
When the Bough Breaks
An Alex Delaware Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $13.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
John Rubinstein
About this listen
"Two hours of your time...that's all it will take," says Alex's friend, Detective Milo Sturgis. Delaware quickly finds it's not that simple. What the little girl saw becomes a personal obsession that threatens his career and his life. Snared in a web of evil that stretches from the barrio to an elite island community, he approaches a ghastly secret that makes even murder seem like child's play.
©1988 Jonathan Kellerman and Bantam Audio Publishing (P)1988 Bantam Audio Publishing, Random House AudioBooks, a Division of Random House, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
When the Bough Breaks
- An Alex Delaware Novel
- By: Jonathan Kellerman
- Narrated by: Alexander Adams
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Morton Handler practiced a strange brand of psychiatry. Among his specialties were fraud, extortion, and sexual manipulation. Handler paid for his sins when he was brutally murdered in his luxurious Pacific Palisades apartment. The police have no leads, but they do have one possible witness: seven-year-old Melody Quinn.
-
-
Changing my ways.....
- By karen on 05-31-13
-
True Detectives
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Kellerman
- Narrated by: John Rubinstein
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bound by blood but divided by troubles as old as Cain and Abel, Moses Reed and Aaron Fox were first introduced in Kellerman’s bestselling Bones. They are sons of the same strong-willed mother, and their respective fathers were cops, partners, and friends. Their turbulent family history has set them at odds, despite their shared calling. Moses—part Boy Scout, part bulldog, man of few words—is a no-frills LAPD detective.
-
-
Friends don't let friends pick books while drunk
- By mindusq on 03-30-09
-
A is for Alibi
- A Kinsey Millhone Mystery
- By: Sue Grafton
- Narrated by: Mary Peiffer
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the first in the popular series featuring California investigator Kinsey Millhone. She's 32, twice divorced, no kids, an ex-cop who likes her work...and who works strictly alone!
-
-
No More for Me
- By Robin on 07-12-08
By: Sue Grafton
-
The Murderer's Daughter
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Kellerman
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliant, beautiful, and stunningly effective, psychologist Dr. Grace Blades has a special gift for treating troubled souls and healing tormented psyches - perhaps because she bears her own invisible scars. Only five years old when she witnessed her parents die in a bloody murder-suicide, Grace took refuge in her towering intellect and found comfort in the loving couple who adopted her. But as an adult, Grace's accomplished professional life vies with a covert, high-risk dark side, played out harrowingly. And when Grace's two worlds shockingly converge, her past returns with a vengeance.
-
-
Psychologist by Day, Prostitute by night...
- By Terri on 08-18-15
-
Billy Straight
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Kellerman
- Narrated by: Alexander Adams
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twelve-year-old Billy Straight - precocious, heartbreakingly perceptive, relentlessly moral - has fled the chaos and abuse of his life at home and is fighting to survive on L.A.'s meanest streets. All alone, Billy has fashioned a precarious existence for himself, using principled tricks to nourish his body and his mind. Late one night he watches from his hiding place as a man viciously butchers a woman. Billy becomes the center of terrifying attention - from the media, from violent bounty hunters, and from the murderer himself.
-
-
This is Terrible
- By Anonymous User on 08-25-10
-
Until Proven Guilty
- J. P. Beaumont Series, Book 1
- By: J. A. Jance
- Narrated by: Gene Engene
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lurking in the dark corners of J. P. Beaumont's bizarre case was not just a demented mind obsessed with murder, but secrets so deadly that even a street-tough cop could die guessing.
-
-
Until proven guilty
- By Jean on 04-21-11
By: J. A. Jance
-
When the Bough Breaks
- An Alex Delaware Novel
- By: Jonathan Kellerman
- Narrated by: Alexander Adams
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Morton Handler practiced a strange brand of psychiatry. Among his specialties were fraud, extortion, and sexual manipulation. Handler paid for his sins when he was brutally murdered in his luxurious Pacific Palisades apartment. The police have no leads, but they do have one possible witness: seven-year-old Melody Quinn.
-
-
Changing my ways.....
- By karen on 05-31-13
-
True Detectives
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Kellerman
- Narrated by: John Rubinstein
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bound by blood but divided by troubles as old as Cain and Abel, Moses Reed and Aaron Fox were first introduced in Kellerman’s bestselling Bones. They are sons of the same strong-willed mother, and their respective fathers were cops, partners, and friends. Their turbulent family history has set them at odds, despite their shared calling. Moses—part Boy Scout, part bulldog, man of few words—is a no-frills LAPD detective.
-
-
Friends don't let friends pick books while drunk
- By mindusq on 03-30-09
-
A is for Alibi
- A Kinsey Millhone Mystery
- By: Sue Grafton
- Narrated by: Mary Peiffer
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the first in the popular series featuring California investigator Kinsey Millhone. She's 32, twice divorced, no kids, an ex-cop who likes her work...and who works strictly alone!
