#alex delaware

[milosturgis]

"You think I'm reaching? It was just a look."

[...]

"No, Alex," [Milo] said softly. "I think you're worth listening to. I've always thought so."

- Time Bomb, p. 445

[sharry-arry-odd]

"Isn't there a term in psych for when it all comes tumbling down like that?" "Cognitive dissonance." "Whatever. Tell me," he leaned forward, "what do people do when they're in that state?" "Sometimes change their beliefs, sometimes distort reality to fit those beliefs."

Blood Test (Alex Delaware #2), by Jonathan Kellerman

[quotesfromall]

Getting my act together. I have a chemical imbalance that affects my moods but I also need to take personal responsibility for how I react to stressful situations.

Jonathan Kellerman, Rage

[daughterofhecata]

I need to talk about Milo Sturgis for a moment, because I just got my hands onto three Jonathan Kellerman books/Alex Delaware novels a couple days ago and I'm already halfway through the second one.

And god fucking damned, Milo Sturgis.

A detective like your worst nightmare - eats too much, overweight, bad skin, slightly violent, badly dressed, not exactly friendly to anyone (including and except his best friend, depending on the day). And gay.

The oldest book I got my hands on is from 1997. And Kellerman casually mentions every couple chapters, that Milo is gay. He's basically married to an E.R. surgeon (iirc) who also comes up every once in a while. And to me this is so important.

To every bad attribute I mentioned before, there's something good. Milo's kind in his own way, he loves his best friend (and the best friend's girlfriend. And their dog.) so much, he's always trying to do the right thing, he authentic, always trying not to compromise himself.

He's many things, but never a stereotype.

And I really like, how there are no slurs, no homophobia from the author (as in, no offhanded remarks in the narration itself), but Kellerman still makes sure to show realistically, that it's fucking hard being the only openly gay detective around.

Milo's a loner either way, but he also doesn't play well with most of his colleagues, nor his superiors, there is a point at which he probably won't get promoted anymore, partly due to being openly gay, and the story doesn't make light of it.

But it's also not the focus. It comes up when it comes up and when it doesn't, Milo's "just" your regular crime novel detective. But he mentions his husband just as much as any other character mentions their significant other, and it's treated like any other relationship.

I don't even know, I'm just having a lot of feelings about Milo, because it's a completely different kind of representation than I'm used to seeing. It's just casually there, no big deal, but still a part of Milo's identity and daily life, that comes up as often and casually as the fact that he raids his best friend's kitchen whenever he comes over.

[quotesfromall]

Why should I want to go out? Why should I want that?

Jonathan Kellerman, Therapy

[quotesfromall]

The FBI had earned a lot of TV time with patterns of serial killers obtained from interviews with psychopaths careless enough to get caught. But psychopaths lied for the fun of it, and profiles rarely if ever led to the discovery of a killer, occasionally confirming what police scut work and luck had already accomplished.

Jonathan Kellerman, The Web

[quotesfromall]

It wasn't easy for Bonita Quinn, brought up to think of all Mexicans as beasts of burden, to see that in the big city, away from the lettuce fields, some of them looked just like real people. While she did the donkey work.

Jonathan Kellerman, When the Bough Breaks

[caneandtie]

You think Milo Sturgis would be a transphobic gay or nah? Tap in