Rating: Summary: Stunning as always Review: Frank Clevenger is a fantastic antihero, and Keith Ablow has created something special. A fantastic ride that is hard to step away from, following in the steps of Denial and Projection Ablow has done it again. A novel that screams dysfunction and sheer joy for the reader. Ablow and Frank Clevenger are untouchable.
Rating: Summary: COMPELLING COMPULSION Review: Frank Clevenger is not an easy character to like: he is smug, a trite arrogant; a womanizer; a recovering alcohol and drug addict, who sometimes falls off the wagon; and he's not the best reader of people's psyches, which is strange since he is a psychiatrist. However, if you've read his first three books, you can probably understand why Frank's the way he is. In this one, he agrees to help an old friend in a murder case of a three month old twin, and hopefully prevent the murder of her sibling. Frank falls much too quickly in love with Julia Bishop, the mistress of the household whose child was cruelly murdered. As the novel moves along, we have several choices for the villian, and by the end of the novel, it turned out to be exactly who I thought. (Maybe I'm just getting brilliant?) Ha ha. Anyway, this is a spellbinding novel, and The Bishops have to be one of the most dysfunctional families since Eugene O'Neill. I think you'll be "compelled" to read this one.RECOMMENDED.
Rating: Summary: Decent story, but the main character ruins it Review: Frank is a creepy, creepy guy. And I got the feeling that he reflects the author's perspective. I'm no shrink, but there's something seriously wrong with ALL the women in this book, but what's stranger is the way their inexcusable behavior is excused by both the author and Frank. I actually found the cuckolded husband (who was supposed to be the "bad guy") to be the most normal character. The part about Frank supposedly being a alcoholic, but apparently having no trouble drinking in moderation was odd too. The hostility towards financially successful men was distracting as well. I would imagine that Keith Ablow makes plenty of money off his novels. He should get over it already.
Rating: Summary: Great read! Review: I enjoyed this entry in the Frank Clevenger series immensely! I especially appreciated the quick pacing and smart plot. Mr. Ablow does a fine job of keeping you guessing, creating compelling characters, examining their motives without dragging it out, ( I hate being forced to skim), and he throws in some really interesting and ingenious diagnostic scenerios. It is the proverbial page-turner, and I did indeed stay up late into the night to finish it. Highly recommended.
I will now proceed to critique and pick apart every little nuance and plot turn in the book, and complain that I hated the main character, because he's human, with human frailties, weaknesses, and not altogether pure motives......NOT!!!!
Doesn't that describe all of us, to one extent or another? Why do critics think that the protagonist has to be pure of heart, (read one-dimensional) in order to be believable? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Go figure.
This book is time and money well spent, and like myself, you'll likely learn a few things along the way. What could be better?
Rating: Summary: liked it despite myself Review: I started out not liking this book, in large part because I didn't like the protagonist (who is, I think, an alter ego of the author). He thinks the world of himself, and makes sure we know that all the other characters he meets find him equally brilliant, powerful, sexy etc. Every woman is attractive and is attracted to him. Of course. One of the main suspects in the murder is a (married) woman who he finds attractive and they enter into a relationship -- even though he's a psychologist working on a case where she's a suspect. Not professional to say the least. The other thing that bothered me was the ease with which people told their secrets and gave up information to the protagonist. Very unrealistic. Having said all that, I did end up enjoying the book and even feeling less hostile toward the protagonist. It's a book that hooked me and kept me turning the pages. I will probably go search out earlier books by the author.
Rating: Summary: Whiny Shrink Review: I think the main character-Frank- needs more therapy. His issues distracted from the story to such an extent that I couldn't get into the mystery. He needs to keep his professional self separate. This is the first-and last =book I'll read from this author.
Rating: Summary: love2read Review: I'm not really good at summarizing stories, but I have to say, Keith Ablow has totally blown me away with the forensic psychologist Frank Clevenger books! At times, I feel that some things weren't explained well enough or things happened too quickly, but I can say, without a doubt, these are the BEST books I've read in a very long time, second only to James Patterson's Alex Cross novels. If you're looking for a book to keep you turning pages and up all night reading, you found it!!
Rating: Summary: Outstanding Review: Once again, I have found a great author but read his latest, Psychopath first.. which left no secrets in Compulsion. Dr. Frank Clevenger, a psychiatrist is back in this fast paced, chilling book. Clevenger has had enough of dealing with the criminally insane and is just about to call it quits until he recieves a call. North Anderson, a friend and former colleague, needs Clevenger's help. A young daughter of billionaire Darwin Bishop has been murdered in her crib. The main suspect is her adopted brother Billy Bishop. As soon as Clevenger begins his work, he discovers that Billy may infact be innocent. The killer could be Darwin Bishop himself, or perhaps Julia, his socialite wife. Then there is Darwin Bishop's other son, Garret, a top student and star athlete who despises his father for reasons he refuses to reveal. The deeper Clevenger delves into the Bishop family, the more his own emotional demons surface.
Rating: Summary: A good mystery Review: See storyline above. When I started reading this book I knew it would be hard to put down. The writing style was compelling (this seems to be a popular word to describe the book) and the story was intriguing. Dr. Frank Clevenger though, is not one of my favorite characters. His quick addiction to Julia seemed not entirely in character for a professional and reputable psychiatrist, even though he describes himself as having "...wounds crisscrossing my psyche like a map to hell". An overall entertaining mystery that will keep you guessing. Recommended.
Rating: Summary: A Psychological Mystery Review: The book starts out with the classical mystery scenario where someone has been murdered, in this case a baby, one of twins. The murderer could have been any one of 5 people who were in the house at the time. The prime suspect is Billy, an adopted son of the baby's father. Billy is such a likely suspect because he has long shown signs of a tendency towards pathological behaviour. For this reason, Dr Frank Clevenger is asked to come and talk to Billy to give his opinion on whether he thought it probable that Billy was the killer. While he is at the house of the murdered baby, Clevenger talks with the other family members and quickly decides that the prime suspect isn't the only one with the psychological profile of a killer. Added to the list are: the billionaire businessman, head of the family and overly dominant father figure; the beautiful younger (2nd-) wife, mother of the dead baby with a history of depression; the eldest son, also adopted and driven hard to strive for high achievement by his father; and finally, the pretty nanny who seems to be the primary caregiver to more than just the babies. So Clevenger has to dig through the minds of the family members to work out whether Billy is the murderer, as has been accused, or whether it was someone else and Billy is being brilliantly set up. I didn't find this book quite as compelling as the first couple of books in the series, although the frailties of the human mind are laid bare in fascinating detail. Certainly, one of the strongest aspects of the series is the substantial character descriptions and development. The past of Frank Clevenger continues to be revealed and just when I thought I knew all about him, a little more of his shocking past is told.
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