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    Gun Games: A Decker/Lazarus Novel
    Gun Games: A Decker/Lazarus Novel
    Gun Games: A Decker/Lazarus Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    Gun Games: A Decker/Lazarus Novel

    Written by Faye Kellerman

    Narrated by Mitchell Greenberg

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    “[Kellerman] does for the American cop what P. D. James has done for the British mystery, lifting it beyond its genre.”
    —Richmond Times-Dispatch

    “No one working in the crime genre is better.”
    —Baltimore Sun

    In Gun Games, the sensational Faye Kellerman once again showcases Peter Decker of the LAPD and Rina Lazarus, arguably the most popular husband and wife team in contemporary crime fiction. A rash of shocking adolescent suicides at an elite Los Angeles private school is at the heart of this gripping thriller that also focuses on the troubled teen Decker and Lazarus have brought into their home: Gabriel Whitman, the son of a psychopath. Herself one-half of one of noir fiction’s true “power couples”—along with her husband, acclaimed mystery writer Jonathan Kellerman—Faye Kellerman once again demonstrates how American police procedural writing is done to perfection with Gun Games.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJan 3, 2012
    ISBN9780062115744
    Author

    Faye Kellerman

    Faye Kellerman lives with her husband, New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman, in Los Angeles, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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    Reviews for Gun Games

    4/5

    134 ratings18 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This is the 20th book in the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series. But this story focuses more on Gabe, a fifteen year old foster child that the couple has brought into their home. Meanwhile, Decker is asked to investigate the apparent suicide of another youth that the mother doesn’t believe. Neither does Decker and when another youth commits suicide, an investigation ensues. Dealing with teenage angst and the trials and tribulations of young love is all find and dandy, but not for a police thriller. I wanted to see more of what I have come to expect in this series; the detective work and the family life of Decker. Not into a novel that has whole sections of ‘texting’. But the latter part of the book really gets the juices flowing and makes for a stimulating ending.
    • 5/5
      Faye Kellerman never fails to please, always a well written and entertaining story
    • 3/5
      I somewhat enjoyed the story but honestly...as I was getting involved in the crime details then the next chapter would switch to sex between a 14 and a 15 year old. Ugh, that just seemed wrong to get that much detail. Not a fan of this one.
    • 4/5
      Remember Chris and Terry, the young lovers who sucked up more than their share of Justice? Now their 15-year-old son Gabe (Gabriel) and his charming girlfriend, Yasmine, suck up more than their share of Gun Games. In fact, since Gabe is the Deckers' foster son, Peter has to recuse himself from a case that could be connected to a disputed teen suicide.Well, Wendy Hess disputes the coroner's conclusion that her son committed suicide. Marge Dunn and Oliver are sent to the boy's prep school, where they are snowed by the vice principal for boys. When a finger seems to point at the stepson of a very rich man, the VP becomes very uncooperative.The mystery was fine. The truth was chilling. The agony and the ecstasy of teen sex (guess who felt the agony and who was ecstatic) I would have been glad to skip had this not been an audio edition. Having Rina relegated to some supporting scenes and Peter having to work around not crossing a line was not my cup of tea. What truly vexed me was the fact that NO ONE even suggested using voice analysis to determine if the voice on a piece of evidence belonged to one of the suspects. I won't say that this entry was a waste of time. I rather enjoyed Chris' role near the end (but that's a guilty pleasure). It's just that when I'm listening to a Decker/Lazarus mystery, I expect to have them be more than supporting characters.
    • 2/5
      Not much to say about this one; it is a reasonably enjoyable read, but I was not gripped at all. The "lead" characters are a bit bland, at times I felt that I was in the middle of a young adult novel, albeit that the sex was a bit over graphic for that. It has been a long time since I read one of Faye Kellerman's books and I think it will be a long time before I read another one.
    • 5/5
      LAPD lieutenant detective Decker and his wife, Rina, have willingly welcomed fifteen-year-old Gabriel Whitman into their home. Decker knows only too well the secrets adolescents keep, witnessed by the tragic suicide of another teen, Gregory Hesse. Gregory's mother refuses to believe her son shot himself and convinces Decker to look deeper. What he finds disturbs him. The gun used in the tragedy was stolen, which propels him to launch a full investigation.
    • 4/5
      Another excellent yarn by Faye Kellerman, a master at creating interesting, believable, compelling characters. Once I got about 100 pages in, I literally could not put this book down.
    • 4/5
      I enjoy Faye Kellerman's books for a fun, not completely empty read. I just received Gun Games as an early birthday present and read it in a day. Yes, there was a good amount of teenage arousal, but I found Gabe and Yasmine's relationship pretty credible. It was a good counterpoint to the crime investigation. Come on, though- Faye, can't you let them use birth control? Still, an enjoyable installment in the Decker/Lazarus series.
    • 4/5
      My first Faye and my first encounter with Rina and the Lu! Very enjoyable listening and such appealing characters.The narrator's very strong Chicago/Midweest accent wasn't perfectly appropriate but he did a very good job of capturing teenage yearning and validating the strength of early and first love. I will now go back and read the others in the series. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      Decker and Rina have taken in brilliant 15-year-old Gabriel, a talented and smart pianist. He is savvy and able to deal with gun-toting bullies from a private school, and then it turns out that they're involved with a couple of suicides that Decker is investigating. The romance that develops between Gabe and a 14 year old Persian American girl is hot and heavy, and at least in the audio version seemed quite belabored.
    • 4/5
      Another strong addition to the Rina and Peter Decker series; with the usual excellent cast of characters.
    • 3/5
      This story is evenly divided between the perspectives of Lieutenant Decker and fifteen year old Gabe, both personalities come off as pretty relaxed and easy going, until a problem hits, then they are on their toes and fast thinkers. I enjoyed the fact that even at the age of fifteen, Gabe was overall a very intelligent boy, but like most teenage boys the thought of sex drives most of his storyline. I believe that the relationship that slowly builds between Yasmine (14) and Gabe (15) was incredibly romantic. Although the more mature scenes between them I had a hard time picturing her as visually looking "10-12" years old as she is described by the author. The connection they had together from their love of music, piano, opera was a nice pace of story to break up the intense detective work that the lieutenant was going through.The Lieutenant and his staff are working to figure out how the boy that committed suicide got the gun. This detective work, along with the additional suicide of a girl that attended the same school, starts to trigger more questions. As the deceased teenagers property starts to turn up missing the school and it's students are getting inspected further and further as they try to connect the missing links. There is very clearly a gang of students that stand out and the only question is why is there a "mafia" group at a prestigious high school, and what is their involvement with Guns and drugs.The story raps up with dangerous activities tumulting in some very dangerous Gun Games. With a combination of sex, drugs, gangs and guns this story reads like a gangster movie.
    • 3/5
      I've been reading this series since the beginning and have to say I was rather disgusted by this book. I felt that the information about Gabe's sexual dreams or whatever you want to call them was TMI. It would have been a much more enjoyable book without them. There are several places in the book where Decker spends time investigating a serial killer. I was puzzled as to how this was a part of the book. I don't remember it from an older book and the details on it were sparse. Not her best effort but it was a somewhat enjoyable read.
    • 3/5
      Having read this series for many years I have to say that I was a little disappointed with this one. I did like the main storyline but I felt that Kellerman trying to write dialogue for a fourteen year old boy was less than successful. I did, however, like catching up with the Decker family, but don't like the Dionati family novels quite as well.
    • 3/5
