Flesh and Blood: A riveting psychological thriller - Hardcover

Kellerman, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0747267006 ISBN 13: 9780747267003

Publisher: Feature, 2001

Synopsis

When Alex Delaware first saw Lauren Teague she was a sullen teenager with the usual problems: bad grades at school, moody, uncommunicative with her parents - which is why they thought she needed to see a psychologist.

Then years later, a shock: at a batchelor party for a fellow doctor, Delaware finds himself uncomfortably watching two strippers going through a degrading display - and one of them is Lauren Teague. And now her mother is pleading for help once again. Lauren has disappeared - and she thinks Delaware can find her. He's not so sure - but when her disappearance turns into a murder investigation, he knows he owes it to the dead girl to find out what demons drove her to such a horrifying end . . .

About this title

Review:

Alex Delaware is back in Flesh and Blood, one of the tautest outings yet for Jonathan Kellerman's resourceful protagonist. The new book represents a further level of refinement in Kellerman's functional, astringently written prose--it's clear that the author knows exactly what his readers need, and he dispenses with the superfluous. Nary a comma is wasted in this lean, direct piece of work.

Alex first encounters Lauren Teague as an uncommunicative teenager with all the usual hang-ups: poor grades at school, open warfare with her parents, etc. She is sent to a psychologist, and Alex loses track of her. Years later, at a bachelor party for a colleague, Alex is watching two strippers perform a fairly tasteless display and notices that one of them is Lauren. Lauren disappears, and her mother pleads for Alex's help in tracking her down. But her disappearance turns into a murder investigation, and Alex is obliged to confront the demons that brought Lauren to an unenviable end.

The theme of a descent into a truly dark criminal underworld is desperately over-familiar, but Kellerman is fully aware of that and rings the changes with commanding authority. If Alex is more cursorily characterised than usual, that's undoubtedly Kellerman's game plan: the narrative here is the thing, and the merest touches are needed to characterise his canny protagonist. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

'Kellerman's speciality is getting quietly but persistently inside his hero's head...this is thoughtful and intelligent stuff, a sparse, precision-paced professional thriller that is slick, quick and a pleasure to read' Mirror (Mirror)

'I enjoyed this one a whole lot' Independent On Sunday (Independent On Sunday)

'A well-crafted psychological whodunnit with enough intrigue to keep the pages turning' The Big Issue (The Big Issue)

'A gripping thriller' Ireland on Sunday (Ireland on Sunday)

'A very clever mystery with a whammy of a finale' The Scotsman (The Scotsman)

'Full of suspense and with an evil atmospheric LA as a backdrop' Stoke Sentinel Sunday (Stoke Sentinel Sunday)

'An absorbing read, with some unexpected twists and turns' Yorkshire Evening Post (Yorkshire Evening Post)

''An alert eye for detail... Engrossing' New York Times (New York Times)

`Alex and Milo are well-developed personalities and it's their relationship as much as the investigation which keeps the story flowing' (Sunday Telegraph)

About this edition

• Publisher: Feature
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0747267006
• ISBN 13: 9780747267003
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416