Home :: Books :: Mystery & Thrillers  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers

Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
The Web (Alex Delaware Series, No. 10)

The Web (Alex Delaware Series, No. 10)

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.99
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow
Review: This book was twisted, confusing, misleading, and I loved it. Kellerman went to the other ends with this one. This book took on a direction that was completely baffling; yet, that was the beauty of it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Overstepping his experience
Review: This is a crime story featuring Alex Delaware. In this story, Alex answers a request to help an old doctor in the South Seas organize some medical records for publication. Once Delaware arrives on the doctor's island, people start to die, and it's up to Delaware to pull together the clues of what's been happening and put an end to the deaths.

I found the story to be exceptionally preposterous as a murder/crime story. Kellerman seems to be writing from far beyond his experience, making up details and descriptions from his imagination rather than from fact or experience. One glaring example is when he has his main characters put on swim fins on the beach and then wander into the surf- -if you've ever tried this yourself, you probably still have the bruises to show for it, and won't forget to wait until you're well into the water to put the fins on next time you go snorkeling. Kellerman also manages to place McArthur at the battle of Saipan during World War II, among other gaffes. But worst is the entire premise of Delaware's trip to the island. Supposedly, Delaware, a psychologist who is notable enough to have stories printed about him in the popular press, receives a request to collaborate on a research and writing project with an unknown medical doctor who has lived on an obscure island in the South Pacific for years. The M.D. doesn't have any particular theories or hypotheses in mind that he is working on. Instead, he has some 40-50 years of unorganized records (from patients whom he has never sought consent to involve or use their records in a research project), and he expects Delaware to come out to the island and sort through the records on the off chance that there might be something worth publishing. This is the strangest notion I have ever read of how scientific collaboration operates- -obviously, Kellerman has never discussed scientific collaboration with any researcher friends that he might have. Much of the rest of the book runs at about the same level of quality and plausibility. The story itself takes a while to get laid out, but then picks up a bit through the second half and may hold the attention of determined readers.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good but others better
Review: This is a worthwhile read to fill in time on a plane or somewhere. It is not a forget what's on TV, can't put down till the last page book but is a good read. Alex Delaware, his wife Robin and what they think is a dog, Spike are being kicked out of their LA rented home. Their own home will not be ready for a few months so a mysterious letter from Dr. Woodrow who lives on a small Pacific island offering Alex a few months of all accommodation expenses (Robin and Spike included) and high salary paying job for a couple months seems too good an opportunity to pass up.

At first the work seems pretty easy and the opportunities for recreation such as snorkelling quickly make Alex and Robin think they have made a pretty good decision. Giant spiders, insects, death and disgusting locals quickly make them question their decision as does bits of information Alex keeps discovering about their host and employer Dr. Woodrow. There is a cannibal serial killer living on the island and the town folk resent what is going on up in Knife Castle.

Needed another chapter at the end finalising the Ben character, as the situation is not answered involving him but apart from that, if this is a good price buy it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Sometimes you walk into webs when not expecting to
Review: This is a worthwhile read to fill in time on a plane or somewhere. It is not a forget what's on TV, can't put down till the last page book but is a good read. Alex Delaware, his wife Robin and what they think is a dog, Spike are being kicked out of their LA rented home. Their own home will not be ready for a few months so a mysterious letter from Dr. Woodrow who lives on a small Pacific island offering Alex a few months of all accommodation expenses (Robin and Spike included) and high salary paying job for a couple months seems too good an opportunity to pass up.

At first the work seems pretty easy and the opportunities for recreation such as snorkelling quickly make Alex and Robin think they have made a pretty good decision. Giant spiders, insects, death and disgusting locals quickly make them question their decision as does bits of information Alex keeps discovering about their host and employer Dr. Woodrow. There is a cannibal serial killer living on the island and the town folk resent what is going on up in Knife Castle.

Needed another chapter at the end finalising the Ben character, as the situation is not answered involving him but apart from that, if this is a good price buy it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Slow but not without interest
Review: This is an extremely quiet, moody book that builds interesting characters in an interesting setting, but doesn't allow much to happen to them. It was my first Kellerman book, and despite my 2-star review, it won't be my last. Ideally, I'd have given it 2.5 stars. It's better than two, but not up to three.

