True Detectives

Kellerman+brother detectives-Alex Delaware=not much fun

True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman is a break from his usual Alex Delaware series and stars Aaron Fox and Moe Reed from his 2008 book Bones. Alex and partner Milo Sturgis are listed as tertiary characters, but that is misleading; in 363 pages, they show up for about 3 of them. Fox and Reed and half-brothers and rivals. Fox is a high-priced private detective hired to look into the disappearance of a college girl, Caitlin Frostig . The girl's disappearance just happens to be a cold case belonging to Reed, a police detective still trying to find just where he belongs. The brothers have a complicated history leaving their communications prickly and full of competition. Working together, they discover the dark and dirty secrets of the very rich and very famous, but will that help them discover what happened to Caitlin? I was a bit disappointed with this book; it truly suffered from the terrific chemistry between Delaware and Sturgis that Kellerman has perfected over 20 some books. While the mystery takes plenty of twists and turns, the brother relationship is more frustrating than compelling. Fox is portrayed so differently from his appearance in Bones, I didn't even recognize him at first. In the end, readers will either love or hate the truth behind Caitlin's disappearance. Personally, I felt betrayed, like Kellerman was just playing with me. I'll be back to read more of Delaware's books, but I'll skip those featuring the detective brothers.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Boring Book

I love Janathan Kellerman's books, I have read them all but this is the most boring, awful book he has ever written. I skipped ahead to the end to see what happened to the girl, I have never done this with a book. This book is not worth reading, not even for Summer reading.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Disappointed

I love the Alex Delaware series but I actually didn't even finish reading this book. The characters were cardboard and Moses was so immature. I think I'll stick with his Alex Delaware series only after this.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

not Kellerman's best work

I am a big fan of Jonathan Kellerman's writing and truly enjoy his Alex Delaware novels. And although some stories are better than others, TRUE DETECTIVES has to be one of his worst. I was disappointed in this story of two brothers (one a cop, the other a private detective) and them working the same case. The main characters here were minor characters in another Kellerman novel, and he does bring in Alex, Milo and Petra as minor characters in this one. But the story drags and didn't hold my interest. I hope his next novel brings back to Alex Delaware.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Serious change of writing style

This is so unlike the previous Jonathan Kellerman books I have read. Is this ghost writing or what? I didn't even finish the book. It was just too boring and had too many characters that were hard to sort out. Finally, I just skipped over the last 1/3 of the book and went right to the end. Wow! Case solved. Did Jonathan really write this? Bring back Dr. Delaware and Milo. Get rid of the twins. Their birth story is too fanciful even for fiction.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Read them All

The brothers were introduced in his last work. He did a good job with it, but I miss the interaction between his established characters. There are times when Milo gets off some classic lines, and that didn't happen here. I have read all the Jonathan Kellerman books and will continue to do so. I guess he has just given us the new brothers and their wonderful mother to become new family members. It will take a while. If you now or have ever lived on the westside of Los Angeles, you will especially enjoy a Kellerman work.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Very disappointing

I was very disappointed in the book True Detectives. It was boring and the characters lacked. The writing didn't seem up to JK's previous books either. I understand wanting to branch out into other characters, but this attempt wasn't worth the money I spent on the book. I won't buy another hardcover books of his in the future - no matter what character.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

True Disappointment

The first four pages included a reference to the use of Purell by a character, cleaning off the steering wheel of his vehicle. The book is set in 1979. Purell wasn't even invented at that time. I stopped reading to look it up on the internet---an easy find. So, okay, a glitch, a lack of research by the author. I should be able to tolerate it, huh? I just couldn't. I normally love J.Kellerman's books, but I felt insulted that so little care had been put into making the setting and plot detail congruent. I had bought the book but returned it for refund.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

DISAPPOINTING

I always look forward to a new Jonathan Kellerman book, but this one was a big disappointment. I couldn't get into the characters - they didn't come close to being as good as Dr. Delaware and Milo. I fuinished it, but it was just something to read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Definitely not his best.

Have read every Kellerman book since he started publishing. Loved 75% of them. Liked 100% of them, except for this one. Instead of not being able to put it down and losing sleep some nights, I put it down 4-5 times and read other books before finishing it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

"Hip" for Hypocrisy

"Hip" is certainly not Kellerman's strong suit nor anyone else's for that matter. He does know his clothes labels and should probably talk to his therapist about that.

Characters are much too phony even for California.

Will be more careful before I buy another of his works. He is on a downward slope.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A geat who dit it

Half-brothers Moses Reed and Aaron Fox share the same mom, but have different fathers. Both became cops working for LAPD. However that is where the similarities end as Moses is middle class all the way while Aaron is upper crust. Finally Moses remains a police detective while Aaron left the force to open up an upper class private investigative firm.

Fox is hired to investigate the disappearance of twenty year old student Caitlin Frostig. He is shocked how good the coed behaved as Mother Teresa could not have been better and her grades are all "A"s. His inquiry runs into Reed who is doing his own investigation into the missing student. Both look closely at her college boyfriend Rory Stoltz and her single father. Clues lead to filmmaker Lem Dement and actor Mason Book.

The brothers made an appearance in the last Delaware-Sturgis thriller BONES and star in this investigative tale; Delaware and Sturgis play tertiary roles this time. The inquiry is fun to follow as the lead pair compete and team up in the search for an alleged perfect teen. However the emphasis on the antagonistic relationship bordering on dysfunctional between the siblings feels forced and intruding as their "Odd Couple" lifestyles would have been more than enough to emphasize their differing philosophies; though in fairness neither is close to the extremes of Oscar or Felix.

Harriet Klausner

1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Who REALLY Wrote This?

Wish I'd read the reviews first. This was not the Jonathan Kellerman I've been reading for years. I struggled through 12 chapters and gave up. Hope someone found the girl!

Good read

For Alex Delaware fans, this is a nice break with fresh new characters (briefly introduced in Bones).

This was HORRIBLE!!!!

I have read all of his books and love the Sturgis/Delaware stories. This was so far out there that I had to force myself to continue to read it in the hopes it would get better.(it took two weeks to read when I usually finish a book in 2-3 days). The brother Aaron Fox did not even belong in the story, with out him it would have been much better. I kept expecting him to turn out to be a Psychopathic serial killing psychotic who would be killed off. (one could hope) His character was so weirdly developed that it was pathetic. I kept wondering if Kellerman was on some form of Psychedelic drugs. Needless to say this one was donated to the library.

great

delivers as usual

A complete novel

This book has pretty much everything - it's easy to get into - and keeps going with a solid story line that connects the dots in the end.

The characters are interesting - and the overall premise is believable.

Stylistically, it delivers on all points - it doesn't meander, set up meaningless facts or add too much description.

Fun read.

Good book! Ready for his next one.

True Detectives is disappointing

This book never seems to delve into the essence of the characters. They're bascially very stiff and one dimensional. The plot could be developed more, but the plot takes a back seat to the relationship between the brothers. I was disappointed by the book.

Love his books.

Kellerman has a great style, can't put down till the final page.