Rating: 
Summary: Clevanger meets Nantucket gothic...
Review: "Compulsion" is another great book by Ablow. Set a few years after "Projection", Dr. Clevanger is out of doing forensic psyichiatry due to the events at the end of "Projection". His friend, North Anderson, calls him to for help on a infant murder case on Nantucket. The adopted son of a mogul is the prime suspect, and it is up to Dr. Clevanger to asset if he is really the guilty one. Major twists and turns about. The Bishop family in the book, are for the most part, flat. Both Darwin and Julia have few redeeming qualities, and you feel badly for the adopted children, Garrett and Billy. The end was great, as Dr. Clevanger moves into a new role. You will be surprised at who the killer really is.
Rating:
Summary: Clevanger meets Nantucket gothic...
Review: "Compulsion" is another great book by Ablow. Set a few years after "Projection", Dr. Clevanger is out of doing forensic psyichiatry due to the events at the end of "Projection". His friend, North Anderson, calls him to for help on a infant murder case on Nantucket. The adopted son of a mogul is the prime suspect, and it is up to Dr. Clevanger to asset if he is really the guilty one. Major twists and turns about. The Bishop family in the book, are for the most part, flat. Both Darwin and Julia have few redeeming qualities, and you feel badly for the adopted children, Garrett and Billy. The end was great, as Dr. Clevanger moves into a new role. You will be surprised at who the killer really is.
Rating: 
Summary: Ablow's third is a winner
Review: Ablow's last novel PROJECTION turned me off so much I didn't want to read any more of his books, but I gave this a try anyway, and I'm glad I did. This is a first-rate psychological thriller with hardly a false note in the entire book. Though the murder of a child within the confines of a troubled household may not be the most original plotline, Ablow's keen psychological insight guides you masterfully through the twists and turns of a deeply disturbed family, springing surprises just when you thought you had everything figured out. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Ablow's third is a winner
Review: Ablow's last novel PROJECTION turned me off so much I didn't want to read any more of his books, but I gave this a try anyway, and I'm glad I did. This is a first-rate psychological thriller with hardly a false note in the entire book. Though the murder of a child within the confines of a troubled household may not be the most original plotline, Ablow's keen psychological insight guides you masterfully through the twists and turns of a deeply disturbed family, springing surprises just when you thought you had everything figured out. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A COMPELLING READ
Review: Ablow's newest tale is his best yet. The author doesn't use his background in forensic psychiatry to bore you with complicated medical terms but instead allows the reader more of a layman's perspective on some of society's neuroses. As I glided through Ablow's prose and provocative storytelling, I was twice legitimately surprised by the turns this mystery takes. This is a top-notch read.
Rating:
Summary: Great cant put down
Review: An amazing book I could barely put down, I was lucky to be able to pry it from my hands for when the bell wrung in-between my classes. One of the only draw backs is that Mr. Ablow focuses a little too much on the anatomy of the females in the book and not enough on the murders. Other then this the book was pretty [dang] good.
Rating:
Summary: fascinating crime thriller
Review: Brooke and Tess are identical twin girls born to billionaire Darwin Bishop and his beautifully charismatic wife Julia. They also have two adopted sons, Graham the golden boy and sixteen year old Billy who has been in and out of psychiatric institutions all his life and is known to the local authorities for his violent behavior.When Brooke unexpectedly dies, Darwin immediately thinks that his son murdered his sister. Nantucket police officer North Anderson isn't convinced that Billy is guilty and brings forensic psychologist Dr. Frank Clevenger on the case. Frank believes that everyone that was in the house except for baby Tess is a likely suspect and he risks his own life to uncover the truth. The moment one starts reading this fascinating crime thriller one is compelled to finish it in one sitting. Like the protagonist, readers will find it hard, if not impossible, to figure out who killed the infant because all the suspects have motives, meaning and opportunity. Keith Ablow is a gifted storyteller who ha written an exceptional tale. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Psychiatrist, heal thyself.
Review: Dr. Frank Clevenger, a forensic psychiatrist with many internal demons of his own, gets involved in a complicated murder case in Keith Ablow's new thriller, "Compulsion." On the island of Nantucket, one of the infant twin daughters of billionaire Darwin Bishop is found murdered in her crib. Clevenger is called into the case by North Anderson, a former police officer from Baltimore who is now chief of police on the beautiful island of Nantucket. Clevenger and Anderson are former colleagues who have collaborated on some tough cases in the past. Clevenger is reluctant to commit himself to another forensic case, since he is still recovering from some terrible experiences that have scarred his psyche. However, North draws him into the web of intrigue surrounding the Bishop family, and Clevenger becomes involved on many levels with the Bishop family. Besides Darwin and the twin daughters, the Bishop family includes Julia, Darwin's gorgeous and seductive wife, and their two adopted teenaged sons, overachieving Garrett and Billy, a budding psychopath with a history of violence. Everything about "Compulsion" is extremely intense. It is a deeply psychosexual book which delves into the dark forces that make people do the unthinkable. Clevenger doesn't act like a psychiatrist much of the time. He crosses over the line into professional misconduct more than once. Clevenger is a deeply flawed and troubled character. He is an example of someone who becomes a psychiatrist because he wants to help himself and others who have suffered deep emotional traumas. As a thriller, "Compulsion" is fairly predictable. Ablow throws out red herrings galore, there is a fair amount of sex and violence, and the ending has a "twist," which has become almost compulsory these days. The dialogue is serviceable, but the characters are stereotypes, except for Clevenger. His character is the most intriguing, since he is two people at once. On the one hand, he is a deeply compassionate and insightful psychiatrist, dedicated to healing. On the other hand, he is something of a basket case, trying to cope with a history of alcoholism and drug abuse, and attempting to maintain his own emotional balance. I recommend "Compulsion" with reservations. It is a page-turner, but Ablow breaks little new ground in the thriller genre.
Rating:
Summary: A Chilling Thriller
Review: Dr. Frank Clevenger, the emotionally scarred forensic psychiatrist with an addictive personality featured in Denial and Projection, returns in this third outing that is quite chilling. Toning back the "over-the-topness" doings of Projection (that book is a very wild ride), Keith Ablow delivers a novel that will compel you to keep reading in order to figure out whodunnit. Facing the demons of his past, some of it heartbreakingly written, Clevenger must find out who murdered a baby in a wealthy Nantucket home. You can't help but cheer for the good doctor as he propels himself through a plot that races towards a thrilling showdown, with the baby's killer and his own past.
Great beach reading, Keith Ablow is pretty addicting.
Rating:
Summary: AN APTLY TITLED THRILLER
Review: Frank Clevenger had given up forensic psychiatry after his last case that spiraled him into a downward depression and drove him to alcohol. Two years later and a call from his best friend, North Anderson, brings Frank back into a situation he dreads, but is compelled to see through to the end.Try and put this book down - it can't be done. A compulsively readable thriller with suspects all living under the same roof. I can't recommend this book or this author highly enough. Don't deprive yourself and read DENIAL and PROJECTION. You will NOT be disappointed.
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