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Jupiter's Bones (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels (Paperback))
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Murder on a Bad Hair Day
Murder Makes Waves (A Southern Sisters Mystery)
The Secret Adversary [AUDIOBOOK]
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The Shaman's Bones (Shaman Mysteries (Paperback))
A Face Turned Backward: A Mystery of Ancient Egypt
Murder Gets a Life
Death Comes as the End [AUDIOBOOK]
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Heartsong of Charging Elk
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The Blunderer
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The Animal-Lover's Book of Beastly Murder
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The Glass Cell
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Jupiter's Bones: A Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)

Average customer rating:

Great Read!
Lots of Suspects, Including a Gaggle of Gurus
WRITER'S ARTHRITIS?
Fine Writing, Great Entertainment
Peter deals with a religious cult

Jupiter's Bones: A Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)
Faye Kellerman
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Serpent's Tooth: A Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)
STALKER
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Prayers for the Dead: A Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)
Sanctuary (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)

ASIN: 0380730820
Release Date: 2007-06-26

Amazon.com

Faye Kellerman's 11th Peter Decker-Rina Lazarus mystery takes police lieutenant Decker into the enclave of a Heaven's Gate-style pseudoscientific religious cult, the Order of the Rings of God. The cult's leader, a former world-class physicist who styles himself Jupiter, has died of an ungodlike combination of liquor and prescription drugs, but whether it was accident, suicide, or murder is suspiciously murky. The death is mysteriously reported by Jupiter's estranged daughter Europa, a scientist who has nothing to do with the cult, and when the police arrive on the scene, they find that Jupiter's followers, particularly his four unpleasantly ambitious personal attendants, range from uncooperative to downright hostile. Decker's suspicions kick into high gear when two other cult members go missing and another body turns up. But with the tense situation threatening to unravel as explosively as Jonestown or Waco, it's Marge, Decker's professional sidekick, who penetrates the cult's inner sanctum and effects a scary eleventh-hour rescue.

For Decker, as always, the mystery serves to offset the tempestuous Orthodox Jewish family life that he married into. Sammy, Rina's older son, wants to study in a politically unstable region of Israel, and Jake, the younger, is teetering on the edge of a most unorthodox social scene of girls, porn movies, and pot. Kellerman knows how to craft a compelling mystery, but it's the honesty of Decker's unique religious and family struggles that keeps mystery fans interested book after book. If you're new to this series, you'll want to begin at the beginning with The Ritual Bath. --Barrie Trinkle

Amazon.com Audiobook Review

Narrator Jordan Lage uses his diverse background in theater, film, and television for all it's worth, creating a menagerie of quirky character voices and pumping the spooky meter to 11. But it really isn't necessary. Faye Kellerman's story, centering on the suspicious death of a charismatic cult leader and the deadly reactions of his followers, is mysterious and entertaining enough without all the vocal gymnastics. When playing it straight, Lage does a credible job with an intriguing and compelling plot. Next time, he might consider leaving out "dis, dat, and de uddah ting." (Running time: 4.5 hours, 4 cassettes) --George Laney

Book Description

Once Dr. Emil Euler Ganz was a preeminent astrophysicist with a worldrenowned reputation. But then he vanished without any warning to his family or colleagues. Fifteen years later, he reappeared as "Father Jupiter," the founder and charismatic leader of the scientific cult, The Order of the Rings. And now he's dead--a vial of sleeping pills and an empty bottle of vodka standing near his lifeless body.

Was Ganz's death an accident? Suicide? Or did someone hasten Jupiter prematurely out of this world? These are the questions LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker and his Homicide team are determined to answer as they enter the cult's fortresslike compound. But the dead leader's four "privileged" attendants make it clear that the police are not welcome there--and the mysterious disappearance of two of the Order's members, including a child, turns an already uncomfortable situation even uglier and more incendiary. Decker will need more than the wisdom and support of his wife, Rina Lazarus, to defuse a ticking time bomb of jealousy, greed, bizarre hidden pasts, and deadly secrets--one that could explode at any time into mayhem so pernicious that it threatens to destroy a multitude of misguided lives--and scores of helpless, innocent children as well.

Customer Reviews:

Great Read!.......2004-05-19

One of the best mystery/crime novels I have read. I think it would make a wonderful movie too.

Lots of Suspects, Including a Gaggle of Gurus.......2004-03-08

L.A. Police Lieutenant Pete Decker is called in to investigate the death of a cult leader, the charismatic Father Jupiter of the Order of the Rings of God, the former famous astromoner, Dr. Emil Ganz.

There are suspects galore. Ganz had made a lot of enemies when he was a scientist and his leadership of the cult was coveted by some of his followers. Added to that are the relatives of people who have been lured into the cult. The police probably wouldn't even have been notified of Ganz's death, which had already been called a suicide by the other cult leaders, if someone hadn't told his estranged daughter. She, in turn, called the police.

Getting into the compound and getting cooperation from the members is difficult enough for Decker, but it's complicated by a struggle for power by the four privileged attendants, who are; Pluto, Venus, Nova and Bob. Brother Pluto is livid with anger because of the invasion of the police into their sacred sanctuary.

