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aspygirlsmom_1995's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
debs4jc's review against another edition
4.0
I'm really enjoying reading through the Decker/Lazarus series. In this one, Decker and Rina have just married, but their honeymoon is far from ordinary. They go to New York to visit with some of Rina's family and suddenly Decker is involved with a family crisis involving a missing teenage boy and a possible psychopath. I love the blend of the relationship between Decker and Rina that continues to develop and the actual thrill of the chase as Decker hunts down the bad guy. Rina asserts herself and want to help out and even tote a gun, to which Decker does not react well. Yet having Rina along may be a lot better idea than he thought. And the stuff about the Jewish culture/religion that comes out in these books is really fascinating. Highly recommended for fans of gritty mysteries and good relationship stories.
shreyas1599's review against another edition
4.0
More family drama in this one. This one strayed off its course and Peter is caught in a situation where’s there’s a significant overlap between the case and his personal life. This book also shows characteristics of Peter that make him unlikeable, especially some of his behaviour towards Rina. But a decent and adequately paced read.
aspygirlsmom_1995's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
brandylw's review against another edition
2.0
I may have to get back to this one, but right now I can't seem to get into it as much as the first few Faye Kellerman books that I have read. Maybe it's the timeline--the Decker/Lazarus books are based in the 1980s and so it's difficult to reconcile current police procedural and that of the 80s.
jrmama42's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, I'm back to being a fan of Faye Kellerman. I'm glad I decided to give her one more try because this book was as good as the first one, in my opinion. There are still a few things I'm not crazy about in the characters, but I can accept less-than-perfect characters if the story is good.
Peter and Rina are on their honeymoon in Brooklyn (of all places!) and one of the boys in Rina's extended "family" goes missing. Peter takes on the job of tracking him down, at first reluctantly, then by choice. In the process he learns a lot about family ties and relationships. A very compelling story, difficult to put down.
Peter and Rina are on their honeymoon in Brooklyn (of all places!) and one of the boys in Rina's extended "family" goes missing. Peter takes on the job of tracking him down, at first reluctantly, then by choice. In the process he learns a lot about family ties and relationships. A very compelling story, difficult to put down.
skateanddonate's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent book. This is how a good novel is written. The characters were wonderful and fully developed. The plot developed at a steady pace, although a tad slow at the beginning. The theme was seamlessly interwoven throughout the book. The emotional payoff was perfect. The closing line had me in tears. I'm off to buy the next book in this series. 5 out of 5 stars.
stefaniefrei's review against another edition
5.0
About fitting in, identity and coping (Decker Lazarus 4)
If you want to just try the series, go for book no 1 (The Ritual Bath) and this, no 4, no 4 being for me the slightly better of the two, but no 1 should be needed to understand the whole context.
Newlyweds Peter Decker and his wife Rina, formerly Lazarus, spend an unusual honeymoon – visiting Rina’s ex-parents-in-law: with the death of Rina’s first husband from brain cancer, they lost their son, now their grandsons Sammy and Yonkie will be raised by Rina with Pete. So the LAPD-cop wants to help Rina make them feel more comfortable, still feeling a lot out of place in the strictly jewish-orthodox enviroment in New York, standing out despite his own decision for Judaism, though for a more moderate form. Too many ghosts for the Lazarus family, leave alone the very tiny housing conditions, especially with a large man like him. It is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year’s celebration, with Yom Kippur to come, the Day of Atonement, namegiver to the book’s title. And as if this were not tricky enough, Pete had not known that the friends to come over to the Lazarus‘ home would open a pandora’s box he had avoided ever so long. And then, the group comes to realize a troubled teenage boy is missing. Pete goes into cop-mode.
There are so many things I just love about this book. There is a decent enough crime story – sometimes you get to read a story about good kids doing stupid stuff and just do not get to understand why. Here, author Kellerman clevery describes how the very protected and isolated upbringing of the young boy made him ever so much more vulnerable. Of course, the reader will get a gripping hunt – including how much footwork is included in police investigations. There even are some psycho thriller portions with the involvement of some rather gory details and very nasty crimes. And the reader will learn a lot more about Pete Decker, see him under real pressure.
Kellerman, herself orthodox according to Wikipedia, has cop Decker be the one to evaluate and ponder religious matters. He is new to living by religious laws and thus more given to criticism. So when he escapes the claustrophobic situation at the Lazarus‘ home, his thoughts are: „Just a hundred years ago, hundreds of Jews had poured into America, working ninety hours a week for a better life, for a chance to get out of the ghetto. But for some, so much freedom had seemed too frightening.
Solution: Why not bring the ghetto into America?
And Rina chose this voluntarily.“ p. 21
The book gives you a wonderful insight again into religious rituals, this time the aforementioned holy days, not without backing this up with the differences for the various religous groups and some further details. I really enjoy if a crime story goes deeper and gives you some more more of a grip to matters of society and had dearly missed that type of information in book no 3. Kellerman intertwines the purpose of Yom Kippur wonderfully and tightly with the events around the disappearance, so no way of one being just the stooge for the other. To the protagonists, religion and everyday activity, it’s all linked. To the story, each carries the other along, without lecturing. And not to forget the irony behind some of the events, like when Pete tries to talk his wife out of wishing to possess a gun for self defence:
Peter: “If you sell the gun.“
„Peter, it should be my decision, not yours.“
„You’re my wife! According to Jewish law, I bought you.“
Rina glared at him: „I hate when you use religion to prove a point.“ p 158 Not the only time when Peter really messes up badly…
If you want to just try the series, go for book no 1 (The Ritual Bath) and this, no 4, no 4 being for me the slightly better of the two, but no 1 should be needed to understand the whole context.
Newlyweds Peter Decker and his wife Rina, formerly Lazarus, spend an unusual honeymoon – visiting Rina’s ex-parents-in-law: with the death of Rina’s first husband from brain cancer, they lost their son, now their grandsons Sammy and Yonkie will be raised by Rina with Pete. So the LAPD-cop wants to help Rina make them feel more comfortable, still feeling a lot out of place in the strictly jewish-orthodox enviroment in New York, standing out despite his own decision for Judaism, though for a more moderate form. Too many ghosts for the Lazarus family, leave alone the very tiny housing conditions, especially with a large man like him. It is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year’s celebration, with Yom Kippur to come, the Day of Atonement, namegiver to the book’s title. And as if this were not tricky enough, Pete had not known that the friends to come over to the Lazarus‘ home would open a pandora’s box he had avoided ever so long. And then, the group comes to realize a troubled teenage boy is missing. Pete goes into cop-mode.
There are so many things I just love about this book. There is a decent enough crime story – sometimes you get to read a story about good kids doing stupid stuff and just do not get to understand why. Here, author Kellerman clevery describes how the very protected and isolated upbringing of the young boy made him ever so much more vulnerable. Of course, the reader will get a gripping hunt – including how much footwork is included in police investigations. There even are some psycho thriller portions with the involvement of some rather gory details and very nasty crimes. And the reader will learn a lot more about Pete Decker, see him under real pressure.
Kellerman, herself orthodox according to Wikipedia, has cop Decker be the one to evaluate and ponder religious matters. He is new to living by religious laws and thus more given to criticism. So when he escapes the claustrophobic situation at the Lazarus‘ home, his thoughts are: „Just a hundred years ago, hundreds of Jews had poured into America, working ninety hours a week for a better life, for a chance to get out of the ghetto. But for some, so much freedom had seemed too frightening.
Solution: Why not bring the ghetto into America?
And Rina chose this voluntarily.“ p. 21
The book gives you a wonderful insight again into religious rituals, this time the aforementioned holy days, not without backing this up with the differences for the various religous groups and some further details. I really enjoy if a crime story goes deeper and gives you some more more of a grip to matters of society and had dearly missed that type of information in book no 3. Kellerman intertwines the purpose of Yom Kippur wonderfully and tightly with the events around the disappearance, so no way of one being just the stooge for the other. To the protagonists, religion and everyday activity, it’s all linked. To the story, each carries the other along, without lecturing. And not to forget the irony behind some of the events, like when Pete tries to talk his wife out of wishing to possess a gun for self defence:
Peter: “If you sell the gun.“
„Peter, it should be my decision, not yours.“
„You’re my wife! According to Jewish law, I bought you.“
Rina glared at him: „I hate when you use religion to prove a point.“ p 158 Not the only time when Peter really messes up badly…
emil_y_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0