A review by emperorcupcake
When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman

dark mysterious tense

So strange to revisit one of the first books that got me into mystery thrillers, back in the day. I remembered this book as being riveting and full of twists, which I still found it to be. This was written in 1985 by a man and you can sure tell. There's a lot of outdated language; the r-slur, racial insensitivity, the descriptions of women. (Every women is either a sex goddess or physically repulsive in some way.) But if you can put all that aside, this really is a great thriller, just the kind I like where you follow someone step by step putting the pieces together. A trip to a creepy abandoned estate on a weird secretive island! yes!! Also the sympathetic portrayal of a gay police detective was probably pretty progressive for its time.