Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman
Audiobook Review of the 22nd Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis Mystery
Jul 17, 2008
Compulsion (audio CD, unabridged, 2008) does not plumb any new territory, and hence will probably not attract legions of new fans to Jonathan Kellerman's hugely successful mystery series, but it is certainly a solid addition to the canon, that will entertain his many fans and keep them happily salivating in anticipation of the 23rd installment, Bones, due out this fall.
Compulsion opens with Kat, a drunken young woman, leaving a club where her two friends have just hooked up with a couple of losers, and have left her to fend for herself. Kat is really too drunk to drive home, but she tries anyway, staying on the side streets to avoid the police. She runs out of gas in the middle of nowhere, and her cell phone is dead. Kat is thrilled when an older woman in a brand new Bentley stops and offers her a ride home. She is never seen again.
Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis
Detective Milo Sturgis is called in on the case when the Bentley is discovered abandoned, with a small blood stain on the front seat. Milo is hesitant to get involved, since there is no real evidence of homicide, but things have been slow, and Milo is itching to get back to work after being sidelined by a few bullets at the end of Kellerman's previous novel, Obsession.Soon, things get complicated. A retired schoolteacher is knifed in broad daylight. The only link between the crimes seems to be the use of a stolen, expensive luxury car. Milo thinks this is a tenuous link at best, but psychologist Alex Delaware is convinced the two cases are connected. As Milo and Alex continue their investigation, they discover links to the murders of two women in a small town in the desert, and a cold case homicide in New York City.
Plot and Characterization
As he has in the previous volumes in this series, Kellerman weaves the disparate plot points together with a firm hand, and brings everything to a satisfying conclusion. At the same time, he picks up the threads of characterization from previous novels and continues to expand upon the personal stories of the main characters.
Alex, the brilliant psychologist who is clueless when it comes to his own relationship with girl friend Robin, and Milo, the gay homicide detective who has overcome police department prejudice with a stellar solve rate, are one of the most enduring and interesting detective teams in popular fiction, and Kellerman has done an outstanding job of carrying the subplot of their personal lives through 22 novels, while still allowing each book to stand on its own.
John Rubinstein
As usual, the audio production on Compulsion is excellent. Actor, director, composer John Rubinstein has done the narration for the Delaware series from the beginning, and his vocal characterizations are perfect.
Rubinstein imbues each character with his own unique voice and personality, from the world weary, gravel-voiced Milo, to the insightful and sardonic Delaware, to all the recurring minor characters and the suspects and victims that are new to this novel. Rubinstein is a vocal chameleon, whose characterizations are so individualized that the listener rarely, if ever, has to wait for the attribution to know who is speaking. Kellerman's deft storytelling and Rubinstein's brilliant reading make Compulsion a joy.
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