Book Preview 1 It was shaping up as a beautiful morning. The last thing I wanted to hear about was murder. A cool Pacific current had swept its way across the coastline for two days running, propelling the pollution to Pasadena. My house is nestled in the foothills just north of Bel Air, situated atop … Read more
Book Preview 1 The shark on the dock was no monster. Four feet long, probably a low-lying reef scavenger. But its dead white eyes had retained their menace, and its jaws were jammed with needles that made it a prize for the two men with the bloody hands. They were bare-chested Anglos baked brown, muscular … Read more
Book Preview This one was different. The first hint was Milo’s tight-voiced eight a.m. message, stripped of details. Something I need you to see, Alex. Here’s the address. An hour later, I was showing I.D. to the uniform guarding the tape. He winced. “Up there, Doctor.” Pointing to the second story of a sky-blue duplex … Read more
Book Preview CHAPTER 1 May brought azure skies and California optimism to Hollywood. Petra Connor worked nights and slept through the blue. She had her own reason to be cheerful: solving two whodunit murders. The first was a dead body at a wedding. The Ito-Park wedding, main ballroom of the Roosevelt Hotel, Japanese-American bride, Korean-American … Read more
Book Preview Books by Jonathan Kellerman FICTION ALEX DELAWARE NOVELS Bones (2008) Compulsion (2008) Obsession (2007) Gone (2006) Rage (2005) Therapy (2004) A Cold Heart (2003) The Murder Book (2002) Flesh and Blood (2001) Dr Death (2000) Monster (1999) Survival of the Fittest (1997) The Clinic (1997) The Web (1996) Self-Defense (1995) Bad Love (1994) … Read more
Book Preview Special thanks to Barbara Biggs and to all those writers who were there with counsel and/or kind words. To wit: Paul Bishop, Lawrence Block, Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Michael Dorris, James Ellroy, Brian Garfield, Sue Grafton, Joe Gores, Andrew Greeley, Tony Hillerman, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Elmore Leonard, the late Richard Levinson, William Link, … Read more
Book Preview CHAPTER 1 A few years ago a psychopath burned down my house. The night it happened, I was out to dinner with the woman who’d designed the house and lived in it with me. We were driving up Beverly Glen when the sirens cut through the darkness, ululating, like coyote death wails. The … Read more
Book Preview CHAPTER 1 Eno trudged up the road. Big fancy property like this, maybe a chance to hit a lick. His last stretch at County had ended eighty-two days ago, then he was back on the street looking for bank. Trying a few things that didn’t work out so having to do this. Bright … Read more
Book Preview 1 Hooray for Hollywood. Brass stars with celebrities’ names were inlaid in the sidewalk but the stars of the night were toxin merchants, strong-arm specialists, and fifteen-year-olds running from family values turned vicious. Open twenty-four hours a day, Go-Ji’s welcomed them all. The coffee shop sat on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard, … Read more
Book Preview 1 I’ve always hated parties and, under normal circumstances, never would have attended the one on Saturday. But my life was a mess. I relaxed my standards. And stepped into a nightmare. Thursday morning I was the good doctor, focusing on my patients, determined not to let my own garbage get in the … Read more
Book Preview She smiled, as usual. From her chair she had a fine view of the ocean. This morning it was a wrinkled teal sheet gilded with sunrise. A triangle of pelicans reconnoitered overhead. I doubted she’d notice any of it. She moved around a bit, trying to get comfortable. “Good morning, Lucy.” “Good morning, … Read more
Book Preview CHAPTER 1 On a slow, chilly Saturday in December, shortly after the Lakers overcame a sixteen-point halftime deficit and beat New Jersey, I got a call from a murderer. I hadn’t watched basketball since college, had returned to it because I was working at developing my leisure skills. The woman in my life … Read more
Book Preview Special thanks to Beverly Lewis, whose sharp eye and soft voice make a big difference. To Gerald Petievich, for an insider’s view- of lots of things. And to Terri Turner, California Parole Department, for her efficiency and good cheer. Special thanks to Beverly Lewis, whose sharp eye and soft voice make a … Read more
Book Preview IT WAS my first middle-of-the-night crisis call in three years. A thousand days out of practice, and there I was, bolted, upright in the darkness, clutching the receiver with sleep-slowed fingers, queasy and drowsy but ready for action -my voice soothingly professional even as my brain struggled for a toehold in its climb … Read more
Book Preview CHAPTER 1 Patty Bigelow hated surprises and did her best to avoid them. God had other ideas. Patty’s concept of a supreme being wavered between Ho-Ho-Ho Santa and a Fire-Eyed Odin thrusting thunderbolts. Either way, a white-bearded guy bunking down in the clouds. Depending on his mood, dispensing goodies or playing marbles with … Read more
Book Preview Books by Jonathan Kellerman Mystery (2011) Deception (2010) Evidence (2009) Bones (2008) Compulsion (2008) Obsession (2007) Gone (2006) Rage (2005) Therapy (2004) A Cold Heart (2003) The Murder Book (2002) Flesh and Blood (2001) Dr. Death (2000) Monster (1999) Survival of the Fittest (1997) The Clinic (1997) The Web (1996) Self-Defense (1995) Bad … Read more
Book Preview CHAPTER 1 The day I got the murder book, I was still thinking about Paris. Red wine, bare trees, gray river, city of love. Everything that happened there. Now, this. Robin and I flew in to Charles de Gaulle airport on a murky Monday in January. The trip had been my idea of … Read more
Book Preview Chapter 1 The giant knew Richard Nixon. Towering, yellow-haired, grizzled, a listing mountain in khaki twill, he limped closer, and Milo tightened up. I looked to Frank Dollard for a cue. Dollard appeared untroubled, meaty arms at his sides, mouth serene under the tobaccoed gray mustache. His eyes were slits, but they’d been … Read more