Over the Edge

By: Jonathan Kellerman

Narrated by: Alexander Adams

Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

When the phone rings in the middle of the night, child psychologist Alex Delaware does not hesitate. Driving through the dream-lit San Fernando Valley, Alex rushes to Jamey Cadmus, the patient he had failed five years before - and who now calls with a bizarre cry for help. But by the time Alex reaches Canyon Oaks Psychiatric Hospital, Jamey is gone, surfacing a day later in the hands of the police, who believe Jamey is the infamous Lavender Slasher, a psychotic serial killer.

Wooed by a high-powered attorney to build a defense, Alex will get a chance to do what he couldn't five years ago. And when he peers into a family's troubled history and Jamey's brilliant, tormented mind, the psychologist puts himself at the heart of a high-profile case. Because Alex knows that in a realm of money, loss, and madness, something terrible pushed Jamie over the edge - or else someone is getting away with murder.

©2010 Jonathan Kellerman (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"Startling...charged with suspense. This one is simply too good to miss." (Stephen King)

"Harrowing...the work of a novelist of uncommon insight and storytelling skill." ( Los Angeles Times)

"High-powered.... Alex Delaware is no ordinary psychologist...he is also a born detective." ( The New York Times)

Like a psych textbook

No need to go over the story. Suffice it to say, it's Kellerman's early work, filled with simple sentences and ridiculous scenarios. The unlikely actions of a variety of professionals are maddening. Story has potential, and then at the end FINALLY, the explanation is too complicated. Characters are rough-hewn, except for Alex. He's perfectly rendered. Milo is still a background character and the gay card is waved about like a flag -- to denote political correctness? Because it adds only a smidgen to the story. Robin has some interesting appearances, and Alex (Kellerman's alter ego) is right there with the romance everybody dreams of -- though a bit over the top for an infraction of minor proportions. Alex knows boating and furnishings, gourmet and fashion. Alex knows psych, and what he does not know, he gets from other "experts," in this story, the experts are little geniuses.

The reader/narrator is a little stiff, but that's not the problem with him. It's his pronunciation: co-op is pronounced coop (chicken coop) cadge (twice pronounced cadged -- like tagged); other badly "read" words the narrator obviously did not know. Very distracting.

Two stars and nearly unreadable except that having read the series from end to beginning, I had something to look forward to, which never materialized. No engagement -- but long lectures on science, anatomy, South American Indians, psychotropic drugs, high finance and land development, blah, blah, blah... the story was so small, it could have been an anecdote. We have gays and gay haters, racism, sexism, rogue professionals, bikers, investigators, good cops, bad cops, astounding wealth, single moms and dirty dealings all around. And yet, there was no story, like a child's Christmas tree upon which are placed his favorite things, great and small, for the child to gaze upon and be impressed.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Disappointing

Let's start with the fact that most of Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware books are better than most other books. That said, this one was a disappointment.

It's taken me decades to figure this out, but there's a very simple pattern to these books: Some event/crime occurs, and Alex gets called into the middle of it. Then he -- or he and his trusty (and very likable) sidekick, Milo -- try to figure out what happened. So he, or they, go around the LA area and interview all kinds of strange and weird people, some of them high-level wealthy movers and shakers, all the way down to the lowest of the low quasi-homeless. In doing so, Kellerman gives us all access to part of LA we'd never see, and insights into the kind of people most of us would never run into normally. It's heady stuff, and endlessly fascinating. I never get tired of it.

So this book starts out like that -- and steams ahead quite nicely for about 2/3 of the book, at which point Alex Delaware finds himself immersed in way too much chemistry -- actual chemistry, as in the chemical components of various hallucinogens and other mind-altering drugs. I found myself tuning out -- way way way too much technical information. I have no mental 'hooks' to hang any of this information on anyway, so it was clearly in one ear, out the other.

Unfortunately, when the book reengages, it does so with a lot of mindless characters, people who really weren't interesting -- but then, I've never found drunks interesting, either. I never could get interested in it again, just played it out to the end.

As others have noted, this was an early book in the series. It was worth listening to again, even if it was less than satisfying.

And the narrator? I'm going to give him two stars until he learns to pronounce the word "Ventura" correctly. There is no excuse for someone reading THAT many books set in the LA area to constantly, every single time, mispronounce the name of that city/county. Maybe sooner or later someone will clue him in....

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Always a twist you don't see coming!

Would you listen to Over the Edge again? Why?

Kept me guessing the whole time!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Over the Edge?

The end. Not going to spoil it.

What about Alexander Adams’s performance did you like?

I enjoy his clear and calm voice. I also like his character voices

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

I was surprised at the end. No laughter or tears.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Love the story

The story is great but prefer Rubenstein recitation rather than Adams. Really liked the ending

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Jagged Edge

Great book. I'm still dumbfounded by the plot twists. one of my favorite of the older Alex Delaware novels.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

One of the Best

Would you listen to Over the Edge again? Why?

One of my favorite books is brought to life in this audio version. I loved listening to it and caught several points that I missed from reading it on the page.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A bit hard to follow and believe, but..

I'll probably be back or more of this series. I find the psychological discussions interesting, when I didn't think I would. I like the friendship between Milo and the protagonist more than I understand the relationship between the protagonist and his girlfriend. The complexity of the plot and the unreality of it were an interference, so that's why it gets 4 stars. The performance, the characters, and the tone were absorbing. If this writer matures from book to book, I'm pretty sure I'll like the later books a lot more, given that this one has promise.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

not my favorite Alex Deleware book

I have read many AD books. This one contained more jargon and psychobable than any other. I love AD stories but this is my least favorite.

loved it

loved it. I'm enjoying reading this series from the beginning. good voice from the reader

love it

enjoy the narrator immensely. charming voice characterization. well modulated. loved the plot and character development.

Too much detail

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No. I lost interest about a third of the way through. There was just too much minute detail which held the story back so the pace was too slow.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jonathan Kellerman again?

Probably not.

Have you listened to any of Alexander Adams’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Probably but I'm not good with looking at the names. However, I did think he was very good and would definitely hope to hear him again.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

No.

Any additional comments?

I personally won't recommend this book despite the narration.

Over the edge

Great story factual content excellent, clear reading total pleasure to listen to while you're cleaning