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When the Bough Breaks: An Alex Delaware Novel
Unavailable
When the Bough Breaks: An Alex Delaware Novel
Unavailable
When the Bough Breaks: An Alex Delaware Novel
Audiobook12 hours

When the Bough Breaks: An Alex Delaware Novel

Written by Jonathan Kellerman

Narrated by Alexander Adams

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

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 forty-year-old conspiracy. And behind it lies an unspeakable evil that Alex Delaware must expose before it claims another innocent victim: Melody Quinn.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 5, 2012
ISBN9780385359993
Unavailable
When the Bough Breaks: An Alex Delaware Novel
Author

Jonathan Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty bestselling crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher’s Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, and True Detectives. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he coauthored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. He is also the author of two children’s books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. 

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Reviews for When the Bough Breaks

Rating: 3.675874823572744 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

543 ratings22 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have decided to read the Alex Delaware books in order. I have read many of them in the past, but not all of them. Even though I think I read this one before, I did not remember it, so it was good to read it again.

    This book takes place when Alex's relationships with Milo and Robin are fairly new. It is fun to see the relationships developing, since I know some of what is to come.

    The theme of child molestation is disturbing, but not graphic. Equally disturbing is the portrayal of the wealthy men, and how they can buy off or blackmail anyone to pursue their hobbies. There are several characters introduced, and by the end you can see how they are all connected. This was a good read, especially when you consider it was Jonathan Kellerman's first fiction book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Book club reading for January 2016

    I normally don't read mysteries or who done it books; however, I enjoyed this one. Written in 1985 and read in 2016, the book was a reminder of life before the Internet and before cell phones. Police didn't use google to solve crimes; they actually had to visit other places and travel out of state.

    The back cover of the book is a little misleading. Dr. Delaware does meet and talk to young Melody Quinn, but he does not see her again until the end of the novel. There are many different characters with many different personalities. By the end of the book, they all intertwined into ways I didn't expect.

