Synopsis
During a visit to scientist-philanthropist Woodrow Wilson Moreland on an exotic Pacific island, psychologist Alex Delaware encounters a group of secretive houseguests, terrifying noctural vistors, and dark secrets from the past that threaten the lives of Alex and Robin Castagna. 225,000 first printing.
Reviews
His 11th adventure takes Southern California psychologist/sleuth Alex Delaware to a remote Pacific island where hidden evils of the past and present are gradually, harrowingly, brought to light. While his L.A. house is being renovated, Alex, his guitar-making lover, Robin Castagna, and their doted-upon French bulldog, Spike, depart Malibu (home base in the most recent Self-Defense) for a four-month stay on the island of Aruk, where Alex has agreed to help Bill Moreland, a doctor who has lived and worked there since the end of WWII, organize his decades' worth of notes. Aruk, not far from the Bikini atoll, has only the look of paradise. While sorting through Moreland's files, which are stored near the eccentric doctor's extensive spider "zoo," Alex learns of the recent mutilation death of a young local woman, with its suggestions of cannibalistic ritual. Another Moreland guest dies while flying over the island's off-limits U.S. Navy base; a sleazy U.S. senator, once in the service with Moreland, visits the island on a base-closing mission. Then a second local woman is gruesomely murdered, and a member of Moreland's staff is charged with the crime. Adroitly blending arachnophilia and psychological suspense, Kellerman leads Alex and Robin through a maze of coded messages before they finally unearth Moreland's island secrets and the political wrongdoings linked to them. Series fans may miss LAPD detective Milo Sturgis as Alex abandons his beloved koi for reef-dwelling tropical fish, but loyal familiars and Kellerman newcomers alike will turn these pages compulsively. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
This marks the tenth novel in Kellerman's series starring child psychologist Alex Delaware. Alex and his paramour Robin land on Aruk, a tiny Micronesian island, and unwittingly begin the vacation from hell. Alex has been invited by Dr. Moreland, the island's richest and most influential resident, to collaborate on a writing project. The eccentric Moreland, who keeps a zoo of large, creepy insects, seems literally to vanish after sunset, leaving Alex written clues based on the works of great thinkers. Alex learns of several unusual cases on Aruk, including a cannibalistic murder. Suddenly, Moreland's young protege, Ben, is arrested for a similar grisly murder of a young woman. Are the doctors good guys or monsters? This outing lacks the pacing of others in the series, particularly Bad Love (LJ 10/15/93), but its intricate, sticky web of a plot surprises. For popular collections.
--Susan A. Zappia, Maricopa Cty. Lib. Dist., Phoenix
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Kellerman's done it again! Of course, to say that his latest will be a megahit is only to say that his name on the cover guarantees sales; in Kellerman's case, however, the name guarantees great reading as well. This time, the story has psychologist Alex Delaware and wife Robin traveling to a remote island in Micronesia, where Alex has been invited to help Dr. Bill Moreland organize his case files and write a series of articles on his research in the South Pacific. But the peaceful island paradise Alex and Robin expected isn't so peaceful after all. Shortly after the couple arrives, another guest of Dr. Bill's is killed in a suspicious plane crash, Robin and Alex find four giant, venomous Madagascar cockroaches in their room, two local women are violently murdered in suspiciously cannibalistic style, and Bill's protege is accused of the murders. Alex and Robin decide to bail out--they can find stress like this back home in L.A.--but Dr. Bill has other ideas. He's determined to reveal a shocking secret, and Alex and Robin are to be his special confidantes--whether they want to or not. An intriguing, keep-'em-guessing plot, Kellerman's usual mix of psychologically fascinating characters, a megadose of suspense, and that always reliable heartthrob, Dr. Alex Delaware, make this one a must-have for all mystery collections. Emily Melton
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