Compulsion - Softcover

Ablow, Keith Russell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312988249 ISBN 13: 9780312988241

Publisher: St Martin's Press, 2003

Synopsis

Dr Frank Clevenger, a brilliant forensic psychiatrist, is eager to leave the world of the criminally insane behind - until he receives a disturbing call from Nantucket's chief of police. The five-month-old daughter of a billionaire has been found murdered in her cot.

About this title

About the Author

Keith Ablow, M.D., like his protagonist, is a forensic psychiatrist who has testified in some of the nation's most highly publicized trials. He has written two other Frank Clevenger novels, Denial, Projection, and most recently Psychopath. He lives in Massachusetts.

From the Back Cover

"Keith Ablow is king of the psychological thriller." -Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River

Burdened by his own psychological scars, brilliant forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Frank Clevenger, has weathered the most extreme twists of the human mind. Then he receives a disturbing call from Nantucket's Chief of Police. The five-month-old daughter of prominent billionaire, Darwin Bishop, has been found murdered in her crib.

"Utterly compelling...a roller coaster of a mystery with hairpin twists and turns that shock and astonish ." -Tess Gerritsen, bestselling author of The Surgeon

The obvious suspect is Darwin's adopted sociopathic son, Billy. Even Clevenger can't fathom the motive behind the troubled boy's murder of an infant. But what is Billy really running from? Does Darwin's stunning wife Julia know? If she does, she isn't talking. Neither is the Bishop's other son who's harboring terrible secrets of his own.

"The suspense is riveting and the outcome surprising." --Washington Post Book World

Falling for Julia is Clevenger's first mistake. Investigating the Bishops' twisted emotional landscape is his second. It's done more than just draw him into the maze of a psychosexual family history. It's trapped him. As his own demons rise to the surface, he must play the ultimate mind game to catch a killer-and make it out alive...

"Keith Ablow's setting is the darkest of all-the twists and turns of the human mind. Compulsion is compulsive reading." -Harlan Coben, author of Gone for Good

From the Inside Flap

Praise for the novels of Keith Ablow

Compulsion
"Compelling, graceful, and nearly impossible to put down."-Robert Parker, author of Widow's Walk

"No one burrows into the darkest recesses of the human mind as deeply as Keith Ablow."
-Tess Gerritsen, author of The Surgeon

"Keith Ablow is a master of psychological suspense. This is a dark, taut, terrifying novel, driven by a talented psychiatrist's insights into the human condition. Stoke up the fire, curl up with Compulsion, and be prepared for a sleepless night."-Michael Palmer, author of Fatal

"Frank Clevenger is a wonderfully flawed hero, as haunted by his own demons as the sociopaths he faces, and Ablow writes like a man possessed-with a pace so blistering the pages will all but singe your hands."-Dennis Lehane, author ofMystic River

"Fast-paced and frightening, Compulsion is a novel that explores the very nature of evil itself. Psychiatrist Frank Clevenger is a hero with heart, soul-and brains."-Janet Evanovich, author ofHard Eight

"From the first sentence to the last, Compulsion is mesmerizing. A tense and sexy thriller stocked to the brim with juicy characters...featuring an utterly shocking, yet thoroughly convincing family of fiends...with deft intelligence, Ablow maps the torturous terrain of the darkest regions of the human heart."-James W. Hall, bestselling author ofBlackwater Sound

"This series just keeps getting better. Frank Clevenger is a real original: a jeans-clad, black-turtleneck-wearing head shaven loner whose compassion for victims of violent crimes-and the perpetrators of those crimes-threatens to destroy him. Whether Clevenger is entirely fictional, or a reflection of his creator's dark side (Ablow is a practicing forensic psychiatrist), the upshot is the same: He's a brilliant creation and this is a brilliant novel."--Booklist(starred reviews)

"The present is wounded by the past in an expertly judged psychological thriller...a solid, satisfying case."--Kirkus Reviews

"The author, a practicing forensic psychiatrist, uses his extensive knowledge of mental illness and violence to lend authenticity to Compulsion, weaving a suspenseful mystery around riveting insights into the criminal mind. An engrossing thriller that belongs on your summer reading list"-Bookpage

"Action nimbly shifts from gritty urban Boston to window-dressed Nantucket, and the people and politics are realistically portrayed, including the ballsy but deeply flawed protagonist...this one scores as a great psychological mind-bender."--Publishers Weekly

Projection
"Projection is a crime novel like no other. It's a week in the loony bin; it's a psycho tour de force. Keith Ablow has the expertise and an overachiever's grasp. Ablow has...the instincts of a Zen Thomas Harris."-James Ellroy, bestselling author ofL.A. Confidential

"This realistic and suspenseful story should please laymen and experts alike."-Booklist

"Projection...isn't for the squeamish...Readers of Thomas Harris's gruesome Hannibal Lector tales...would do well to look here."-Boulder Camera

"Projection is first-rate fiction: smart, tough, and moving."-Robert B. Parker, author ofWidow's Walk

"A trip into the catacombs of the mind...Ablow, a forensic psychiatrist, understands the darkest recesses of the human mind."-Cleveland Plain Dealer

"A tale lavishly laced with sex and violence." -Publishers Weekly

Denial
"A stark and terrifying journey into the mind of the criminally insane. An absolutely spellbinding and shocking tale."--Nelson DeMille

"Gripping...The forensic details are convincing, and the writing is sharp, making Clevenger's return trip from hell an undeniably uplifting story."--Peoplemagazine

"Deftly, with driving prose, Ablow portrays the horror and bleakness of damaged lives." --Jonathan Kellerman, bestselling author ofFlesh and Blood

"Sex, murder, madness, and medicine. What more could any thriller reader want? A disturbing, riveting read,Denialis written with insights only a forensic psychiatrist could have, with characters vividly human because they're humanly flawed. Keith Ablow has written the prescription for terror. Readers should fill it only if they are caught up on their sleep."
--Michael Palmer, bestselling author of Fatal

"Denial placed the reader on the cutting edge of psychiatric thrillers, and in the hands of an author whose expertise as a psychiatrist make this story as authentic as it is compelling."
-Bestselling true crime writer Jack Olsen

"Wonderful inside detail...the psychological thriller has gotten some professional help, and it works."-Newsday

"Denial, which is a perfect title, is not easy to read, but it is harder to put down. The characters are compelling for all their flaws, the story is tightly told, and the outcome is anything but predictable."-The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"A first-rate debut thriller involving forensic psychology...A distinctly unusual hero...A novel for the self-destructive in all of us."--Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"A convincing, seductively fascinating portrait of a man and a milieu obsessed with sensation and trapped in denial of that obsession."--Publishers Weekly

"Every once in a while, a mystery comes along that, while compelling, exciting and satisfying, is more like great literature, than junk food to be gobbled down and immediately forgotten.Denialis such a read, a superb, even sublime, novel."-John L. Schwartz, M.D.,Psychiatric Times

"A powerful first novel by a forensic psychiatrist who plumbs the depths of misery and degradation even better than Patricia Cornwell and as good as Jonathan Kellerman."-The Register Herald (Beckley, WV)

"Ablow weaves an intriguing story...Only someone with this background could create such real characters in a compelling debut."-Southbridge(MA) Evening News

Edition details

• Publisher: St Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312988249
• ISBN 13: 9780312988241
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384