Compulsion : A Novel

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: 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: 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 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.