When the Bough Breaks

An Alex Delaware Novel

By: Jonathan Kellerman

Narrated by: Alexander Adams

Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

In the first Alex Delaware novel, Dr. Morton Handler practiced a strange brand of psychiatry. Among his specialties were fraud, extortion, and sexual manipulation. Handler paid for his sins when he was brutally murdered in his luxurious Pacific Palisades apartment. The police have no leads, but they do have one possible witness: seven-year-old Melody Quinn.

It's psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware's job to try to unlock the terrible secret buried in Melody's memory. But as the sinister shadows in the girl's mind begin to take shape, Alex discovers that the mystery touches a shocking incident in his own past.

This connection is only the beginning, a single link in a 40-year-old conspiracy. And behind it lies an unspeakable evil that Alex Delaware must expose before it claims another innocent victim: Melody Quinn.

©2003 Jonathan Kellerman (P)2012 Random House

Critic reviews

"An engrossing thriller.... this knockout of an entertainment is the kind of book which establishes a career in one stroke." ( New York Newsday)
"Suspenseful, neatly spun, fascinating." ( Philadelphia Daily News)
"Grab yourself a copy soon." ( Los Angeles Times)

When the bough breaks

Wonderful start to this series and now I can't wait for the next book in the series.

very disturbing

the profanity was difficult to hear and the details of the violation against children was very disturbing. the story line and plot was excellent but a lot of the details of the child molestation could have been left out. also some of the detailed descriptions could have been abbreviated.

Characters’ attitudes are dated

It was a decent mystery but a little hard to swallow due to the 80’s-era sexism and racism. Will try something by him written more recently.

my favorite author!

So happy to have all of these books to hear! I love the twists and turns so you can try to guess the ending... but you will probably be wrong!!

When the Bough Breaks

Where does When the Bough Breaks rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the better ones.

What did you like best about this story?

It is an easy listening story, well written and easy to follow but enough intrigue to keep you interested. Very well narrated too, good storytellers all round

What does Alexander Adams bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He read it along similar veins to the way I may have if I read the book myself.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, just an enjoyable listen.

Tedious, trite and unbelievable.

I know this is an oldie, and we cannot judge it by Kellerman's recent work, but really, it was a little too preposterous. ALERT: There are scenes that describe graphic child sexual abuse here. There are words/phrases that would be unspeakable in today's sensitive times. But we cannot slight JK for that -- that was then and this is now.

No, my complaints are about the way the story unfolds. First there is some detective work that combines Milo & Alex, then Milo disappears and Alex is a psychologist, detective, and near-mercenary. There are some nice homey scenes between Milo and Alex and their respective amours, but not enough of them.

At any rate, the bad guys are rounded up and the most hated of them have stories to tell; long, stories, told in retrospect, as if it justified their adult behavior.

Alex treks to other states, gets in fights, shoots, captures and threatens people until the truth comes out. When it does, all the truths link up into a somewhat surprising outcome.

I am glad that JK decided to take the weapons away from Alex in his later, more mature books.

I know it was the launch of the series, so for me, having read all the subsequent books, this one lacks the cohesiveness and logic of the best and most modern of the Alex/Milo canon.

I would not recommend this book, however, because of the graphic descriptions of child sexual abuse. I would feel responsible to someone who read it on my recommendation and encountered this content. I would not recommend it to anyone who loves the Milo/Alex pairings because this one does not illustrate their relationship as we have come to expect.

For a first time reader of JK, it is always best to begin a series at the beginning, and this one, because of some of the content, might turn someone away.

I had to check to be sure, but there is a movie (1994) of the same title, which seems to include some aspects of this plot, though it doesn't seem an exact rendering.

long

Long drawn out beginning with information not really needed. Some far fetched ideas. Hard to stick with this one.

Classic Kellerman

Delaware and Milo and Kellerman and Alexander Adams are my favorites. This one is among the first but as good as the all the rest. Loved it!

when the bow breaks

loved it. can't wait to read the next book. hope that it is just as good.

Quality

Thoroughly enjoyable. Enjoy all of this series wish they all had the same quality of this one. Worth your time.