Survival of the Fittest was published by Bantam Books in 1997. A serial killer in Los Angeles is targeting children with disabilities — specifically, disabled children of wealthy and prominent families. The pattern suggests a killer motivated by eugenic ideology: a twisted Darwinist who believes disabled children are genetic errors that should be eliminated. Alex must profile the killer while the LAPD races to identify the next target.
The novel engages with the history of eugenics in America — a subject usually confined to academic discussion — and asks what happens when that ideology is applied by someone with the intelligence and resources to act on it.
Collecting Survival of the Fittest
First edition (Bantam Books, New York, 1997): Boards with dust jacket.
Market values:
- Fine in dust jacket: $15–$25
- Very good: $8–$15
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation.
The Eugenics Horror
The killer’s philosophy — that disabled children are “defective” and that eliminating them is a form of social improvement — draws on real eugenic arguments that were mainstream in the early 20th century and have never entirely disappeared. Kellerman uses the clinical framework to examine how ideology transforms murder into mission, and how the killer’s twisted rationality makes him more dangerous than a purely impulsive murderer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Jonathan Kellerman related to Faye Kellerman? Yes. Faye Kellerman is his wife and is also a bestselling crime novelist, known for the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus mystery series. Their son Jesse Kellerman is a novelist and playwright. The Kellermans are one of the most prominent literary families in American crime fiction.