Gone

Man, Kellerman caught the Dan Brown syndrome. That just pissed me off. 3 pages doesn't make a chapter. Do not presume that your readers have the attention span of a gerbil. By page 50, we were at chapter 8! 8! I persisted because I know Kellerman is good storyteller or used to be anyway. This one is better than the last one, Rage, but not by much and I didn't like the last one. I long for the older ones where the story had depth and Alex was more than this caricature of himself. I won't even go into what Milo is like now or that Robin is just, grrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!! If you are a completist, like me, you'll feel the need to read anyway but don't buy it, get it from your library, much better for your wallet.

In Gone, acting students Dylan and Michaela go missing. When they are appear again, they are bruised after claiming to have been kidnapped. This kidnapping claims turns out to be a hoax. The duo of Milo Sturgis and Alex Delaware come into the picture, Milo investigating and Delaware performing an evaluation of Michaela. Later Michaela turns up murdered, and the police immediately suspect Dylan. Naturally, Delaware gets involved in the search and aftermath as he often does.

Gone is one of the weaker efforts from Jonathan Kellerman in this series. The plot was implausible. The side characters weren’t especially likeable. The story tends to meander a bit. The main characters of Delaware and Sturgis are generally well drawn, which makes show more the story easier to sit through. All the same, unless you are hooked into this series, this is a novel that I would skip. There are far better novels out there to occupy your time.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street show less

I saw some thought this was a weaker in the series but I found it one of the better ones lately. While Alex getting attacked is never cool, his being high in the hospital was amusing. This one was filled with more investigation that mental brainstorming for a change. Not sure what i think of the ending/culprits - lower suspect pool possibilities keeps it less of a surprise. No matter, we get a lot of investigating, time with family members who genuinely tug on the heartstrings, some resolution with Allison and Robin (the pretty girl pair have their own bonding moment a few times), and a sad situation with Spike. Spike, you will be missed. As with all of the mysteries, the horror of the story keeps expanding and brutal people commit show more brutal crimes as usual. We get some nods to the previous book, Rage, where this takes place about a year later. The male attorney (Montez?) has returned. Besides the mystery, there's a side story where Alex runs into an unstable psychologist he has written a report on that - for a change - has nothing at all to do with an actual police investigation. show less

I thought I might have read this before and yes, I had. But I did not remember major details, just small ones, so I read it through again.

Kellerman is not one of my favorite mystery writers but he's more intelligent than many, so holds my attention. I like Milo, the gay detective, and Alex, the psychologist hooked on crime. I like that they have flaws, even though at times some of the flaws seem ludicrous.

For example, Alex Delaware is a psychologist who gets depressed if he doesn't have a woman in his life. He feels lonely. He feels sorry for himself. It seems to me that he could have leaned a few tools of his trade to overcome these feelings, to be okay with himself by himself. But of course it is well-known that people get into this show more profession because they are screwed up.

But to the story.

At first, a prank. A young woman and man pretend to have been kidnapped in the wild hills of Malibu. The woman, Michaela Brand, is discovered when she runs into the road, naked, and almost causes a truck to run off the edge. The two are acting students of an eccentric teacher, Nora Dowd, who teaches acting for free but chooses her students through audition. Dowd has a large inheritance and can afford to do whatever she wants. She also is a failed actor herself. Why her students should think they can learn from her is never really answered.

Things get a lot more serious when Michaela later turns up dead. Alex Delaware, sometime consultant to the LAPD, wants in. He and Milo Sturgis work together to figure this one out. The characters include fellow acting students, Nora Dowd, Dowd's brothers Brad and Billy, a suspicious janitor named Reymond Peaty, and of course there may be some mysterious boyfriend out there. When Milo learns of another missing acting student, another blond young woman, he begins to think the acting studio may be the base of operations.

And it doesn't end there. An older couple happened to go missing and their car turned up north of LA, somewhere in the Camarillo area. The couple had been interested in acting, too.

Suspicions are all well and good but there is no evidence of any wrongdoing, other than Michaela's body, at first. Milo and Alex cover a lot of ground, from Malibu to Carpenteria and beyond.

Meanwhile, Alex is wondering how his ex-gf, Robin, is doing. And let's not forget Allison, she of the expensive taste in clothing, hair, and makeup.

The mystery gets stranger and the truth almost gets derailed from time to time. Only to end in...well, I'll leave that to you. show less

Delaware and Sturgis team up to investigate the murder of a Hollywood hopeful and stumble into a series of linked murders of would-be stars.
The writing and style are definitely Kellerman-quick and to the point. This book does a better job of keeping the plot interesting with all new twists and turns. No boring moments. Kellerman seem seems to be "softening" Sturgis but not sure if this is going to really develop into anything. Delaware gets beat up some in this one which is unusual for an analytical bystander. There is one entirely hilarious, laugh out loud chapter with a heavily sedated Alex Delaware in the hospital bed-I could use more chapters like that. All in all this book is better than some of Kellerman's other works but the show more antagonists are gory and deeply disturbed. show less

This novel opens with a young, naked girl running out of a forest in front of an old farmer's truck claiming she was kidnapped. When it turns out to be a hoax perpetrated by two wanna be actors/actresses, Alex is asked to evaluate Michaela to see if she is mentally stable. Shortly after meeting with her, he is told the case has been settled. Shortly after that, it all come to an ugly head when she is found murdered and left in a vacant lot. Milo is on the case and immediately calls Alex. The two fo them take on the case. Alex is a psychologist, but he is more like a detective the way he works with Milo to solve this case. One question leads to another and another. One suspect leads to another and another. Lots of suspects, more victims, show more missing persons, questionable property owners and a helpful neighbour all populate this story. Once again Milo plays the big yet unassuming detective that people talk to and Alex plays his role as sidekick and shrink to the tee. This is not a novel full of action, it is a slow, dramatic story that relies a lot on dialogue between Alex, Milo and those they are interviewing. It was not the best Alex Delaware novel I have read, but it was still enjoyable. show less

Gone is a story about a seriously deranged and pathetic family. It is horrible to learn about the mentally ill who turn on helpless dreamers. The characters all seem real. The settings are real. Everything takes place in the Los Angeles area which makes it more upsetting for a person who lives in Los Angeles. Four stars were given to this book in this review. As always, a very well researched book and story.