Blood Test

Rating:
Summary: An Interesting, Quick Read
Review: Blood Test, while a quick read, was an interesting and well-developed book. The plot centers upon a young boy whose parents refuse cancer treatment. Dr. Delaware, the star of several of Kellerman's books, is called in by the treating physician to convince the parents to consent to treatment. Before he can meet with the parents, however, the boy is taken from the hospital. Dr. Delaware's concern with the young boy throws him into an adventure, focused on finding the boy, where he stumbles upon horticultural prowess and cultists that may be more than what they seem. There is less of a psychological twist in Blood test than in some of the other Kellerman books, but plot interest will keep you reading until the end.

Rating:
Summary: Religious Cult Again
Review: If I am not mistaken,this is Jonathan Kellerman's third book involving a suspect religious cult. It gets a little tiresome. The plot was not as suspenseful as his books usually are. But it is easy reading, and the writing is entertaining enough to read if you are a Jonathan Kellerman fan.

Rating:
Summary: Not as satisfying as one would hope, but still an ok read.
Review: In this second novel by Jonathan Kellerman featuring Dr. Alex Delaware, the good doctor finds himself drawn into the midst of a mystery involving a horribly sick child, a strangely shut-off family, a reclusive religious cult, and a whole town that seems to have a pall cast over it. When five-year- old Woody Swope disappears from the hospital where he is being treated for life-threatening cancer, Dr. Alex Delaware does everything in his power to find the missing child. Can he dig up the truth behind the mysteries surrounding Woody before it's too late for the boy?

While Dr. Delaware and his LAPD Homicide detective friend Milo Sturgis continue to be interesting and compelling characters, I found that I didn't enjoy Blood Test as much as I did the first of Kellerman's Delaware novels, When the Bough Breaks. I didn't feel that the supporting characters were as well fleshed out as they could have been, and that many of them were in the story simply to fit an archetype or to neatly be a necessary foil for some aspect of the plot. This isn't to say that the book wasn't enjoy, but it simply didn't feel as natural as When the Bough Breaks. I will certainly continue reading the Kellerman series, and hope that this book's lack of polish is the exception to the rule.