Justice audiobook

Faye Kellerman is one of those writers I'd been aware of for years simply due to the number of books she'd written. I simply had never gotten around to picking one of her books up and trying it.I picked this one up because it was used as an example in Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children a nonfiction book by her husband Jonathan Kellerman. Otherwise I'm OCD I'd probably never picked up #8 in a series first.This is an interesting (as advertised) character driven mystery/thriller. It's not really the style of book I generally like but it's so well written that it held my interest throughout.I plan to go out and "start" the series and maybe read several as I've been in need of "something different" for a while.I recommend you try these. I'm going the full 5 here. While this may not be the top of my 5 star list and probably won't be a favorite it is an excellent read. I'd say (again) try for yourself and see what you think.

A fairly good read from start to finish. Dealing with affluent teenagers can be as frustrating as it gets, but Decker handles it well. One of his stumbling blocks though was his Lieutenant that just wanted the case solved without Decker doing his full and meticulous methods. Not as much family time for Decker in this one, but I don't have a problem with that. Two thumbs up and 4.5 stars!From the blurb: The cruel and bizarre slaying of a beautiful teen leads Detective Decker into the dark heart of an exotic subculture: the seamy, sometimes violent world of Southern California's rootless, affluent youth. But even the confession of a disturbed kid with cold "killer eyes" cannot soothe Decker's inner torment. For he knows in his gut this crime goes much deeper and higher than anyone expects -- and that true justice, brutal and complete, has yet to be done.

My all time favorite book! I became emotionally attached to a character. It's another coming of age story for a late teen woman who comes from an emotionally unavailable home. And story of justice for a killer, for the victim's family, for an overlooked employee, and for a corrupt public servant. I can't say enough about how much I enjoy and in a way, depend on this book.

Best of the series so far. More police work than family in this one and it makes it a better read. Don't want to see the family go but just a bit less.

A good page turner. Liked the break from Orthodox Judaism and more police work. Still involved family, but on a lesser level. Decker is promoted to Lieutenant and has a good team behind him. The story involves murder, teenagers, drugs..... Chris Whitman is a very interesting character. See if he reappears in future books.

A really good read with some really interesting characters. I hope we get to see more of Terry in the future. As for the mystery, parts of it were obvious from the start and parts were never fully answered. A bit more of a resolution would have been nice but it still had an interesting ending.

This is a actually my favourite Peter Decker book to date. The subject matter is very unsavoury and the plot very gripping, as you would expect. There are also some very unexpected twists that occur towards the end. As usual, Faye Kellerman creates an acute sense of place. The reader can feel the heat when Terry is being driven through the desert for her assignation at Piedmont and when Peter Decker and Wanda Bontemps are driving through South Central LA investigating a cold case, you actually feel you are there with them, such is Faye Kellerman's talent for creation of scene. However, this book is also a little bit different. At times, a first person narrative perspective is used, with parts of the story told from the perspective of re-occurring character Teresa McLaughlin. This obviously intersects with the main line of crime investigation, which is the murder of a young woman. I have read the Peter Decker books out of order, and have read the most recent texts first. So I was fascinated to find out Terry's back story and also to meet the notorious Christopher Donatti as an eighteen year old. Elements of this story go in a different direction from what readers normally expect from this genre and there are scenes of sexual intimacy, which echo the later books account of Gabriel Whitman's relationship with Yasmeen. It is interesting to see this surprising narrative thread in the wider contexts of the books. With this family, Kellerman does go in a different direction, embracing the seedy side of life - which is such a contrast to Decker's own wholesome lifestyle and functional relationship with Rina. This is very interesting as it gives a crime fiction novel extra depth and dimension. Also - and this I feel is a real triumph for Kellerman, through her creation of Christopher Donatti, she creates a wicked, deeply disturbed character, who I find weirdly likable and charismatic. So nothing is clear and our knowledge and principals are constantly challenged in a low grade and thoughtful way. The title of the novel is also very interesting - as is the character development of Wanda Bontemps. An excellent book, with an eerie free-standing sentence to end. Excellent employment of slightly different ingredients not normally associated with crime - thoughtful, well written and generally fab!!

This was a very good read. I will say it was not a page turner but I found myself intrigued by the story line. The characters were interesting especially one of the main one, Christopher Whitman. I think I wanted to know more about him because he was such an interesting guy. This book was not a page turner because I thought it was predictable and kept turning pages hoping for a bit more. However I did like the way the ending worked for all the police characters involved. Would recommend.

Ending was a cliffhanger

Re-read 3/23/13; re-read again 2/17/16

Loved Chris, thought he was superbly drawn and was thrilled to discover, in later books, that he (and Terry) became recurring characters.

My favorite in the series so far. Could not put it down! Wish I could give more stars

Really enjoyed this one in the series, especially as I've read some out of order. It explains Chris Donatti and his relationship with Deckard, and explains so much of what happens in the later books.

In this installment of the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus mystery series, we are introduced to recurring character Chris Whitman, son of mob boss Joseph Donatti. Hiding out from mafia life back east, Whitman attempts to blend in to life as a normal teenager yet still stands out in the crowd. Then he falls in love with his tutor even though the mob had arranged a marriage for him back home. Amidst all of this teenaged angst, on prom night Whitman's date is found strangled to death in her hotel room. Sargent Decker is called upon to investigate. Despite evidence that a black suspect may have been involved, Decker's superior does not want anymore race riots in the aftermath of Rodney King. Whitman confesses to a crime that he may or may not have done in order to get the mob and police off of his back. Decker decides to investigate more on his own time especially when tests connect his case to a cold case. The second half of the book unravels layers of the case involving the mob, race relations, and tension in Decker's department. Meanwhile Rina is not involved much on this case, and Nana Mama is in the background. What results is a fast page turning police thriller full of twists that kept me guessing until the end.