Dead Time - Stephen White

Funnily enough, both Jonathan Kellerman and Stephen White released new novels within weeks of each other. They both are clinical psychologists in real life as are their protagonists.

White's character Alan Gregory practices psychology in Boulder, Colorado. His sidekick is Detective Sam Purdy. Sam is on suspension for offences committed during the last case Alan and he worked on. Gregory's wife Lauren suffers from Multiple Sclerosis. The mysteries that White writes about are fascinating, but so are the interpersonal relationships of the main charaters, particulary between Lauren and Alan.

This book is a bit of a departure from previous books in the series. Lauren and Sam do not figure as predominantly. Instead every other chapter is from the standpoint of Alan's ex wife Merideth, who has remarried. Her new husband Eric and five friends were involved in a tragedy that happened in the Grand Canyon years ago. One of the five is also the child of a fellow psychologist. Meredith asks for Sam and Alan's help to locate a surrogate mother that they have engaged. She has disappeared. There may be a connection between the two incidents. Alan's personal life is also undergoing great stress.

I found it interesting to explore Meredith's character a bit more. This novel seemed to overdo the personal introspection a bit. Some of the story surrounding the Grand Canyon event is a bit convoluted. I was a little hard pressed to find all of Alan's support of Meredith believable. Nonetheless, Dead Time is still a great read.

Now folks, I think I will break out of the mystery/thriller genre for a while and bring you something different next review!