Survival of the Fittest: An Alex Delaware Novel

Once more Ales Delaware and his best friend Detective Milo draw us in to the phsychological underbelly of crime in LA. As always, fascination keeps us glued to the book and encourage us to consume page by page.

I'm a devout reader of Jonathan Kellerman's books and keep waiting for the quality to deteriorate but it never happens. This book was a slight deviation from his typical plot but it only made it better. It was somewhat more racy than his previous novels but still within bounds of good taste. The plot was also a bit more convoluted which added to the suspense. Once again an excellent read, Mr. Letterman.

Written almost 20 years ago, one of the first Dr. Delaware stories.

Dr. Delaware is a very attractive person and so is Robin. Milo Sturgis is nominally gay but real gays usually avoid being overweight. The 'chubby chaser' subset is relatively small. Of course, Kellerman wanted to present a virtually non-sexual image of a gay man.

At one point (too many religious references for my taste) someone says 'religious does not mean to be an ayatollah'. Unfair to Moslems, all three Abrahamic religions (Jewish, Christian and Islam) recognize the Book of Leviticus as their guidance, a strange concoction identifying gay man as an abomination but also forbidding men to have sex with the widows of their deceased brothers.

All part of the Word of God.

That, of course, does not have anything with a book basically about eugenics gone amok. That is quite plausible and the Nazis practiced the 'culling' on a gigantic scale called holocaust.

Well, the book is now Dr. Delaware classic and I am reading it probably for the second time as a convenient e-book where I can set the font large enough so I do not need my glasses.

I've read every Alex Delaware book multiple times and love that I can now get them from my local library.
I hadn't read this one for a while and as all of them, it's very detailed and very cleverly plotted. Since it was written now 20 years ago....that doesn't seem right, but it is...it's a little dated as far as technology and things we use every day.
But all books are that way and this one tells a great story, and I love the extra character in the policeman from Israel. I thought he'd show up again sometime.
Anyway, great book, great read and I salivate for Jonathan Kellerman's new books.

Jonathan Kellerman can always be depended upon to deliver reads that are heavy on plot and extremely complex as to the characters he develops. This work is no exception. Good characters and a good plot are difficult to create time after time; book after book, but Kellerman seems to have the knack.

For me this was a dark, dark read. Not only do we have the fact of innocent (mentally challenged individuals) being murdered but we have the overall theme of eugenics tying the story together. Now this theme, for me personally, is something that is quite horrifying. Does a person or a group of persons or a society have the right to determine who is to live, who is to die, who is allowed to reproduce, based on an individuals mental or physical abilities. History is filled with examples of this concept and we actually need to look no further in our history...the United States, to find plenty of examples of this concept.

In this novel, which I will be the first to admit will not be every reader's cup of tea, we have the two familiar characters of Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis who followers of Kellerman will be quite familiar with. Due to the international flavor is the particular crimes (horrible crimes I might add) in this work, we also are reintroduced to the astute Israeli detective, Inspector Daniel Sharaui fist noted in the novel The Butcher's Theater. The parade of colorful and diverse characters simply add icing to the cake.

Now please take careful note...this is a dark, dark novel. It can be quite upsetting at times. The author has given us a very nice history of Eugenics which adds even a darker chill to the overall plot...absolutely horrifying as far as I am concerned. It should also be noted that this work takes some concentration as it is being read in order for full appreciate what Kellerman has done. Many will tell you that this is not the author's best work but I feel this is debatable as the taste of various readers run a very large gambit. What appeals of one may not appeal to another. I personally found this to be a satisfying read on many levels. If you are following this series then this is one you most certainly need to add to your reading list.

This was a library find.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

This one is sooooooo GOOD! First off, several characters from other book

series pop up in this one. We meet an Israeli detective named Daniel

Sharavi who first appeared in J Kellerman's non-Delaware novel The

Butcher's Theater; we meet Hollywood detective Petra Connor who would go

on to have her own series (well, two books of her own so far: Billy

Straight and Twisted), and there is even a mention of detective Peter

Decker who was created by JK's wife, Faye Kellerman. I love a good

crossover, so this was fun. This is the first Delaware novel I've read

that switches POV. Most of it is still told in the first person by Alex,

but there are some chapters told in the third person from other

character's POV. That's the way Billy Straight is told and it kind of

irritated me with that book, but really didn't bother me as much with

this one. Plus, we get an actual description of Alex, who never

describes himself.

