When the Bough Breaks cover art

When the Bough Breaks

An Alex Delaware Novel

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When the Bough Breaks

By: Jonathan Kellerman
Narrated by: Alexander Adams
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About this listen

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

©2003 Jonathan Kellerman (P)2012 Random House Genre Fiction Medical Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Scary

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Critic reviews

"An engrossing thriller.... this knockout of an entertainment is the kind of book which establishes a career in one stroke." ( New York Newsday)
"Suspenseful, neatly spun, fascinating." ( Philadelphia Daily News)
"Grab yourself a copy soon." ( Los Angeles Times)
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1st book of series: set in 80s so some things seem dated. Good story though.

Back to the 80s

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I tried to keep going with this book but I disliked the main character more and more as the book continued. He is an arrogant know-it-all and I found myself rolling my eyes in disbelief at his irritating habits.
Obviously many people enjoy these books I just couldn't get past the annoying Alex Delaware.

Disliked the main character from the start

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When the Bough Breaks is a fairly standard non-police detective story. Our hero (Alex) is a psychologist who finds himself investigating a crime when he is brought in to question a child witness. The opening hour or so of the book is great, and the developing relationship between Alex and the child is well dealt with. The book is less good when it moves into the thick of the mystery. Somehow its all just too stereotypical. The bad guys are all bad in ways which you could guess the moment they were described (rich, poor, black, white, intelligent, ignorant and arrogant characters all act exactly to type).

It’s not a bad book. It's fast paced and never dull, but its not original and even if you have not read anything else by Kellerman, you will feel you have read When the Bough Breaks before.

A bit dated, but OK.

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Well written, good psychological background and twists. Corruption and hypocrisy are exposed in a gripping tale that starts off quite square and mundane, but then spirals into the true horror beneath it all

Gripping thriller that slowly builds up

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Interesting perspective from the writer on more than just the main storyline, some real insights into do much more than solving the crime although the meandering through sub plots makes it a good consistent read :) looking forward to the next one.

Different view

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A very good and complex story. A good plot marred a little by the narrator's pronunciation.

As usual, another good book!

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Book seems so slow, not sure if it’s the narrator but hard to stay interested

Disappointing

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