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)

Wonderful read

Great story that kept me interested throughout. The writing itself is refined and exquisite AND my favorite reader to top all this off! What an enjoyable read!

Great start

was tipped off to this series by a friend. what an awesome series. characters are well developed. Working in the medical field it was very stimulating to here all the breakdown for pharmacology and neuropsychopathology. Arent all doctors detectives in a way? trying to diagnose each patient.definitely have a lot of catching up to fo. book one of thirty four!!

A little too spectacular

The narrator was very good, he did well between the characters and kept the story going. However, the story was just a little too far fetched; it seemed very fictional and not something too plausible.

Drug on at times...

Decent story and I will continue to listen to the other Alex Delaware books because from other reviews it seems like they do get better, but this one really drug on in some parts and I had to really try hard to concentrate on listening. Didn't help that the narrator's voice was monotone and soothing - if I had insomnia this book could've helped me sleep, for sure.

The first Alex delaware novel

Dr Delaware must unlock the secrets of the case from a child's mind, and it interacts with his own past. This single link in a 40 year conspiracy leads Dr Delaware to uncover unspeakable evil.

Not the Alex Delaware in later books.

Had I nor listened to quite a few other Alex Delaware books I would have stopped at this one--#1.

great listen

twists and turns at every chapter. I can't wait for the next book to listen to.

Not Too Sure

The narrator was great and he weaved intrigue but the story line about children being molested made my stomach turn. Hopefully Kellemans' Alex Delaware books will be better.

A good start to the series

The Alex Delaware series started in 1985 and Kellerman, the author, is still writing in this series. It is clearly a popular suspense and mystery series. It is also obvious reading the book why this series was popular and why a TV movie starring Ted Danson was made.

Overall a good story with an interesting plotline. Alex Delaware as a psychologist is skilled at interviewing people and finding information and the entire series is built around the man traveling to locations and talking to people and fitting together the details and information they have to see the bigger picture. He has an excellent sense of people and the book makes clear he has a mind that can think up very troubling perspectives giving him an insight into the disturbed crimes he investigates.

This is a good start to the series and a good adventure plot but its clear as his first novel that Kellerman was on a learning curve and dealing with how to figure out what was extraneous details. There is, as others have pointed out, a very poorly written sex scene that does not serve the plot and honestly makes Alex Delaware look like a bit of a cad since he's in a serious long term relationship at the start of the novel with another woman. I also seriously question the "fist fight with a dog" bit.

So a fun novel but be prepared for some odd choices.

great

I guess it's easy to give it a five, when your a fan of the characters!