Blood Test (Alex Delaware) (original 1986; edition 2003)

by Jonathan Kellerman

Series: Alex Delaware (2)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
1,586	24	11,171	(3.57)	18
Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML: 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. .… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	sjsitz
Title:	Blood Test (Alex Delaware)
Authors:	Jonathan Kellerman
Info:	Ballantine Books (2003), Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	Alex Delaware, series, 2, of 24, next, unread, on hand

Work Information

Blood Test by Jonathan Kellerman (1986)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

judico51, sklosak1329, Eric_Gardner, m0ney13, Shugsdite, 2023ana.martinez, knitjam

▾Tags

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Lists

None

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 18 mentions

▾Member reviews

English (22) Spanish (1) All languages (23)

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 22 (next | show all)

First edition

RCornell | Oct 30, 2023 |

I thought this one was pretty good. There was a young child with cancer, which I thought was interesting. The descriptions of the laminar air flow room was something I had never read. I am glad my daughter didn't have to go through that when she battled cancer.

The second half of the book, the story became pretty convoluted. There is the Touch, a creepy cult that may or may not be involved with the child's abduction. There is an escort service. A possibly crazy father to deal with. A sexually promiscuous teenage daughter. Fruit growers in a small California town. This book tries to throw in a little of everything and then tie it all together. It all does come together in the end, but it seems a little forced. Still I enjoyed reading it. (

)

readingover50 | Jun 11, 2019 |

I enjoyed it at the time, but can't remember it at all now.

That's probably what my tombstone will say, isn't it? (

)

Kaethe | Oct 16, 2016 |

An excellent series, the beginning of a long standing saga with Alex and Milo working to solve detective crimes with a psychological bend.

ErinPaperbackstash | Jun 14, 2016 |

Alex must beat the clock to save a 5-year-old boy with treatable cancer.

The boy, Heywood "Woody" Swope appears to be the one normal foil for his reclusive, fruit obsessed parents and hostile 20-year-old sister, Nona. Named for an apple, Annona Blossom Swope is described in almost feral terms. Matters come to a painful head when Woody is kidnapped from the hospital. The boy's parents and sister also disappear, and Dr. Alex Delaware is immediately in pursuit of this mysterious family.

There is less of a psychological twist in Blood test than in some of the other Jonathan Kellerman books, but plot interest will keep you reading until the end. (

)

Carol420 | May 31, 2016 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 22 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (9 possible)

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

Alex Delaware (2)

Is contained in

When The Bough Breaks [and] Blood Test by Jonathan Kellerman

Blood Test | When the Bough Breaks | Over the Edge by Jonathan Kellerman

▾Awards and Honors

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

Blood Test

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Los Angeles, California, USA

La Vista, California, USA

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

As always, for Faye, Jesse, and Rachel, and welcoming Ilana

First words

I sat in the courtroom and watched Richard Moody get the bad news from the judge.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

Alex Delaware

File:BloodTest.jpg

▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:

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.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary