β Scribed by Jonathan Kellerman
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
It is a case unlike any psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware has ever encountered. Five-year-old Woody Swope is ill, but the real problem is his parents. They refuse to agree to the one treatment that could save this boy's life.
Alex sets out to convince Mr. and Mrs. Swope--only to find that the parents have left the hospital and taken their son with them. Worse, the sleazy motel room where the Swopes were staying is empty--except for the ominous bloodstain. The Swopes and their son have vanished into the sordid shadows of the city.
Now Alex and his friend, homocide detective Milo Sturgis, have no choice but to push the law to the breaking point. They've entered an amoral underworld where drugs, dreams, and sex are all for sale...where fantasies are fulfilled at any price--even at the cost of a young boy's life.
Dr. Alexander Davenport, a child psychologist in Los Angeles, is called in to evaluate the case of a leukemia patient whose parents want to discontinue chemotherapy. When the boy disappears from the hospital and his parents are found dead, the only leads are the boy's sensual older sister and a holistic-meditative cult called The Touch. Davenport's search for the child takes him to a small town near the Mexican border where he finally unearths the dark secrets kept by the boy's family and the townspeople. He also uncovers drugs and group sex in the commune and survives a few harrowing attempts on his life. (Particularly well-drawn is a failed assassination at the tale's end, which has intriguing mythic echoes.) As in his praised first novel, When the Bough Breaks, Kellerman draws on his experience as a clinical psychologist to enrich and broaden his considerable storytelling talents. Imbued with a vivid sense of place and featuring a strong supporting cast, including Milo Sturgis, Davenport's burly gay detective friend, this second adventure points happily toward an Alex Davenport series. Paperback rights to NAL.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"A suspenseful thriller whose solution lies in the darker recesses of the human soul." -- The Wall Street Journal
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BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Jonathan Kellerman's *Victims.* Her name is Elise Freeman, and her chilling cry for help comes too late to save her. On a DVD found near her lifeless body, the emotionally and physically battered woman chronicles a long ordeal of abuse at the hands of th
The #1 *New York Times* bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman writes razor-sharp novels that cut to the quick. Now comes *Motive,* which pits psychologist Alex Delaware and homicide cop Milo Sturgis against a vicious criminal mindβthe kind only Kellerman can bring to chilling life. Even having