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Order of Jonathan Kellerman Books
Born on August 9, 1949, in the buzzing city of New York, Jonathan Kellerman didn’t begin his life with a pen in hand, but rather with a guitar. Believe it or not, before he ever became a literary force to be reckoned with, Kellerman was on track to become a musician—yes, a rock guitarist, strumming chords and chasing rhythm. But fate had far more complex stories in mind for him. It turns out, his genius wasn’t limited to music—it extended to the murky corners of the human mind.
Kellerman moved with his family to Los Angeles, California when he was young. By the time he was in college, his fascination with psychology was so intense that it pulled him completely away from the world of melodies and into the realm of the mind’s darker harmonies. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Southern California (USC), where he specialized in child psychology—a theme that would later echo hauntingly through many of his bestselling thrillers.
What makes his journey all the more remarkable is that Jonathan Kellerman didn't start writing full-time until after he’d already made a name for himself as a clinical psychologist. He ran a successful private practice and was also a professor at USC’s School of Medicine, where he became a pioneer in the psychological treatment of children with cancer. His work in this field earned him the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Cancer Society—yes, before he ever published a single novel!
But it was in 1985 that everything changed. His first novel, When the Bough Breaks, introduced readers to Dr. Alex Delaware, a forensic psychologist who, like Kellerman himself, uses the human psyche as both shield and scalpel. This debut book wasn’t just successful—it shattered expectations, winning the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel. A psychologist writing gritty, intellectual crime fiction? It was unheard of—and utterly compelling.
The irony? Despite spending years helping people heal, Kellerman found global fame by writing about broken minds and deadly crimes. It's as if the man who once tried to stitch human souls back together couldn’t resist diving into the shattered fragments to see what made them tick—and sometimes, what made them snap.
With over 40 novels to his name (most starring the iconic Delaware), Kellerman has become one of the most consistent and bestselling psychological thriller writers in the world. His books are translated into more than two dozen languages and have sold millions of copies. And if you think that talent runs solo in his family—guess again. He’s married to Faye Kellerman, another titan of crime fiction, and their son Jesse Kellerman is also a bestselling novelist. That’s right—the Kellermans are pretty much a literary dynasty, spinning suspenseful stories over dinner, probably.
Now here’s a twist for the ages—Jonathan Kellerman is still alive and writing, continuously crafting narratives that blur the line between therapy session and detective story. He hasn’t slowed down, and if anything, his prose gets sharper, his plots darker, and his psychological precision deadlier with each passing year.
So, if you’ve never cracked open one of his books, know this: you’re stepping into the mind of a man who understands fear not just as a writer, but as a doctor of the soul. Every twist he pens is laced with insights drawn from real trauma, real therapy, real evil.
And the best part? Once you enter Kellerman’s world, you may never want to leave...
Or perhaps—you simply won’t be able to.