Rating: Summary: WAKE ME WHEN IT'S OVER!!! Review: Jonathon Kellerman is one of my favorite authers, and his last two books have been his best in years. But with Conspiracy Club he has totally missed the mark. This book is slow paced, the main character (Jeremy Carrier) is totally uninteresting. I've read about 100 pages and nothing has happened! I can only read a few pages at a time before I start getting sleepy. I had to put the book down, I couldn't finish it. I may go back to it but not right away. What a bummer. If you're looking for something to put you to sleep pick this book up. Everyone else should just leave it alone. Hopefully Kellerman's next book will be up to his earlier standards.
Rating: Summary: Kellerman at his best! Review: I thought that I was not going to enjoy this novel very much because of the change in main character. I haven't read all the Delaware novels yet, but I enjoyed enormously those I have read. In the Conspiracy Club Kellerman sticks to what has made him a best-selling author...a psychologist involved in a mystery as main character. After his girlfriend is murdered in a gruesome manner, Dr. Jeremy Carrier is considered the main suspect by the police. As other girls are murdered this suspicion intensifies and Jeremy finds himself looking for the killer with the help of a stranger that sends anonymous messages and clues to him through the hospital mail. The clues started coming after he was invited to a "secret" dinner by one of the doctors on staff, Dr. Chess. In this dinner Jeremy met four very intriguing elderly people that piqued his curiosity and whose backgrounds are part of the solution to the mystery. The novel is very well written and keeps you on edge, presenting a considerable variety of suspects and a very interesting plot. I couldn't put it down!
Rating: Summary: Refreshing! Review: Nice to see a non-Alex Delaware novel, as Kellerman was losing his edge with this character. It is nice to be introduced to a new, fresh face with similar characteristics, but complex in different ways than Delaware, character. Great read - reads fast, a real page turner!
Rating: Summary: Wait for the paperback Review: There is no such thing as a bad Jonathan Kellerman novel, but some are better than others. This standalone presents a number of problems. The protagonist is a close approximation of Dr. D, but with few of his more attractive traits. Dr. C is too tentative, too young, too soft. The plot is interesting and complex, a nice variant on an old theme, but with no interesting twists and turns. Finally, the setting is fictitious, so we lose some of the texture and local color associated with Kellerman's best work (e.g. BILLY STRAIGHT). Having said that, the narrative is lean, the story interesting, the writing always expert. I didn't devour the book, but I returned to it whenever I got the chance. This would be a top book if Kellerman were not a top talent who always raises our expectations. Read it, but wait for the paperback.
Rating: Summary: HO HUM BUMMER Review: Jonathan Kellerman has become one of my favorite authors over the past year, having devoured his Delaware novels, and his other good books such as "Billy Straight" and "The Butcher's Theater". However, this book is quite unlike Kellerman's earlier efforts. While I always admire an author who wants to break away from his series characters (ala Harlan Coben, Jeffery Deaver, etc.), I think Jon misses the mark in this one. Jeremy Carrier is not the strongest of lead characters. At times, his own self-pity and lack of communication skills makes him obscenely apathetic; when he attempts heroics, he seems incapable of filling the hero's shoes. The whole club idea is so preposterously laid out, that they come across as the Golden Girls on Prozac. The killer's identity is anticlimactic in the fact that it's a character who has had so little involvement in the book, it's like Betsy Palmer coming out of the woods in "Friday the 13th." Kellerman's usual mastery of pacing, suspense and intrigue are replaced with long, monotonous scenes, and very little tension. I hope this isn't the beginning of a new series, cause I don't think Carrier can carry it! Go back to Alex Delaware, Jon, and return to those pulsepounding thrillers you captured our hearts with!
Rating: Summary: Very disappointing. Review: I hoped that with a new protagonist, Jonathan Kellerman would once again come through with a goodd read, but I found this as bad as most of his recent Alex Delaware novels have been. There is no comparison between the early Alex Delaware novels. The Butcher's Theater (the best) and his recent books. Maybe he shoult take a rest.
Rating: Summary: Not bad Review: After reading some of the reviews, I was expecting the worst. However, with the exception of the scence at the dinner, this book kept my interest and was a refreshing change. Kellerman is one of my favorite authors, but I do have to admit his last few Delaware books were a little bogged down with his romantic life.
Rating: Summary: Bring back Alex Review: Hard to get into, I am accustomed to getting into one of his books and not putting it down until I finish it. This book is taking me weeks to finish. It just has not grabbed my attention. I say, "Bring back Alex Deleware!
Rating: Summary: 3 stars Review: I must agree with most of the reviews. Lack of momentum and energy, lack of a gripping storyline, very little suspense, and a story that could have been written (with more excitement) on fewer pages. I did like the cover.
Rating: Summary: Still Disappointed Review: I've been a long-time fan of Jonathan Kellerman and have noticed his books steadily declining regarding plot, interest, and entertainment value. I was hoping "The Conspiracy Club" would bring him out of the rut he seems to have fallen into, but for me, this book only proves he has run out of motivation or has become bored with writing. I am beginning to wonder when the publishing world will grow tired of continually feeding to the reading world mundane works from formerly best-selling authors (i.e. Cornwell, Patterson, Clancy, Kellerman, et.)and instead focus on more talented, unknown authors. Come on, New York, listen to the readers who are expressing their opinions!
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