When the Bough Breaks

An Alex Delaware Novel

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

Reseñas de la Crítica

"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

"An exceptionally exciting thriller!" -- The New York Times

When the bough breaks

Wonderful start to this series and now I can't wait for the next book in the series.

very disturbing

the profanity was difficult to hear and the details of the violation against children was very disturbing. the story line and plot was excellent but a lot of the details of the child molestation could have been left out. also some of the detailed descriptions could have been abbreviated.

my favorite author!

So happy to have all of these books to hear! I love the twists and turns so you can try to guess the ending... but you will probably be wrong!!

Characters’ attitudes are dated

It was a decent mystery but a little hard to swallow due to the 80’s-era sexism and racism. Will try something by him written more recently.

Enjoyable....

Where does When the Bough Breaks rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It is above average and I'm an avid audiobook listener.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

I was about 3/4 of the way through before I started to get a hint of what the plot may be about. That's pretty good suspense in my book!

What about Alexander Adams’s performance did you like?

Not too dramatic.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not particularly.

Any additional comments?

I am a mental health professional and thought the depiction/commentary of the mental health system in the book was pretty accurate.