Product Description
Surveys the history, geography, and people of the small eastern state that was first to sign the United States Constitution. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Everything young students need to know about Delaware colony
If you were always wondering why Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution, Stuart A. Kallen provides the explanation in the introduction to this volume from The Thirteen Colonies series. Larger only than Rhode Island, all of the colonists who lived in Delaware's thee counties were close to the capital city, whether it was New Castle or (after 1777) Dover. Consequently, making decisions was relatively easy for the colonists of Delaware, who were under Dutch, Swedish, English, and American governments in colonial times and had to fend off the claims of New York, Maryland, and especially Pennsylvania at various times. In this volume, Kallen tells you everything you might ever need to know about the colony of Delaware, which because of its central location was essentially at the crossroads of American history and culture.

These volumes in The Thirteen Colonies series follow a rather standard pattern in terms of their five chapters: (1) First Contact talks about the Lenape tribe, the first known inhabitants of Delaware, and the arrival of Henry Hudson and the Dutch traders; (2) European Settlement refers to the establishment of New Sweden, which was then taken over by first the Dutch and then the English; (3) Daily Life in Colonial Delaware covers a wide variety of topics: religion and government, farming and milling, immigration, indentured servants, and slavery; (4) Delaware During the Revolution actually goes back to the French and Indian War to set up the taxation without representation issue, and the chapter is devotes as much time to the American Revolution in general as it does to specifically what happened in Delaware during the war; and (5) After Independence also talks both generally about the move towards the Constitution and Delaware's role in the process, as well as the industries developed by the new state.

Once again I am rather surprised at how much about a lesser known colony is worked into these informative little volumes. "Delaware" has black & white illustrations of the times and people who helped shape its history and makes excellent use of primary and secondary source quotations. The back of the book contains a chronology of the colony from 1609 when Henry Hudson sailed into Delaware Bay to 1792 when representatives met in Dover to write a new state constitution, along with notes, a couple of lists of reference books, and an index. The Thirteen Colonies series is very informative and will serve young students being asked to research a particular colony a perfect place to begin their investigation. Certainly they will learn more details about Delaware than they will ever uncover in a standard American history textbook. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1903.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1903.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
With scores of millions of books in print, translation into two dozen languages, and one of the most popular heroes in contemporary fiction to his name, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman is the unequivocal “master of the psychological thriller” (People). In his newest novel Kellerman delivers a tour de force–poignant, dark, and chilling–that illuminates a shadowy world where impulse rules.

Tanya Bigelow was a solemn little girl when Dr. Alex Delaware successfully treated her obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Now, at nineteen, she still seems older than her years–but her problems go beyond hyper-maturity. Patty Bigelow, Tanya’s aunt and adoptive mother, has made a deathbed confession of murder and urged the young woman to seek Delaware’s help. The doctor recalls Patty as a selfless E.R. nurse struggling to raise a child on her own–a woman seemingly incapable of the “terrible thing” she has admitted. But for Tanya’s peace of mind, Delaware agrees to investigate, and he enlists LAPD detective Milo Sturgis in the search for the phantom victim of a crime that may never have occurred.

Armed with only the vaguest details, psychologist and cop follow a trail twisting from L.A.’s sleaziest low-rent districts to its overblown mansions, retracing Patty and Tanya’s nomadic and increasingly puzzling life to the doorsteps of a sullen heroin addict; a randy real-estate broker; and a brilliant, enigmatic physics student. Suddenly a very real murder tears open a terrifying tunnel into the past, where secrets–and bodies–are buried. As the tension mounts, Delaware and Sturgis uncover a tangled history of desperation, vengeance, and death–a legacy of evil that refuses to die.

Dramatic, action-packed, and filled with the psychological detail that only Jonathan Kellerman can provide, Obsession is a whodunit, a whydunit–and something unique: a did-it-even-happen? This is Kellerman at his heart-racing best. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (99)

I don't get why readers didn't like it.............
I read several reviews before finally buying this book. I was really undecided on reading it or not. I have read all of the Alex Delaware novels and I have loved them all. I stopped reading shortly before Obsession came out, I wasn't reading much of anything and couldn't really afford to buy books anymore...library in a small town had a 6 month waiting list for most new books of any author

My point is....I loved this book. I don't know what I was worried about, Mr Kellerman did not disappooint me. This book could stand up to his earlier Delaware novels. I found Alex to be the same person, Milo the same, the balance between the two is flawless. If you have read and loved the Delaware mystery books, than for goodness sakes, buy this book, read it, make up your own mind about it.....I read it in two days.

Two thumbs up from me Mr. Kellerman

This book may have single-handedly just ended my Kellerman fanship
Ugh... LAME.

I've been a Jonathan Kellerman fan since my first book (Monster, a wonderful read... HIGHLY recommended).I've read many of his books and some are solid (Billy Straight) and some forgettable (Therapy).But this one... the worst yet, and for so many reasons.

First-- the ridiculous premise.A dying, down-home, good-hearted, stand-up kinda gal makes a vague reference, on her deathbed, to her daughter about "killing" someone "close by."Alex and Milo actually come to the conclusion (after about 200 pages of back-and-forth about it) that she was trying to let her daughter know that she'd killed a man who lived close to them at some point in their lives.... and that-- get ready for it-- she kept it vague like that instead of giving names or dates or a location, despite the fact that the implication is that the daughter is in grave danger because of this mysterious past event, because this way, instead of having cold hard facts to go on, the daughter, once alone after the death, could instead take it upon herself to take this non-information to the police and THEY would of course put a ton of man hours into it and run around trying to figure out just who she may or may not have killed at whatever time in the past and out of all these varied places they'd lived.(Ok, a dying woman who is trying to protect her daughter is NOT going to make some cryptic "I killed him.Close by." statement to her and let her figure it out after her death... even if she was speaking her dying words, she could say, for example, "Killed him-- Hudson Street"... or "Killed man-- 1996" or whatever.But some ridiculous "close by".... good grief.(And then Kellerman actually giving one of the other characters the Let's Pat The Author On The Back dialogue of, "If she said that in a vague way like that to warn her daughter that she should seek the help of others.... that's borderline genius...."Ugh, PLEASE.No, Jonathan.That's stupid.That's poor writing.That's non-thorough planning.That's an insult to your readers.

Other issue (spoiler alert, tho):The ONE reason I kept plodding through this book to the last page is because I really wanted to find out-- after wading through all those characters upon characters, and side notes about OCD, and other uninteresting tangents-- what terrible thing Patty really had done.Who had she killed, and why?Alas, that is never revealed.And that is the cheapest, crappiest transgression of all.Suspense Writing Rule #1: you do NOT throw a teaser out to the readers-- one that is the premise of the whole book-- when you don't actually have any idea of how to pull it all off in the end.To drag the readers through that ridiculous story only to never even bother trying to come up with the final bombshell of what the mystery crime actually was-- what a complete rip-off.I was FURIOUS with this.How much can I look forward to any other book of his when I can't even be assured as I read it that it's not going to leave me hanging at the end?Why waste my time to be frustrated and gypped?

Other annoyances:I'm starting to think Jonathan Kellerman has some personal issues to work out with people's personal choice regarding what they eat-- the "healthy eaters" bashing is pretty much standard fare in all his books, but it's getting a bit too propaganda-ish for my taste in this one.How many references does he need to make to how gosh-dang COOL you are if you eat a big double-bacon cheeseburger/ greasy steak sandwich/ chili-cheese-dog, etc?In any one book, how many episodes do we have to be subjected to in which we hear all about him or Milo choosing the meatiest, fattiest, most ~macho~ dish around and going at it with gusto, making lame, played-out little cracks along the lines of "this stuff'll kill ya!but who wants to live forever?!?!"It's getting tired.And to have one of the baddest guys of all being interrogated, talking about one murder after another after another, and Kellerman someone manages to have him stop for a moment now and then to bring up how he eats healthy, and oh, just by the way, officers, I know this doesn't have anything to do with ANYTHING, but I also happen to have turned on the bad chick to vegan eating...Really, Kellerman?You can NOT keep your agenda out of your fiction?Did some vegan sleep with your wife or something?

I agree with another reviewer's comment about how annoying Tanya is.I wanted her shot at the end.That's some pretty bad writing, when the chick you're supposed to he rallying the readers behind ends up a hateful dimwit who commands no sympathy.

Also-- Kellerman's grating little "Hey!Check out THIS little bombshell!" at the end where a non-character throws out that so-and-so's father isn't who he thought it was--- YAWN.I read through that part seriously irritated and bored with the whole thing.Who cared, at that point?What difference did that make to any of the story?Forced and limp.What HAPPENED to this guy's writing?He used to be good!

Lastly-- Robin.Why Kellerman thinks he needs some lame, BORING AS HELL, weak character in his Alex books just so he can say the guy has a girlfriend is beyond me.Every scene with her in it is the literary equivalent to nails on a blackboard for me.His pained, forced, embarrassing attempts at throwing some "action" into the story-line are annoying and maddening.Who in the world is he pleasing with this part of the book?There's no action at all, so it's not going to work as a cheap thrill to anyone looking for that, and the inane, sophomoric references to ~trying a new position in bed~ are unnecessary, retarded little annoyances to those trying to actually stay on top of the confusing, changing plot.I cringe when I see Robin's name come up, and have actually started scanning over all scenes that involve her.It adds nothing to the story.It's like reading the writings of a 14-year-old boy with no experience but a desperate need to prove he knows how to get it on.Lame as hell.

All in all-- Obsession is the worst Kellerman I've read.So bad I don't know if I'll be reading another.I feel ripped-off enough as it is.Hope someone else reading these reviews won't be.

this is one of kellerman's better page turners
Obsession, by Jonathan Kellerman (348 pgs., 2007).This is the twenty-first novel in the mystery/suspense series featuring Dr. Alex Delaware & his intrepid companion (now) LAPD Lt. Milo Sturgis.Perhaps, Kellerman is getting mellower as he ages.While this novel includes its usual share of gruesome murders & kinky sexual stuff, the graphically gruesome depictions are shortened or left out.Thank you.
Kellerman is a bestseller.He has the knack down pat for writing a page turner.This is one of his better ones.He relies less on thrills.His characters continue to be fleshed out & devoted readers care more & more about them, instead of getting tired of them.He throws in twists, just so we pay attention.A Gay Police Lt. who is Delaware's best friend.A nurse who was beloved by everyone, & who dies much too young from cancer.A 19-year old daughter (adopted) with strong obsessive compulsive tendencies, who is now left alone; but for Delaware & a boy who may or not be stable or a stalker or someone truly in love with her.A deathbed confession to a murder by an angel.Six degrees of Kevin Bacon connections stretching back years & entwining the good guys with the bad guys & for a time the bad guys seem to be winning.Interdepartmental cooperation.Cooperation between the LAPD & the FBI (even is just for a brief time).
The best part of this novel for me is the true caring & friendship between the characters; especially, all the characters on the good side.This is a truly character-driven mystery/suspense novel with a strong plot.The plot or the procedures used to solve the multiple crimes unearthed in this novel does not overshadow the characters.That's what makes this a winning novel, for me.

first time Kellerman reader
I definitely loved this book! It was the first Kellerman book I've ever read and I'm definitely going to work on reading the others now!

A little too much psycho-babble
Synopsis

Tanya Bigelow was a solemn little girl when she first met Dr. Alex Delaware for treatment of her obsessive-compulsive disorder. Now, at 19, she again turns to the doctor with a plea for help to discover the truth behind her mother's mysterious deathbed confession of a murder that happened sometime in her past. With the help of a detective from the LAPD, the trio sets out to discover the real events that may or may not have transpired, with no clues, witnesses or motive to go on.

Stepping into the sleaziest neighborhoods of Los Angeles, the trail leads them to discover unscrupulous real estate brokers, heroin addicts, and an affluent family that thrives solely on the trust funds from prior generations and the slumlord investments willed to them. * * *

My Two Cents Worth

I finally gave in to the badgering of my bookworm friends to "read a Kellerman." They have raved about his talents for as long as I can remember, so I plucked Obsession from the stack and settled in to see what all the fuss was about.

The result? I agree with them that Kellerman is an exceptional wordsmith - I found myself marking phrases and tagging words that I thought particularly appealing at a rapid pace.
However, the story went nowhere in a hurry.

I read the first 101 pages on the first sitting, set it aside, and felt like giving up on it. There was far too much psycho-babble that had nothing to do with advancing the story line. Nothing had happened so far. An obscure deathbed confession followed by psycho analysis and speculation.

"Let's assume she meant ..." and "What if she meant ..." was all we were subjected to, without any action by the characters to uncover the plot. I was bored.

The efforts to merge the events of the past with the questions of the present to solve the mystery took a back seat to the symptoms and treatment of OCD.

I stopped at page 208 - the beginning of chapter 24. I gave up. I felt the story was just about to get started, but I couldn't force myself to care enough. After 2 1/2 hours I picked up a Dean Koontz, desperate for a story. This is a very rare occurrence for me - happens only about 2-3 times a year.

Paperback
464 pages
2 1/2 hours - did not finish - indifference ... Read more

Product Description
Examines the history, culture, and future prospects of the Lenape (also known as Delaware) Indians. ... Read more

Product Description
Includes illustrations. Acknowledgements by Susan Brynteson, introduction by Alice Schreyer and individual essays by 24 collectors. Illustrated. Interests include Delaware history, miniature books, literary forgery (especially T.J. Wise), A. Edward Newton by Robert Fleck, etc. ... Read more