      I started reading Faye Kellerman's Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series way back in 1986 when it first started. I haven't kept up with the last three or four books, so I thought I would pick up Gun Games, the 20th entry in this long running series.Lieutenant Decker is petitioned by a distraught mother to investigate her son's death. It has been ruled a suicide, but she can't accept it. Decker agrees - and finds that her mother's instincts may be right. When another student at the same school also kills themself, a full scale investigation is launched. Rina and Peter have taken in 15 yr. old Gabe as a foster child. He comes from a troubled background, but is having success as a talented pianist. He runs into a group of teens who are looking for trouble, but escapes unscathed - this time. Gabe also meets a family acquaintance of the Deckers - 14 yr. old Yasmine. I have always enjoyed the personal interaction between Rina and Peter in this series. Their home life, learning of their Jewish faith, description of food, Rina's gentle nature and Peter's gruff competence. The supporting cops on Decker's team - Marge and Oliver are characters I've enjoyed following as well. Sadly, there is little of this in Gun Games. Rather we are forced to endure endless pages of texting between Gabe and Yasmine. Their undying love for each other. Promise? Poor Gabe's sexual frustration. Gabe's deflowering of Jasmine.Yeah, I know - I felt like I was in a (bad) YA novel. I found myself skipping pages of italicized texting and moony phone calls to try and get back to Decker and his case - which ended up playing a sad second fiddle to Gabe and his libido. The police work seemed lackluster, only hitting some sort of action at the end, when a list of names and assignments is given (over and over again) in a ten page flurry. A reference to a previous case involving New Mexico is introduced early in the book, ignored and brought back in the last few pages. It added nothing to the book except as a possible set up for book 21.I was disappointed with Gun Games - Kellerman jumped the shark on this one. It just might be time for Decker to retire
    • 3/5
      Review copy from PublisherOverall Rating 3.25Story Rating 3.25Character Rating 3.25First thought when finished: Why couldn't the whole book be like the last few chapters!What I Loved: The last 1/4 of the book rocked! It was full of action, suspense, and the characters finally were interesting. There was some cat/mouse action and Chris ended up being my favorite character in the whole book.What I Liked: I haven't read the rest of the series but this one really stood on it's own. I could tell there was a serial killer I should have known more about but since that didn't come into play much with this story--I didn't feel left out. I like when an author can do that!What made me go *sigh* again?: The teenagers "love" scenes. I get that this was mostly about Gabe but it just was a little too much!Final Thoughts: I thought that the last few chapters saved this book for me and actually made me want to read some of the back story. However, if you have been reading the series I think you will not want to miss this edition
    • 4/5
      Gun Games is the 20th mystery written by Faye Kellerman featuring LAPD detective Pete Decker and his wife Rina Lazarus. It is the first one in the series that I have read, and now I must keep my eye out for the other 19 books when I pop into the many bookstores and thrift stores I frequent.I didn't really get to know that much about Decker and his wife because this book focused on fifteen-year-old Gabriel Whitman, a young man whose father is a mob scion, who among many other illegal activities, runs whorehouses in Nevada. Gabe's mother fled to India leaving her son behind.Gabe is a musical prodigy and a social loner, living with the Deckers. One day he is harassed at a coffee house by some tough kids with a gun, and he manages to diffuse the situation with his extensive knowledge of guns and his ability to think quickly on his feet.After that incident, he goes to a different coffeehouse and meets a fourteen-year-old Persian Jewish girl named Yasmine. Yasmine wants to be an opera singer, and she and Gabe bond over their love of music and soon fall in love. They must hide their relationship from her parents, who would never let her date anyone who was not Jewish.Meanwhile, Lt. Decker and his comrades are investigating two teen suicides at the local private school, the same one that boys who harassed Gabe attend. Although they were labeled suicides, Decker believes that there is more going on, and his team noses around.Kellerman knows how to write scenes that make your heart pound, but it is her characters, especially young Gabe and Yasmine, whom I found compelling. She really got into the heads of these two teens, and her description of them falling in love really hit their target.She writes entire sections of their text messages to each other, the preferred manner of communication for today's teens. You could actually feel them falling in love with each other with each text, and Kellerman perfectly captures the all-consuming feelings of first love. The methods of communication may have changed over the years, but teen love is still a heady mix of hormones and emotions. I liked her characterization of the parents in her novel. The mother of a boy who was believed to have committed suicide was dumbfounded to discover certain things about her son. We all want to believe we know our children, but this book may disabuse you of that comforting feeling.I recognized many of the parents in the scene at the police station. Some people like to complain about the portrayal of people of faith in media, but Kellerman did an admirable job with her depiction. The churchgoing parents of one troubled girl were the only ones who demanded that their child be held (somewhat) accountable. Decker and his wife regularly attend Jewish services, as does Yasmine's family. Religion is not a dirty word in this novel.Gun Games successfully combines a cracker-jack mystery, albeit with some convenient coincidences, with a realistic depiction of teen love. (Although we don't want to believe fourteen and fifteen-year-olds have sex, many are. God help us.) If you are the parents of teens, this book will make you sweat.
    • 5/5
      Gun Games is my first Faye Kellerman novel. I have meant to read her for years. I have read her husband and have even read her son, but for some reason haven't read her. I use to have this thing where I had to start the series from the beginning, but I have finally gotten over that. Yes you do miss character growth and some background, but I've found a lot of these suspense series, each book stands on it's own and that's how I feel about Gun Games. It's the 20th novel in the Rina and Peter Decker series and as I stated before the first I have read.Gun Games seems to center around two separate stories, Gabe, the foster son that Pete and Rina are keeping who is a piano prodigy is the center of one of the stories. He meets a girl who is a year younger and is a Persian Jew. Gabe is white and not a Jew at all. A romance ensues secretly. Gabe keeps up his piano studies and is trying to decide what to do with his life. All-in-all I really enjoyed this story line. I liked Gabe and Yasmine. They were cute and sweet and everything young love is when you are 15 and 14.The second story centers around a suicide that Pete and his detectives have been asked to look into at an exclusive private school. The mom just doesn't think her son could have committed suicide. Crazy things start showing up. I really enjoyed this storyline. The detective work and the way things unfolded really made the story. And I always enjoy reading about exclusive prep or boarding schools.And then the storylines intersect like you would not believe and I won't give anything more away. But thing go completely crazy. If you think you couldn't put the book down before this point, there is no way you are putting it down after this point.I think Ms. Kellerman does an excellent job creating believable characters and scary characters. She interweaves a plot that is so crazy that it is believable. I was enthralled. It's one of those books that is so calm and easy going in the beginning that it sucks you in and before you know it you just cannot put it down.Overall I think this was an amazing book and if the others in this series are anything like it I am definitely starting at the beginning and working my way through. In fact I'm going to my library website now to reserve The Ritual Bath. I can't wait to get more of Peter and Rina Decker.