Compulsion (Alex Delaware Series #22) » (Reprint)

Child psychologist-turned-novelist Jonathan Kellerman uses his knowledge of the psyche's weaknesses to create chilling crime novels, many starring detective (and former child psychologist, natch) Alex Delaware and cop friend Milo Sturgis.

Once again, the depths of the criminal mind and the darkest side of a glittering city fuel #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman's brilliant storytelling. And no one conducts a more harrowing and suspenseful manhunt than the modern Sherlock Holmes of the psyche, Dr. Alex Delaware.

A tipsy young woman seeking aid on a desolate highway disappears into the inky black night. A retired schoolteacher is stabbed to death in broad daylight. Two women are butchered after closing time in a small-town beauty parlor. These and other bizarre acts of cruelty and psychopathology are linked only by the killer's use of luxury vehicles and a baffling lack of motive. The ultimate whodunits, these crimes demand the attention of LAPD detective Milo Sturgis and his collaborator on the crime beat, psychologist Alex Delaware.

What begins with a solitary bloodstain in a stolen sedan quickly spirals outward in odd and unexpected directions, leading Delaware and Sturgis...

Publishers Weekly

Rubinstein, who has had a long, successful run as the voice of Kellerman's popular hero, Dr. Alex Delaware, has seldom been more appreciated than on this rather mediocre entry in the series. While the doctor and his gruff, gay LAPD detective pal Milo Sturgis slog through a now too-familiar witness-to-witness search for a killer (in this case, a particularly loathsome one who uses disguises and pricy black automobiles), Rubinstein revs up the action, providing the secondary characters with an energetic array of on-target vocals and refining and deepening his stellar interpretations of the leads. Thanks to him, there's a nuanced wistfulness in Delaware's approach to both the hunt for the killer and his ever-shifting relationship with girlfriend Robin. And Sturgis's gravelly growl has a definitive quality that suggests a maturity both tougher and more thoughtful than in the past. Simultaneous release with the Ballantine hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 25). (Apr.)

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