Don't read this book for the mystery. The story deals with an extremely shocking crime, but somehow, the answer to, "Who done it?" is a big, "Who cares?" I think the problem is that the shocking mystery has an extremely pedestrian solution, producing an imbalance between the murder and its solution. That imbalance-which you can sense coming 100 pages in advance--pulls most of the tension out of the plot.

Far more interesting are the book's sub-themes. Kellerman-presumably because of his psychological training-is an astute observer of the dysfunctional manners in which people often interact. And this book is full of dysfunctional relationships, ranging from an embattled couple to an oddly disengaged father/daughter relationship. All of this plays eventually into the finale, but I found watching these people in action to be much more interesting than wondering about what secrets they were hiding.

One note, though, struck badly-not falsely, but irritatingly, in a way I fear might be characteristic of the series. Kellerman's psychologist-detective, Alex, is always addressing other characters by their first names, as in: "I don't think I can do that, Bill," or "Why do you ask, Jo?" That type of first-name engagement helps the reader keep abreast of who's speaking, and it rings true for the psychologist character, but it feels very aggressive. It's as though Alex, by the false intimacy of calling everyone by their first names, is always trying to provoke them. Or maybe he's continuously "shrinking" them. Whatever the reason, after a while I wanted someone to stand up to Alex and make him stop doing it. Since he's otherwise one of the nicer-guy heroes in the detective genre, it's a particularly irritating habit.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: NOT HIS BEST< BUT STILL WORTHY OF READING!
Review: This is not Kellerman's grand mastrpiece he was aiming for, but still a decent and enjoyable read! The premise is really original and could have been developed better, but hey cut him some slack! Some reviews out and out blasted him!

Somebody that has never tried writing a novel does not know the difficulty in doing such. People that just read for the pleasure of reading is fine, but the creative process is quite a grind!! So I allow a little lee-way when writing a review. It's not as easy as it looks by a long shot!!

Having said that, Kellerman hits and misses with this one. His characterization is first-rate, but the novel drags a little at times. The action is good and the ending comes fast and furious; our senses are almost overloaded with all the info thrown at us.

Kellerman may have been experiencing a tight deadline opr any number of things, but still worth the price of admission. I don't think Jon could write a truly "bad book" if he tried.

To the skeptics, try writing a novel. Better yet, try to get one published!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Even Chris Carter would reject this for a script
Review: Title should be "Scully & Mulder go to Polynesia". I have enjoyed evey Alex Delaware so far, but this turkey is definitly an X-File wannabe. Only difference is Spooky & friend would have lost the children on the way back to Hawaii, and have no proof of their existence. With luck, the book would have been lost with them.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A weird abberation
Review: What happened here? After reading "Time Bomb" and "The Clinic" (Both excellent) I happened upon this...The reader below who mentioned the X- Files was spot on. Ludicrous and severly hampered by the presence of Delawares wife and dog. Pass the sick bag vicar

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A tangled web... but a nice book
Review: What I like when I open a book by Jonathan Kellerman, it's not the way he develops the characters. It's not the plot. It's not the way he writes. What I like in his books is the reading. I only like his books when I get the sensation of work done. And that feeling I only get when I finish his books. Yes, because his characters just don't seem real to me as characters of books by others authors. Much to the contrary, they are in general caricatures to me. But the whole thing is good. As for the case of THE WEB, it is a nice book, if compared to the old Kellerman standard. The plot is full of mysterious characters, that you love to hate. Alex's "wife", Robin, has a bigger place in this book, and yes, believe me!, she speaks! On the older books by Mr. Kellerman, I was used to think: Alex is dating a woman that's still learning to talk. Robin almost didn't say a word, only short sentences. It's good to see that she has her own thoughts and opinions and is also a woman of good sense of humor. You might ask: why so many praises and only three stars? Two answers: I really am not the kind of person who loves a book and start to tell everyone to read it. I don't raise a book to the sky only because I liked it - with rare exceptions - . Every plot has its problems. THE WEB is just a good book. Nothing that another good writer couldn't write. But I have to say, Mr. Kellerman has done a nice work with that one.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not Dr. Delaware's usual fare
Review: While I did find myself staying up late to finish "The Web", I rate it as my least favorite Alex Delaware novel. It was just too weird. There really weren't any psychological thrills, just poking around on an island. And the characters were really lame. I am also getting sick of Robin. Alex needs to fly solo awhile or else hook up with someone more interesting. A disappointmen


<< 1 2 3 4 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates