From Library Journal
When Emil Euler Ganz, a brilliant former astrophysicist turned cult leader, is found dead with an empty fifth of vodka under his bed, it looks like suicide. But LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker is suspicious and begins to ask questions about the man who disappeared 25 years ago only to turn up ten years later as Father Jupiter, the charismatic leader of the Order of the Rings of God. While trying to find out how Father Jupiter died and worrying about the safety of the children in the unstable cult, Decker must also deal with a crisis in his own family when he finds his stepson Jacob in bed with a girl from school. Jupiter's Bones is Kellerman's 13th bookAthe 11th in the best-selling series featuring Peter Decker and his wife, Rina Lazarus. Despite a rather awkward prose style, this is a page-turner. Recommended for public libraries.
-AJane La Plante, Minot State Univ. Lib., ND
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Since virtually everything Kellerman writes turns up on the best-seller lists, there's little doubt her latest Pete Decker^-Rina Lazarus mystery will land there, too. Capitalizing on the media frenzy surrounding Heaven's Gate, Waco, and Ruby Ridge, Kellerman crafts a tense thriller that has Decker investigating the death of Dr. Emil Ganz, a brilliant but eccentric astrophysicist who gave up worldly success, transformed himself into revered cult leader "Brother Jupiter," and founded Jupiter's Order, a secretive compound where he and his loyal followers live in seeming peace. A mysterious phone call alerts the LAPD to Jupiter's death. The Order wants to be left alone to mourn their leader, but since Ganz died in suspicious circumstances, the cops are obligated to investigate. As Decker and his colleagues probe the life and death of the elusive and mysterious Dr. Ganz, they find he had some powerful enemies even among his own followers, enemies who may have hated him enough to murder him. Before the case is closed, there are threats of mass suicide, a tense standoff, and a dramatic and heart-wrenching rescue. The gifted Kellerman has pulled together elements of suspense, violence, humor, pathos, and love and wrapped them into a potent plot certain to captivate genre fans. Emily Melton
From Kirkus Reviews
Once again, LAPD lieutenant Pete Decker and his Orthodox Jewish wife Rina Lazarus (Serpents Tooth, 1997, etc.) find themselves needing unorthodox solutions to hard-pressing problems. Domestically, it's their younger son Jacobbrilliant, charming, and oh so bored who's giving his parents heartburn. For instance: Decker arrives home unexpectedly to find Jacob there before him. It's midafternoon, and where Jacob, 16, should have been is at school. Instead, he's in bed. With Shayna, also 16, studying matters extra-curricular. What to do about restless Jacob? And what to do about the mysterious death of Dr. Emil Euler Ganz, a.k.a. Father Jupiter? Once a renowned astrophysicist, Ganz was, until his untimely passing, the leader of a notorious cult called the Order of the Rings of God. But is his passing the suicide it seemed at first, or did someone urge him into that ``better world'' he so often preached about? Did Guru Pluto, or Guru Nova, or Guru Bobmembers of the Ring's inner circleaspire, prematurely, to Ring-leadership? Decker has his work cut out for him, as he searches for answers while misunderstandings and tensions proliferate almost as fast as dead bodies mount up in the cult's compound. Finally, almost inevitably, there's a standoff as cult members (and their children) are besieged by the police and FBIand here, as in Waco, despite Decker's best efforts, the end is both explosive and painful. Writing that borders on the slipshod in places, though the whole is greater than its parts. And, as usual, Decker, Rina, and their children will generate sufficient interest to keep series fans happy. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"A well-tangled web of intrigue and murder." -- -- Entertainment Weekly
"Fast-paced and well-plotted, a treasure for old fans and a treat for new readers...Faye Kellerman is in top form." -- -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Mystery shrouded in skin-crawling suspense...It doesn't disappoint." -- --People
About the Author
Faye Kellerman introduced L.A. cop Peter Decker and his wife, Rina Lazarus, to the mystery world in 1986. Since then, she has written ten Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novels. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, author Jonathan Kellerman. There are close to three million copies of her books in print.