It starts with a young policeman killing himself in public. This

policeman's sister is a nurse at Cedars-Sinai, where Rick (Milo's lover)

works and Rick asks Alex to talk with her because she is really shook up

by it all. But then, Milo asks for some help with a cold case he's been

assigned - a case with international overtones. The daughter of an

Israeli diplomat was murdered and the original investigators got

nowhere. This is where Daniel Sharavi comes in.

The investigation leads to some shocking revelations and Alex agrees to

go undercover to investigate. This almost gets him killed. MAN, does he

come close to kicking the bucket in this one! Both Daniel and Milo are

more-or-less abducted by their respective superiors, which keeps them

from backing up Alex and there is a BRILLIANT scene where Milo fakes a

heart attack to get away. I mean it - who knew Milo was such a good actor? And we've

never seen Milo so frightened and upset and flat out angry because, of

course, he blames himself for endangering Alex in the first place, even

though it was Alex who talked him into it.

All's well that ends well, though, so I won't give anything else away.

These books just keep getting better!

Survival of the Fittest by Jonathan Kellerman is not only an engrossing, fast paced murder mystery it also contains a brief and very enlightening history of eugenics. Does anyone have the right to decide another person should die because their life isn't worth living? In this story someone is deciding and is killing the handicapped. The already cold case of an Israeli diplomat's slightly retarded daughter is dumped on Milo, who enlists the help of his psychologist friend Alex. Because of its international overtones the homosexual cop and the heterosexual shrink are forced to team up with an Israeli police Inspector to solve case. It's a great mix of characters, each bringing his own unusual talents into the battle against a gang of killers who feel their high IQ's give them the right to decide the fate of others. Each new murder seems unrelated, but Alex sees an ugly thread tying them all together and that thread is eugenics. The ending is especially creepy as Milo and Sharavi struggle to save Alex's life and the true motives behind the murders is unveiled.

The story literally opens with a bang. A police officer commits suicide for no apparent reason, leaving a devastated sister as a survivor.

A serial killer has been shooting persons with mental and physical challenges. None of the victims knew each other, yet they do have that common thread linking them.

The first victim, a girl with physical AND mental challenges is the daughter of a diplomat. Since none of the killings reveal sexual assault or struggle, the question remains as to who did it and why? The diplomat denies there was any political motive as his daughter had no concept of politics or his position.

Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis are called in to solve this case. Dani Sharavi, of "Butcher's Theater" fame makes a guest appearance in this book. In order to crack the murder case and related mysteries, Sharavi helps Delaware travel undercover. Assuming a fake name and identity, Delaware is installed in an apartment Sharavi set up for him.

In his new undercover identity, Delaware discovers a Nazi propaganda bookstore, a woman with a twisted mind and an equally twisted agenda, more murders and a final confrontation.

Dr. Delaware is also a victim. He's a victim of bad judgment in relationships. His tiresome live in lover Robin Castagna is nothing but a sump on everyone's collective time. Her only purpose when she's not at work as a luthier for rock stars is to be a sex partner and a meal companion for Dr. Delaware. Their relationship outside the bedroom revolves around food - buying it; going out to eat; meal preparation and eating said meal. That got old fast. It was already old in the first book in the series.

Although I felt the conclusion was a tad disappointing, it still nevertheless showed the complexities of human nature. Nothing is ever so cut and dried and satisfactory in real life.

I think this is a first rate thriller.

I thought that, Survival of the Fittest was great, I read the other reviews that was for it and was a little mad. I think that Alex and Milo are great and I love all of the Alex Delaware books. The people that said that it made no sense or it was boring just were not paying attention. It was my second best book, my first being When the bough breaks. For those people that said it made no sense, here I'll tell you a little about it. When Alex is asked by Milo to help with a case, a diplomate's daughter murdered on a school trip, Alex does, although that Milo admits that the case is cold. A few days later, another girl is murdered with the same method as the diplomate's daughter, using strangulation, in a certain position. The only things connecting the case are that the girls were both slightly retarted, and later both had a piece of paper that says DVLL, on it. Alex and Milo are reluctently working in Isrealite dectective, Daniel Sharvi. They are trying to find the killers before it's too late.

Jonathan Kellerman is, in my opinion, one of the best authors of suspense around today. While he brings us a continuing character, he loses none of the appeal. In this latest addition to his works, he brings us two new characters to become attached to in this marvelous novel.
One believes that he does not tire of breathing new dimensions to his existing characters; but rather continues to love them as much as his readers.
The storyline is compelling and he does not cheat us one iota.
I, for one, would like to see his newest characters reappear in addition to his tried and true regulars. (Whether they be together or in a new series).
Do yourself a great favor and read "Survival of the Fittest". I do not think that you will be disappointed in the least.
Unlike some others authors (ie: Patricia Cornwell), his characters remain fresh and even more engaging.
Get this book, curl up with a blanket and a cup of coffee (or tea if you are so inclined) and prepare for a very good read.

"Survival of the fittest" was the first book I ever read from Jonathan Kellerman and I must admit I really liked his writing style because he unfolds the story so professionaly.
"Survival of the fittest"
A cop commits suicide in public.A retarded fifteen years old girl
is found dead. She happens to be the daughter of an Israeli diplomat and (the poor thing doesn't get enough publicity so the killer would be found a bit easier) this is because criminals may get encouraged to target other diplomats children. Later on,
another girl is found dead - and she happens to be just a street girl even though she was strangled to death too...
A detective Milo Sturgis, has all the help he needs to solve these crimes and all that help comes from a psychologist Alex
Delaware...
If you enjoy psychological thriller this book wont dissapoint you at all.

Love once again the Delaware characters, including Milo at his best. Also love the Daniel character...nicely woven into a threesome crime team. Loved Alex playing an undercover role. Also, plenty of accurate information on the Eugenics movement...in the end the right folks survive, only after plenty of bodies are found. A fast page turner...

Halfway through "Survival of the Fittest", I felt uneasy. Something was unsettling as the focus changed from the two main characters, Dr. Delaware & Det. Sturgis, to an Israeli diplomat & an Israeli cop. By books end, it is all too clear that Kellerman willingly abandons US democracy, the US Constitution and all it's laws of order to be supplemented by a "Dirty Harry" form of justice. The Americans step aside and let Israelis run amok in our country dispensing "their justice" as they see fit without any limits or repercussions from our officials. The Israelis' tap American citizens' phones, and do other surveillance on our citizens, all in the name of justice. Wow, where have I heard that reasoning before...

This is the second Jonathan Kellerman book I've read. And I like it, but I don't love it; nothing to write home about. I do like how the two disparate cases presented at the beginning of the book dovetail into a coherent single case towards the end. I like how a perceived threat to the investigation (Sharavi) turns out to be a key player in Alex Delaware's survival.
It all starts with one clever cop who likes to kill. He knows a preference for murder isn't exactly your everyday motivation to kill, so he forms a smarter-than-the-rest-of-them group that buys into the whole concept of eugenics (racial cleansing). With that murders happen one after the other.
In the end, there's an undercover assignment involving Alex, a last minute delay tactic which involves explaining the sequence of events and motives for those murders and a heroic save by employs of the Israeli consulate.
F - 2 (crotch grabbing, murder in the nude)
L - 4 (good dialogue, succinct descriptions of the environment)
A - 2 (lot of time spent driving around, interviewing people)
P - 3 (explained above)
* For a detailed explanation of what my rating system means, please visit my About You area and look up the review I wrote for The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum.

Kellerman's Alex Delaware novels never fail to deliver entertainment. Survival of the Fittest is no different. The plot carries a sustained suspense to the climax that will satisfy all the amateur detectives amongst you. The special treat for readers of Delaware novels is the comic relief provided by the interactions of Milo Sturgis and Alex Delaware...or for that matter Milo Sturgis and just about any other character. Have fun with this and get your dose of intrigue, too. And if you enjoy some comic relief with your suspense novels, check out the characters of Benny Post and Tim DeMornay in the thriller, Evil, Be Gone.

This book IS a page-turner, and has many commendable qualities.

The characters have substance and are believable and varied and interesting. The plot is unusual, although pretty far-fetched. The twists and turns keep you guessing, and there is considerable suspense.

But it also has some strange flaws.

The ending is strictly Deus ex Machina--just when all hope is lost, ta-DAH!, superheroes materialize out of nowhere and save the day.

Also, there is the odd and intrusive (and unnecessary) Pro-Israel undercurrent.

This is counter to the main theme, which is, Everyone Is Deserving of Respect--the opposite of the ideology of the book's fascist eugenics nuts.

And yet Israel is somehow portrayed as superior to other countries (and heavy slams are laid against Palestinians--gratuitously, because there are no Palestinians in the book). Individual Israelis (like Zev) may have their faults, but Israel is unstintingly held up as a paragon.

That would be easy to ignore, but the entire ending hinges on it.

So why all the Pro-Israel propaganda?

How would people feel if Kellerman suddenly started singing the praises of Germany--what a great, embattled country it was, how heroic its people were, how awesome its culture, how superior blah blah blah? He would rightly be condemned as a proto-fascist himself, like the eugenics nuts in his book.

