Book Review: The Conspiracy Club

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Conspiracy Club     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Jonathan Kellerman
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Ballantine, Dec 2003, $26.95, 376 pp.

Six months may have passed since Jocelyn Banks was brutally murdered, but her lover Dr. Jeremy Carrier remains despondent as he knows first hand that time does not heal all wounds. Though the police remain convinced he is the prime suspect, a depressed Jeremy buries himself in his work as a psychiatrist at City Central Hospital because being alone is more difficult to cope with than working with emotionally crippled patients.

However his antisocial misanthropic behavior is interrupted when colleague Dr. Arthur Chase hooks Jeremy to attend some social functions of a secret society. As Jeremy begins to come out of his emotional fog, he notices that other women have recently died in the same gruesome manner as his beloved. Clues begin appearing for no apparent reason. Realizing he must act alone as the police seem to be closing in on him as the serial killer, Jeremy begins investigating a cat and mouse terror game with someone guiding him, but is that someone the killer?

More a combination conspiracy amateur sleuth tale than a medical thriller, Jonathan Kellerman’s latest tale is an exciting story that hooks the audience the moment Dr. Chase breaks down the first of Jeremy’s survival barriers. From that moment the story line is fast-paced filled with red herrings as everyone seems garbed in a masquerade (though not the same type of plot, this reviewer kept thinking of the List of Adrian Messenger). The “conspiracy” seems a bit odd and off kilter, but fans will value this exhilarating look at vengeance.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner