Epitaph (Beeler Large Print Series) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

James Siegel (Author)

Book Description

Series: Beeler Large Print Series | Publication Date: March 2003

Following a dangerous string of clues, Riskin finds himself in hot pursuit of a little-known World War II criminal named Dr. Petoit, who, after promising sanctuary to hundreds of fleeing Jews in occupied France, led them to death in his own home. As Riskin uncovers his friend's own guilty part in these crimes, he himself comes face to face with the ultimate evil.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sometimes it's pleasant to read a tale that unfolds slowly and methodically like the layers of an onion. This first novel is such a story. Retired detective and senior citizen William (never Bill, Billy or Willy) Riskin, a New Yorker through and through, used to work for an investigative agency, the Three Eyes, whose clients were either from the city or had settled in south Florida. The problem at hand is that some people who left their longtime New York abodes for Florida never arrived there. Where are they, and what happened to them? Jean Goldblum, deceased, one of William's former partners in the Three Eyes agency, had been working on the "biggest case of his life," and now William must come out of retirement to try to pick up the pieces. William only has Jean's list of names of the missing people to work with. "Follow the list, William, it's all you have," our hero says to himself. As the layers are stripped bit by bit, and oh, so slowly, we learn that this case has roots in the past, when Nazi Germany controlled much of Europe. Jean had always been known as an underground hero from World War II; could it be that his reputation is undeserved? As William moves from clue to clue, he uncovers more than one startling secret. In a denouement as frightening as a medieval torture chamber, William fights for his life. Is this Williams's last case, or will he return in another adventure? Either way, readers will be satisfied. (June 5)won many industry awards. He also wrote the Emmy-winning NBC "Make You Know" public service campaign.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Retired P.I.William Riskin spends his golden years sweeping out a Queens Offtrack Betting Office and waiting to die when he spots the newspaper obituary of his old partner, Jean Goldblum, a hardened concentration camp survivor and war hero. Although he has mixed feelings about Jean, who brutally exposed his wife's infidelity and destroyed his marriage, William pays his respects at the funeral and learns that Jean was working on the most important case of his life at the time of his death. Investigating a list of names that Jean left for safekeeping with a neighbor, William follows a trail of missing retirees who supposedly moved to Florida but never arrived there. In turn, this leads him to horrifying crimes committed 60 years earlier in occupied France. This first novel by the creative director of a New York ad agency skillfully combines a compelling crime story with clearly drawn characters (most over the age of 70) and wry, tart insights about the indignities and humiliations of growing old ("William the Conquerer was going back into mothballs. William the Meek was now taking calls."). For all mystery collections. Wilda Williams, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Thomas T Beeler (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574904841
• ISBN-13: 978-1574904840
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,359,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Exciting Ending But Took MUCH Too Long To Get There!, April 13, 2003

By 

bobbewig (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Epitaph (Paperback)

The last fifty pages or so of James Siegel's first book were very exciting but I almost gave up on this book several times because it was too slow moving and took Siegel much too long to develop his plot. In addition, his senior citizen characters, while not uninteresting, were a bit too stereotypical. I gave Epitaph a three star rating not because of the quality of the book per se (which only deserves a 2-2 1/2 star rating), but because of the potential Siegel demonstrated as a writer of exciting fiction. This potential has been more than lived up to in Siegel's newest book, called Derailed. Derailed is one of the best thrillers I've read in quite awhile, and is a book I'd highly recommend to you. As for recommending Epitaph, I'd say read Derailed first (like I did) and than decide if you want to read his first book to see how far he's progressed from his first effort. If after reading Derailed, you decide you didn't like it, than my recommendation would be to skip Epitaph. Even if you do decide to read Epitaph, I'd recommend you borrow it from the library.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I feel let down......, February 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Epitaph (Paperback)

I bought this book based on the reviews I read and boy do I feel let down. That pace was too slow and the plot took forever to develop.If you like your reading to act as a sleeping aid, this might be the book for you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow Paced Adventure, Not the Same Sort of Novel as Derailed or Detour, March 17, 2007

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Epitaph (Paperback)

It's important to point out before reviewing this novel that this is Siegel's first published novel and he has written two masterpieces after this being Derailed and Detour, as well as although not as good as those two, a worthwhile read with his fourth book Deceit. Epitaph is slow paced (it does have a 70 year old main character so obviously scenes involving him won't be as fast paced as action scenes in the other books) but Siegel does take a little bit too long describing scenes and even William, than was needed. If this is your first book of Siegel's don't let it put you off or paint a picture of how this great author can write.

In Epitaph, William Riskin is a lonely old man who has no one to interact with and whose highlight is pretty much doing stuff like reading the obituaries. He has a painful bullet stuck in his shoulder from a night quite some time ago as a security guard where the owner upon walking on the scene screamed at him about the security firm hiring useless old men. One day through the obituaries he finds that his old partner from the Three Eyes Detective Agency has died, so decides to get on public transport and pay his last respects. Along the way humiliated by street punks he realises he is an old defenceless joke so when he is forced to take possession of a box of his old partner's possessions he learns there is a case Jean never finished and to prove he is still worth something decides to pick up where Jean left off, only he doesn't know exactly where that is.

If you like novels with an old aged person as the hero also check out Gerald Hammond's novel On the Warpath.