    I liked this book. Will I look up all Kellerman's novels and read them. Probably not, but if the mood strikes me, I'll read him again.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This had good storyline but I felt the author over described physical details (for paragraphs!) and also added too many unessential side information. I found myself skimming a lot of the book versus being bogged down with trivial information.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The first in a series. It does a good job of introducing Alex and Milo. Very exciting and fast moving. Tale of a group of horrible child abusers.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The first book in the series featuring Psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis. I enjoyed the story even though the plot is disturbing. I will more books from this series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I've read the latest 5 or 6 Delaware novels. I am pretty sure I had read a few of the early ones as well - but in no real order and without the backstory. That one is the first one in the series, written 30 years ago. But if you ignore the technology (and lack of it mainly), the book is not dated at all. It does not start with the first meeting of Alex and Milo - that had happened in the past. By the time this novel opens, they are already friends - the doctor and the cop, the unlikely partners that would solve so many cases through the years. And this first novel is unusual in a way - it actually has two cases as its focus - the one that Milo goes to Alex for and the one that made them friends, that broke Alex and almost forced him into retirement. The new case is a double homicide - with a single witness - a non-reliable 7 years old girl that does not seem to be talking. Which leads to Milo calling on the only child psychologist that he knows - Alex Delaware. It is a very dark novel, not as dark as some of the newer books but extremely dark anyway. Child abuse, an old conspiracy and blackmail are intertwined in a story that makes you hope that this cannot happen in the real world... and chills your bones knowing that it does.It is a wonderful start to a series that I had grown to really like. I miss the side characters and the more mature friendship of the two men but then as a first book, you cannot expect that. The only reason I miss them is because I know what that brings to the stories. Onto book 2 in the series shortly.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    First book in the Alex Delaware and it was a good beginning. The story was well written and the relationship between Alex and Milo is intersting. Good book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I listened to the audiobook version of this. I enjoyed it even though the topic is so twisted and sick. I will be reading more Alex Delaware books in the future. I will try to find them in print or ebook rather than audio though so I can skim over the excessive use of certain profanities.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Relatively interesting plot, although really unbelievable. Characters are interesting, likeable. Not sure I find it entertaining enough to get myself involved in the series, but I was kept interested enough to keep turning the pages (well, figuratively, since I was listening to the audiobook.) Middle-of-the-road for the genre.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I've found Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series make for great audio book listening-in-the-car "reading." After several of them, I decided to start at the beginning and try to work through the whole series. When the Bough Breaks, like many first books (or first in series) is well plotted with a lot of emphasis on the characters. Kellerman's villains are always super villainous which makes them harder to believe. But the reader or listener is engrossed anyway. I can see why this book would inaugurate a whole series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When checking out a new author (to me), I like to start with a stand-alone, or in this case, a first in a series. I had low expectations for this author and not really sure why, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find I really enjoyed the book and writing style. The storyline was complex enough to keep me interested and the pace was very appropriate to the story. I enjoyed it very much and will be continuuing with this series. I'd definitely recommend this title!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Alex Delaware is a child psychologist, retired at the age of 34. Must be nice, huh? Except, he gets bored and finds a new zest for life after his friend Detective Milo Sturgis asks him to consult on a case. A prominent psychiatrist and his client/girlfriend have been murdered and a 10-year-old girl is the only witness. Alex’s involvement deepens when he discovers a link to a local home for orphaned and severely disabled children. With more twists and turns than a theme park ride, Kellerman keeps his protagonist jumping, discovering more links to prominent personages and more twisted and disgusting motives. The plot isn’t entirely plausible, but it’s certainly suspenseful and logical. Even though one of my pet peeves is non-law-enforcement types having a direct guns-a-blazin’ confrontation with the evil bad guy in the climax of the book, I thought this was pretty well done, and less egregious than some I’ve seen. I also tend to agree with Alex’s philosophies on child psychology, particularly when it comes to the excessive use of pharmacology in treatment of children. I’ll be reading more of these.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Alex Delaware is a retired pediatric pychotherapist at the age of 32. In the course of his reclused existance he is requested by a detective friend of his to help him with a small girl of 7 who is probably a witness to a double homicide. Alex gets pulled deep into the case and finally uncovers a conspiracy.In the world of mystery writing on two thing sell, pedophiles of serial killers. This book has one of them. Its a well written book but nothing new or special.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Dr. Alex Delaware is a child psychologist who has seen enough violence and evil done to children to burn him out and break him down at the age of thirty-three. Now retired, he has plenty of money to live on while he ponders the question of what to do with his life. That is until his friend, a police detective, Milo Sturgis asks him for help on his latest case.Alex’s interest is piqued by the case, but doesn’t plan to get overly involved, just help out. Then he met Melody Quinn, the seven-year-old, lone witness to the double murder. She and her mother live in the same apartment building as the psychiatrist and his girlfriend that were murdered and she is the only one that can help with this case now as Milo has no other leads.As he gets Melody to trust him and open up, Alex realizes there is more to this case than just a double murder. He digs deeper and deeper until he opens the door to secrets that several ‘well to do’ people would rather keep closed…and would do anything to keep it that way.Intense, traumatic, and suspenseful, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat.Reviewed by Ashley Wintters for Suspense Magazine
