Apparently I'd read this before, and just didn't remember... that doesn't bode well. But back to the review... too many characters were just that - characters. As we saw the ladies' man and the arrogant atypical female, I didn't really get any sense that either of them were human. It was like watching it unfold but with half the cast behind a glass wall.

That said, the actual mystery bit was pretty good. It felt a little too much like coasting as far as Alex/Robin/Milo were concerned though.

3.5

The Alex Delaware/Milo Sturgis series written by Jonathan Kellerman have always been reliably enjoyable. The oddball partnership between psychologist and homicide detective made for an unusual focus on most of the books. Kellerman usually tells a good story and I like Alex and Milo so I always grab these off the shelf when they become available, but this one was pretty disappointing.

Honestly, I'm really not sure why Alex was even a part of this case - there wasn't a strong psychological element to the crime nor did it deal with children in any way (both hallmarks of past Alex/Milo pairings). The case was pretty run of the mill with eco-terrorists and a revengeful woman burning up fancy L.A. houses. Even though he was the narrator, Alex's presence felt forced and he came off as a kind of tag-along.

This has been a strong series in the past, but I'm wondering if Kellerman is running out of steam. I've seen that happen in so many other series like this (Patricia Cornwell, I'm looking at you) and it's kind of sad and disappointing. I wish he'd wrap the series up if he's stopped caring about these characters. He has other characters he's written a little about (Petra, the Hollywood homicide detective and Daniel Sharavi, the Israeli homicide detective) and he could expand on their stories. Mostly I think Alex and Milo deserve a whole lot better than this and so do Kellerman's readers.

3...Still chugging along...Enjoyed this case, and characters...but this case has been so very overdone!

To come

Okay. The book was... nice, interesting and fairly thrilling. Just not as thrilling as I’m used to from reading a book written by Jonathan Kellerman. I mean, I have to admit that eco-terrorism is not exactly my cup of tea and maybe I couldn’t appreciate that book like I should, because it took me three months to finish it. OR it took me three months to finish it, because it just didn’t grip me like other Jonathan Kellerman books.

It’s... like I said, it’s nice. J.K. still has his special way with words, we have a lot of Milo and Alex, Robin’s not too annoying and Rick’s at least mentioned. There’s a really great scene with the Chief and... yeah. But I’ve never, at any point, felt like I couldn’t put it away for a minute (or longer) to do something else. There was never the need to know “right-the-fuck-now-or-I-might-die-argh!” how this story continues. It just wasn’t that interesting.

Well, it’s still a good book, I guess, but J.K. has written better ones already.

Horrible. This book is dumbed down and full of stereotypes.

good writing as always from Kellerman, but slow, slow moving.