The Burnt House

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Customer Reviews:

The return of Peter and Rina [Posted on 2008-10-26]
Although I'm sure I'm incorrect in most of the details, I sometimes picture the writing careers of Jonathan and Faye Kellerman as being sort of like A Star is Born. Jonathan was the first to be an established writer, and soon, Faye would follow. For a while, he was the star, but now--despite his continued bestselling numbers--his quality has faded considerably, and Faye is now clearly the better of the two. Within the past month or so, I've read one book from each of them. Jonathan Kellerman's Compulsion was another dud, and Faye Kellerman's The Burnt House is another good work.

The title residence is actually an apartment building in which a commuter plan has crashed into shortly after its takeoff from Burbank heading towards San Jose. The accident has occurred very close to the Granada Hills home of Peter and Rina Decker, and even closer to the school of their daughter Hannah. Fortunately, all are fine, but Peter, a police lieutenant who oversees homicide investigations, finds that there is still much to be done after the fires have been put out.

In particular, Roseanne Dresden, though listed as one of the crash victims, is alleged by her step-father to have never been on the flight. She has disappeared, however, and the step-father suspects her philandering husband. Decker and his detectives try to determine if she was on the flight, but the airline refuses to disclose any information and there are no remains found at the crash site that belong to her.

A body is found, but it is not Rosanne; instead, it is a much older corpse apparently stashed in the apartment building decades ago and exposed after the crash. This leads to a second mystery, in trying to determine who the victim is and who killed her. Sadly, the resolution of this second plot will hinge on an incredible coincidence that Kellerman doesn't really even try to justify.

This coincidence hurts The Burnt House, but not irreparably; overall, this remains a good book. Why does Faye Kellerman continue to succeed while her husband slides downhill? As much as anything, it has to do with characters: Faye has created a world with a bunch of well-defined characters who have grown over time (in fact, my one continued gripe with the series is that is marketed as a Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus mystery, when Rina has not used that last name in over a decade of fictional or real time). It's been a little while since Kellerman has written a book in the series, but for her fans, it is worth that wait.

The Burnt House [Posted on 2008-10-30]
I was in the middle of reading "The Burnt House",by Faye Kellerman, when I lost the book. Needless to say, I did not want to buy this soft cover edition again and was delighted to find a used copy in alsmost prisitine condition on Amazon.Com. The price was right and the delivery sooner thsn I expected for regular mailing. A pleasure to do business...Ralla Klepak, Esq.

weak book in an otherwise great series [Posted on 2008-11-03]
I am an avid reader of every Faye and Jonathan Kellerman book. His haven't disappointed me yet, but "The Burnt House" was a huge disappointment for me. I had looked forward to reading this book so much, since Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus have always proven to be enjoyable reading of the best kind (entertaining and informative - I have learned so much about religion and lifestyle from these books), but this entry into the series disappointed me.
The plotline is so faulty, I have no idea how the editor could let the book go to publication and the character's development is virtually non-existant.

I really hope the next one is better!

The Slow Burned House [Posted on 2008-11-06]

A West Air commuter jet takes off from Burbank Airport bound for San Jose, California. The plane was climbing to cruising altitude when suddenly it yawed to port and reversed its climb. The plane dove back to earth and crashed with deadly force and exploded into an eighteen-unit apartment building.
The crash site was located in the community of Granada Hills some twenty miles northwest of Los Angeles.
Fire, police and rescue teams rushed to the scene to find no survivors. Once the fire was out and the body count didn't add up the Los Angeles Police Department, West Valley Division led by Detective Lieutenant Decker began the search for flight attendant Roseanne Dresden. The search for Roseanne turns into a possible murder investigation.
Kellerman sets up a twisted plot by throwing in an extra body of an unidentified murder victim into the crash scene. As it turned out that murder occurred thirty years before the crash.
The book is well written but at times the storyline is implausible and the pace is tedious. There were far too many conversations full of small talk that didn't advance the plot. Long-winded interrogations added to the slow pace and officers repeating information from those scenes to associates didn't help.
That being said I read on to the bitter end - page 464 thinking all the while it would have been a better read had it been only 320 pages.

Frustrating read [Posted on 2008-11-26]
I am a great fan of Jonathan Kellerman's books and because my library ran out of his audio books I picked this one written by his wife Faye. The book started off quite well but then things got very boring. The most annoying parts according to me were those where Rina drones on about how concepts and myths from Judaism can be applied to the case that her husband is working on. Most of her examples are weird and illogical (as myths are supposed to be) and I could not help but pity her husband for having to listen to her ramblings after a hard day's work and then to muster up enough energy to thank her for her insights. SIGH!

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