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    For I’m a big fan of the novels by Jesse Kellerman I was curious to get in touch with the work of his parents, too. So I grabbed a copy of the first Alex Delaware case entitled When the Bough Breaks. Overall I think the novel is really good and the plot is interesting as is the main character, child psychologist Alex Delaware who is sucked into a network of child raping and relentless murder.The story itself is neatly spun, though not always believable. Most of all I liked the quiet moments of Delaware’s investigations, the often humorous dialogs and very interesting characters with their different world views. Although I really did not like the boring descriptions of the lovelife between Robin and Alex that ruined the overall picture of the novel for me quite a bit. Also the redundant action sequences were not even half as good as the rest of the book. Alex Delaware chased by a motorbike or Alex Delaware wrestling with an enormous hound is just cheap crap (sorry).But although there were quite some decent flaws, the story paints a good picture of the 80s and 95 percent of the book are really enjoyable to read. The other five percent I account for as means for a good start into Jonathan Kellermans’ big carreer. Even if I don’t think you can compare Jonathan Kellerman to his son Jesse Kellerman, I think Sunstroke was the better of the two first novels, avoiding the kind of semi-action and semi-love story flattery offered to the big crowd.I will read the next novel in the series anytime soon and then I will decide if I continue to follow Alex Delaware’s steps in his next adventures into the minds and depths of murderers and murder. If one’s interested in a 95% really good suspense thriller, When the Bough Breaks could be what you are looking for.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I find this entertaining and above average among the usual mystery book fare, with that sense of an authentic look at a profession. Kellerman, like his child psychologist hero Alex Delaware, has a background in clinical psychology. Alex, burned out after counseling children involved in a sexual abuse case, has retired from practice, but his police detective friend, Milo Sturgis, gets him involved in a case with a psychologist victim and a seven-year-old witness. I found the details about psychological practice interesting, and Kellerman's first person narrative makes for a smooth read, even if aspects of the plot struck me as far-fetched and I didn't particularly like how once made an unpaid "consultant" Alex goes off investigating on his own, breaking laws and idiotically not bringing in the police even after being shot at. However I did find Alex, his girlfriend Robin and Milo likable characters. A good, solid read, even if not a keeper.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have no idea why I have not read a Kellerman before now. I've seen his books in the stores and talked about here on LT but for reasons unknown I've avoided them. Not any longer. Before I got finished with this one I ran out and picked up the next two in this series. My only complaint was early into the book I felt like Kellerman was trying to meet a ridiculously high word count as his descriptions could get a bit too detailed at times. That tendency was less obvious in the latter stages. When the book was originally published circa 1985, the subject matter was definitely a bit more taboo. In 2010, it doesn't raise eyebrows. How Delaware evolves, and how quickly, from a wet behind the ears, everything by the book type of psychologist, one who finds himself in way over his head early into this story is the most gripping part. It was fascinating to see his reactions as the plot unfolded. Oh, and the epilogue was not predictable. 
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Alex Delaware series is one of the first I read in this genre, probably 15 years ago. Of course, I started in the middle of the series and had yet to get around to the first books. This was okay. I got a little bogged down in the mystery because a lot of the characters were similar to each other and I sometimes forgot who was being referred to. There was a lot of "the bad guy explains the entire scheme" at the end. However, it was worth it to see how Alex starts working for the police and the beginnings of his friendship with Milo and relationship with Robin.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Fairly good tale with psychopathic child molesters as bad guys. The ending is a little too much.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is the first of the Alex Delaware novels. In this one, we get the background on how Alex and Milo Sturgis met - over a child abuse case - and details their semi-first case together.The plot's a somewhat improbable one; Melody Quinn possibly saw murderers on their way to commit a crime, so Milo calls Alex in to talk to her, that being his specialty. The plot wanders up to - perhaps over - that line between 'complex' and 'ridiculously unlikely with one coincidence too many'. Workmanline, certainly readable and enjoyable.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Good but too much kiddie perversion for me...I will try another book from the author.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A friend of mine lent me the early books of this series a few years ago and I've just decided to re-read them and then continue with the more recent ones. Re-reading this book, it's clear to me that the plot is a bit neither here nor there. There's no particularly surprising twist and it's been unsatisfying that our narrator Alex kind of pulls a rabbit out of the hat at the last minute, keeping something from us that he's worked out himself. It also seems unlikely that the police would have let him carry on his investigations for so long on his own.Anyway, what makes this and the other books so worth recommending is their readability. The pages just turn themselves.