Monster, Jonathan Kellerman
Monster, Jonathan Kellerman
List: $22.50 | Sale: $15.75
Club: $11.25

Monster
An Alex Delaware Novel

Author: Jonathan Kellerman

Narrator: Alexander Adams

Unabridged: 13 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/10/2009


Synopsis

Alex Delaware is back! And in Jonathan Kellerman's riveting and ingenious new novel, Monster, he faces one of the most grisly and baffling mysteries of his career: How can a nonfunctional psychotic locked up in a supposedly secure institution for homicidal madmen predict brutal murders in the outside world? Delaware and his friend and partner Detective Milo Sturgis must penetrate this enigma in order to stop the horrific killings.

A marginal actor is found dead in a car trunk, sawn in half. Months later, a psychologist at a hospital for the criminally insane is discovered murdered and mutilated in a tantalizingly similar way. When reports of an inmate's incoherent ramblings begin to make frightening sense as predictions of yet more slayings, Delaware and Sturgis are drawn into a web of family secrets, vengeance, and manipulation--both inside the asylum and on the streets of L.A., where death, drugs, and sex are marketed as commodities. The climactic discovery they make as they race to prevent more killings gives fresh and terrifying meaning to the concept of monstrosity.

With Monster's incomparably deft characterizations and dazzlingly dark plot twists, Jonathan Kellerman further enhances his literary position as master of the psychological thriller.

About Jonathan Kellerman

American author, Jonathan Kellerman, comes from a decisively different viewpoint when writing his novels, than most authors. Kellerman was born in New York City to parents who were successful authors themselves. His journey began when his family moved to Los Angeles California. He grew up there and received a BA in Psychology from UCLA. He paid for his education by various jobs as cartoonist, illustrator, journalist, and editor, as well as teaching guitar. An unpublished novel that he co-wrote won him a Samuel Goldwyn writing award. Screenplays were readily available to him, but he chose not to get into that venue. He received his PhD from USC in clinical psychology. His research thesis was entitled.....attribution of blame for childhood psychopathology. Kellerman is currently a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine.

The first published book from Kellerman was a medical text book entitled.....Psychological Aspects of Childhood Cancer. His extensive research and hands on experience while working at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles prepared him for the knowledge needed to write his first published book.

He published a book for parents titled Helping the Fearful Child. Through many cases and observations, came his first novel.....When the Bough Breaks, which became a bestseller and was adapted for a TV movie. His career in medicine continued all throughout his writing. He was a consultant and expert witness in the legal system which impacted the characters in his novels.

The psychologist and novelist has been very vocal in speaking out against the "misguided" release of mentally ill people into the community without benefit of counseling, psychotherapy, as well as medication. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, who is also a bestselling crime writer. They have four children, two of whom are also novelists.


Reviews

Goodreads review by jv

Always a fan of Mr. Kellerman, Monster does not disappoint. I found this to be an intricately woven mystery with plenty of new and colorful characters to enrich the tantalizing plot; but not so many that a separate spreadsheet would be necessary to keep up. This story features the sweet and smart Al......more

In this Delaware mystery, number 13, a mentally ill 'monster' is killing people. Maybe. Alex Delaware, my favorite fictional psychologist and amateur detective superhero, is called in when bodies are found horribly mutilated, obviously the work of a deranged killer. Because Alex cares and has the ti......more

The more Kellerman I read, the more I become a fan. The first book I picked up by him took me two attempts to get into. The second I seemed to enjoy more. The third (this one) I loved. Gripped from (almost) the beginning and left wanting to read “just one more chapter” to uncover a bit more of the st......more

Goodreads review by Larry

This is my first Jonathan Kellerman book. He has been on my TBR list for some time but I was slow to get to him because I am reading so many other series. I am in the midst of Andrew Vachss, Sara Paretsky, Loren Estleman, Michael Connolly, Scott Turow, Karin Slaughter, George Pelecanos and probably......more

Goodreads review by Rohit

My first Kellerman and not too impressed with the slow pace of the book. Maybe the choice of the book was not great. The plot starts with murders happening all over the city and it involves inmates of a psychiatric treatment asylum. A patient is predicting the murders. Alex Delaware is roped in alon......more


Quotes

Praise for Jonathan Kellerman

"Kellerman doesn't just write psychological thrillers--he owns the genre."    
--Detroit Free Press

Praise for the New York Times bestseller Billy Straight, by Jonathan Kellerman

"The title character is a noble creation: a kind of urban Huckleberry Finn. . . The writing is vivid, the suspense sustained, and Kellerman has arranged one final, exquisitely surprising plot twist to confound the complacent reader."     --People

"Billy Straight is everything a thriller ought to be. The writing is excellent. The plotting is superior. The characters ring true. . . . A taut, compelling story."     --USA Today

"Nobody evokes Los Angeles better than Jonathan Kellerman. . . . Riveting."  
--Los Angeles Times