A Decker/Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Series Book 12)

What made Faye Kellerman's books so special was her treatment of a world that most of us don't live in, the world of Orthodox Judaism and how it effects the characters of Rina and Peter. This book focuses on Peter's daughter, Cindy, who is not of this world and rather boring to boot. Rina does not make an appearance until halfway through the book and then she's mostly serving food. There was none of the feisty, original thinking that she is so famous for and Peter seemed diminished as he simply turned into a worried parent. Had this book not had the framework of being billed as a Peter and Rina novel, it would have boiled down to a very ordinary, cliched story. I feel that the book was masquerading under false pretenses. I buy this series to learn what Peter and Rina are up to and to better understand their lives in the context of their faith. This book was a cheat.

I have read all the other Decker/Lazarus books. I didn’t read this one because it wasn’t really about Decker/Lazarus. I saw the book on sale and I tried it. It was terrible. Don’t bother to read it.

well..this was my first kellerman's novel and all the characters were very new to me.. I kept on reading and reading for so many days to just read half of the book.. then i got hooked up in the novel.. it has a mundane plot and just like every another detective story where you can easily guess who the criminal is...i knew him even before the story told me... the book is a big dissapointment for my first kellerman's novel.. i am not likely to read any of her other novel again...

bye.zai jian, adious, aloha kellerman

The book's beginning was wonderful but as you keep reading the story keeps boring you. The last hundred pages or so when the thrilling part must be at pinnacle the book goes out of the main plot so many times that you'll forget what are you reading. When you read a book that could be written with tenfold pages less the book is worthless. You can find many books better than this one.

I was eagerly looking forward to the release of this book until I read some reviews suggesting that the focus on Cindy Decker instead of Peter and Rina made this a less enjoyable Kellerman novel. I say, to the contrary...the addition of Cindy's character in a more developed role was very interesting. I felt that there was a good balance of storyline between Cindy and also with Peter and Rina. I don't know if I would be so enthusiastic about an entire novel devoted to Cindy only, but I thoroughly enjoyed this balance of characters. Don't let the reviews frighten you away!

In the past, Kellerman has consistently drawn complex characters that the reader is interested in and can identify with. Cindy is not such a character.
Why would anyone be interested in a narcissistic little twit with a wardrobe obsession? Why would readers want to endure in literature a character whom in real life we would avoid like the plague? I'm too busy a person to spend my time with someone so shallow and trivial. Cindy has no moral depth, no psychological complexity. We don't identify with this character; we don't care about this character. On the other hand, we desperately miss Peter and Rina.
Altogether, this book was a disappointment--to say the least.

If you have avoided this series because the emphasis on Orthodox Judaism in the first few volumes turned you off, try this one. The focus here is on Pete Decker's daughter, Cindy, now a cop herself who manages to get caught up in one of Dad's open cases. The plot kept me guessing who the bad guy would be, and while Peter and Rina are still practicing Orthodoxy, it's not crammed down your throat in this book. I think it's one of Faye Kellerman's better efforts.

This was my first book by Faye Kellerman and Stalker was good but Cindy's personality kind of ruined the story she was so stubborn in her ways and it ruined it. Overall i guess it was an okay book but i am not planning to buy another book by Faye Kellerman.

The last person who wrote a review said they didn't like the book because the main character was stubborn and it ruined the story. I totally disagree! Cindy was stubborn in her ways, but she's like her father and lots of people are like that. It was very realistic. If you like mystery summer reading with a little romance and a lot of detective work, you will like this book. I am a very picky reader, if a book doesn't interest me in the first few pages then forget about it. But this one grabs you and doesn't let go until the end.

I really enjoyed this book. It had all the suspense that I enjoy and I enjoyed the emphasis on Cindy. I liked the interaction between father and daughter and between the characters in this story. I found it to be fast moving. As much as I like Peter and Rina, it seemed to be harder and harder to keep the stories coming - yet through Cindy, we have new characters with a chance to visit Peter and Rina. Seems like the best of both worlds to me.

While the mystery and suspense of Stalker does not live up to some of Ms. Kellerman's previous books in the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series, it's still an excellent read! I feel Kellerman's timing was right to further explore some of the peripheral series characters, such as Cindy Decker and Scott Oliver. It keeps the series fresh and above all it allows Kellerman to do what she does best - tell stories about people! On a negative...first time Faye Kellerman readers beware this book does refer back to previous story lines.

The main vocal point of the story was very agravating and frankly i was pretty sick of reading it around the 2nd or 3rd day i think that the actors in the actually movie were ok i think that they could have use more vintage actors like Darkwing Duck or Harry Doyle. Nate Harjack was clutch in the lead role Larry Szonka and Greg Bitners attitude in the movie was just outa control with the pit stainds. I think that they need more chacthers in the book like pee wee herman or even the great Jason Bateman. Steven Segal made an appearance in the movie and it think that he could have done a little better job as Kip Peterson and Dean Kane was awsome in the hit tv show malcom in the middle

This was a slow "cops talking to cops" book. While I respect any author's wish to experiment, I found this a less successful entry in the series. I also missed the religion element that first attracted me to these books. I also found Cindy's behaviour somtimes exasperating: If an officer of the law does witness a shooting episode, as she did before the action takes place, wouldn't that officer report this?
-- Per

The plotting and situations created were unreal boring and hard to understand. There is tiresome repetition and much ado because the heroune is Decker's cop daughter. I still can't understand who is who in an unreal complicated ending. I have read other excellent Decker-Lazarus novels. Here the author has failed and disappointed a loyal fan.

I was disappointed in this book. Having read "Jupiter.s bones"
I found little of the same tension and exitement in "The Stalker".
Cindy was a boring character.I'm glad I bought my book through
your Auction.
Sincerely, Ellen from Camas, Wa.

I have read Faye Kellermans books but Stalker was not a good one. Cynthia was bad news for a female cop with a college Degree. She was a total child in this book play acting as a female cop. Come on Kellerman you can do better. Sorry Folks I am 48 not under 13. oops did I write my review in the wrong place?