Jesse Kellerman

LAPD detective Jacob Lev, former Orthodox Jew and son of a rabbi, an alcoholic and a chronic relationship ruiner, has been demoted to traffic detail, so it’s a surprise when he’s suddenly assigned to a murder case- based on the fact that he is Jewish, and the Hebrew word for ‘justice’ was found burned into the granite countertop at the crime scene. It’s a hard crime to figure out; the ‘body’ is only a severed head found in an abandoned Hollywood house. He’s suddenly working show more for a division of the LAPD called ‘Special Projects’, which no one has ever heard of before. He’s working out of his apartment, with a computer that seems to have some kind of censoring software on it, and has been given a credit card with an amazingly high limit on it- that doesn’t work at the convenience store but will buy plane tickets.

Meanwhile, in the other story line, Cain and Abel are having problems: arguing over who gets to marry their sister Asham. She cannot make up her mind; her other two sisters are already married to the brothers but she remains single. After Cain kills Abel and flees with his wife, Ashem goes on a quest to find him. What happens to her eventually has everything to do with Lev’s murder case, in a roundabout way.

Everyone is keeping secrets from Lev, even his father. It’s an incredibly tangled tale, but it all sorts out in the end- well, mostly. It’s a combination police procedural, mythology, and fantasy, with some elements of horror thrown in for good measure. At first Lev seems like a pretty unlikable protagonist, but he grows on you, if only because pretty much everyone can identify with his frustration. I really enjoyed the book, and couldn’t wait to see what on earth would happen next. show less

Controller is the 3rd story in the Warmer Collection from Amazon Originals/Audible. There are 7 stories from various authors in the collection. All have a theme of climate change....sort of.

In Controller, an elderly mother and her son are living together. Both are abusive to each other. Their contempt and disrespect of each other manifests in a fight over control of the thermostat. It's hot outside. The elderly mother who is cold all the time wants the AC off. The son, who is hot, wants it show more left on. Tempers flare....and the temperature keeps rising, inside and out.

I did not like this story. I hated both of the characters. The mother's incessant droning on and on about how having a child ruined her life, how she is old and cold, and nagging her son for ice cream.....OMG I wanted to hop into the story and just scream at her to shut the F up. And the son, thinking about how he hates being stuck with his aging mother (understandable really as she is completely horrific), is just completely unable to stand up for himself and be an adult. He basically just whines. Two awful people stuck in a hot, awful house basking in their awfulness together. Ick.

I listened to the audio book version of this story. It was just over an hour of pure agony. The narration by Chris Andrew Ciulla is spot on. He does the voices and emotions of the characters perfectly. But....the characters are completely annoying. Therefore, the audio was torture to listen to. It's not Ciulla's fault -- his acting was great. It's the characters that are the problem. I could not stand 5 minutes in a room with either one of them without losing my temper. The whining and complaining mother. The simpering son. Ugh. I'm not a quitter....and I can endure just about anything for an hour....so I listened to the whole thing hoping it would get better.

Nope. Hated it.

Terrible.

But.....a story that causes a real emotional reaction in readers is well-written. If I was rating this story purely on my enjoyment of the tale....I would give this one star and be happy with that. But....this story really made me uncomfortable, angry, annoyed.....so Jesse Kellerman got his point across. I was supposed to feel that way. His characters are both assholes.....I'm supposed to hate them. I don't have to like the point....he's just supposed to make me FEEL his point.

Message received. Two stars. Well-written story -- horrific, unlikable characters.

OMG....that mother. Holy shit. What a nightmare! show less

Good plot, and excellent description of VERY dysfunctional wealthy family. Thankfully its good to know Ethan Muller is NOT nearly as bad as his father David but he's a complex privledged character. Once he finds Victor's work he does begin developing some redeeming characteristics.
Victor is an amazing character; victimized but loving and caring, sad and smart. Did he grasp what the newspaper photos of the boys indicated? Its not clear.

Is that the point? Nothing is fully clear or show more understandable. Who is the genius?

Okay read. show less

I was ridiculously excited to read a book supposedly set in Half Moon Bay, because I’m familiar with the place, having spent weeks in Montara where one has to go to HMB to obtain the necessities of life (secondhand housewares, groceries, Mexican food, surfing). The protagonist, however, never gets there until the end of the book. The publisher should have taken a hint from the Nancy Drew naming conventions and called it The Clue at Half Moon Bay. The Kellermans are outstanding writers and show more can flawlessly evoke a sense of place, whether it’s HMB or new parenthood. The description of the hostage taking situation at the beginning of chapter 2 was one of the best things I’ve ever read. I wish I’d ever been to Berkeley because their description was so richly layered that I’m sure it’s true and I wanted to recognize everything. The plot was good too. I would definitely read more books by this duo. show less