-
-
No More for Me
- By Robin on 07-12-08
By: Sue Grafton
-
The Murderer's Daughter
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Kellerman
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliant, beautiful, and stunningly effective, psychologist Dr. Grace Blades has a special gift for treating troubled souls and healing tormented psyches - perhaps because she bears her own invisible scars. Only five years old when she witnessed her parents die in a bloody murder-suicide, Grace took refuge in her towering intellect and found comfort in the loving couple who adopted her. But as an adult, Grace's accomplished professional life vies with a covert, high-risk dark side, played out harrowingly. And when Grace's two worlds shockingly converge, her past returns with a vengeance.
-
-
Psychologist by Day, Prostitute by night...
- By Terri on 08-18-15
-
Billy Straight
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Kellerman
- Narrated by: Alexander Adams
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twelve-year-old Billy Straight - precocious, heartbreakingly perceptive, relentlessly moral - has fled the chaos and abuse of his life at home and is fighting to survive on L.A.'s meanest streets. All alone, Billy has fashioned a precarious existence for himself, using principled tricks to nourish his body and his mind. Late one night he watches from his hiding place as a man viciously butchers a woman. Billy becomes the center of terrifying attention - from the media, from violent bounty hunters, and from the murderer himself.
-
-
This is Terrible
- By Anonymous User on 08-25-10
-
Until Proven Guilty
- J. P. Beaumont Series, Book 1
- By: J. A. Jance
- Narrated by: Gene Engene
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lurking in the dark corners of J. P. Beaumont's bizarre case was not just a demented mind obsessed with murder, but secrets so deadly that even a street-tough cop could die guessing.
-
-
Until proven guilty
- By Jean on 04-21-11
By: J. A. Jance
-
I Will Find You
- By: Harlan Coben
- Narrated by: Steven Weber
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Burroughs was once a devoted father to his three-year-old son Matthew, living a dream life just a short drive away from the working-class suburb where he and his wife, Cheryl, first fell in love—until one fateful night when David woke suddenly to discover Matthew had been murdered while David was asleep just down the hall.
-
-
Harlan Coben never disappoints!!!!
- By shelley on 03-14-23
By: Harlan Coben
-
Simply Lies
- By: David Baldacci
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan, Corey Carthew
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mickey Gibson, single mother and former detective, leads a hectic life similar to that of many moms: juggling the demands of her two small children with the tasks of her job working remotely for ProEye, a global investigation company that hunts down wealthy tax and credit cheats. When Mickey gets a call from a colleague named Arlene Robinson, she thinks nothing of Arlene’s unusual request for her to go inventory the vacant home of an arms dealer who cheated ProEye’s clients and fled.
-
-
Very Good New Series!!!!
- By shelley on 04-19-23
By: David Baldacci
-
The Quiet Game
- By: Greg Iles
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 20 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When former prosecutor Penn Cage returns to his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, he doesn't find the peace he desperately craves. He finds that his own father is being blackmailed by a corrupt ex-cop. And when Penn investigates, he uncovers a murderous secret - and the small town's violent past.
-
-
Complex and Good Courtroom Drama!
- By R. Pontiflet on 02-09-15
By: Greg Iles
-
Parker DuPont, P.I. Bundle: Books 1-4
- By: James Paddock
- Narrated by: Josiah John Bildner
- Length: 44 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Parker DuPont is a family man, with a wife, three children, and sister. As happens to many men Parker’s age, he faces the mid-life thing, and decides he wants to hang his own shingle, rather than spend the next 20-plus years as a St. Petersburg police detective. Private investigator sounds very appealing, and so off he goes into the private world to become his own boss. Welcome to his world.
-
-
THOROUGHLY ENJOYED !
- By BrenisNGod on 08-27-21
By: James Paddock
-
In the Woods
- A Novel
- By: Tana French
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 20 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours. Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret.
-
-
Detection with a Difference
- By Lesley on 07-18-07
By: Tana French
-
The Night Shift
- Cavendish and Walker, Book 0
- By: Sally Rigby
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 1 hr and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
DS Whitney Walker wants a promotion, but it’s hard when she’s trying to balance motherhood with a career. When a newborn baby is kidnapped from the local hospital, she draws on her skills as a mother to help. Despite being ordered not to, and when the leads are going nowhere, Walker enlists the help of a local journalist who’s convinced it’s the work of an international baby smuggling ring. Walker’s plan backfires and she fears they’re running out of time.
-
-
What Whiner
- By DebbieDD on 03-25-21
By: Sally Rigby
-
11-22-63
- A Novel
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Craig Wasson
- Length: 30 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King - who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer - takes listeners on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.
-
-
I Owe Stephen King An Apology
- By Kelly - Write Well Academy on 04-16-12
By: Stephen King
-
Before She Disappeared
- A Novel (A Frankie Elkin Novel, Book 1)
- By: Lisa Gardner
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. But she spends her life doing what no one else will - searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking. A new case brings her to Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood with a rough reputation. She is searching for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who vanished from her high school months earlier.
-
-
One of my favorite authors...
- By shelley on 01-20-21
By: Lisa Gardner
-
Dark of the Moon
- By: John Sandford
- Narrated by: Eric Conger
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Virgil Flowers kicked around for a while before joining the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. First it was the army and the military police, then the police in St. Paul, and finally Lucas Davenport brought him into the BCA, promising him, "We'll only give you the hard stuff." He's been doing the hard stuff for three years now, but never anything like this.
-
-
Be ready for pretty descriptive sexual child abuse.
- By CDB on 07-03-18
By: John Sandford
-
The Ritual Bath
- The First Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Novel
- By: Faye Kellerman
- Narrated by: Mitchell Greenberg
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Detective Peter Decker of the LAPD is stunned when he gets the report. Someone has shattered the sanctuary of a remote yeshiva community in the California hills with an unimaginable crime. One of the women was brutally raped as she returned from the mikvah, the bathhouse where the cleansing ritual is performed.
-
-
Good Read
- By Eva Gannon on 08-21-08
By: Faye Kellerman
-
Triptych
- By: Karin Slaughter
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Atlanta's wealthiest suburbs to its stark inner-city housing projects, a killer has crossed the boundaries of wealth and race. And the people who are chasing him must cross those boundaries, too. Among them is Michael Ormewood, a veteran detective whose marriage is hanging by a thread and whose arrogance and explosive temper are threatening his career. And Angie Polaski, a beautiful vice cop who was once Michael's lover before she became his enemy.
-
-
Spoiler Alert
- By Patricia on 12-13-15
By: Karin Slaughter
-
Her Deadly Game
- Keera Duggan, Book 1
- By: Robert Dugoni
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Keera Duggan was building a solid reputation as a Seattle prosecutor, until her romantic relationship with a senior colleague ended badly. For the competitive former chess prodigy, returning to her family’s failing criminal defense law firm to work for her father is the best shot she has. With the right moves, she hopes to restore the family’s reputation, her relationship with her father, and her career.
-
-
Legal thriller filled with twists!
- By Wayne on 03-28-23
By: Robert Dugoni
Critic reviews
"A compelling, exceptionally exciting thriller!" (The New York Times)
"Suspenseful, neatly spun, fascinating...spooky." (Philadelphia Daily News)
What listeners say about When the Bough Breaks
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Polly
- 10-20-11
Ordinary and dull
The plot was obvious; the surprises non-existent. I was bored. I would not recommend this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Darline
- 03-24-05
I liked this mystery.
I bought this mystery on a whim, but once I started to listen to it I couldn't stop. The protagonist's obsession to solve the mystery becomes personal and that's when the action explodes into every corner of his life.
The dramatic music was entertaining, but also ruined a few moments in the book for me because it cued me to know what was coming next.
The narrator made the characters come to life with his ever changing voice. I liked his articulations of softly spoken females, foreign accents, and high-pitched voices of children.
The book is short, but entertaining and I'm going to listen to When The Bough Breaks again and again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Andre
- 06-29-05
Insufficiently Audible
An interesting plot, although the hero has too many wonderful qualities to be believable. The biggest problem is the recording - the reader's voice sounds muffled, and it's often very difficult to find out what is being said.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Kindle Customer
- 05-15-08
Good book
The first of the Alex Delaware novels and a little more simplistic than others that followed. Still a great read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- cynthia
- 03-04-17
Excellent!
The first book is always the best. I have rad all of his books and was thrilled when I saw this on audible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gina Johnson
- 01-13-25
Good detective work; depravity of men.
Always love John Rubinstein as narrator. Like the psychology, mystery and solve aspects. This and Clinic a little too violence for me.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tyleena Hammond
- 08-22-16
Good story, fas t paced, a few twists
The story was good, the narration was good, the music throughout the narration was obnoxious and off-putting
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Texas Seven
- 07-19-16
Super Listen!
I've always liked Jonathan Kellerman's books. They're always read by very good actors. I enjoy them immensely.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- suzzibell
- 11-06-19
terrible reading!
The book itself is awesome! The reader is terrible and the "music" in the background at certian points made me feel like I was listening to a porno! I don't want to hear music while they are reading, just read the book! Would've only given 1 star for overall and p er rformance but apparently 2 is the lowest it will take.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Elaine
- 05-12-08
Butchered
This book is a prime example of why I normally buy unabridged books. I admire the clear thought process of Jonathan Kellerman, but this title was so badly butchered there was no story line. Whole segments are obviously missing. The book hardly starts before we are jumping to the thrilling conclusion with no clue how we got there. It was a waste of money.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful