Obsession (2007)

A former patient, Tanya Bigelow, wants his help in contacting Milo to get some help in checking out what seems to be a death-bed confession from her adopted mother, Patty, a highly regarded ER nurse. Alex correctly points out that there may be no crime at all, but Tanya wants to know. Tanya becomes Alex's patient again as her obsessive-compulsive tendencies resurface in the wake of becoming an orphan for the second time.

If you have not read any of this series, I would encourage you to avoid this one. Many of the early ones in the series are outstanding. This one is just mediocre. I gave it three stars because I like Blanche, the dog. ( )

Not one of Kellerman's better books. Very convoluted. ( )

Having been lured back to the Alex Delaware series by "Killer", I moved on to "Obsession" and found myself sadly disappointed. Before getting to the reason why, I should note one major positive. Like "Killer" (and unlike several other fairly recent books in the series), "Obsession" does show Alex functioning as a believable psychologist, and it does develop a real relationship between him and his patient, even going into what he tries to do to help her. But the story seems wrapped up in in talk: events are retailed though long discussions and conversations, characters get blurry, and at times the plot was less than clear. Also, the violence seems almost gratuitous, and there is a simmering undertone of anger in a lot of the conversation, particularly among the cops. I'm sure that's realistic, but it's not related to the story, and it gets wearing. After reading "Killer", I was ready to jump back on the Delaware train, but this book doesn't provide much incentive to stay there. ( )

Love Jonathan Kellerman books! ( )