Another flaw, maybe inherent in the genre, is the pervasive idea: The World Is Full of Psycho Killers. This is nonsense, of course, and leads to paranoia and the police state.

+AH4-Although I have been a fan of Jonathan Kellerman's writing (have read every single book), I was bothered by the political intonations of this book. His anti-arab messages came in the way of a story which (I thought)was supposedly sending out an anti-prejudice message. I suggest you read his other books because they are really amazing, especially if you are intersted in psychology. Survival of the Fittest has a good plot and a shocking message concerning psychology and intelligence testing but+AH4-+AH4- only if you aren't botherd by the author's personal political views+AH4-

I have liked all of Jonathan Kellerman's books but I would have to say that this one is now my favorite. This book has it all, it is exciting, thrilling, intelligent and very chilling. Kellerman brings back a hero from one of his earlier non-Deleware books (The Butcher's Theater), Daniel Sharavi. He along with a skeptical Milo and Alex try to solve a horrible murder of the daughter of an Israeli diplomat. Kellerman's characters are so well drawn and his attention to detail is as always superb! If you like a fast moving thriller this book is one of the best!
Ree-views

Too often, reviews are either very positive or very negative on the store. Mine is in the middle. I personally don't like reading about killers of children or people who are like those that drive people to read The Silence of the Lambs. However, once I got into the book, I was not turned off like some other books. One of his earlier books, I stopped reading after some fifty pages because I didn't want to read about a really sick person who killed children. This book has some very good parts, the focus on eugenics and the partial guilt that was felt by the main character in being a psychologist. The gratituous "gay good policeman" could have been left out, the Israeli cop was good, the villians were poorly developed except the woman character...and she was not that well done, just erotic and interesting. I agree with another reviewer who asked that there be a better reason for the murders stated...in fact the ending was a real let down. I guess folks get into an author and they can do no wrong and just sell more and more books. If this is the best of the author's last three books, then he still needs to improve. The genre is not condusive to great writing in general, a good page turner is all that most strive to be. Given that criteria, it was better than most I have read, but the author seems to be capable of doing an even better job in the future. I would recommend it to those who like this kind of book, those going on a plane ride/vacation or those who are looking for a book to escape into...however there is better out there.

Although I have always looked forward to the Alex Delaware mystery, Kellerman's latest books are a huge disappointment. Survival of the Fittest had no character development or understanding of its one dimensional antagonists whose motive was 'just because I can'. Such a disappointment. Dr. Kellerman, where are those clever books with credible characters and plausable situations keeping your readers on the edge of their seats? The conclusion of this book was not worthy of the story leading up to it. I miss When the Bough Breaks and many of the earlier stories with psychology woven tightly with the mystery. Please give us real problems with villians we can understand and appreciate. If not, have the bad guys wear mustaches and black hats.

I disagree with many of the other reviews. I think this novel was very well done, and Jonathan Kellerman delivered--like usual!

This novel starts out with a policeman that commits suicide--in public--which comes together much better later in the novel.

Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis go on an unbelievable journey to solve their mystery of a murderer killing people who are mentally challenged! This novel's plot will keep you guessing until the very end!

If you are a politically correct sheep who bristles in self-righteous indignation at the mere thought of the evil "Nazi" bogeyman or any thought process that contradicts the program inculcated into your fragile, more than likely American, skull since birth, this novel may seem interesting. Kellerman panders to the fragile P.C. snowflake in every way, making extra sure he casts the murderous non-state of Israel in as positive or, at the very least, neutral a light as possible. Considering who runs the media, including the majority of the publishing houses, it's no wonder I found this novel prominently displayed at a Barnes & Noble. The masters approve.

The first chapter, which begins with a bang, caught my attention right away. It can be fun...until you realize Kellerman is writing for the "my goodness, do people like that still exist?" pool of automatons.

As we all know, the best way to spread lies is to mix them with truth, which is exactly what Kellerman does. For example, he correctly details the pre-WWII eugenics movement, going as far as to mention Oliver Wendell Holmes and Buck vs. Bell (the typically ignorant American reader will probably take it as fiction, having never heard of it). He then liberally (pun intended) sprinkles the book with these rancid nuggets:

A character's daughter who lives in Israel, has been "assigned to a mental health clinic where she tried to comfort small children terrorized by Hezbollah bombs from Lebanon." No mention of children Israel has terrorized but of course they don't need comfort anymore, because they're dead.

Elsewhere, he passes of fact as fiction, intentionally muddling the boundaries in order to promote a cultural Marxist agenda inherently hostile to Western civilization:

"To me it's scary stuff, Alex. Lehmann's main point is people in hot climates are inherently stupider and more 'dissolute' than those from Nordic regions because they have less need to build shelters from harsh weather, don't develop a sophisticated culture. In cold-weather regions, only smart and creative people are able to cope and propagate."

