Reviews

When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman

marco5599's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Sordid case in a captivating mystery-thriller. Well constructed, pleasantly written, quite descriptive and appropriately paced. On top of that equipped with a recognizable cast, a likable lead and a ditto sidekick. A nice characteristic is how Alex Delaware -a psychologist- uses his professional knowledge in dealing with the different people he encounters. A minor complaint is that it gets a little talky here and there with characters spilling their guts. Other than that, nothing to yammer about. More Kellerman for me. And that includes the missus.

encryptedorchardpest's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

This book was so bad but I am definitely gonna read them all. Only gets a whole star cause of a main gay character 

infectedarea's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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labunnywtf's review against another edition

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4.0

I've gotten rather spoiled to reading YA novels. There's a huge advantage over actual adult novels. There tends to be less gratuitous cursing (and for me to say that, with my sailor mouth, that's saying something), less awkwardly worded sex scenes ("her mound" should never be uttered where I have to hear it). More emotions, less BS.

But still, I occasionally enjoy a good adult novel. And apparently, I need to read everything Jonathan Kellerman has ever written.

Excellent book. Truly excellent. Alex is a fantastic character, even if he does some extremely stupid things. Love Milo, love the little girl Melody.

Another problem with adult books is I tend to immediately flip to the back of the book to find out who dunnit. It's a serious flaw of mine, been doing it since I was a pre-teen reading Christopher Pike.

So, I knew who dunnit here. It didn't take away from the action, though. Very enjoyable to read, and not too much personal stuff that had me rolling my eyes and skimming like crazy.

Okay, I skimmed a little. Not too bad.

Very enjoyable. I'll be reading more from him.

wrxtacy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

CAWPILE score: 8.14 (57/70, Very Good)
FRTC

qu33nofbookz's review against another edition

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4.0

A twisty crime drama that deals with sensitive issues without making light of them but yet not getting to bogged down by details and gore. Has humor in just the right places to keep from being depressing but still being serious about criminal acts of children. The author has done his research and the plot is believable as is the psychology.

Alex Delaware is a child psychologist who has recently retired from burn out after a particularly hard few months treating a group of victims from a daycare. When a police friend of his asks him for a favor talking to a child witness from a crime he reluctantly agrees. But the more he talks with the child and thinks about the crime she witnessed the more he sinks into the mystery of what really happened. Soon more and more related puzzles attach themselves and Alex digs deeper than he knows he should as the present links to the past, his past, and the case that caused him to retire.

Serious when it needs to be without being depressing, and with the right amount of humor at the right time to keep from getting bogged down. You can get a good picture and visualize what is going on without it being too gory or descriptive which is a rare balancing act. A cast of colorful but believable characters that keep you interested and wanting to know more about them and the roles they play. Lots of twists and turns that keep you guessing but not to confused you get annoyed. I will be earger to read more adventures of Alex Delaware.

katel1970's review against another edition

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3.0

Super dated! But I like to read a series from the beginning and in order. And that means I've gotta put up with dated language and frameworks to get to the well-reviewed recent books in the series. I hope I like the future ones better.

hollsbooks's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

coynej82's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

rmcumber's review against another edition

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Not a fan of the homophobic language.