Customer Reviews

Day of Atonement (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After reading one Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novel almost by accident, I was immediately hooked on this series. Peter, Rina, and their family and colleagues are characters of depth, endearingly human, honest, and appealing. Every novel in this series is a winner, and I especially liked Day of Atonement. Not only is it an engrossing, gritty, edge-of-the-seat detective novel, it is also a heartfelt story of complex emotional relationships. The setting within the Orthodox Jewish community--still an ongoing mystery to semi-outsider, LAPD detective Peter Decker--seems to the reader much as it does to him: a fascinating, perplexing, comforting, challenging world. This reader--coincidentally the parent of an adult adopted son--was intrigued and deeply touched by the subplot of Peter's struggle to deal emotionally with his own adoption. It is rare to find as compelling a storyteller as Faye Kellerman!

In this series, Faye Kellerman gives us exciting stories, likable protagonists in Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus, and an interesting picture of Orthodox Jewish life. The only thing that mars the series is the ugly language employed whenever Decker gets together with his LAPD colleagues. I guess this is in there because it's "realistic," but I for one don't need such realism in my recreational reading. (I've found it's possible to skim over most of this dialogue without losing track of the story.) "Day of Atonement" is my favorite of the series so far. Not only is it a compelling story involving the search for a teenage boy who runs away from his Orthodox community in New York; much of the action takes place away from Los Angeles and thus we are largely spared the unpleasant conversations of the cops.

Faye Kellerman has the ability to involve the reader from page one. Her entire series of Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus books are spellbinders. She follows the relationship between Peter and Rina from when they first met in Ritual Bath through to Prayers for the Dead. She weaves her books beautifully around the life of orthodox Jews and those who are both less religous and those who are not Jewish. You watch the characters grow from the first word to the last. I always end her books wanting to read another

The forth book in Fay Kellerman's Decker/Lazarus series, "Day of Atonement," takes them to Brooklyn, New York on their honeymoon. "Not the honeymoon Decker had imagined." It's not he best of all situations. He's staying in the crowded home of the parents of Rina's late husband. It's Rosh Hashanah which makes the situation more difficult. The spirit and holiness of the holidays is shattered when Noam, Rina's cousin, runs away. Runaways is one of Decker's specialties but although he is clad in a yarmulke he is still the stranger in the Orthodox community of Crown Heights, Brooklyn The search for the teenager links him to a psychopath and trail which leads him back to Los Angles and murder. "Day of Atonement," is the best of the series to date.

Detective Peter Decker and Orthodox Jewish Rina Lazarus have finally tied the knot in this book, but their honeymoon leaves a lot to be desired. They are spending it in Brooklyn with Rina's in-laws. Peter understandably feels uncomfortable in this situation and he is not yet accustomed to all of the Orthodox Jewish customs, despite his months of study. Two plots wind through the book, namely the disappearance of one of his wife's troubled nephew and Peter's discovery of a person from his past.
These subplots wind neatly around one another and, as usual the reader is treated to lots of interesting background about Orthodox Jewish custom. Rina and Peter go through some difficult moments as she wants to help in the investigation and Peter does not want her put in danger. All in all, this is a satisfying read and it makes me look forward to reading the rest of the series.

This is the third book I have read from Kellerman and I have found her to be an average writer. This book is no exception.

Peter (LAPD) & Rina Decker are on their honeymoon in Rina's hometown, so the references to Orthodox Jews are virtually the book on its own. While Peter is grappelling with Judasim and all its words (that for a non-Jew, gets very frustrating at times) he seems to be also be searching for a runaway teenage boy & here is where the story starts to get interesting. The boy (Noam) is his half-nephew who has seemed to have hooked up with another teenage pyscho who likes filleting gay men. So, Peter, has to spend his honeymoon looking for Noam and his friend, Hersh.

Bascially, the entire book is about Peter's search for Noam, Hersh, his r'ship with his wife, her family, his struggle with the religion and his first meeting with his 'real' other.

Unfortunately, Kellerman spends way too long on the Judaism and not enough on the actual story & I had read books from her that don't involve Rina, and they are fantastic!

Overall this is an ok book. If you are looking for great crime fiction, then look towards Michael Connelly or John Sandford but if you are looking for light crime with a heavy dash of religion, then this is the book for you!

