What Flesh And Blood Actually Is
Flesh And Blood is a 2013 thriller by Jonathan Kellerman featuring psychiatrist Alex Delaware as the central character. It's the twenty-fourth book in the series. The plot revolves around a child disappearance case that pulls Delaware back into work after he has been trying to step away from active practice. Kellerman is well known for this character, and this entry follows the same general structure as most of his previous novels in the line. I picked it up a few years ago because someone recommended it casually at a bookstore. I read through it over a weekend. It is what it is. A procedural mystery with psychological profiling elements. The pacing is steady enough. The dialogue works the way you would expect from Kellerman. Nothing groundbreaking, but competent.
Flesh And Blood Jonathan Kellerman download and format options
If you are looking to get a copy, the book is available through most major retailers and library systems. You can get it as a print edition, an audiobook narrated by George Newbern, or an eBook. The audiobook runs about ten hours and forty-five minutes. The Kindle version is roughly three hundred pages depending on the edition. I prefer the physical copy for this one because the page count is manageable and I like tracking progress with a bookmark. The audiobook is fine too, but Newbern reads everything in the series the same way, which is accurate but flat after a while. The narrative switches between two timelines. One follows Delaware in the present day as he takes on the case. The other jumps back to the perspective of the missing child's family before and during the disappearance. This dual timeline is not new for Kellerman, but it works reasonably well here because the earlier sections are short and sharp. They do not drag. Delaware's personal life gets some attention too. His relationship with his girlfriend Maya is addressed, along with some backstory about his father. These threads do not overpower the main mystery. That is actually one of the strengths. Some entries in this series let the personal drama run too long. This one keeps things balanced.
I hit a small snag when reading because the timeline markers are not always explicit. Early on I lost track of which section was happening when and had to flip back a few pages. The workaround was simple. I started keeping a rough margin note with dates or relative time references. After that, the switching became easier to follow. You do not need to do this for the whole book, just the first fifty pages to get oriented.
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What To Expect If You Are New To This Series
You do not need to read all twenty-three books before this one. Kellerman writes each entry to stand on its own. That said, knowing a bit about Alex Delaware helps. He is a child psychologist based in Los Angeles. He consults with the LAPD occasionally. He has a complicated personal history that gets referenced but never deeply re-explained. If you jump in cold, you will pick things up as you go. The book does not leave you stranded. The mystery itself involves a mother who reports her son missing. The investigation uncovers layers of family dysfunction and possible manipulation. The twist near the end is serviceable. It is not a shocker, but it is satisfying enough. Readers who follow the genre regularly will likely guess the direction it is going before the reveal. That is fine. The enjoyment comes from watching Delaware work through the problem methodically rather than from surprise alone.
Strengths And Where It Falls Short
The book is strongest in its portrayal of child psychology and family dynamics. Kellerman clearly knows the material. The way Delaware approaches the missing child's behavior, the parental responses, and the institutional handling of the case feels grounded. This is not a book full of forensic gadgets or dramatic police procedure. It is character-driven and psychology-driven, which is the right call for this particular story. The weakness is the pacing in the middle section. Around the midpoint, the investigation stalls a bit. Delaware hits a wall, and the narrative slows down while he figures out how to proceed. It is not a dealbreaker, but it is noticeable. If you are someone who likes constant forward momentum, this middle stretch might test your patience. I found myself skimming slightly during those chapters and picking back up when the action restarted. Another limitation is the supporting cast. Several characters feel underdeveloped. The suspects and witnesses exist mainly to serve the plot. If you want rich secondary characters, you will need to look elsewhere in the series or accept that this is not a focus here. It is a tradeoff Kellerman makes consistently across the lineup.
Who Should Read This And Who Should Skip It
Read it if you like psychological thrillers with a slow-burn investigation. Read it if you have read any of the other Alex Delaware books and want another entry. Read it if you enjoy domestic suspense where family relationships are the core tension rather than action sequences or hard-boiled detective work. Skip it if you want fast pacing throughout or a traditional detective protagonist. It is also not ideal if you are looking for deep worldbuilding or intricate plotting. The story is straightforward. It tells one clear tale without branching into multiple perspectives or complex narrative structures. That simplicity is intentional and works most of the time, but it is not suited to every reader. I recommend reading it in order if you plan to go through the series. The later books build on earlier character development. But if you only read this one, you will not be lost. It is a solid middle-of-the-road thriller. Nothing exceptional, nothing terrible. Just another competent entry from a writer who has been doing this for a long time and still knows how to assemble a readable mystery.
