Flesh and Blood

An Alex Delaware Novel

By: Jonathan Kellerman

Narrated by: John Rubinstein

Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Perennial bestseller and acknowledged master of the psychological thriller, Jonathan Kellerman has created a riveting and memorable Alex Delaware novel about a troubled and elusive young woman whose brutal murder forces the brilliant psychologist-detective to confront his own fallibility.

Lauren Teague is a beautiful, defiant, borderline-delinquent teenager when her parents bring her to Alex Delaware's office. But for all Alex's skill and effort, Lauren resists—angrily, provocatively. Reluctantly, the psychologist chalks Lauren up as one of the inevitable failures of a challenging profession. But years later, when Alex encounters Lauren as a stag party's featured entertainment, both doctor and patient are stricken with shame. And the ultimate horror takes place when, soon after, Lauren's brutalized corpse is found dumped in an alley. Alex disregards the advice of his trusted friend, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, and jeopardizes his relationship with longtime lover, Robin Castagna, in order to pursue Lauren's murderer.

As he investigates his young patient's troubled past, Alex enters the shadowy worlds of fringe psychological experimentation and the sex industry, and then into mortal danger when lust and big money collide in Southern California. Jonathan Kellerman's L.A. is evil, seductive, and unforgiving, and Flesh and Blood is mind-opening in its drama of a driven man's personal quest, breathtaking in its ingenious plot, filled with unforgettable characters, and topped off by a terrifying climax. This is suspense fiction at its finest.

©2001 Jonathan Kellerman (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“[Kellerman] has shaped the psychological mystery novel into an art form.”–Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Vibrant . . . [Kellerman] can always be counted on to deliver a smooth and satisfying adventure as he makes his way through the darker sides of Los Angeles.”–Cleveland Plain Dealer

another triumph for John Kellerman

love it Alex Delaware and Milo at their best. I'm now ready to read the next in the series I hope you keep turning out I'll keep reading them Mr Kelllerman

Robin gone!!!!

Another good read by kellerman. My only complaint is he didn’t get rid of robin for good. She is a terrible character and the only sour note in this series. The only thing they have in common is going out to dinner and sex. Would like to see Alex get a new girlfriend

Relative Genius c

Not sure if this is fair, but Kellerman is in the relative stratosphere when compared to his 'genre'. A comprehensive amalgam of plot, characterization and plausible dialogue that places him among a handful of so-called fiction writers that are masters of this craft.
Maybe I am just so bitter regarding the 'best seller' junk that pervades our culture. But I think not.
This guy can write and I only wish that his fraudulent 'peers' were nearly as good. It is not even close and that is an embarrassing indictment of our culture.

Another great one

If John Rubinstein is ever replaced I won’t be able to listen to another Alex Delaware! Excellent story and plot.

THE WORD ID LIBRARY,NOT LIBERRY

Any additional comments?

THE READER WAS QUITE EASY TIO LISTEN , UNTIL HE REFERS TO THE LIBRARY AS THE LIBERRY. ALSO I AM LISTENING TO THIS SERIES FROM THE BEGINNING AND IN EACH BOOK THE AUTHOR SAYS MILO RUBBED HE FACE AS IF WASHING IT WITHOUT WATER. IT IS A PHRASE HE MUST BE FOND OF. PROBABLY WOULDN'T EVEN NOTICE IT ,IF I WERE NOT LISTENING TO ONE BOOK AFTER ANOTHER. I MUST REALLY ENJOY HIS BOOKS OR WOULDN'T BE LISTENING TO ONE AFTER ANOTHER.

Beauty Bereft

Young, beautiful women get killed. Alex investigates, including investigation by kayak. Alex doesn’t give up. As readers know, the trail can be tough. Another good listen.

love Alex Delaware.

He is a very real believable character. Somr real touching story lines. Dont stop writing.

Fave

I have listened to this many times over the years. great stress reliever. so glad I rejoined Audible after all these years.

Another well written Alex Delaware novel

Bullet points: there are two different narrators I’ve heard for the Delaware series and both have pros and cons. Mr. Rubinstein’s con is that on multiple occasions he has mispronounced words, though that can also be the fault of the director and editor, as ultimately the director is responsible for the final product.
The story itself and even the performance is great (save the mispronunciations, which I believe were only about four in this particular performance of this novel).

I think the review said something about this novel dealing with Alex and a former borderline client, but I don’t think there’s enough data to suggest she was borderline.

Love this series

I'd probably listen to Rubenstein portraying Alex reading the phone book to Milo and Robin so any in-depth review I could provide would be biased in the extreme.

As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed inhabiting their world though it was disconcerting because the events take place long before Breakdown, the most recent book in the series. And, I just discovered Book #14 is also newly released (same date - Audible, you should have forewarned) so I'll happily suspend my knowledge of their future selves to join them on that adventure as well.