Compulsion (Alex Delaware, No. 22)

Others say...

"Very good read..."
Compulsion does follow along the same lines as all the Alex Delaware novels but, that's why we enjoy reading them right? I thought the book had a great flow that really kept me reading into the wee hours of the night. I think it had a good twist at the end, and really enjoy Milo's character, I think he gets better in every book.

"Weak"
I thought the plot was weak and plodding. This was my first Delaware book and I found him puzzling. I mean, he kinda just hangs around with this detective, like a dilettante. Meanwhile, the plot lacked intensity. The whole book was mostly Delaware and Milo talking to this person then this person then this person then that person.....and finally they catch the bad guy. Very little action. I found the plot barely believeable. The characters were interesting and the writing was crisp, but when I got to the end of the book I wondered why I bothered reading it.

"Middle of the Road for me."
To me a Alex Deleware novel is usually a big treat. His writing is crisp and
the dialog is sharp as usual. However, for some reason this book is
merely middle of the road neither exceptionally good or dismally bad.
Somewhere or some how something is just missing. Maybe he (Kellerman)
needs to take a break from Deleware or do like Sandford and start another
character in the same vein. Kellerman has long been an excellent author and
I will continue to buy his books but maybe just in paperback.

"Ironically, it's not very compelling"
As a psychologist, Jonathan Kellerman seems to have learned a thing or two from Pavlov. Kellerman used to write good books, and now many people, myself included, still have that link programmed into our brains: Kellerman equals good book. Unfortunately, it hasn't been true for a while, and Compulsion continues the string of subpar books.

The plot involves a man reporting that his Bentley was stolen, and though the car was found, there was a small amount of blood in it. This trace amount of blood brings detective Milo Sturgis into the case, with narrator Alex Delaware tagging along. (In early novels, Delaware had a reason to be involved in cases; now Kellerman doesn't even bother justifying the reason.) Nothing much comes of the case until a murder case arises later; the tenuous link between this murder and the Bentley is that the killer used a stolen high-end car.

It's not much, but Delaware - who rarely has anything to do other than amateur crime solving - finds links to other crimes, including a murder in a small California town and another one in New York. Meanwhile, Milo actually gets involved in other cases, including an old murder case that is reopened when a death row inmate confesses to the crime.

On rare occasion, Kellerman does write an okay book nowadays, but there hasn't been a semi-decent Delaware book since 2002's The Murder Book, and even that was an aberration in a decade long dry spell. The problems with Compulsion are almost identical to other recent efforts. For one thing, not much actually goes on: the book really consists of Alex (with or without Milo) going from one person to another and asking questions. There is little in the way of action, and Milo and Alex have no real emotional involvement in the story.

And, as is typical in these latest novels, Delaware himself is a non-character with little in the way of personality or even a life. Yes, he has a girlfriend Robin, but she does so little in the book that she is even more of a non-character. When Alex's lover is limited to cameo appearances, it is hard to really care whether they stay together or break up.

Usually by the time these novels come into paperback, the covers and the first few pages are filled with blurbs of praise, but Complusion can offer only two, one from the Orlando Sentinel and one from the Boston Herald. Perhaps this dearth of compliments (including none from big national periodicals) shows that more and more people are catching on to how weak Kellerman's books have been. Is it a Pavlovian response that makes me continue to buy and read his books, or is it my hope he will regain his lost form? Either way, at least I can discourage others from being subjected to Compulsion.

"What has happened with this book?"
I am bogged down trying to make heads or tails of COMPULSION. I am a long-time fan of Jonathan Kellerman and have read all his novels. It appears that some of his strong points have disappeared with this book.
The easy-read style has changed and this makes for tedious reading. He hops his main characters from place to place without smooth transitions.
It seems improper to review a book when only half-way through it, but this book leaves a lot to be desired. At this point I'm ready to put the book back on the shelf. Please make your next book an entertaining experience Mr. Kellerman.

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Compulsion (Alex Delaware, No. 22)

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