In addition to Jupiter's death, the police learn that two of the cult members, one a child, are missing. Pluto shifts between accusing the police and a cult deprogrammer of stealing these two from their happy home.

And as usual in a Faye Kellerman novel, there's problems on the home front. It appears that Decker's younger stepson, Jacob, is smoking pot and messing around with his girlfriend. For many parents that might seem like a teenage phase, but for Orthodox Jews it's a big deal.

Kellerman knows how to write a fast-moving, suspenseful story involving people the reader learns to care about. She also manges to educate the reader about her religion without seeming to preach. Somehow she does it, without it getting in the way of the story. All and all, a very good read.

WRITER'S ARTHRITIS?.......2003-11-16

After her last two books, I expected much more than JUPITER'S BONES delivers. While the book focuses on one of those Jonestown cults, Kellerman wastes no time in assuming that anything outside the Jewish realm is fair game to the typical barbs and jokes. While in this case, the barbs are justified, Kellerman's continued use of religious stereotypes and obvious religious prejudice, I still think Kellerman should focus more on her mysteries than her religious predilections.
In Ms. Kellerman's favor, she continues to develop her supporting characters, particularly Tom Webster, who is becoming one of my favorite characters as he is smart, witty, and intensely human. Marge's character gets more attention, and although her actions regarding Vega are just too Pollyannish, she remains an enigmatic figure. Why does she have trouble in her relationships? Hmmm..the focus on Sammy and Jacob's problems is a nice touch, but they don't seem like real teenagers at all in Kellerman's hands. They always do the right thing and when they start wandering away from their religious background, Rina harnesses them back in, not all that convincingly either.
Kellerman has remarkably good skills in her writing; this one's too formulaic to be one of her best, but it has moments of real brilliance.

Fine Writing, Great Entertainment.......2003-10-08

Faye Kellerman is a very talented writer on many levels, and "Jupiter's Bones" shows her skills in no small way.

When the leader of a local cult is found dead in his "cell" of an apparent suicide, Peter Decker finds himself reluctantly on the case--only because at one time, "Father Jupiter" had been a world-renowned scientist. It looks like a cut-and-dried suicide, and only the man's former prestige requires a pro forma police presence to verify the fact. But of course nothing is as it seems.

What seems to be the suicide of an aging patriarch, albeit a cult leader, turns out to be much, much more. And the disciples in this particular cult, most notably Venus, Pluto and Bob (yes, Bob!), are not exactly the godly unworldly beings they appear to be before their followers. Amid the white robes, robot-like followers, and spartan cells exists an undercurrent of intense evil that threatens to boil over at any moment.

Kellerman freely borrows some of her plot from real-life cult situations like Jonestown, and says so (as Peter Decker frequently compares various situations within the cult to others from the past), so there is no attempt on her part to con the reader, something I greatly appreciated.

While Decker tiptoes around the increasingly volatile cult situation, there is also a situation at home, one I found annoying because it had no resolution. The younger son, Jacob, is straining against the bonds of his very orthodox religion, and is starting to rebel. The way Decker and Rina handle this situation went against the grain with me--I find the two boys too good for the real world, and it bothers me as a reader. Rina's religion is a given, and makes her what she is, but it is also completely rigid where her boys are concerned. This is probably true to life, but does not make for a good plot line, because it is very hard to understand unless one lives within the world of the very religious. The worst part, though, is that the situation, which is very grave, is solved in one sentence at the very end of the book, or at least seems to be solved. Because of that, I took a point off what should have been a five-star story.

On the other hand, the last 50 pages of this book had me completely mesmerized, unable to turn the pages fast enough. The ending was masterful, and left this reader, at least, questioning just how human the human race is. This is a good, solid read and I recommend it highly.

Peter deals with a religious cult.......2003-06-14

Police Lieutenant Peter Decker is called in on the death of a charismatic leader of a religious cult called the Order of the Rings. The deceased was a well-known astophysicist named Emil Ganz who had disappeared and then surfaced as Father Jupiter, the leader of the cult. His death is reported to the police by his daughter, Europa, who is not involved with the cult but who had followed her father's footsteps into his occupation. When Decker and the LAPD try to investigate the death, Jupiter's four lieutenants try to stonewall their efforts. Soon there is another death, and some disappearances from the compound where the cult lives. Decker and his cohorts are horrified as they uncover the secrets of the Order of the Rings. Peter's longtime partner Marge plays a pivotal role in an exciting rescue attempt at the end of the book where the action really peaks. Peter also discovers some long-hidden secrets about his stepsons, but as usual, his homelife takes second place to his professional one. This is another good entry to the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Series from the gifted writer, Faye Kellerman.

3 for the price of 1 - Faye Kellerman (Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Novels, Stalker, Jupiter's Bones, Prayers for the Dead)

Average customer rating:

3 for the price of 1 - Faye Kellerman (Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Novels, Stalker, Jupiter's Bones, Prayers for the Dead)
Faye Kellerman
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Product Description

3 Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Noves by Faye Kellerman

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