GONE by Jonathan Kellerman
Jonathan Kellerman continues his winning streak with a new Dr Alex Delaware novel. This latest story is titled GONE; not to be confused with Lisa Gardner's recent novel also titled GONE. Once again the intrepid psychiatrist assists his police detective friend Milo Sturgis, who is looking into the death of a young woman who moved to California to seek an acting career. The ins and outs of the investigation plus the assorted suspects who arise make this a hard to put down story from beginning to end.
Alex Delaware has been the subject of numerous stories by Jonathan Kellerman. He is a criminal psychiatrist living in Los Angeles and is involved in one fascinating case after another. Milo Sturgis is Delaware's best friend, and because of their relationship the good psychiatrist is willing to help out with the investigations which Milo is assigned.
Delaware is first introduced to Michaela Brand when she is involved in a kidnapping hoax. She and a fellow acting student claimed they were abducted and taken into a deserted area in the hills around Los Angeles. They "escaped" and later were revealed to have made the whole story up. As part of the investigation into the offense, Michaela is ordered to be examined by a psychiatrist. This is where she and Delaware meet.
Later Michaela's body is discovered and the investigation turns from fraud to murder. Milo is working the case and Delaware joins him in interviewing persons of interest in Michaela's death. When more murders occur that can be linked to Michael's, Delaware and Sturgis find themselves on the trail of a serial killer.
At the same time that Kellerman is spelling out the steps in the investigation he is also moving Delaware's private life forward. Alex was involved with a woman named Robin, but she moved out and took up with another man. Alex moved on to a fellow psychiatrist named Allison Gwynn. In the novel prior to this one, their relationship had hit a snag, so in GONE Alex is trying to work things out with her while also being tempted by Robin who has moved on from her new relationship. Readers of all of the books have their money on Robin but Allison is still a major factor in Alex's life.
This combination of the criminal and the personal are what makes Kellerman's books so exceptionally fun to read. Kellerman is brilliant at creating temporary characters who are interesting, intriguing and mystifying. They people his stories and fascinate his readers. But it is his permanent characters who keep Kellerman's readers coming back again and again. Alex, Milo, Allison and Robin are good friends to the readers and they want to know how their lives are progressing. Each new novel gives a little more insight and a little more information about them.
So read GONE not just for the mystery in this one book, but for the permanent cast of characters Kellerman has created. You will find yourself totally immersed in the story and hungry to read the next installment.
GONE is published by Ballantine Books. It contains 365 pages and sells for $26.95.