"A humanistic police procedural. Teriffic!"
The Los Angeles police call orthodox Jew Rina Lazarus
to come to the synagogue that has been badly vandalized.
Not long afterward the police, led by Rina's spouse
Lieutenant Peter Decker, arrest teenager Ernesto Golding, a
friend of Rina's son Jacob, for defacing the place of
worship. Ernesto is sent to counseling camp under the care
of psychologists Mervin and Dee Baldwin. The case turns bizarre when someone first murders
Ernesto and then his two doctors. Believing that Ernesto
had help with his wanton damage to the synagogue, Peter and
his staff make inquiries into hate groups. Meanwhile Rina
learns more about her son's struggle with his Jewish
identity in a fast food assimilation environment while
Peter and his stepson become closer to one another. No one will forget the name of author Faye Kellerman
after her powerful police-procedural-family drama, THE
FORGOTTEN. The story line is equally filled with a
powerful investigation and the struggles and pressures of a
teen to accommodate his religion while fitting into the
wider mainstream society. Though Ernesto's ties to the
Holocaust through his grandfather seems an unnecessary
subplot, readers will know that this is a strong mystery
with deep characters worth reading. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted August 4, 2001
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