Survival of the Fittest

Rating:
Summary: Survival of the fittest
Review: "Survival of the fittest" was the first book I ever read from Jonathan Kellerman and I must admit I really liked his writing style because he unfolds the story so professionaly.

"Survival of the fittest"
A cop commits suicide in public.A retarded fifteen years old girl
is found dead. She happens to be the daughter of an Israeli diplomat and (the poor thing doesn't get enough publicity so the killer would be found a bit easier) this is because criminals may get encouraged to target other diplomats children. Later on,
another girl is found dead - and she happens to be just a street girl even though she was strangled to death too...
A detective Milo Sturgis, has all the help he needs to solve these crimes and all that help comes from a psychologist Alex
Delaware...

If you enjoy psychological thriller this book wont dissapoint you at all.

Rating:
Summary: Skimmed the last 200 pages
Review:

I have never read an Alex Delaware novel before...but it seems I have not missed much. It has been a while since I have sat down with a book that is simply just mediocre. The writing is filled with as many one word paragraphs as words it seems, and the plot stubles along to a predictable ending.

I am not sure what makes these books popular. There is little of substance and I get this feeling that the level of reading is just above that of a Hardy Boys novel.

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Kellerman
Review: After a couple of disappointing books, Jonathon Kellerman is back in top form in his latest: "Survival of the Fittest". This book is a real page turner: a fast-paced, strong plot and interesting characters. All of the regulars are in the book - Alex Delaware, Milo Sturgis, Robin, and, of course, Spike. The reparte between Milo and Alex is as enjoyable as ever.

The book mixes serial murders with international intrigue. The (re)introduction of an Israeli police inspector (a character in a non-Alex Delaware Kellerman novel) made for some interesting interaction between the inspector and Milo. I hope that we see this character again in some future book.

It seems that in the recent past, Mr. Kellerman's books have all had sexual depravity as the motivating factor. It was a refreshing relief to read a book that was able to keep the reader's interest without strong sexual content. Keep up the good work, Mr. Kellerman. I am sure that there are many other interesting, nonsexual psychological theories and problems that would make fascinating premises for your future books.

Rating:
Summary: disappointing &lacking in creative antigonist
Review: Although I have always looked forward to the Alex Delaware mystery, Kellerman's latest books are a huge disappointment. Survival of the Fittest had no character development or understanding of its one dimensional antagonists whose motive was 'just because I can'. Such a disappointment. Dr. Kellerman, where are those clever books with credible characters and plausable situations keeping your readers on the edge of their seats? The conclusion of this book was not worthy of the story leading up to it. I miss When the Bough Breaks and many of the earlier stories with psychology woven tightly with the mystery. Please give us real problems with villians we can understand and appreciate. If not, have the bad guys wear mustaches and black hats.

Rating:
Summary: I listened to the abridged audiotape of this book
Review: I had heard it wasn't as good as previous books by this author, but I thought it was of the same quality. Kellerman has a formula and a style, and if you like it, I think you'll like this book. The plot involves first a very public suicide by a policeman and then the discovery of the body of a dead child -- who is both deaf and retarded, not to mention the daughter of a diplomat. Alex Delaware, child psychologist and consultant to the LAPD, gets involved through his policeman buddy. In no time at all, you start wondering who can be trusted -- and Alex begins to uncover something larger and even uglier than the death of a child.

It's hard for me to imagine what they cut out of the book for the abridgement, because I didn't feel like I was getting the reader's digest version. I enjoyed listening to this tape.

Rating:
Summary: OK
Review: If you have a long drive ahead of you, any Kellermen book will help pass the time. Before you know it, your there!

Rating:
Summary: Not exactly a page-turner
Review: Once more, Jonathan Kellerman drives us to the dark depths of the human soul. As a great psycographer, he creates characters the reader can identify with and follow them through the labyrinth of prejudice, vice and malice that unfolds before them. A great book that kept me up until I finished it.

Rating:
Summary: Not exactly a page-turner
Review: This book dragged a bit. There are lengthy descriptions of one character watching another search the Internet extensively without result, or of a detective making numerous telephone calls that don't produce information. Milo and Alex do a lot of repetitive brainstorming, going over and over and over the same material. As other reviewers have mentioned, the latter half of the investigation doesn't seem exactly linked to the murders.

I was surprised to read in the "Top 500" reviewer's response that "A serial killer has been shooting persons with mental and physical challenges." None of the victims are shot.

Rating:
Summary: just another alex delaware novel
Review: This is the second Jonathan Kellerman book I've read. And I like it, but I don't love it; nothing to write home about. I do like how the two disparate cases presented at the beginning of the book dovetail into a coherent single case towards the end. I like how a perceived threat to the investigation (Sharavi) turns out to be a key player in Alex Delaware's survival.

It all starts with one clever cop who likes to kill. He knows a preference for murder isn't exactly your everyday motivation to kill, so he forms a smarter-than-the-rest-of-them group that buys into the whole concept of eugenics (racial cleansing). With that murders happen one after the other.

In the end, there's an undercover assignment involving Alex, a last minute delay tactic which involves explaining the sequence of events and motives for those murders and a heroic save by employs of the Israeli consulate.

F - 2 (crotch grabbing, murder in the nude)
L - 4 (good dialogue, succinct descriptions of the environment)
A - 2 (lot of time spent driving around, interviewing people)
P - 3 (explained above)

* For a detailed explanation of what my rating system means, please visit my About You area and look up the review I wrote for The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum.

Rating:
Summary: Kellerman ventures into the darkest recesses of horror!
Review: You start this book with no concept that it's going to go to one of the most reprehensible areas of humanity--eugenics. But Kellerman handles this with great finesse and holds us spellbound right up to the end. Dr. Alex Delaware gets better and better with each book. And now we have a new hero, Daniel Sharavi, who makes a repeat appearance here and certainly warrants future books of his own. Kellerman continues to provide meaty, exciting thrillers with a very human quality that doesn't let you put the book down until you've lived each and every line right along with his heroes and heroines. This is a great one and well worth the time spent. It also leaves us pondering the ethics and morality involved and wondering if it's fiction or a very real dilemma of the very real world we live in.