What a "Honeymoon", there doesn't seem anything that doesn't happen to the New Mr.& Mrs. Decker. Wonderful fast read, great insight on the Jewish Orthodox community. Peter is confronted by his on heritage & Rina is a true fiesty heroine with a mind of her own. Sadly this book shows no one is immune to the trouble of your society & it touches even the most protected children.

There really isn't a whole lot of suspense in the book. It is almost impossible to not know what is going to happen at the end, though I will not tell you anyway. The book focuses on a disaffected Orthodox Jewish youth who gets mixed up with a psychopath. Although it discusses some of the issues, in general, as to what could cause this young man to act as he does, it really talks more about why the psycho is crazy than why the youth runs away from home.

The ability for the hero of the tome, Peter Decker to find his quarry is beyond belief, even for Hollywood. The guy obviously has the hearing of a canine in being able to tell what street corner the kid is calling from.

There is an interesting and gripping adoption line as well. Decker is adopted, was born Jewish, brought up Baptist, and now married into an ultra-Orthodox family. I have not read the other books in the series, but how he really feels about that could have been better developed as well.

Overall, the book was simple to figure out, but the writing was good enough and close enough to home to me to give it three stars.

VERY ENGROSSING , CONTINUES JEWISH CONSERVADOX BASIS OF MAIN CHARACTERS AS IN PREVIOUS BOOKS ,PROVIDES INTERESTING PSYCHOLOGICAL INSIGHT INTO PSYCHOTIC BASED JUVENILE DELINQUENCY PERHAPS DUE TO AUTHORS SPOUSE THE PSYCOLOGIST & AUTHOR , JOHNATHAN

Away for the weekend recently, I picked up a copy of Faye Kellerman's "Day of Atonement" in the guest bedroom's book basket, (nice touch), and found it to be an intriguing and refreshingly delightful mystery. I really do like noir, but have, perhaps, been reading too much of fiction's dark side lately. This is a terrific change of pace. Although Ms. Kellerman's novel has its share of gruesomeness - a boy's disappearance, a psychopathic killer, etc. - the ethnic/cultural aspect of the story is as unusual as a sleuth series which focuses on family values.

"Day of Atonement" is the fourth in the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novels. However, one can easily get to know the characters and their history without having read the prior books. Peter Decker, a detective with the Los Angeles police, and his new bride Rina Lazarus are spending their honeymoon in Boro Park, Brooklyn, at the home of Rina's ex in-laws. Rina, an Orthodox Jewess had been widowed early in her first marriage and has two small sons. The couple and their boys are visiting for the High Holy Days, allowing the grandparents time with their grandchildren while Peter is still on vacation. Although Peter's birth mother was Jewish, he was raised as a Baptist and recently converted.

During the New Year dinner celebration, Peter is shocked when he comes face-to-face with a family secret, a bizarre coincidence which shakes him to the core. He has to put on his detective hat, however, even if he is discombobulated. As the meal begins, and then ends, it becomes apparent that a fourteen year-old boy is missing. Noam Levine, a relative of the family they are visiting, is a troubled youth, a real loner. Decker is called upon to use his best investigative skills to find the boy, who is in serious danger. Suspense builds as clues are discovered which show just how perilous Noam's situation is. Subplots involve Peter's past, along with his relationship with his new wife, sons and the community he has inherited through marriage. As Yom Kippur nears, (the holy Jewish Day of Atonement, a time for reflection and for forgiveness), all the narrative's various threads come together for a riveting climax.

Along with a compelling mystery, Ms. Kellerman provides a fascinating look inside an insular religious community trying to live according to the dictates of their faith. The three-dimensional characters come to life on the page. Both Rina and Peter grow individually, and as a couple, within the story. The chemistry between them is palpable. Rina is a particular appealing character. After a secular upbringing, she chose to become Orthodox. Her newly found independence, (a result of her relationship with Peter), her time as a single parent, and coping with terrors from her past combine to make her an individual well worth meeting. The novel's setting, and background are factual and handled with respect.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery, the humanity of the story and the characters, and details of the Orthodox Jewish customs and lifestyle. As a matter of fact as I finish this review I am about to pick up another book in the series.

JANA