Imagine I spent an hour telling you how people who don't agree the sky is purple are bad, then said to your face: "they claim molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more than they scatter red light. When we look towards the sun at sunset, we see red and orange colours because the blue light has been scattered out and away from the line of sight."

The rest of the book plods on in similarly tacky fashion: a black cop can't get a break because of "departmental racism," the main detective on the case is a homosexual, blah blah blah.

One gets the sense Kellerman read 'The Bell Curve' and decided to hatch a flimsy storyline out of Herrnstein and Murray's "cognitive elite" gone psycho. And that would've all been fine were it not for his transparent liberal freak agenda, which so painfully panders to the string-pullers of the publishing industry who write his checks. The most ironic thing is, his predominantly American audience, increasingly barbarous and uneducated as they are, will swallow this all down hook, line, and sinker, as it only reinforces their indoctrination. Much like a typical Hollywood film that can't run for ninety minutes without some passing mention to a host of concocted isms that the pathological left constantly fears, the novel was meant to entertain while passively reinforcing the Big Lie of "political correctness" with which the Frankfurt school poisoned the West after the war.

I have read and enjoyed every Kellerman book. This one, however, made me pause. I live in Idaho and resent Dr. Kellerman's passing inferences about Idaho being full of "skinheads." We here consider them a part of L.A. culture not ours. We ARE a state full of Mormons. Perhaps Dr. Kellerman should read more about their culture before he makes generalizations.

While the plot is interesting, Kellerman allowed the story to drag along at much too slow a pace for very long passages to hold my interest.After reading over one-half of Survival Of The Fittest, I skipped to the ending as I could't take the poor pacing any longer. I guess one might say I wasn't fit enough to survive this slow-moving story.

Kellerman had fallen into a rut trying to find more and more 'child psych' book themes. His latest takes on the eugenics issue and does a reasonable job of explaining the issues and their history using thinly-disguised and entirely real examples. Protaganist Alex Delaware has to play dumb and do research which he explains to us--info known to virtually any social scientist but not to the general reader. Unfortunatley, the title suggests that Eugenics is the same as evolutionary theory, and the reader should be careful not to confuse the two (Kellerman does not confuse them, but he skates close to letting the reader confuse them....) "Survival of the fittest" was not even Darwin's phrase, I might note--altho he borrowed it from Spencer quite willingly but unfortunately.

Kellerman usually hooks your immagination and holds it firm. In this novel, Dr. Alex Deleware is brought into a scene uncharacteristic of his profession, and thus it quickly becomes unbelievable. The story drags on through the middle pages leaving you bored stiff with the "intellectual" dialogue. Only in the last quarter inch does the plot thicken and the pace quicken. The result is a bit of a twisted ending leaving you wonder why you bothered in the first place. I think Kellerman is showing signs of having to dig really deep to come up with tantalizing fiction. Perhaps, after Billy Straight and a novel apparently ready to follow, he should take a long rest.

Definitely my favorite author - Kellerman is certainly in his element when he writes about the Los Angeles area (especially like it when Alex Delaware visits the near-Silverlake area!) Great idea bringing Daniel into the book. Again, I read it too fast and now have to wait for the next one!

I have never read an Alex Delaware novel before...but it seems I have not missed much. It has been a while since I have sat down with a book that is simply just mediocre. The writing is filled with as many one word paragraphs as words it seems, and the plot stubles along to a predictable ending.

I am not sure what makes these books popular. There is little of substance and I get this feeling that the level of reading is just above that of a Hardy Boys novel.

Once more, Jonathan Kellerman drives us to the dark depths of the human soul. As a great psycographer, he creates characters the reader can identify with and follow them through the labyrinth of prejudice, vice and malice that unfolds before them. A great book that kept me up until I finished it.

This book was highly recommended by a friend. I don't get it. I was at least interested in the story to read the ENTIRE thing but it just wasn't that good. I have only read one other book by Jonathan Kellerman and don't plan to read anymore. I want to really be entertained and this didn't do it.

Kellerman again projects his talents in sleuthing/ psychology in his element of the Los Angeles/Silverlake area, taking on the survivalists and bringing back a character I didn't think I would see again. Excellent reading.

Once again, Jonathan Kellerman delivers the thrills and chills with his latest Alex Delaware novel. The plot was ingenious and the characters as great as ever. Just one little quibble: Where's Robin? Please bring her back!