Rating: 
Summary: Good Book in a Box!
Review: Among the audio books I have read, this has to be one of the best! Alexander Adams is a versatile reader, good with voices which makes his rendering of this excellent Jonathan Kellerman book all the better! When you read the book, you'll get the sick joke in my title. READ THIS BOOK!!
Rating: 
Summary: Quite weak.
Review: There is no doubt that Kellerman is quite intelligent, but that can't save this book in the least. I have never read any of Kellerman's books, which I believe has pre-disposed some reviewers to lean more positively towards "Monster". Not that that is necessarily a bad thing -- being an accomplished writer should come with certain rewards, one of them being a bias towards one's later/follow-up work.This book was quite slow at times, and did not "connect the dots" all that well. I don't want to give away anything important, but Kellerman does a bad job of showing the clues that Delaware uses in order to paint his portrait of a madman. The portrait is complete by the end, but you never really see where the paint came from. There were also some basic problems of believability. Alex Delaware brilliantly deduces certain things while failing to even consider other quite obvious possibilities. Again, it is difficult to get into detail without ruining it for those who have not read the book. All told, I like the way Kellerman writes, he is very descriptive, I just don't like the way he put it all together.
Rating: 
Summary: GOOD STUFF BUT NOT UP TO PAR!
Review: Overall, the book keep has style, a great plot and a certain degree of suspense. Much of the story takes place behind the walls of a mental institution where notorious killers have been secluded from society. The story centres on one particular inmate and the reader is left with both a sense of revulsion for the crime he was accused of committing and a sense of compassion when it is revealed he was wrongfully accused. The book certainly has a mind-absorbing plot, but the ending was predictable much too early in the book. Unlike other Kellerman books, the story was sometimes "all over the place." With so many characters, some of whom had very little importance, there were times when the characters and their role were difficult to follow, and who really cares what these insignificant characters did anyway? All the familiar, well-loved faces were there, thank goodness: Robin, Milo, and, of course, Spike who completes the picture. Wouldn't you love to have such an obedient, faithful friend? However, the relationship between between Alex and Robin was just a little too sugar-coated and mundane for my liking. Don't they ever have a real life "whopping disagreement?" Although Milo was mentioned throughout the book, he really did not appear to have his usual significant role, nor does it reveal much about his personal side, relationships, family, etc. Certain things we do know about him, but others remain much of a mystery. Overall, it was an interesting book and worthwhile reading but not quite up to Kellerman's fantastic writing.
Rating:
Summary: So-So
Review: If you're looking for a moderately entertaining and diverting read, look no further than "Monster." You won't be disappointed, unless you expect the truly outstanding from a writer who is second to none in his admiration of Ross Macdonald (the book is dedicated to Kenneth Millar, Mr. Macdonald's real name). The influence of Mr. Macdonald on Jonathan Kellerman is evident -- e.g., the shared belief that the tragedies of the present trace their lineage to unresolved tragedies of the past. But Mr. Kellerman does not share his mentor's veritable genius for generating the extraordinary in terms of dialogue, introspection, and dynamics. For example, Mr. Kellerman is obsessed with providing the most trivial and redundant descriptions of his characters' physical appearance, mannerisms, and dress. And he seems to have an interior designer's fascination with color. One character's jacket is the color of iced tea, and another's hand hairs the color of beer. Most dismaying are the domestic scenes between Dr. Delaware and his wife, Robin, peppered throughout this preposterous (albeit reasonably entertaining) plot. They are vomitable in their sugariness. I was embarrassed to read them, and Mr. Kellerman should be ashamed to have written them. Look, the book is OK, but Jonathan Kellerman is a poor man's Ross Macdonald. I'm not a poor man. Are you?
Rating: 
Summary: A prose craftsman...
Review: I enjoy reading Jonathan Kellerman, and "Monster" is no exception. I enjoy, mostly, Kellerman's well-paced, evocative prose, and I find myself admiring his writing style and turning myself over to the book, regardless of where it is taking me and what twisted turning of plotline emerges. Granted, "Monster" is convoluted and complex. There are many characters who play important roles, and much for the reader to assimilate. The result is a book which takes its own time reaching its startling conclusions...don't expect to hurry through it. And don't expect a return to the characters of Alex and Milo--they are in the book, but only as a means to an end, not as persona in and of themselves. Instead, the "Monster" is populated by the mutants the name suggests. This is a good book. It's well written, carefully observed, and suspenseful. It just demands that the reader accept it on its own terms and move slowly and thoughtfully to the horrifying conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: THIS IS A EULOGY, NO MATTER WHAT!
