to help clear Jeremy of suspicion. I always look forward to Jonathan Kellerman novels. The Alex Delaware series is one of my favorites. I had really high expectations for this book. The first half of the book really dragged. I never connected to any of the characters. The plot was undeveloped. Luckily the second half of the book got more interesting and a bit more suspenseful. Once Jeremy started solving the puzzle Dr. Chess was sending him, the plot really improved and Kellerman's skills were once again evident. The last quarter of the book was a page-turner, unfortunately I expected so much more. First ½ of book: 1 star Third ¼ or book: 3 stars Fourth ¼ of book: 5 stars
Rating: Summary: A nice break from the Alex Delaware series Review: In this novel, author Kellerman has taken a break from his series of books about psychologist Alex Delaware to offer us a new main character, Jeremy Carrier. Although Jeremy is also a psychologist, he is younger than Delaware and practices in a hospital (as opposed to Delaware's private practice). Yes, he does become involved in a series of mysterious murders--including the murder of his own girlfriend--but unlike Delaware, Jeremy is working on his own rather than with the police. Although this book definitely contains some similarities to the Delaware series, Kellerman has done a nice job of creating an interesting new cast of characters. Furthermore, the use of a new protagonist has allowed him to break away from the staleness of the recent Delaware books and to return to some of the energy and intensity of his earlier works. While not as good as Kellerman's best non-Delaware novel, The Butcher's Theater, The Conspiracy Club reminds the reader of Kellerman's continued potential for writing great works of suspense.
Rating: Summary: Fun, Light, and Well Paced Review: In my opinion, Johnathan Kellerman's previous character, Alex Deleware, had gotten a little stale. This book is a refreshing introduction of a new character. The action is lively, the plot moves along, and the plot's concept is entertaining. A worthy read.
Rating: Summary: What happened here? Review: Kellerman is best known for his Alex Delaware novels, and rightfully so. When an author wants to break from a popular character, there's always the possibility of scepticism from the readers. Some authors are able to make this work (Jeffrey Deaver, for example). Others fall flat, as Mr. Kellerman has on this one. I honestly don't know what happened here. This is perhaps the slowest paced novel I've ever read from a veteran author. How this ever got past his agent or editor I'll never know. You are well over halfway through the book before anything happens, and I'm not exaggerating here in the least. It's almost like following someone's boring life with morbid curiousity for a while, waiting for something to go wrong. The ending, when it mercifully comes, isn't worth the build up. The Conspiracy Club from the book's title really doesn't do anything that a single character couldn't have done. It's like this is a novel he'd written years ago but put away and suddenly he had a deadline and had to grab it. The potential for a great story was here, but it would have meant losing the first half of the book and starting from there. I look forward to his next novel, but I hope it'll be back to his old standard of great storytelling.
Rating: Summary: not so much boring as annoying Review: I too have been a great Kellerman fan, and have read all his books. But this one is bad, and not just because it isn't Alex Delaware or because it has little if any real plot. It's the style, something I don't remember from the earlier books. One reader noticed the annoying short chapters, a trend from some other "thriller" writers. What I noticed was the page after page of one sentence paragraphs. Or one phrase paragraphs. Supposed to make us feel breathless, I guess. But really more like [Dick and Jane].
Rating: Summary: wait for the paperback Review: This is the first J. Kellerman book I've read. Other reviews will inform you better about the plot itself. My small contribution will focus on the story's degree of suspense. The entire work is only 375 pages. I found that it was not very gripping at all until around page 200. Therefore, I'd rate pages 1-200 with just ONE STAR but pages 200-375 with FOUR STARS. The first 200 pages for me were too full of medical jargon and mundane details of characters lives that failed to interest me. I'm glad I read on. I'd recommend, however, that you either borrow a copy or wait for the paperback! It's the book equivalent of a wait-for-the-video flick in the theaters!
Rating: Summary: Not you too, Jonathan! Review: I have not or cannot finish reading this book. It is soooo slooow and seems to be going nowhere and I don't really care about Jeremy at all. Why is that? My first experience with Jon Kellerman was so wonderful that I had to read everything right away. But this book can't be his. I did catch his wonderful descriptive talents in describing scenery but that is not plot. As with Patricia Cornwell's disaster with Blow Fly, it seems as if two previous reviewers are right. Mr. Kellerman was phoning it in or he had this book from a college project and needed to get something published. I don't think I will bother finishing The Conspiracy Club so I can use the time to find a new mystery author. I checked out this site to be sure that I was not the only one who was disappointed.
Rating: Summary: Second-rate Review: As tired as I've gotten of Alex and Robin's love trials, I couldn't help but miss that dysfunctional and self-important duo while reading "Conspiracy Club." This book's main character, Jeremy Carrier, never comes to life and his adventures sound like Kellerman is phoning it in. . On the plus side, Kellerman's writing is as always a cut above the usual and he has good control over detail and pacing. Unfortunately, the women in this book make even stick figures like Robin seem complex. The scenes in the conspiracy club are cartoonish and about as menacing as an afternoon in a nursing home rec room. Bring back Alex and his rich boy, can't commit melodramas! As much as he gets on my nerves, at least he got a bit more to him than a "tragic secret."
Rating: Summary: Finally something new. Review: At last something else besides boring Alex Deleware. The writing is better, the plot more interesting and for now more interesting new characters. Kellerman has recharged his skills with interesting possibilities. More Please!
Rating: Summary: this is the WORST JK book -- if you are a fan, don't buy it Review: This is BY FAR the worst Jonathan Kellerman book ever. I have been reading JK for over 10 years and have read almost every book of his. This book moved SO slow and he spent too much time building up characters that were not integral to the plot or at least not the murder mystery plot part. He spent more time building a love relationship between the main character and his girlfriend than he did solving the crime. 1 word: BORING! If you are a fan of JK, don't buy this one. It has strayed too far from his main type of storyline.
|