Review: I want to be able to praise my preferred author, even when he writes garbage---so I'm doing it! I do like Kellerman a lot: he writes with speed, clearly, with sudden insights and unexpected moments of tenderness. His understanding of the human character is more often than not uncanny, possibly due to his background and past psycholgical experiences. The fact remains, however, that this novel is disappointing, too superficial. Cold. But who cares? There is so much muck in print nowadays, that we can allow Kellerman to falter once... Jeez, did you read the last one by Tom Clancy, or the sequel to Hannibal the Cannibal? Even Leonard is losing his spice, and Stephen King has gone logorrheically spiritual. So my friend Kellerman can afford to take a breather, especially after having written some good non-Delaware work in the interim (q.v.). Our obsession with the idea of the brilliant author/artist has led us into a fallacy: that the style is the man. But just as in physics we begin to realise the extent of our knowledge --- what we can know and what we can never know --- so in art we have reached the extremes in techniques. We have used words in all the extreme ways, sounds in all the extreme ways, shapes and colours in all the extreme ways; all that remains is to use them within the bounds of the extreme ways already developed. We have reached the end of our field. Now we must come back, and discover other occupations than reaching the end of fields. We cannot pretend Kellerman to scrap the bottom of his creativity to keep the momentum of his skillful writing. Or can we? What will matter finally is intention; not instrumentation. It will be skill in expressing one's meaning with *styles*, not just in one style carefully selected and developed to signal one's individuality rather than to satisfy the requirements of the subject-matter. This is not to remove the individual from art or to turn artistic creation into a morass of pastiche; if the author/artist has any genuine originality it will pierce through all its disguises. The whole meaning and commitment of the person who creates will permeate his creations, however varied their outward form. Jonathan Kellerman maintains his writing commitment in many more ways than one... and I usually enjoy the results.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to his usual standards
Review: Monster is Ardith Peake. A psychotic, near-vegetable who's been locked up in a maximum security hospital for the last sixteen years. Yet suddenly, the Monster is predicting murders before they occur. Alex Delaware and detective Milo Sturgis must try to unravel a mystery that goes back twenty years or more to the time that Monster wiped out a wealthy family in the small northern community of Treadway. But how does this ancient history tie in to the grisly murders being committed today? I'm a huge fan of Jonathan Kellerman and especially of his Alex Delaware series. I've read and enjoyed them all but this one seemed to lack the spark of the others. The premise is great and the book starts out strongly, but I didn't feel it was as captivating as some of his earlier Delaware novels. In fact, the end started to drag a bit. However, all that said, Jonathan Kellerman still is a strong presence in the psychological thriller genre. He can write with authority when he discusses medication side-effects, neuroses, and psychoses since he really is a psychologist himself. All this information may sound boring but it really isn't. It all ties in to the plot and plotting is where he usually excels. I just felt the plot ran out of steam toward the end of the book. Still a good book from a good writer. Head and shoulders above a lot of what passes for mysteries these days.
Rating: 
Summary: This Is The Last Kellerman Book I'll Read
Review: I've read all of the Jonathan Kellerman books and some of his earlier books were well worth reading. This one, however, is sterile. Kellerman only goes through the motions of writing without developing his on-going characters and with scenes and situations that are unpleasant. I do not want to plod through an institution for the insane, endure the disgusting descriptions of the inmates, and read about gory murders without having some reward... either in the writing, the characters, a visit to somewhere pleasant - SOMETHING! This book is an unrelieved nightmare and any possible reader is advised that he/she will only put garbage into the mind without any reward or insight when the book is finished. I wish I'd never heard of it and I will read no more Jonathan Kellerman books. He has not developed and moved forward, nor have his books.
Rating:
Summary: Something missing
Review: Like many, I'm an avid fan of the Delaware series, but felt this one was a bit weak. The book seemed to be more a straight out race to "whodunit" than usual and it suffers as a result. I missed the everyday activities and exchanges that make Alex, Robin, Milo and even Spike so real. In this book, they come off as the Hero, the Girlfriend, the Cop and a pet. What happened to the interaction between Robin and Alex? Where the heck was Rick? (he usually gets a line or three, here he was never even mentioned).Based on their relationship in this book, it seems that Alex and Milo are more co-workers than best friends. I missed the usual food references (pizza and chicken soup didn't make it) and the smart banter among the characters. One reviewer suggested that this may have been a reworked, older manuscript. That would explain the lack of the usually well developed character interactions. One more thing (WARNING, COULD BE A SPOILER), was I the only one to notice a major plot discrepancy? At one point it's established that Psych Techs have to be fingerprinted for licensing. We then later have a victim who was a Psych Tech under an assumed name identified by fingerprints. Wouldn't the name discrepancy have come up when they applied for their job and therefore have disqualified them for the position? A detail that bugged me. Still, it's a fairly entertaining read.
Rating:
Summary: Monstrosity
Review: This is a tired old formula for Kellerman. The characterizations have become stuck, with no appreciable development. If Robin doesn't kill Milo then I hope someone else does. Talk about machismo, why the hell does Robin need to give her permission about anything anyway when its all lipservice. The same dialogues & the same same setting the only difference being the title. There is no life to this script & it becomes monotonous & predictable. Even Hercule Poirot was finally retired & killed off the same with Sherlock. Is this the end for Delaware or can he change, something should, e.g. Delaware without the smugness would be a start.
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